LauraT7 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 In our troop, it seems that the Advancement chair and the adults have always run the quarterly court of honors. the boys may do skits, or present special awards sometimes - but mostly, they are a litany of talk - "Advancing to the rank of Tenderfoot are Bobby, joe, Tim and fred" they come up front, get their pins & patches and Mom pins it on, everyone claps ans they sit down. The next rank is announced. "Advancing to the rank of Second class are john, greg, luke Nathan and jeremy" - same scene. Then they go through each camp or activity and who attended and pass out patches and attendance cards for each activity. Lastly they call each boy up and list the badges he's earned and pass them out. Broken up only by a speech or two by an adult, or a patrol skit (usually poorly prepared the week before) Everyone hops up and down a dozen times, it takes forever, and no one pays attention to who earned what or went where - because it's so long and B-O-R-I-N-G. Afterwards, parents mill around and visit and everyone eats juice and drinks cookies. Oh - I'm sorry - even telling about it is boring... I think this is a hangover from the Dad -run history of our troop - that and a silly notion that these Badges and Awards are somehow a surprise to the boys - kind of like getting a prize or a recognition - but THEY earned them, so they DO know what they are getting. Mostly, I think it's because we have one adult who loves to stand up in front of the crowd, and run the show - he usually runs these things, and is now our Advancement chair. Our best one (and longest) is always in August - it is a family picnic, outdoors in a park, sometimes with a campfire, sometimes not. It's long because it usually covers Feb or March thru summer camp, and has the most potential for earning badges and rank advancements. but it's STILL boring. PLEASE tell me this is not typical? What does your troop do to keep COH interesting? Do you give out rank advancements as they are earned? do you then just mention them at COH or what? do you save badges and advancements, summer camp patches and campout attendance cards until COH's? how do you handle giving out awards, by group or individually? what do you do to make the COH's move along and stay interesting? I'm sure the boys are supposed to participate - so what do they do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 All meetings should move along and that includes COHs. However, all the BSA litereature that I've seen says that investature ceremonies and COHs should be serious, somewhat symbolic and full of meaning. Our COHs aren't as elaborate as I'd like but that's just me. We do call the parents up to stand with the boys who are advancing, even though he was given his patch when he advanced. The SPL reads a charge for the new rank and gives a parent the new rank card, the parent then presents the rank card to the Scout. The Scout then pins a Mom pin on mom. The boys are usually grinning from ear to ear during this. For merit badges, the SPL reads a list of merit badges that each Scout has earned and hands them to the Scout in a baggie. The COH isn't just for the Scout, much of it is for the families in attendance. They want to see the Scouts getting their awards. Ceremony, if done well, is a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob58 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 We invite parents on a quarterly basis, Sometime in the Fall, Scout Sunday, last reg meeting of the "school year" and Unit picnic after Summer Camp. Sometimes we'll have punch & cookies for the Fall / Spring, but not always. We tend to group Advancements and Merit Badges separately. Often a number of our boys work on badges together and recently we've commented on some aspect of a particular merit badge & asked all boys who earned that badge to come forward together. (It can be quite a cross section of the troop. Great to see the older boys take a shot at some of the easier badges that they missed along the way; even better to know that they helped the yoiunger boys to knock out a toughie.) This often means that we don't notice the same boys getting up for multiple badges... 'everyone got up a coupla times!" I make a point of not worrying about "alphabetical order" as Laura noted they know that they earned the badge! Adavancements are also grouped. Depending on the variety of ranks inthe troop & range of awards to be presented we save the highest (or lowest) for last. Its always great to see the crowd really breakout in applause for a young man who is being recognized in front of his ( & other ) parents. Sometimes we build to the Life Scout, at other times we'll save the Scout or Tenderfot patches for last. For these they are called forward alone except for one or both parents. The CoH should meet the needs of your unit! