In Troop Merit Badge Counselors

[Beavah]

Where and when did people get the notion that MBC's could only be attached to a troop?

 

The whole concept of MBC's is that the boys, with a buddy, reach out and contact adults who are not familiar to them. This was to teach the youth how to properly conduct themselves with adults.

 

Yah, I'm curious. How many of yeh out there pretty much use only in-troop counselors? What do yeh see as advantages and disadvantages? Are yeh restricted by your CO's policy from using district folks?

 

For those that are still making rich use of district counselors, how do yeh encourage it? How do yeh make it work? How maintain quality? Do yeh find the district maintains a good list? Advantages and disadvantages?

 

Beavah

[ctbailey]

I was once the Advancement Chair in our district, and I spent a couple months cleaning out the district list of MBC's, and finally had a good product, where youth could immediately find a counselor anywhere in the district for many, many badges.

 

It was a herculean effort, however, to do this. It actually burnt me out, and I needed to take a break. The following chairs did not have the time or inclination to keep the list managed, so it has since fallen back into disrepair.

 

I think the falling into disrepair was a symptom, not the reason why such a huge amount of "troop" counselors exist in our district.

 

I've asked unit leaders what their position is, and a common answer is they do not trust the MBC's enough with their boys, hence the move to "troop" counselors.

 

Is this showing a larger symptom?

[perdidochas]

It could be that many have CO's that would only permit limited outside MBC's. Our CO is a Catholic church. The Diocese has regulations that any volunteers that work with other people are required to go through fingerprinting/background check and training. Hence, we could only use MBC's who have been through that process.

[gcnphkr]

We use some district counselors, mostly scouts finishing things up from merit badge round up. Quality is variable. In general, the district counselors are untrained. Given a choice I'll send a scout to a counselor I know before I'll send one that I don't know.

 

I've had issues with some district counselors giving out bad information, mostly very incorrect information. For example, one, an assistant district commissioner, that was a counselor for one of the citizenship MBs that the scout could go on a bike trip with his family and it would qualify for the 9b Camping MB requirement.

 

Unless I am very certain of the counselor, I will never send a scout to an LDS counselor. Far too many view "requirements" as "ideas", "guidelines" would be generous and overly optimistic.

[Roadkill Patrol]

Our troop uses both internal and external MBC's. When I signed up to be a MBC in my 3 areas of expertise, the form asked whether I wanted to only be a MBC for a specific troop or council-wide. I could only choose our specific troop as I could not guarantee that I would be available to help others.

[jr56]

Years ago, as a district advancement chair, I took the time and effort to assemble a district counselor list. Unfortunately, it was not maintained by my successors. The current disctrict I am in does not even have a MBC list, to my knowledge. So, other than summer camp, we have no choice but to use in troop counselors.

[GKlose]

We've got a couple of scouts that are making a serious attempt at running the table, earning every merit badge. I think they're over 60 at this point. One is 13 and the other is coming up on 16, I believe. One interesting side effect of them attempting this is that they are meeting a whole lot of new counselors all the time. Sat on the 13-yr-old's Star BoR last night. I really feel that he has made major advancements in his interaction with adults since his last BoR.

 

Guy

[Buffalo Skipper]

Our Council/district has worked to improve the accuracy of the "district MBC list" with some success. The recent push to require MBCs to have completed YPT to register has created some chaos. Coincidentally, June is when our council requires that all MBCs resubmit applications (annually), and they will not accept a MBC application without an accompanying hard copy of the up-to-date YPT training card. MBCs are turned away without this card in had, and applications are not accepted, period.

 

The district list is thin, at best. We only have counselors who teach 88 MBs (this includes none of the Centennial MBs). Of those, 12 are troop MBCs from our troop, more than half of which I have recruited so our scouts can have a MBC to take a badge they want. Heck, our district only has one (1) swimming MBC available to all scouts in the district (though a couple of troops have their own). That is in a district with roughly 45 Boy Scout troops.

 

We have had this discussion before, but it the topics are inseparable, in my opinion, but as SM, I feel it is my responsibility to see that the scouts have a good MB experience. I utilize troop MBCs or District MBCs in concert to limit a scout having the same counselor for multiple badges, but I am very choosy about to whom I send a scout from the district list. Again, my goal is to find a reasonable balance and to do my best to see that every scout has the best possible experience with as many qualified counselors as possible.

[dg98adams]

The original post was mine I think, and I'd like to clarify what I meant by "Troop Cycling MBC".

 

I am the "only" current (YPT) listed, Cycling MBC within the Troop I serve as ASM in, but I am not listed "Troop Only" on any MB I cover. They did have several to choose from outside the unit.

 

 

I also chair the Council MB Trail Drive over the winter and recruiting MBC's from the Districts (5) list for the event often causes me to wade into the "Troop only" portion of the MBC list.

 

I do try to call those listed "Troop Only" last. Personally, I'd like to see that category removed. Either you are or you are not a MBC.

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by dg98adams)(This message has been edited by dg98adams)

[ghermanno]

Funny you should say that. It is a misnomer that anyone is a "Troop Only" MBC. ALL registered MBC's are registered with the Council/Distict. None are registered as MBC's with the Troop.

