Adult leaders who were never Scouts......

[Narraticong]

NESA is an interesting topic. My experience is that NESA is sorely underutilized as a resource to gain volunteer adult leaders. I was a member for many years when I moved to the Detroit area, but never was approached by anyone to see if I might be interested in helping out. When my son was born I tried calling the Council office to find out about adult volunteer opportunities and could not get a response. When my son became a Tiger I jumped right in and have been an active leader since. Along the way I have tried numerous times to get a NESA chapter started locally. Although I get a lot of lip service, the Council takes no action. Others have told me they have also tried with the same result. So here we have a resource sitting out there and the professionals do nothing to get Eagles involved. It's almost as though they really don't want us other than to write a check.

[qwazse]

Nar - I don't recall NESA offering anything except to help one stay connected with other Eagles.

 

That said, Eagles are a diverse group. Herding them in any one direction is not easy. And, maybe not the most desirable thing!

 

The one thing that I missed on as a young adult Eagle, was to participate in scouting internationally. I just didn't see how I could make it "fit" into everything else in my life.

 

Now that I have kids, and lots of adult leaders who were not scouts in my unit, coaching them (and learning from them) seems to be the best use of that bird I earned.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Narraticong

 

I'm told by council officials that district volunteers can get access to NESA lists for zip codes in their area, and for those in the new Scouting Alumni group who aren't limited to Eagle Scouts.

 

I've been toying with getting a list of 50 or 100 of those names and doing the kind of cold calling your suggest to find people who would like to help as Scouting volunteers.

 

A good place to get started as a volunteer would be to attend a monthly district meeting or two. District leaders ought to be well informed about activities in their area, and at least in my district anyone new who shows up at district meetings is going to be welcomed.

[Basementdweller]

Beyond the NESA is there a list of eagle scouts or a place to look up by name Boys or Men who have earned Eagle.

[Twocubdad]

Every few years BSA contracts some company to do a directory. It seems to be one of those who's-who things where they list you in the book then try to sell you a copy at $80 or $100. I bit a few years ago. When I got the book, I spent some time looking up a number of Eagles I known -- guys I knew back in the day as well as those I know as adults now. Out of about 35 guys I looked up, I think only 6 or 8 were in the book. A real rip=off.

 

On the other hand, if you're mining for contacts or leads among old Eagles, not trying to find individuals, it may be okay.

[RememberSchiff]

Supposedly, each Council maintains records of scouts who earned Eagle in that council and the earlier councils that may have merged into that council.

As I recall, the record fields:

Scout name

Troop number

Troop town

Scoutmaster

Council name where earned

date earned

Eagle number

 

Hope this is still true and helps.(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[HICO_Eagle]

Irsap --

 

I've been away from the forums for a while but I'm sorry you feel you have to defend yourself and other adult leaders who were never Scouts. As you say, NS leaders are in demand because we don't have enough involved leaders period. I think nearly all (if not all) of us recognize someone doesn't have to have gone through Scouting as a youth to be a good Scout leader.

 

Both of my scoutmasters growing up were non-scout leaders assisted by a couple of recently graduated ASMs. Had the SMs not given what they could of their time and organizational skill, the ASMs could not have spent time teaching us scout skills. A rather large percentage of us in that troop made it to Eagle "despite" having non-Scout scoutmasters.

 

Some of the best adult leaders I've known have been women -- who by definition couldn't have been Boy Scouts as youth.

 

On the other hand, it is a truism that NS leaders don't have Patrol Method ingrained in them (truthfully, many prior-Scout leaders don't either) or are lacking in other bits of "the Scout method." I laugh a bit about EDGE because I don't really see anything new in it except the fancy acronym but it follows the basic method I learned to teach anything so I don't mind using the acronym.

 

I think where you see prior-Scout leaders perhaps seeing problems or taking offense is when we have to take time-wasting mandatory "training" because it's presumed we don't know basic First Class skills or when we see some of the traditions and heritage slip away because someone who wasn't a Scout is in a position of power in the district, council or board of directors and decided to leave his or her mark.

 

Personally, I am thankful for every adult that gets involved in Scouting regardless of whether s/he was a Scout as youth, especially at a time when American traditions like Scouting are under siege by the forces that wish to change American society radically.