Share your favorite Scouting success stories or victories here

[Sentinel947]

Based on @@MattR s post I thought this would be a fun thread to read! I'll start.

 

In 2010 I was a Troop Guide. We had 20 crossovers. 7 years later I'm an ASM and 9 are currently with the Troop as Seniors. They each earned Eagle. The 9th finished two weeks ago. I've received many hugs from crying moms and strong handshakes from proud dads. Scouts have called me out as a role model and mentor in their lives in their speeches at Eagle Court of Honor. So far in my short life, its probably the proudest I have ever been. Its made all the trials and tribulations of the last 7 years totally worth it.

[Col. Flagg]

Two autistic young men made Eagle Scout under my watch. Both grew as young men, one being more higher functioning than the other. Both had only Scouting in their lives as free-time options. One delivered one of the best speeches during his ECOH mentioning the people who, if not for their help, he would not have made Eagle. I was one of those mentioned. A true high point for me.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Col. Flagg

[CalicoPenn]

I may have told this story before - it happened about 12 years ago now - I was camping alone at a state park across the road from a local Boy Scout Troop.  I was a little worried about getting some peace and quiet but they all settled down about 8:00 each night and were away most of the day on Saturday doing their thing.

 

Sunday morning, I was taking down camp as they were taking down their camp.  I always carry a litter pick-up stick with me and was picking up litter along the way to the dumpster after I had policed my own site, which a couple boys watched with interest (because it was obvious I wasn't just picking up my own trash).  One of them asked my why I was doing this and I told them it was because I was a Boy Scout growing up and that's what Boy Scouts do - they clean up their campsites before leaving.  The boys ran to their SPL to tell them what I had said and while the drivers were starting to get antsy about getting on the road, the SPL got the boys together and started them policing the area  - not only did they police their camp sites, but all of the vacant camp sites in the area and the roads and pathways to the shower/bath house. 

 

The Scoutmaster came over to me with a wide grin on his face and shook my hand while thanking me because he had never seen the boys be that enthusiastic about end of trip policing.

[CalicoPenn]

Kind of sad that this has been up for over 24 hours now and only 3 stories have been shared.

[The Latin Scot]

I feel like I would need to post something every week if I wanted to keep up with how many wonderful things go on in our den! But last week I did experience a truly wonderful display of Scout spirit and kindness.

 

I have a boy who recently moved up to my Webelos den from Bears, and in my den we are very pro-uniform - we have inspections every week, I teach them about the history and significance of the uniform, and the boys love showing me the effort they put into looking good. Well, this boy comes from particularly indigent circumstances, and so the committee had been arranging for some kind of fund-raiser to help him get all the uniform parts he needs (which is most of it). I figured It would take a few months to save up enough, but that it would be worth it for him once he could look as sharp as all the other boys. His family is very poor, so I wanted to take the burden off of them while still giving him an opportunity to meet our dens standards.

 

Well, I also have an assistant den leader who is consistent, involved, and great with the boys - but he does NOT go beyond that. He never wears a uniform, he doesn't attend any meetings besides the weekly den meetings (which he attends faithfully, bless his heart), and he doesn't go to the pack meetings either. When he was young, his father was a zealous Scouter, but so over-anxious for him to achieve and advance that he refused to get past Life Scout as a boy, and he has carried a touch of resentment towards the Boy Scout program ever since. He is a great assistant for the 90 minutes I have him each week, but it doesn't usually go much further that that.

 

Anyway, while I was about to hold uniform inspections last week, he pulled me aside and discreetly asked if it was a good idea to hold them since the boy mentioned did not have much of a uniform. The boy had been a little sad that his "uniform" consisted of an old hat and neckerchief, even though I stressed the fact that a Scout is judged from his heart, not his outfit. I told my assistant that my hope was to maybe instill in him the willingness to work his own uniform, since it would probably be the only way, and he would need to be motivated to keep at it for a while. I admitted it was neither a perfect nor a complete plan, but I had been so concerned about giving this boy every advantage and opportunity possible that I didn't know what else to do. Knowing how poor his family is, and how rough his circumstances are, I had been losing a lot of sleep over this boy, but I KNEW that getting him into a new uniform would mean the WORLD to him. The boy deserved to wear the uniform, but how, I still didn't quite know. Well, he asked me if he could pitch in a little something. Naturally I said yes, and after the meeting he ran out to his car.

