First Class

[scoutergipper]

First Class is definitely, in my mind, the goal of every Scout. Just look at the requirements. Very few have changed since the beginning...

 

The most important First Class requirement is missing: The First Class Journey.

 

Therefore the BSA's outdoor requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with packs on their backs.

 

For a while, Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training got Patrols out into the woods without adult helicopters, but in 1972 Wood Badge replaced it with Troop Method training called "Leadership Development."

 

Therefore the BSA's leadership skills requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs.

 

 

 

 

Interesting that the 1916 program doesn't require any hiking and could also be completed without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs. Or ever walking into the woods for that matter.

[qwazse]

First Class is definitely, in my mind, the goal of every Scout. Just look at the requirements. Very few have changed since the beginning...

 

The most important First Class requirement is missing: The First Class Journey.

 

Therefore the BSA's outdoor requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with packs on their backs.

 

For a while, Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training got Patrols out into the woods without adult helicopters, but in 1972 Wood Badge replaced it with Troop Method training called "Leadership Development."

 

Therefore the BSA's leadership skills requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs.

 

 

 

 

FC#4. Make a round trip alone (or with another scout) to a point at least seven miles away (fourteen miles in all), going on foot or rowing boat, and write a satisfactory account of the trip and things observed.

 

FC#10. Describe fully from observation ten species of trees or plants, including poison ivy, by their bark, leaves, flowers, fruit, or scent; or six species of wild birds by their plumage, notes, tracks, or habits; or six species of native wild animals by their form, color, call, tracks, or habits; find the North Star, and name and describe at least three constellations of stars.

 

They weren't talking about playing Zelda here.

[scoutergipper]

First Class is definitely, in my mind, the goal of every Scout. Just look at the requirements. Very few have changed since the beginning...

 

The most important First Class requirement is missing: The First Class Journey.

 

Therefore the BSA's outdoor requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with packs on their backs.

 

For a while, Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training got Patrols out into the woods without adult helicopters, but in 1972 Wood Badge replaced it with Troop Method training called "Leadership Development."

 

Therefore the BSA's leadership skills requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps, but both those items could be easily completed in a neighborhood or town. Heck I could do the bird requirement in my backyard. Maybe it was assumed that all these things would be done in the woods in those days without having to actually specify it. Different time.

[Baseballfan]

just want to throw in 2 cents about terminology. I hate it when people refer to unsatisfactory Troop programs as "Webelos III". It is insulting to the Webelos program itself. Thank you.

[DeanRx]

I think the First Class scout as a lad who should be able to take care of himself on a cmapout and not be a burden to his peers / leader. He knows how to plan a meal, how to shop it, how to cook it, what to pack, what type of gear / shelter he needs for a given outing. A first class scout is self sufficent / independent.

 

I have had / seen a few boys rush this "trail to first class" and it only hurts themsleves and possibly the troop. My own son was a little disappointed b/c it took him a little over 18 months in Boy Scouts to get to First Class. However, I reminded him that its better to take your time and KNOW your stuff than to rush it. I repeat this with every scout I do a 2nd class or 1st class SM conference with as well. One of my lead ins in the SM conference:...

 

"How well do you know these requirements? Do you feel confident that you can TEACH them to other scouts? Lets pick a couple and you can tech them to me right now...."

 

The point of demarkation IMHO is that once you pin on that 1st class rank, you are considered a de facto troop trainer for anyone of lesser rank than you. If you are 1st class, you not only know how / what to do for yourself, but you know the material well enough to TRAIN YOUNGER SCOUTS. If you cannot, you are making your troop weak because those coming up behind you have an ill prepared teacher and they deserve better than that. Once I make it known that the expectation is you should be able to teach the skill, not just do it once yourself and check the box, most scouts self regulate their rapid accent to 1st class on their own. There is nothing a youth hates more than being asked to demo a task / technique in front of other (especially younger scouts) and not be able to pull it off. If you know your scout skills well enough to teach it, then you are confident in your skills and it shows. period.

 

I think the First Class scout as a lad who should be able to take care of himself on a cmapout and not be a burden to his peers / leader. He knows how to plan a meal, how to shop it, how to cook it, what to pack, what type of gear / shelter he needs for a given outing. A first class scout is self sufficent / independent.

 

I have had / seen a few boys rush this "trail to first class" and it only hurts themsleves and possibly the troop. My own son was a little disappointed b/c it took him a little over 18 months in Boy Scouts to get to First Class. However, I reminded him that its better to take your time and KNOW your stuff than to rush it. I repeat this with every scout I do a 2nd class or 1st class SM conference with as well. One of my lead ins in the SM conference:...

 

"How well do you know these requirements? Do you feel confident that you can TEACH them to other scouts? Lets pick a couple and you can tech them to me right now...."