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharityAK Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 We do our COHs in pretty much the same manner as FOG. In addition, we have a potluck dinner afterwards. There is usually some sort of gift of appreciation given to some volunteer who gave more than usual during the last quarter. Parents seem to enjoy the chance to chat and get to know one another better over dinner. Charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FScouter Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Some thoughts: - Pass out all patches and awards at the very next troop meeting after they are earned. Recognize the boy again at the Court of Honor. - Schedule a COH at least quarterly, even if there are only 2 or 3 boys. - Start the ceremony with some music. I like Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathruska" (aka theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey) at full volume, or Copelands Fanfare for a Common Man, something ceremonial, that lasts only 2 or 3 minutes. It quiets the audience and sets a ceremonial tone. - Let the SPL or any older Scout assist in handing out awards. Let another Scout light a candle. Have a color guard do the opening flag ceremony. - Instead of calling the boys up individually, call them up in groups according to what they have earned. For example call up all the new Tenderfoots together as a group. Recognize them individually. It takes a lot of time for individual boys to walk up, listen to the speech, then walk back and sit down. - Inspirational speeches from adults are great. Just limit them to 3 or 4 sentences at the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FScouter Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 More thoughts: A Court of Honor is a time to honor the boys. Don't try to squeeze in a parent meeting, or popcorn promotion, or announcements, or anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acco40 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 We try to get the boys to run the COH. They present rank acknowledgements, (Tenderfoots present Scouts, 2nd Class present Tenderfoots, etc.). The boys lead the Pledge, Oath, Law, do the "candles", benediction, etc. and usually the Advancement Chair does the MBs and the SM the "special" awards (outing patches, service stars, etc.). We try to involve everyone. Fscouter, Thus Spake Zarathustra is a book (Nietzsche). The music from 2001 A Spsce Odyssey is Also Sprach Zarathustra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGreyEagle Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 As my old college Philosophy professor used to say that in the pantheon of Philosphy books, Thus Spake Zarathustra certainly filled a certain niche, see how Critique of Pure Reason worked out for Kant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 "Fscouter, Thus Spake Zarathustra is a book (Nietzsche)." Originally titled "Also Sprach Zarathustra." "The music from 2001 A Spsce Odyssey is Also Sprach Zarathustra." By a strange coincidence, the Enlish title of that piece is "Thus Spake Zarathustra." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FScouter Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Or "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra". Whatever you call it, it really gets the blood flowing when played at full volume. (shiver) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acco40 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Agreed. Your choice of Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man (I like the ELP version) is great too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FScouter Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Do know of any other good inspirational opening music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGreyEagle Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar and an old time favorite: Boy Scouts of America Words and music by Jack Combs and Jimmy Clark We're the Boy Scouts of America, Scouting for things anew. Our Activities lead to victories in all we set out to do. We're the Boy Scouts of America, We plan hand in hand each day, To do better than need be done till all our goals are won champs with a winning way. We're loyal to purpose and integrity, Pledged to the Scout oath eternally, With verve and conviction we sing our song to keep America strong. We're the Boy Scouts of America, And this we have to say, Join us and We'll stand beside you, beside you all the way. The Boy Scouts of America will stand beside you all the way. (I think I send a copy of the song if you send me your email address, as long as no lawyer here says I cant)(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle90 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 We normally have four COH's per year except if there is a special Eagle COH. Awards are presented at all of them, but we try to have something fun along with that. In September we show slides of our Summer Camp and High Adventure experiences. Normally those slides ae taken by one of our senior scouts who narrates the show. In Feb. is our Annual Dinner and we try to have an entertaining show - a magician, noted speaker, or like last year the High school jazz band. We meet in a school gym, so in April we have a Family Fitness Nite where we have games and contests for the whoe family - free throws, volleyball, basketball, and we get moms and dads and siblings all involved. We close the year with a picnic. It seems to work for us and have good attendance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eisely Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 The boys run our COHs. We usually do three a year. One in September, one in December or January, and one in late spring, or June at the latest. Regrettably our COHs are boring. We could do more, but nobody seems to want to be inspired to do more. Speaking of music, how about Tom Lehrer's "The Boy Scout Marching Song"? That will certainly get everybody's attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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