Summitdog

From my discussions with National, it is my understanding that it applicable to units. There seems to be more confusion about the new award than with the old Hornaday Award, which was rather unknown and confused in my local council.

We are really getting off topic. The criteria for the various awards have changed drastically,i.e., the unit award is reviewed and awarded by National (no longer within the jurisdiction of the council). Can we focus on these types of topics rather than the useless mental exercise being displayed above?

For more than a century, the BSA has encouraged and honored conservation work with an award that recognizes youth, adults and organizations who have demonstrated tremendous effort and commitment to the environment. This award, which until now had been known as the William T. Hornaday Award, is being discontinued, and the new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award is being introduced to underscore the importance of encouraging everyone to participate in environmental stewardship. The new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award will continue to recognize the conservation efforts of Scouts, Venturers, Sea Scouts, adult volunteers, and other individuals, corporations, and institutions that contribute significantly to natural resource conservation and environmental protection. It has been streamlined and modernized to build on the extraordinary contributions made by all the dedicated award recipients to date, and we believe the changes will help make these important efforts even more accessible for today’s members. The BSA continuously looks for opportunities to improve our programs and awards as part of our efforts to strengthen the Scouting experience for all. As part of the BSA’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are in the process of reviewing our programs, names of camps, awards and other aspects to ensure each component models our commitment because there is no place for racism or discrimination– not in Scouting and not in our communities. As we reviewed the William T. Hornaday Award, which recognizes conservation and environmental service, the BSA uncovered issues with Dr. Hornaday that go against the BSA’s values, and we determined that, given this information, the conservation award should no longer bear his name in order to uphold our commitment against racism and discrimination. Effective immediately, the Boy Scouts of America is transitioning conservation recognition to the new BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award. The change in the award going forward does not in any way diminish the impactful conservation efforts taken on by Scouts, volunteers, and organizations over many years as part of the previous awards program. Their efforts have made important and positive differences in their communities and remain among the proudest bodies of work in Scouting. For those who have earned a Hornaday award prior to this change, the legacy award can now be referred to as the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award. Although we are unable to replace medals or badges earned by previous award recipients, replacement certificates can be requested. For those that have submitted or are currently working on a Hornaday award or project, the new award program outlines a path to transition to the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award. Bronze or Silver award distinctions will be used temporarily for individuals whose efforts were already submitted or underway under the previous award program. For all others, the BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award will stand on its own as the organization’s highest award for conservation and environmental service. More information on the new awards program will be available on the BSA’s outdoor programs webpage at www.scouting.org/outdoorprograms.

4.2.3.6 Fulfilling More Than One Requirement With a Single Activity From time to time it may be appropriate for a Scout to apply what was done to meet one requirement toward the completion of another. In deciding whether to allow this, unit leaders or merit badge counselors should consider the following. When, for all practical purposes, two requirements match up exactly and have the same basic intent—for example, camping nights for Second Class and First Class ranks and for the Camping merit badge—it is appropriate and permissible, unless it is stated otherwise in the requirements, to use those matching activities for both the ranks and the merit badge.

The question came up because my youngest son is in cub scouts and is working on his Parvuli Dei. Naturally, a little sibling rivalry came into play.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I did not know about the Adobe function that allows Stephen Hawking read to my son. Scotty

Wow! That is quite the achievement.

My son is a boy scout who is entering the sixth grade, has not started/completed the Parvuli Dei. The rub is my son is 11 years old and a scout. From my reading, he is not eligible for the emblem. Additionally, because he has not completed the 6th grade and he is not 13 years old he may not work towards the Ad Altare Dei emblem. So as it stands, he is just in a holding pattern for a couple of years. Does everyone agree? Scotty

I'd love to learn more about this procedure. I have Adobe Acrobat Pro (older version) but I don't see a audible reader function. Is it on a new version? Are you having some Google function read the PDF? If we can do that, it would be very helpful. (a quick cursory search I found voice dream reader. Is this what you are using? : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-dream-reader/id496177674 If your son wants to read the various pamphlets and upload them onto the troop website in a downloadable format that could be very helpful for scouts outside of his troop. I know I would ask for access and promote it to other parents with children with reading difficulties. Thanks for the suggestion. I hope to find something that works better than what we currently have. Scotty

Congratulations to this young scout. It reads like he is very motivated to stay in the scouts even after meeting his initial goal of making Eagle. Where I am located, most scouts are less motivated to make eagle for the sake of making eagle and only finish eagle in order to "check the box" on their college application. Their motivation is not wrong, just different. Scotty

Goldnloks, I agree that Learning Ally does not have the latest versions of the MB pamphlets nor all of the books. I believe that this is largely the responsibility of BSA as there are copyright licenses that need to be addressed. While Learning Ally is not a perfect solution, or the best imaginable, it is the best I can find. Goldnloks, do you have an alternative recommendation? Scotty

Does anyone know if once a scout earns a Bronze Medal may they reapply for the Silver Medal after completing another project?

Karen, If you have not already submitted your paper, here are a few notes: I PLEASE DO: - find out if the scout/family wants the scout to advocate for themselves - be as discreet as possible when accommodating the difference (but not in such a way that the scout believes they should be ashamed) Please DON’T: -- blame poor parenting / home life / single mom (Single Parent) You may wish to address what is probably one of the most common situation a leader will encounter, a child with untreated ADHD. Some parents either do not recognize that the scout may have ADHD or have chosen not to use conventional treatment (medication) to address the issue. It is important for the leader(s) to know how best to approach the parent in a disarming manner to at least begin the conversation. A leader may also have stress balls or fidget spinners to help the scout from being disruptive during the meeting. Scotty

Samuel, The handbook may be signed off by a scout ranked first class or higher or by a scouter. Scotty

My son got motivated to arrow out early after he saw a boy in his old pack arrow out. (It was a case of negative emotion turned positive. The other boy always picked on my son and when my son saw him arrow out on time my son decided he could to it too.) In short, my son was 10.5 yrs old, been with the scouts for more than 6 months (since first grade) AND completed all of the AOL requirements. His troop has embraced him despite being young. (It is important to find the right troop too). He has about 1 year in with his troop and he already has 11 nights of camping and loves it. The moral of the story is: It should be the scout's decision, not the parent's. Scotty