Adult Recognition
Daniel W Brown (dabrown2@VT.EDU)
Sat, 3 Jun 1995 12:26:46 +0600
Let me wade in on the subject of adult recognition with a few observations.
Knots, arrowheads, and other recognitions are and should be available for
adult recognition. Every scouter who qualifies for an award should be
nominated. Since most people are shy about doing the paperwork themselves,
I usually keep track of them for my unit. Those that don't want to wear
them don't have to. We have several souters in our district who have enough
awards to look like south american dictators.
I agree that unit leaders deserved far more recognition than they get and
Bill is right that much of the problem is that the unit committee often does
not care or know enough to nominate the person. Most of the unit committee
members in my district don't have any idea what the Award of Merit or the
Silver Beaver is for. In the past decade, our district awarded an Award of
Merit to a scouter who was scoutmaster for over forty years and to a den
leader who is still serving after over fifty years. It took so long because
no one thought to nominate them.
Another problem in getting unit leaders recognized is the district and
council selection committees. I have served on the Award of Merit selection
committee in three of the last seven years. One of the things that I
usually put on the table first is, that all other things being equal, I have
a prejustice for unit level service in evaluating nominations. Most years,
the other members have agreed with me and the selections have shown this
prejustice. In one case, a scouter with many years of district service got
his nose ot of joint because he got passed over for a scouter with the same
number of years service as a Den Leader, Scoutmaster and Committee Chairman.
Tough. If unit leaders are not being recognized in you district, perhaps
it is time to reeducate those that appoint the selection committees.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
