Re: "Charter Name Scout" question
Chuck Batteau (charles.r.batteau@BELLATLANTIC.COM)
Wed, 27 May 1998 10:53:19 -0400
Mike -
I'll side with Jessi on this question. I put it to myself this
way:
I have (literally) a boy in my troop -- let's call him Bob
(there ain't NObody named Bob in 751!) -- who is 17, a Star
Scout, very active in his school (both academic and
extracurricular) and in his parish. He has not attended a
meeting nor an outing in at least a year, but he showed enough
interest to pay (himself, not his dad) for his recharter last
January. However, he is well liked and would be welcomed back
into the troop program if he changed his schedule (I still have
hopes ...). How would I feel if Bob did something worthy of
national recognition?
The answer I came up with (almost automatically): If Bob showed
an act of heroism like the young gentleman in question, I'd be
so proud to recommend him for the Heroism Medal that my buttons
would pop! Whether or not he had attended any recent
meetings/campouts, he had OBVIOUSLY learned what it means to Be
Prepared, how to act quickly under pressure, and how to do one
HECKUVA good turn on some days. I'd have him recognized by our
county supervisor, legislative representatives and anybody else
I could think of. I might even try to arrange to have the
Heroism medal awarded at a school assembly (either Bob's school
or the other boy's school), appropriately accompanied by the
troop, to show the disbelievers (which, unfortunately,
outnumber the true believers) what Boy Scouts can produce.
The Scoutmaster of this boy is, imo, concerned with the wrong
thing. The message is NOT that "just paying your money each
year" makes you a good Scout -- NOR that "showing up at each
meeting" makes you a good Scout. Rather, it's what the boy has
learned from the Scouting program ** and put into action in his
daily life ** that makes a good Scout. If he can challenge his
boys to be like my Bob, he will have one awesome troop --
because most of the boys WILL want to be attending weekly
because they enjoy the program!
(BTW, "good things come to those who are active"? What would
that SM say if my Bob were an Eagle candidate who had fulfilled
all of his requirements, including membership & leadership, but
had not attended meetings or campouts for the past two years?
If he recommended that Bob be refused, either by the SM or BoR,
his decision would almost certainly be overturned by National.)
Sure, I'd PREFER that Bob be attending meetings and campouts --
he's actually a pretty good leader (former SPL), but at this
moment in time his church activities are more important to him,
and how can I argue with that? <grin> Bob IS a good Scout and,
more importantly, is one of MY Scouts. My first concern is
turning out good Scouts, not with having the proper numbers. To
mis-quote a movie from a few years back, if you build a quality
troop with quality Scouts, the numbers will come.
One final thought. This boy, supposedly, has shown little
interest in making the final push to Eagle. He's on the
sidelines now for track: giving him the recognition he deserves
just MIGHT (no guarantees) give him the incentive to start
attending meetings and make Eagle. OTOH, if he is given no
recognition, or muted recognition, the message to HIM would be
that "we don't want your type" and he DEFINITELY will NOT try
for anything more.
Let's give this boy all the recognition we can!
YiS,
Chuck Batteau
SM, Troop 751, Glen Allen, VA, USA
-----------------------------------------------------
charles.r.batteau@BellAtlantic.com
I used to be an Eagle ...
Maybe they meant an hour a DAY ...
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