 

The point of demarkation IMHO is that once you pin on that 1st class rank, you are considered a de facto troop trainer for anyone of lesser rank than you. If you are 1st class, you not only know how / what to do for yourself, but you know the material well enough to TRAIN YOUNGER SCOUTS. If you cannot, you are making your troop weak because those coming up behind you have an ill prepared teacher and they deserve better than that. Once I make it known that the expectation is you should be able to teach the skill, not just do it once yourself and check the box, most scouts self regulate their rapid accent to 1st class on their own. There is nothing a youth hates more than being asked to demo a task / technique in front of other (especially younger scouts) and not be able to pull it off. If you know your scout skills well enough to teach it, then you are confident in your skills and it shows. period.

 

[Nike]

Nike commented:

 

"How would you implement the First Class Journey in this day and age?"

 

You mean in the "day and age" of Bruce Tuckman Wood Badge?

 

For Webelos III Troops, the same way the Patrol Hike is implemented in Wood Badge: In a Boy Scout camp if necessary.

 

One reluctant Baden-Powell Scouting association implemented my compromise "Shadow Party" of older Scouts or Scouters that tracked them at a distance through rough territory. If the Scouts undergoing the Journey needed to interact with the Shadow Party in any way, the Journey was cancelled.

I was really wondering how to address the lack of unposted/unregulated land, highways and byways, permits required for everything, and the ever present threat of a well intentioned bystander alerting police or social services to a couple of unsupervised kids. I think these kinds of trips could be very formative and instructive for everyone.

[Eagledad]

I think the First Class scout as a lad who should be able to take care of himself on a cmapout and not be a burden to his peers / leader. He knows how to plan a meal, how to shop it, how to cook it, what to pack, what type of gear / shelter he needs for a given outing. A first class scout is self sufficent / independent.

 

I have had / seen a few boys rush this "trail to first class" and it only hurts themsleves and possibly the troop. My own son was a little disappointed b/c it took him a little over 18 months in Boy Scouts to get to First Class. However, I reminded him that its better to take your time and KNOW your stuff than to rush it. I repeat this with every scout I do a 2nd class or 1st class SM conference with as well. One of my lead ins in the SM conference:...

 

"How well do you know these requirements? Do you feel confident that you can TEACH them to other scouts? Lets pick a couple and you can tech them to me right now...."

 

The point of demarkation IMHO is that once you pin on that 1st class rank, you are considered a de facto troop trainer for anyone of lesser rank than you. If you are 1st class, you not only know how / what to do for yourself, but you know the material well enough to TRAIN YOUNGER SCOUTS. If you cannot, you are making your troop weak because those coming up behind you have an ill prepared teacher and they deserve better than that. Once I make it known that the expectation is you should be able to teach the skill, not just do it once yourself and check the box, most scouts self regulate their rapid accent to 1st class on their own. There is nothing a youth hates more than being asked to demo a task / technique in front of other (especially younger scouts) and not be able to pull it off. If you know your scout skills well enough to teach it, then you are confident in your skills and it shows. period.

 

I think the First Class scout as a lad who should be able to take care of himself on a cmapout and not be a burden to his peers / leader. He knows how to plan a meal, how to shop it, how to cook it, what to pack, what type of gear / shelter he needs for a given outing. A first class scout is self sufficent / independent.

 

I have had / seen a few boys rush this "trail to first class" and it only hurts themsleves and possibly the troop. My own son was a little disappointed b/c it took him a little over 18 months in Boy Scouts to get to First Class. However, I reminded him that its better to take your time and KNOW your stuff than to rush it. I repeat this with every scout I do a 2nd class or 1st class SM conference with as well. One of my lead ins in the SM conference:...

 

"How well do you know these requirements? Do you feel confident that you can TEACH them to other scouts? Lets pick a couple and you can tech them to me right now...."

 

The point of demarkation IMHO is that once you pin on that 1st class rank, you are considered a de facto troop trainer for anyone of lesser rank than you. If you are 1st class, you not only know how / what to do for yourself, but you know the material well enough to TRAIN YOUNGER SCOUTS. If you cannot, you are making your troop weak because those coming up behind you have an ill prepared teacher and they deserve better than that. Once I make it known that the expectation is you should be able to teach the skill, not just do it once yourself and check the box, most scouts self regulate their rapid accent to 1st class on their own. There is nothing a youth hates more than being asked to demo a task / technique in front of other (especially younger scouts) and not be able to pull it off. If you know your scout skills well enough to teach it, then you are confident in your skills and it shows. period.

>>The point of demarkation IMHO is that once you pin on that 1st class rank, you are considered a de facto troop trainer for anyone of lesser rank than you. If you are 1st class, you not only know how / what to do for yourself, but you know the material well enough to TRAIN YOUNGER SCOUTS

[Kudu]

just want to throw in 2 cents about terminology. I hate it when people refer to unsatisfactory Troop programs as "Webelos III". It is insulting to the Webelos program itself. Thank you.

Webelos Scouts camp with adult helicopters.

