Leaderboard

Some other KPI (Key Performance Indicators) you may want to consider Number of Scouts lost on outings last quarter and actively found Number of Scouts lost on outings last quarter that you did not look for but who seemed to have turned up anyway Scouts left at gas / food stops last quarter while driving to or from outings Number of rain jackets forgotten at last outing with rain (can also be expressed as a percentage) Number of class A shirts misplace that seem to have magically been found Number of items "stolen" on an outing last quarter that were "found"

Adults are the worst enemy to patrol method. We apply our sensibilities and biases to a process that the youth see no issue with. Last campout we had 5 patrols. 1 patrol was two scouts. 1 patrol was four scouts. They had a great time, they cooked and enjoyed their meals and were happy to have only their own dishes to contend with. I subscribe completely the B-P's POV: "The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the only method." There is another tenant of B-P I fully subscribe to: "My ideal camp is where everyone is cheery and busy, whe

Those are all great ideas. I'd add: Form an adult patrol. Act like a patrol. Make a yell. A flag. Camp apart. Have your own kitchen, just like theirs. Do your menu, just like they do. Have your own grubmaster. Plan your own patrol activities when it's patrol time. Set the example.

"We are so afraid of the kinds of dangers that are actually so rare that we are not allowing our children to prepare themselves for the bumps in the road of life. Then, later on they fall apart," Boston College Professor Peter Gray told WBZ-TV. "They are far better off if they have the kinds of experiences in which they learn how to judge danger themselves, how to solve their own problems, develop a certain degree of courage, learn how to deal with the small amounts of fear and anger that naturally arise in play....We've taken away a lot of recess, we've shortened the lunch hour so kids a

When my financial advisor found out I was a scout leader and taking other people's kids in my car and out camping, he recommended I carry umbrella liability insurance. I have done so for 30 years now. It is very reasonable in cost. You can be perfectly innocent and not at fault, but if you get sued or accused, it can cost you everything to defend yourself. Such is today's litigious society that feels if my kid gets hurt, SOMEONE has to pay, no matter the reason.

What can we say, other than good for her. https://richmond.com/opinion/column/hanover-hypocrisy-book-censorship-girl-scout/article_ca2c06be-fde7-11ee-8aea-939bb71a3f14.html

IMHO. Delegate. KISS (Keep It Simple Scoutmaster) , oh and go paperless or lesspaperworkess, The Troop Committee usually has a Secretary, Activities Chair, Equipment Chair,... and the troop has a Scribe and Quartermaster. Back in the day (there he goes again), much of the same was accomplished by simply updating a troop advancement chart and calendar which was hanging on meeting room wall. My $0.02,

I think we will focus on these 2 items. Physically separate camping, adults cook their own meal, adults have a duty roster like the scouts.

@mrjohns2, we validated you, now what do we propose for a solution? One of my strategies: offer to cook an adult-only meal. This assumes you know how to cook one very fine meal very well. But, usually when adults know that they’re getting a meal where they won’t have listen to kids complain, they’ll pitch in. Other ideas: Camp physically distant from the youth. Attend Camporees and require that the SM visit all of the other troops. Get your SM to training. Attend a summer camp that does patrol cooking. It takes quite a while to unlearn bad habits. So encourag

She thinks that way because she didn’t have a scouting experience as a youth. Patrol method is only limited by adults fears. I used to teach a course teaching adults how to push their fears boundaries out. The adults need to ask themselves what it would take to let the patrols to cook on their own. I’m not a fan of no cooking, but some healthy easy to fix meals might help the adults grow in the program. Discussion? Barry

Girl Scout saves boy's life by using CPR training she learned months before harrowing event. I like Mom's comment at end. Scout salute.

This was the BSA version I am familiar with.

I have a friend in Virginia whose daughter earned her Gold and who is very active in general in school, soccer, and other things. I asked him his opinion. His response was that the Girl Scouts encourage the girls to be activists. An interesting view from someone that has been involved a long while with them, and and also has a boy tht is now Life.