 

He came back and handed me some cash, telling me this: "Get him whatever he needs, and give the rest to his family. I have been with you for more than a year, and I know how much you love these boys. You actually understand what Scouting is about, so I know this will be well-spent. And don't tell anybody who donated it."

 

 

 

When he left, I counted out far over $100 in cash.

 

 

It was enough to get the boy a completely new uniform big enough for him grow into after he becomes a Boy Scout, and there was enough left over to help out his family as well. But more than that, it bought me a new perspective on what it means to be a Scout. The excitement in the boy's face when he got his new uniform; the tears in his mother's eyes when we brought everything to their home; the empathy in my assistant's heart when he saw a need and lent a hand - if I may steal the phrase to use in more meaningful circumstances, "THIS is Scouting."

Edited April 18, 2017 by The Latin Scot

[Sentinel947]

Kind of sad that this has been up for over 24 hours now and only 3 stories have been shared.

Its also posted in the most quiet underused corner of the site. Lol

[ianwilkins]

I got copied into an email yesterday, last we had two teams of five Explorers and Network (they were aged 16-21) go on a 4 day 3 night self sufficient lightweight walking expedition in Wales. We'd paid an external company to provide some kit, ensure training was ok, transport and remote supervision, as we don't have the time or specific mountain walking training required. It was organised by one of the Network (with help from dad). Back to the email...

 

Hi *******

 

Hope you have recovered from last week’s expedition, very impressed with everybody and the progression made through the expedition.

I have seen the practice expedition feedback from ***** and ****** and it is all very positive. This reflects highly on you in terms of organising and your leaders in regards to the experience you have all gained with Scouting, all of which contributed to an excellent practice expedition.

 

I'll take that.

 

They also sent a photo the organisers had taken on the third morning of four of them sat round with broad grins on their faces. They wanted to capture the moment because by the third morning it's apparently unusual for teams to be in such high spirits by then. It said a lot about them and their character. They've got that undefinable "scout stuff" that you know when you see it.

 

Ian

[Eagle94-A1]

Two of my Eagles are my favorite success story. Dad  left when they were young. Mom serving time in jail. Grandmother was raising them by herself. Living in a rough neighborhood, going to a school that had lots of drugs, gangs, etc. Grandmother had enough and got them involved in Scouting to keep them out of trouble.

 

One took to Scouting like a duck to water. He worked camp, did OA, got Eagle, etc.  He was the driving force to get a Venturing for the older Scouts who were getting bored and antsy. Long story short, he stayed active until he enlisted, and several of his friends stayed as active as can be with school and/or naval service. Once out of the military, he eventually started his own business, which he at some point he sold. He married his HS sweetheart, has three kids and is involved with his son in Scouting.

 

Brother was a bit of a trouble maker. Always causing problems. Something happened one summer, and he did a complete 180 degree turnaround. Instead of being the trouble maker, he became a leader. he worked camp, did OA, and Eagled. he was active until he went to college, and did some things as he could. he also served, married his HS sweetheart, and is doing well.

 

They had rough times, they had challenges. But Scouting helped them overcome.

[Sentinel947]

Resurrecting the thread, already posted this a few times throughout the forum, but I like this thread concept. 

I staffed NYLT this summer, I noticed in the development weekends that the SPL of my course and Scoutmaster didn't see eye to eye on some things. As the new adult to NYLT, (and 24 years old) I mostly filed that information away for future use. Besides, I was struggling to pick up my job as Adult QM advisor. 

On course, that situation didn't improve much, so I offered to help bridge that communication gap. The Scoutmaster was willing, but the SPL brushed me off (politely), saying that it was fine. So I backed off a bit, but continued to provide advice and praise when I was around the SPL. Mid way through the week, the stress of things somewhat got to our SPL, and the Scoutmaster surprisingly tapped me to have a chat with him. ( I don't think of myself as much of a nurturing type, I have pretty good conflict resolution skills, but my Scouts would laugh if somebody called me a nurturing type.) Our SPL responded well to that, and his communication with our Scoutmaster improved somewhat going forward. 

