Troop that does not give out rank awards very often

[Bob White]

That probably depended mostly on the community. If my town ever did that is was prior to the 1950's.

 

In the troop I was a Scout in during the 60's we did large Courts of Honor with the parents and familes present usually only once a year.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Now, the Scout Shop is restricting the rank patches, so without an advancement form, you can't get rank patches.

Ours is doing the same thing. We have always kept a supply on hand for immediate recognition, reserving the card for the COH. Recently the troop"ran out" of rank badges, and we could not get any new ones without an advancement form. We had a new advancement chair, and an unexpected lost scout book delayed our getting in the advancement form. Now when we are low on a rank patch, we buytwo for each advancing scout (keeping one on hand for local stocks). This allows us to keep on handenough, and hasworked out well thus far.

[Beavah]

Yah, emb, badges are now restricted items. Not supposed to get 'em until you've filed the paperwork. My approach is the same as yours. Give the lad immediate recognition by keepin' a supply on hand, then file the paperwork to replenish the supply.

 

Like I said, paperwork scofflaw, I mean... workaround!

 

For units lookin' to set that up, yeh can have anyone who is a current rank buy a couple of patches and turn 'em in to build the supply, eh? Boys of the current rank can always buy new badges for new or additional uniforms.

 

Yah, I know, my ethics are now suspect again. I just think the lads should be recognized immediately, and get to wear their badge right away while they are excited about it.

 

B

 

[Liz]

Interesting discussion...

 

We only give rank badges at CoH, but we don't have set times for the CoH. When a fair number of boys are ready to advance, or we start getting a backlog of merit badges to award, we schedule a CoH.

 

Sometimes, if we have several Scouts who are *almost* to the next level, but we haven't had quite enough time to conduct all the BoRs or something, we'll even postpone a CoH for a week or two in order to make sure none of the boys have to wait too long for their rank advancements.

 

Regardless of whether the Scout has received his current rank badge or not, once the BoR is over, the Scout is "eligible" to participate in activities befitting his earned rank, be nominated for OA, etc.

 

I don't think we ever have the problem of Scouts moving through ranks so they get two at once except in situations such as a Scout earning most of his 1st Class requirements done before he finishes his 2nd Class ones -- causing him to maybe be in 2nd Class for only a couple of weeks or less.

 

Our CoHs are almost always scheduled for the same time and place as our regular Troop Meetings, so except for additional set-up and such for the CoH ceremony, it doesn't require us to know months in advance exactly when they're going to be held.

 

I don't imagine this system would work for a lot of troops (and it's not how it was done in the troop we were previously involved in) but it does work well for us.

 

-Liz

[Eagle92]

There is a way to get replacements, I mean extra, ranks. Use two or three of your older scouts information, and fill out the advancement report. Then Write "REPLACEMENTS" underneath notifying that these folks have already been placed in the system. best time to do this is just prior to summer camp, as staff usually have 2-3 uniforms and need replacements, or prior to jamboree, again need replacements for multiple uniforms.

 

We had several units do this, manager knew and didn't bother her.

[Nike]

Holding back advancements just so you have something to hand out at the quarterly CoH sucks, and the boys don't get the immediate recognition, fill-up, and Dawg Pile they so richly deserve. Our troops have always given out the new rank at the end of the meeting where the Scout advanced. If we didn't have the patch, it was at least announced in the closing announcements by the SPL, and we'd get a rank patch to the boy at the next meeting.

 

My bugaboo is having more than one Scout with the SPL patch on his sleeve.

 

 

 

[nolesrule]

It's certainly best for the boys to receive the physical reward for the achievement as soon as possible. If you don't have the award in stockpile, make sure it's acquired prior to the next meeting.

 

In line with Nike's "bugaboo" about having more than one Scout with an SPL patch, the uniform should reflect the current status of the Scout (or Scouter). That means the boy should have the current POR patch (or none) on his sleeve and the correct rank badge on his left pocket. This is not meant to sound like uniform police, but rather a good reason for the troop to provide the boy with his awards in a timely manner. He shouldn't have to wear his old rank badge any longer than it takes for the troop to acquire the new one...which should be as soon as possible.