Curious about this. Opposing book bans seems civic to me, as opposed to political because freedom of speech is a bedrock foundation of liberal democracy and the context of book access in community libraries is one in which freedom of speech is appropriately the most salient one, including in historical context. (As opposed to limiting speech to what is scoutlike and consistent with the Scout Law and Oath in BSA contexts, for example.) Wo Bücher brennen... Why don't you think your council's Eagle Board would approve this?

https://www.scouts.ca/news-and-events/news/2024/04/scouts-canada-makes-pledge-to-be-scouts-for-all-canadians New leadership and focus announced monday.

I would lead with: 1) Is the PLC running the Troop well? 2) Are new scouts <2 years integrating well into the activities and patrols. 3) Are AOL scouts attending any meetings and outings and has that gone well? I think the other items are fine, but some should also come from committee members themselves (advancement chair, etc.).

"Tiffany Thompson, who is the Troop Leader for Troop 10121, said that while the girls were thinking of ways to spend the profit from their cookie sales, one of them expressed interest in purchasing a well like what was done in the book “The Sparkle Box”. Thompson said the troop was actually able to make it happen thanks to a connection the West Logan Church had with a pastor in Uganda who does that kind of work. ... Thompson said the well cost around $1,800 and will be dug as part of the efforts of Pastor Paddy Musoke. Thompson said the well will come with a plaque noting that it was

they are/were available on scoutshop.org. I did break down and buy one to see it in person and have plans to work it up into a new uniform using old interesting patches off ebay.

Scoutlike discussion? Locking for now. @Eagle1993 @gpurlee @T2Eagle @MattR

No, I do not expect apologies from parasites, I expect an apology from a scout who called a large number of other scouts liars based upon unfounded accusations. (That would be YOU.)

I'm surprised we don't hear about more issues with the YMCA. Perhaps my BSA training has made me hypersensitive to compromising situations. When taking my son to swim lessons, I skip the family changing area and opt for the men's room where they still have a dedicated wing for parents of young children. The locker room is partitioned for privacy (seriously, it's like a maze), but that also would make it difficult for a staff member or well-meaning bystander to intervene if they saw inappropriate activities. We always try to get in and out as fast as possible (you can shower at home, kid).

It looks like this ill-fated program was rolled-out during my 15-year Scouting hiatus between the time I worked at my local council camp in college and when my son was old enough to join Cub Scouts. I'm guessing the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis put an emphasis on marketable degrees and the BSA (already suffering from membership declines), tried to prop themselves up by attaching themselves to the STEM movement? And people actually voted to turn Scouts into night school? 😂

@fred8033, one of the first Google hits I came across suggested that Girl Scout membership declined from 2.8 million in 2003 to ~1 million in 2021. This would be a point-to point decrease of ~65% over an 18-year span. According to a table I pulled from Wikipedia, BSA membership went from 3.2 million in 2003 to ~1 million in 2021. This would be a point-to point decrease of ~69% over the same period. While some of the BSA's issues have been self-inflicted, I do think the membership challenges are part of a larger societal trend - kids just have a lot more choices these days (and that's

@jumpingjoj, I'm not too familiar with the bankruptcy process. How exactly did a scout leader get roped into this? Aside from someone getting physically hurt under my charge, this is pretty much my worst nightmare as a scout volunteer. Unless the accused wanted to lawyer-up to clear their name (with a limited success rate and drawing more attention to themselves in the process), their efforts may be better spent elsewhere. We're only given so much time on this Earth - why spend it on an organization that would turn on them so quickly?

While I was not involved in Cub Scouts at the time, a quick Google search brought up an article from the September-October 2008 edition of Scouting Magazine detailing how to use those beads, along with the white diamond that held the lanyards for them as a part of Tiger Cub advancement and immediate recognition. How to use beads to encourage Tiger Cub advancement - Scouting magazine

I was a Cubmaster during that period and am not familiar with this. Looks like a local Unit-specific thing, not official BSA.

04/19/2024 Iowa: Just before deadline, Gov. Reynolds signs statute of limitations bill for Iowa Boy Scout abuse victims. Sources: https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/19/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-signs-law-helping-boy-scout-sexual-abuse-survivors/ https://www.kcrg.com/2024/04/19/gov-reynolds-signs-bill-help-boy-scout-sex-abuse-victims/

"...the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity." Thanks. Ironically perhaps, I find myself reading bbc.com more and npr less for balanced US news.