 

BSA Scouts also camp with adult helicopters, but in addition they cook, clean up, hold whole-Troop popularity contests, and vote for whole-Troop activities in Scout student council meetings.

 

Boy Scouts in William Hillcourt's Patrol Method would also plan and undertake regular unsupervised Patrol Hikes, Patrol Campouts, and in Baden-Powell's Patrol System (when camping as Troop) separate their Patrols by 300 feet. The troop committee in Baden-Powell's Scouting is Patrol Leaders, not parents. The Scoutcraft competency of Scouts in the rest of the world is tested by unsupervised "Journeys" starting as early as an eight-mile Second Class Journey in some countries. The universal test of a First Class Scout is the 14 mile overnight First Class Journey:

 

http://inquiry.net/advancement/traditional/journey_requirements.htm

 

So Webelos III is an accurate description for most BSA "two-deep" helicopter programs: More responsible than Webelos II, but not what Baden-Powell would call a Boy Scout program.

[qwazse]

First Class is definitely, in my mind, the goal of every Scout. Just look at the requirements. Very few have changed since the beginning...

 

The most important First Class requirement is missing: The First Class Journey.

 

Therefore the BSA's outdoor requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with packs on their backs.

 

For a while, Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training got Patrols out into the woods without adult helicopters, but in 1972 Wood Badge replaced it with Troop Method training called "Leadership Development."

 

Therefore the BSA's leadership skills requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs.

 

 

 

 

I think the vision of 1st class journeys as full-on backpacking trips is mistaken. Many of the drawings depicting this sort of thing involve open farmland.

[Kudu]

First Class is definitely, in my mind, the goal of every Scout. Just look at the requirements. Very few have changed since the beginning...

 

The most important First Class requirement is missing: The First Class Journey.

 

Therefore the BSA's outdoor requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with packs on their backs.

 

For a while, Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training got Patrols out into the woods without adult helicopters, but in 1972 Wood Badge replaced it with Troop Method training called "Leadership Development."

 

Therefore the BSA's leadership skills requirements are designed to get Cub Scout survivors to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a Patrol at their backs.

 

 

 

 

Here is a journal of a First Class Journey which includes farmland and villages:

 

http://inquiry.net/outdoor/hikes/1st_class_journey.htm

 

A "How To" set up First Class Journeys guide for Scoutmasters:

 

http://inquiry.net/outdoor/hikes/1st_class_hike.htm

 

The actual requirements for Journeys, Second Class through the equivalent to Eagle.

 

http://inquiry.net/advancement/traditional/journey_requirements.htm

[Kudu]

Nike commented:

 

"How would you implement the First Class Journey in this day and age?"

 

You mean in the "day and age" of Bruce Tuckman Wood Badge?

 

For Webelos III Troops, the same way the Patrol Hike is implemented in Wood Badge: In a Boy Scout camp if necessary.

 

One reluctant Baden-Powell Scouting association implemented my compromise "Shadow Party" of older Scouts or Scouters that tracked them at a distance through rough territory. If the Scouts undergoing the Journey needed to interact with the Shadow Party in any way, the Journey was cancelled.

The undeveloped areas of National Forests do not require permits or minimum ages. The same is true for groups of two in most wild backpacking venues.

 

Likewise for Patrol Camping. Patrols of less than ten Scouts do not require a permit in the Adirondack Mountains, for instance.

[Basementdweller]

just want to throw in 2 cents about terminology. I hate it when people refer to unsatisfactory Troop programs as "Webelos III". It is insulting to the Webelos program itself. Thank you.

Why is it insulting?

 

That is exactly what it is.

 

Webelos

Adult led

Adult Planned

Boys participate.

 

 

Boy Scouts

Boy led

Boy Planned

Adults tag along because they have to.

 

 

This is one of the Big reasons I disagree with troops planning big cross country trips because the boys do not plan it.

[Baseballfan]

just want to throw in 2 cents about terminology. I hate it when people refer to unsatisfactory Troop programs as "Webelos III". It is insulting to the Webelos program itself. Thank you.

Because it is clearly being used as an insult... not just a comment but a putdown. Maybe it's just me. In related news I hate calling adults "helicopters", not because it insults actual helicopters, but because they can just be called "adults" or "leaders"... "helicopter" is derogatory. I freely admit I'm probably too sensitive!!

[qwazse]

just want to throw in 2 cents about terminology. I hate it when people refer to unsatisfactory Troop programs as "Webelos III". It is insulting to the Webelos program itself. Thank you.

BBF, Webelos is perfect for 8, 9, or 10 year-olds. Treating an11 year old like he should still be in a Webelos program needs is insulting. Treating a 14 year old like that is degrading.

 

Myself, I don't use the term "Webelos III." I just promise a boy that I will never treat him like he's a girl scout. And, GS mom's, when I do that I am not insulting your troop (if they are camping - under canvas or less - every month out of the year).