St. Louis University of Scouting

[karen1970]

I just attended the Greater St. Louis Area Council's U of S. They offer a special needs college that is top notch!

[dawnydiesel]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was one of the trainers for the college and I'm immensely pleased to hear that.

[RememberSchiff]

Saw this article about Troop 724, one of two special needs troops in the St. Louis area:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/troop-offers-haven-for-scouts-who-won-t-give-up/article_2d646403-e9ea-54d3-9325-346708adad73.html

 

This special needs troop offers a "special" service to community - a 16 member color guard with distinct uniform. "The troop has performed on many occasions. “Last year we were in the opening ceremonies for Veterans Day†at a St. Louis event, Scoutmaster Joe Vaughan said. This year, Boeing Co., for which the troop is official color guard, has offered to send the boys to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the Rose Bowl Parade, he added."

[King Ding Dong]

Saw this article about Troop 724, one of two special needs troops in the St. Louis area:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/troop-offers-haven-for-scouts-who-won-t-give-up/article_2d646403-e9ea-54d3-9325-346708adad73.html

 

This special needs troop offers a "special" service to community - a 16 member color guard with distinct uniform. "The troop has performed on many occasions. “Last year we were in the opening ceremonies for Veterans Day†at a St. Louis event, Scoutmaster Joe Vaughan said. This year, Boeing Co., for which the troop is official color guard, has offered to send the boys to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the Rose Bowl Parade, he added."

"Joe Vaughan has been Scoutmaster of Troop 724 since 1999. His military background shows as he directs his Scouts around the campsite, intermittently puffing on a cigarette." Anything amiss here ?

 

"Nicholas Keim, 17, joined Troop 724 after leaders in his previous troop told him he’d never become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts"

“(Troop 724) has really helped me to be more social, to find a part of me that wasn’t brought out in my other troop,†said Keim, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “There, I didn’t feel safe, happy or respected. Here, I have friends.â€Â

 

That doesn't speak well for the at least one other troop in the area. Hope it wasn't mine.

 

We have a special needs member of our troop that did make Eagle, but he is not happy or respected or included by the members of his patrol. Another new scout with some issues feels the same way.

 

Question, does the boy led, 300 feet patrol method work with special needs

scouts ?

[qwazse]

Saw this article about Troop 724, one of two special needs troops in the St. Louis area:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/troop-offers-haven-for-scouts-who-won-t-give-up/article_2d646403-e9ea-54d3-9325-346708adad73.html

 

This special needs troop offers a "special" service to community - a 16 member color guard with distinct uniform. "The troop has performed on many occasions. “Last year we were in the opening ceremonies for Veterans Day†at a St. Louis event, Scoutmaster Joe Vaughan said. This year, Boeing Co., for which the troop is official color guard, has offered to send the boys to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the Rose Bowl Parade, he added."

Yeah, KDD, the guy should have been smoking a cigar!

 

At this age, a kid's special needs can overwhelm him. Especially a bipolar kid's needs. The boys in his troop could have been going out of their way to be helpful and it still wouldn't have been enough. My son is friends with a number of special needs kids, and when they're camping, he needs to do a lot of prodding to keep them positive and engaged. When a kid like that gets old enough to realize that everyone is having to go the extra mile on his account, he doesn't feel like he is giving anything in return. The sense of isolation builds quickly.

 

All that to say, integration is really really hard. I'd say only about half of our special needs kids manage to "fit in" with our troop. The others have serious emotional conflicts that they just cannot overcome in a wilderness setting.

 

Can you give special needs kids a hundred yard distance? Depends on the kids. But usually, no. The adults in their life have just barely begun to understand them. Maybe they have one or two friends who really "get" what's going on, but those aren't their fellow scouts. (Think about it. Even odds, their ideal outdoors partner is of the opposite sex, and therefore not a member of the troop. Then of his male buddies, not all are interested in scouting.) Typically these adults are not "helicopter parents", they've been doing that 24/7 just to help the kid survive until now! They are happy to back away, but they need to be around 1. to help the boy when (not if) and emotional crisis hits, 2. to coach the rest of us (adults and youth) so we can do what we do in a way that helps the boy(s).