 

The councilor may decide to work only with the boys from Troop X but that only limits the MBC's list of available applicants.

 

As for who the SM sends the boy to, that will also require the SM and the MBC to know something of one another. Maybe they should attend Roundtable or ask the SM of the Troop that MBC is associated with.

 

I teach the MBC introduction course and I let the prospective MBC's know that for the best "bang for the buck" do NOT select "I wish to work only with Troop ____" as they will be limiting the boys from comming to them and the SM "should" be sending the majority outside the Troop to allow the boys interaction with other adults.

 

My $0.02 for what it is worth.

 

YiS,

 

Rick

[markrvp]

My son is 13, a Star Scout, and has earned 42 merit badges so far. He is also making a run at earning all merit badges. Probably 2/3 of his counselors are in-town, but not necessarily in-troop. One thing I've noticed is that some of the merit badge counselors my son has called haven't worked with anybody in years. I get the impression that most troops are using in-troop counselors and some of these older counselors are no longer used.

 

The YPT requirement for MB Counselors is fixing to cause our District MB counselor list to get cut in half.

[John-in-KC]

The boys in Troop NNN KNOW their adults.

 

In a very few years, these young men are going to meet Mr or Mrs Smith for the first time ever and ask for a job. Have we really done our best to mentor and support them if we do everything in-Troop???

 

Scoutmasters are the guardians. If they are not receiving the service and support they need from the District, then Mr SM needs a friendly cup of coffee with each of his Commish and COR. The Commish would offer feedback up the one (it's a gift). OTOH, the COR should have blunt and frank discussions with Prosessionals and senior volunteers: "Fulfill your end of the charter agreement, please."

[clydesdale115]

Our SM is completely against referring any Scouts to MBCs outside our troop. He says he likes "having them here so I can keep an eye on things and make sure they are doing the right thing." As a result, whenever we come home from summer camp and the boys have a stack of partials, our SM makes an All-Call to the parents to find MBCs for these MBs so the boys can finish up.

* sigh *

We have encouraged our son to contact other MBCs (who are willing to work with boys outside their own troops) and get things done or finished. I have the MBC list for our district, which, BTW, is 130+ pages printed. The only names the SM will give them is someone in the troop (and even then, it's not contact information, it's just "maybe Mr. MBC will be here next week at the troop meeting and you can ask him"). So it takes the boys FOREVER to get anything completed. It means meeting with Mr. MBC for 15 minutes after the troop meeting, when he can make it, when he gets around to offering it, so the boys STILL have a stack of partials.

It's just AWFUL. It's one thing to be a "gateway" - it's quite another to be a "roadblock."

clyde

 

 

[IM_Kathy]

most of the boys in my son's troop use what you all call "in house" MBC... we have adults that have sons currently in the troop as well as adults who have sons that have aged out. So while they are "in house" some of the adults are people the boys may have never seen or talked to before working on a merit badge. We also have several who are the spouse of the more active adult and so you only see them when they are working with someone on a merit badge or at a court of honor.

 

we do have some merit badges where we do not have "in house" councilors for and those we do through the council to get councilors for, but they are badges that are either mostly earned at camp (rifle, shotgun, archery) or not as popular with the boys.

 

I like the way my son's troop does it's meetings. We have real troop meetings every-other week. That is where the boys plan their campouts, work on advancements, etc... then the "off weeks" are merit badge nights. MBC have a day and place where they can meet up with scouts and go over the work. Sometimes a boy working on a MB sits down once and then sets out to do the work and then meets again to show their work, while other times a boy needs to meet a few times to continue working on the badge. So the room isn't as full as it normally is at troop meetings and allows for better conversation.

 

when it comes to my son, I really don't care who he has for a MBC. But seeing as I'm the one driving him around I do prefer to not have to drive clear across the state to get him a councilor.

[GKlose]

Other than the two we have attempting to run the table, most of our scouts use this as their advancement plan (with their goal being earning the minimum for Eagle):

- two or three years at regular summer camp

- two years, max, going to Eagle Week at summer camp (for the bulk of Eagle-required MBs)

- our COR/past-SM, who counsels a small handful of Eagle-required MBs

- calling one particular out-of-troop counselor, who is local, for Personal Fitness MB

 

It makes me very sad. I especially dislike the way that virtually all of the older scouts "defect" to Eagle Week, where they attend provisionally, but (in my opinion) do get "watered-down" MBs.

 

I'm working on changing the culture. For example, when I came in, I signed up to counsel several MBs, none of which are Eagle-required. For some scouts, working on something with me (even though I'm within the troop) is the first time they are working on an "elective" MB outside of summer camp (where they only get the standards: waterfront, craft lodge, nature lodge, etc.). I'm also working on a plan to integrate older scouts back into the troop rather than having them attend Eagle Week provisionally. There's another nearby camp that does the Eagle Week equivalent, but as part of their regular summer camp program. That way our older scouts can come to camp and still work on their Eagle-required MBs, and be part of the normal troop fun that they should have been concentrating all along.

 

Guy