Train them. Trust them. Let them lead. It is 3x less work for SM..... Since the adult "patrol" is cooking for 3 people, not for 11.

I know you are right. The whole not knowing the accuser, not knowing what was alleged, where, when. Is all so wrong. What kind of person ruins a person and makes this accusation just to get $3500.

My suggestion is to love the past and the involvement. Then, move on. Find the next place to volunteer. Scouting is not the end-all-be-all of life.

Interesting articles in the last few days. Uri Berliner (NPR editor) published editorial about NPR, bias, DEI and other related topics. Really well thought out. https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust Uri Berliner suspended by NPR. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/media/npr-suspends-uri-berliner-liberal-bias/index.html I'm a four decade long NPR listener from three different parts of the country. My local channels have absolutely been incredible. But like the article says, I've had a hard time continuing listening recently becau

We solved the "3x the work" cooking issue by camping next to the parking lot and ordering out-by patrols, of course. Separate patrol checks. Scouts can't cook, but at least "Thrifty" is a work-in-progress.

Awesome. I just wanted to get it out there. It feels better to be validated.

That would be three separate menus/shopping/cooking/cleanup in our unit, so three patrols. 3 olders is enough for a "patrol."

It is my understanding that yes it is. One would think they would keep the domain and just forward it to scouting.org forever. The lab coats aren't on scoutshop.org any longer. After I wrote the above, I realized that it used to be on beascout.org and isn't there. I used the waybackmachine to see that sometime between April 2022 and August, the option to search for STEM Scouts was removed.

- Cotton doesn't kill.... wet cotton kills (in cold weather) Cotton has an affinity for water (hydrophilic), and is therefore difficult to dry. It does not wick away moisture, buts holds it, and therein lies the problem in cold weather. Makes a great towel for that reason, though! - Cotton shrinks (but can be pre-shrunk) - Cotton wrinkles (ironing, anyone?) - I love cotton, in hot weather 😜

After drifting away from it, our PLC has set "Return to Patrol Method" as a goal for this year. We bought more stoves and refreshed the gear, building patrol boxes that have the same contents so every Patrol can operate distinctly and without disadvantage from another. It's a great start. And it's been working great, but ... on outings I think us adults have sidestepped a part of the Patrol Method that I think maybe the Scouts "just get". Here's the crux: A patrol "should be" 6-8 Scouts. We went with 10, to improve the odds that 4-8 would attend outings. For meetings, this has been

Heretic!

Poor forecasting is an understatement. A big problem is location. Not near a major airport, so using it for training opportunities is pretty darn tough. We've got municipal airports in the northeast that dwarf Raleigh County Memorial Airport, and you can't get flights to it without zig-zagging around the US from some destinations. I suspect that is why things like the annual meeting, OA national committee meetings, etc. are not often making the rounds to be held there. There is limited onsite hotel accommodations at the Summit, but to me, we are in a camping-oriented program, so use it for NOA

Take a freaking chill. I guess the 6 different versions of the handbook that span a few decades I have that don't mention this must all be wrong then? It was your SM that had the requirement, as SM has the final approval of who goes on the ballot. Accept that and move on. I see no reason to mandate what should already be an SM function- heard directly by a member of the National Board who is a former Associate Lodge Adviser from my Lodge that this question has been posed to them before, and was raised last year again when the discussion to allow Venturers and Sea Scouts in (as those p

That's not an apology, bud.

Where do you get your information? Are you part of the settlement trust? When you say "many cannot", how many are you saying, what is the percentage? Have you read the claims? Except for what you have read do you know the lawyers? Do you actually even know a claimant? Have you walked in any of our shoes? As a survivor who was well vetted by a law firm who has filed 1600 claims I am disturbed by your constant attitude of trying to make the BSA look like the victim in all of this. It was the BSA who filed the Bankruptcy and ran their own ads for survivors to come forward. I know this becaus