[Sakitama]

Saw this article about Troop 724, one of two special needs troops in the St. Louis area:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/troop-offers-haven-for-scouts-who-won-t-give-up/article_2d646403-e9ea-54d3-9325-346708adad73.html

 

This special needs troop offers a "special" service to community - a 16 member color guard with distinct uniform. "The troop has performed on many occasions. “Last year we were in the opening ceremonies for Veterans Day†at a St. Louis event, Scoutmaster Joe Vaughan said. This year, Boeing Co., for which the troop is official color guard, has offered to send the boys to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the Rose Bowl Parade, he added."

Kinda like the fact that there are some Special Needs troops out there, though I am one more geared for inclusion. My 11 year old daughter is currently in an institutional setting because of severe Autism and behavioral challenges associated with the inability to effectively communicate with others. She's made a lot of progress and while we may keep her in a Group Home setting when she finishes the program she's currently in; I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate a scouting program in the group home she goes to. Wish scouting here in the US was more Co-Ed as that would make it easier. I really am not liking the things I currently hear out of the Girl Scout Community (and even when I was a GS, I always wished I was a Boy Scout).

[qwazse]

Saw this article about Troop 724, one of two special needs troops in the St. Louis area:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/troop-offers-haven-for-scouts-who-won-t-give-up/article_2d646403-e9ea-54d3-9325-346708adad73.html

 

This special needs troop offers a "special" service to community - a 16 member color guard with distinct uniform. "The troop has performed on many occasions. “Last year we were in the opening ceremonies for Veterans Day†at a St. Louis event, Scoutmaster Joe Vaughan said. This year, Boeing Co., for which the troop is official color guard, has offered to send the boys to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the Rose Bowl Parade, he added."

S, you have a tough row to hoe. Don't write off the GS. Your local community might have some good people, and maybe some of them are up for a challenge. Challenge them!

 

"... even when I was a GS, I always wished I was a Boy Scout ..." We get that a lot.

 

This spring at an area meeting I met a venturing crew of special needs youth. The advisor introduced herself because we happened to have the same unit #. I was quite impressed with the program they cobbled together.

[berliner]

University of Scouting sounds interesting. College? More info/links on that please.

And yeah I have my first experiences with special needs and all as well.

[RememberSchiff]

University of Scouting sounds interesting. College? More info/links on that please.

And yeah I have my first experiences with special needs and all as well.

Many Councils hold a "University of Scouting" where scouters teach other scouters.

Here's a link to the next one (Jan, 2014) for the Greater St. Louis Council: http://www.stlbsa.org/training/pages/university-of-scouting.aspx

also a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gslacuniversity

[berliner]

Thanks RememberSchiff.

see, the Transatlantic Council has its own ways:

We had Merit Badge University for the boys and the

Scouters Conference, which is what you guys are talking about I guess.

Same thing different name ...

[qwazse]

Thanks RememberSchiff.

see, the Transatlantic Council has its own ways:

We had Merit Badge University for the boys and the

Scouters Conference, which is what you guys are talking about I guess.

Same thing different name ...

If repeat attendees schedule their courses so as to be available to "help" the dutch-oven cooking course test their results, then yep, same thing.

[berliner]

2 words qwazse: peach cobbler ^o^

[qwazse]

2 words qwazse: peach cobbler ^o^

Cobbler is just the "edge of the ladle" with these guys. Just on the tip of my tongue, they had:

 

Baked haddock, pizza, shepherd's pie, rolled cabbage, velvet cake, apple pie, and much much more!

 

The whole point of UoS is to provide a variety of instruction in a number of areas at several levels of experience. It is a knowledge exchange. I usually wind up teaching a course as well as taking a couple. (In addition to helping the Dutch oven guys with sampling and clean-up!)