After night course was over, we had a staff recognition/party thing after the participants left. The SPL came up to me, gave me a hug and told me something like "I'm glad you were here, I wouldn't have made it through without you, you need to return to NYLT staff next year, and one day you'll make an great Scoutmaster."  That's had a huge impact on me. It was quite the surprise "Assistant Scoutmaster's Paycheck." 

I learned some very valuable lessons about working with youth, and about myself and my own abilities. I went from the mindset of that NYLT staff would be a one time thing for me, to trying to fit it in between work and starting Grad school next summer... Gotta love this Scouting stuff. 

What Scouting wins have you had the last year or so? 

[codger]

Sorry, folks, I just found this thread, and feel I want  to make a contribution with my own story.  This is a story about the unseen, unknown fruits of your efforts over a very long time. But please excuse me if this seems like I am boasting, or tooting my own horn - I am typing this with tears in my (middle-aged) eyes, as this story chokes me up when I tell it (which is rarely).  Bear with me,  it is long:

In 1978 I was a young Life Scout in my troop in Central NJ - chartered by a Catholic church in a typical NY suburb.   Casting about for a suitable Eagle project, none of the "build a ____ at the park" or "raise awareness by ___" type projects resonated with me.  I had already earned my Ad Altari Dei, and as part of that, my troop's advisor had us volunteer periodically at the Woodbridge (NJ ) Home for Boys in their Scout troop, working with boys who had Down's Syndrome and other handicaps.   I enjoyed working with them, and felt moved to explore service to people with mental handicaps.  I am not sure who brought it to my attention, but I realized that my church had a Sunday school program (called CCD- Confraternity of Christian Doctrine)  for regular children, but nothing offered for mentally handicapped kids was available.  So for my Eagle project I started a religious education program for these unserved kids.  I advertised to families in our parish and surrounding parishes for children who could enroll, recruited volunteer teachers, obtained classroom space in the church school on Saturdays, and with the help of the John Newman society at Rutgers University came up with a curriculum and teacher training materials.  We started in September with a dozen students and a 1-1 teacher ratio.  I was one of the teachers.  by the end of the year in June, we had about 20 students, of which half earned their first communion, and one was confirmed.  You see, no one had made the effort to teach these children before.  At the end of the year, I wrote that up for my Eagle project, and earned my Eagle rank a year later.   I arranged for the nuns who ran the regular CCD program to maintain the program for handicapped  children after I left for college.  

Payoff number one:   In 1981 I graduated from high school, and went to college.  I wrote my college admission essay about my CCD program.  I was accepted to an Ivy-League school, and was placed in a class taught by the president of the college.  I found out later that year that I had been admitted (despite only ranking in the top fifth of my high school class) largely on the strength of the CCD program and my essay - when he bragged about me in a letter he sent to our 10,000 alumni.  Unexpected dividend!

Payoff number two:  About ten years later I go to a funeral of a family from church, and one of the parents of a student in my program comes over to my parents and  relates how grateful their family was that I started the program (their daughter received her communion in the program).  More dividends!

Payoff number three:  And why I have tears in my eyes as I type this:   A long time passes.  I go to work at one career, get married, have kids, switch careers, and find myself working back in my home town in 1997.  I get introduced around to the new co-workers, nearly all of which are a good deal older than me.  None of them do I recognize, nor do they know me. I sit down on a coffee break with a woman in her early sixties who somehow gets on the topic of the Catholic Church and it's shortcomings.  She goes on and on, not even asking if I am a churchgoer or Catholic or anything, but then stops, and reconsiders.  And she starts telling me that the only thing her church has ever done for her and her family was that many years earlier they started a CCD program for handicapped children - and her son could finally get religious instruction and not feel left out or shunned.  Literally, that was the ONLY thing she thought her religion had done for her and she was quite adamant about it.  She had no idea that I was the 16 year old kid that did that for her.  I was floored, and still am, that something I did in Scouting had an effect on generations to come, and was thought of so warmly over so many years.  Big time payoff number three! And a lesson I have never forgot about the power of Scouting to change lives.  Thanks for listening. 