 

(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

[Bob White]

Liz

The leaders in the troop you serve do not understand how positive reinforcement works. To be effective it must immediately follow the behavior you are trying to reinforce. Advancement is a Method used to affect a scouts emotional fitness. Waiting weeks or months after the action to get the reward is ineffective. It may be convenient for the adults but it does nothing for the scout or for the the effectiveness of the program you are trying to deliver.

 

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[nolesrule]

BW, I like the way you phrased that.

[Liz]

BW,

 

The boys never have to wait very long after earning their rank to receive them at a CoH. I guess I didn't explain it very well. We hold CoH as needed. Occasionally one might be put off for a couple of weeks IF we don't have much to hand out (only little things like SFF segments or whatever) AND there are boys who, if the CoH is put off a little while, will have a significant award like a MB or a rank advancement.

 

We have CoH's fairly often -- I'd say we average one every 2 months. We have a lot of them in the spring, when newly crossed over Webelos are advancing fairly quickly, and we always have one after summer camp, when lots of kids have things they've earned. In the fall, we have them a little less frequently because there are fewer things being earned. CoH are done on an "as needed" basis, and I don't think any boys generally have to wait more than a week or two to receive their major things like rank advancements. When we have boys getting close, we'll schedule the CoH, and then set up BoR days where we'll have a board sit down with each advancing boy. The CoH is usually the following week, or at most, two weeks later.

 

We don't have a very large troop, maybe 20 active boys total. Perhaps that's why this method works well for us. I can see how a larger troop would have more boys advancing at different times; ours tend to advance in clusters. We're only going into our 3rd year as a troop, and we grow every year with incoming Webelos Scouts. I expect by this time next year our CoH-as-needed method might not work as well. But for now, it gets all the boys honored in a timely fashion.

 

I can certainly see how giving out rank advancements at weekly troop meetings has an advantage. I have not been on the Council for the troop since the first year we formed, but I most likely will be again next year. It's a method I will certainly keep in mind for when I'm in a position to be helping with policy making. At the troop my older son was in before we formed this one, CoHs were only held every 3 months, and it was very common for kids to wait several weeks for their badges, and most of the time they ended up getting their Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, & 1st Class rank badges all at once. I didn't like that at all.

 

-Liz

[nolesrule]

Since it's a relatively new troop, is it possible they are operating the CoHs under an almost Cub Scout pack meeting mentality?

[Bob White]

Liz

Too long.

[Nike]

I agree with BW.

 

An official quarterly CoH is really more for the parents and to fulfill a Communications badge req. The boys deserve and want what they've earned now.

 

 

[diogenes]

We're a small troop and we pretty much do like Liz describes: we aim for at least quarterly, but we'll do them "as needed" if we need more. Most of the CoH we do are simple no-frills types. We do one or two upscale CoH a year, usually after summer camps are over or if we have a CoH with a lot of and/or very important awards earned. I guess you could say we resemble the pack meeting comment because we've started to combine our CoH with our Pack Meeting because of our small numbers. It also helps everyone to see the continuity of Scouting: the Cubs can see what the big boys do, and the Scouts can support the Cubs. This has so far served to help strengthen both units, and is also "thrifty" in that the scouts are all from the same families and the leaders are mostly the same for bot cubs and older scouts.

[Liz]

I can certainly see good reasons why waiting a couple of weeks for a CoH might not be as beneficial as giving out a rank badge immediately. On the other hand, I think our system is by far much better than the previous troop I was involved in, where everyone waited for the quarterly CoH, and it didn't matter how long you went between earning the rank and receiving it.

 

I suppose what we have now is such a big improvement, I hadn't really thought too much before about what might be done to make it better. As I said earlier, as the troop grows I don't think our system will continue to work as well.

 

What would you think about the BoR members awarding a boy his rank patch or pin right then and there after the BoR?

 

Usually at CoH, we award both a rank pin and a rank patch; the boys wear the pin until they get around to sewing the new patch on their uniform (or their moms do, or whatever). Then the pin is just a keepsake. A discussion of of that tradition probably belongs on the Uniform board, but it might make sense to award the pin at the BoR, and the patch at the next CoH, or vice versa.(This message has been edited by liz)