[SSScout]

It can be years later, or close in...

A story from a friend of mine:   We had been "the" staffers for our CSDC.  The theme was the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  My buddy and I were not necessarily L & C, but members of the expedition. He (call him Ted) represented himself as a French Canadian Voyageur, with the cartoon accent :  "haugh, haugh , haugh we mus' get zee canoos reddeee, nec's pas? Mon aimee, augh, augh augh.... " and like that...

At the Scout Skills Pavilion, the same: "haugh, haugh, haugh , zee rrrope, he go throo zee loop lik a zees,  an'   lik a zees... augh, augh , augh,   an' voila  ! "

Ted comes to me a year (!)  later,  and relates the following: He and family had been shopping in the local Safeway when a young boy runs up to him, points his finger at Ted,  yells "HAUGH, HAUGH,   HAUGH !!"  and runs off. 

Yes, we do make an impression. 

[Jameson76]

Have a Boy Scout that joined due to influence of friends, basically to do High Adventure, and he was 15 and about 9 months at the time.  Really good youth.  He did go to Seabase with a crew, not the one he wanted to , but another we sent.  That summer he went to camp, did the new Scout program.  While there we talked and I asked what he wanted to get out of Scouting.  He advised have fun, go camping, maybe earn Life rank.  We looked at the dates and advised he could actually get Eagle, if he committed to the journey through Scouting.

He ended up going to our Second summer camp and served as a JASM for the week.  Managed to earn some fun merit badges and some Eagle required.  Then he did High Adventure this past summer, and went to the second summer camp again as a JASM.  Good leadership and a great asset.

Now he has completed his 21 merit badges and is beginning work on his Eagle project.  Great example to other Boy Scouts in the troop.

[jjlash]

Those "...years later..." paybacks are great.  I especially like the ones that I don't even remember doing.  They are what I call "Lollipop Moments"

 

 

[Cambridgeskip]

Wanted to share this one, it's one about parents. Too often we hear moans about parents but I had a moment with a couple last night that just left me with a smile on my face.

 

First to rewind the clock to my teenage years in the 1990s. I grew up in Hertfordshire, just north of London. The thing to understand is that what you chaps would call "high adventure" is typically run at county level here with many counties having a particular specialism. For hertfordshire it was mountaineering and for running trips they had their own out of county base at a place called Lochearnhead in the Scottish Highlands. The Station, is it is known, is exactly that. An old station on an abandoned railway line that got adopted by Herts scouts in the 1960s and converted into a base for high adventure. It is wonderfully excentric with many of its own traditions. People that go there tend to fall in love with it and come back year after year after year.

 

Life took me to Cambridge, which is out of Hertforshire, but I stayed in touch with many old friends involved in running the station and a few years ago was offered the opportunity to start sending a small number of scouts to courses there. It was highly successful and they have allowed us to start sending more kids from across the district each year.

 

Bringing it right up to date we had a briefing meeting last night for scouts going in the latest contingent this Easter and their parents. One from another group, who I didn't really know, turned up with mum and dad who had smiles all over their faces. It turned out they were both veterans from the station having been their regularly in their teenage years, a few years before me. They remembered it with huge fondness. And to say they are thrilled that their daughter is now getting to go and experience it in all its beauty and excentricity is one of the world's biggest understatements. They're not helicopter parents, they're not forcing her to go or planning on cramping her style. They get it that it's her opportunity to spread her wings. They were just so excited at where she was getting to do it.

 

To come home to see parents that happy at what their children are getting up to was a genuine pleasure.

[Sentinel947]

I had what is likely my final "Scoutmasters Paycheck" or Success story from my Troop. Since I became an Assistant Scoutmaster, I also helped the Troop as an Eagle project coach. My final Life Scout earned his Eagle Scout last night. I'm very proud of his accomplishments inside the Troop and outside of it, and I'm honored to have played a small part in some of them. With that being done, I will be shortly taking my "retirement" from my Troop, and moving on to other things inside of Scouting and outside of it. I know I have one more summer of NYLT staff, and after that, I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds... And so for now, so ends my one hour a week.