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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/13/18 in all areas

  1. Week T-1 Update We now have 5 girls interested in joining our Pack. 4 are current GSUSA members and 3 have brothers in the Pack. We have not pushed recruiting at all and do not plan to so I expect our early adopter numbers to be low. So far, 2 Lions, 1 Wolf and 2 Bears. Two of the girls would bring a new family to the Pack. Their father is an Eagle Scout and former scout leader (he doesn’t have sons so he hasn’t been involved with our Pack). Next week... committee meeting, meeting with DE.
    2 points
  2. Here are examples from our troop during the past year. All of these conservation projects were suggested/requested by the land owners, and most happened during camping trips. 1. Cleaning out a plugged drain culvert that was causing trail erosion from the diverted runoff. 2. Picking up broken glass (lots of it) from a trail that is frequented by both humans and animals. 3. Channeling runoff water away from a trail that was becoming a mud pit. 4. Piling up dead wood for a controlled burn to reduce forest fire hazard. 5. Removing non-native plant species that were choking
    2 points
  3. Now I can hang out in the troop's office at the church for all eternity...that will be great
    2 points
  4. So, we have started the process to add girls as part of the early adopter program. Still early in the process so we will see where this goes Requirements are similar to what you saw in the video. It is clear they want us to keep the boy and Girl dens separate. They want new den leaders for the all girls den(s). It was mentioned that if we have 9 boys and 5 girls in the same level, they could meet same time/place but should have separate leaders and be separate during the activity. This is an emphasis of the early adopter program. They do not want commingled dens. Minimum num
    1 point
  5. Okay, they have a strong brand, with some adults. What about brand recognition with kids? That's the issue.
    1 point
  6. One obvious observation is, because she was not a Scout member of B.S.A., she neither qualified for Merit Badges or rank advancement. She knew that at the time. Now she, and her parents, want to go back and rewrite history. My best friend as a Scout earned piles of Merit Badges, was a great leader, and was admired by all. The leg brace he wore due to polio prevented his earning Eagle (no Life Saving MB). He took that better than I did. He told me that he always knew he could not Eagle. But, then, he outranked me as we looked at it, because he wore the Honor Medal. H
    1 point
  7. As it happens I am at Gilwell Park as I type! Massive event called winter camp, big weekend jamboree affair. We come every year it's great fun Gilwell are quite welcoming to visitors, phone in advance and they'll have you there. Be aware that's it's in a transitional phase. A lot of the old buildings are being closed knocked down and replaced. So the famous camp square looks quite run down but is due to be totally rebuilt. Brownsea is indeed run by the National Trust which is a charity that looks after a lot of historic sites. It's open to visitors all year, no need to
    1 point
  8. Just because I took classes in one college doesn't mean I get a degree from another.
    1 point
  9. @Stosh, as an ADC, I have made this argument to Troop Committees and Scoutmasters who ask me about how to conduct elections for SPL. When I tell them their Troop might be too small to even need an SPL they look at me like I have 5 eyeballs. They could easily have two Patrols, each with a PL, and no SPL at all. Usually, the units go ahead and elect an SPL who acts in the capacity of PL over 12 Scouts...
    1 point
  10. I hear where you're coming from. If mamma ain't happy....... well, you know the rest. Le Castor Petit should be ready in a couple of years anyway.
    1 point
  11. Haha! No, I just thought this was a good way to get my family over to visit Brownsea Island and in a fun way. I don't know how it would work logistically to take a Troop, for instance, over to Brownsea for a camping trip. Since it's under the management of the UK's National Trust. I gather that's like the Park Service in the USA? Maybe @Cambridgeskip can give us some insight?
    1 point
  12. @gblotter As I read your post, the phrase PL acting like ASPL's. This is where the rub comes for me. With the patrol method, there should be a bit of autonomy with the patrols. Each patrol is not responsible for doing all the same thing all the time. This puts the burden on the SPL to run the show of 25 boys with 3 assistants. The assistants take their guidance from the SPL and dictate to the patrols rather than the patrols deciding what they want. If the SPL says we do this and the patrol members don't like it, the vote with their feet. If they had ownership of what they did, the
    1 point
  13. @Eagle94-A1 got it. My parents stayed out of my way and let me succeed and fail in my own and I learned so much. A few of my friends had a lot of help from their parents and they are less able all around.
    1 point
  14. I KNOW scouts do better and learn more when they go at their own pace. I was pushed by both my uncle and cousin to get Eagle before high school, and was well on my way too. Like HT's son above, I got sidetracked by the adventure and fun of Scouting and earned Eagle at 18. I was active, did lots of things, but was having too much fun to focus on MBs as they became boring. My oldest is 14 and Life. I think I "pushed" him twice. Once was to honestly earn a MB he was given at an MBU, and the second time to do the one requirement for Cooking MB, meals not requiring refrigeration, and show the
    1 point
  15. No, I don't. I've gone back to school myself, so I don't have that "one hour a week" right now.
    1 point
  16. I should mention that I see the hands of BSA legal department all over the Eagle workbook. I have no doubt that BSA lawyers have contributed much to make the workbook cumbersome, and for that reason improvements are unlikely.
    1 point
  17. Of course it's hard to tune out parents who advocate unnecessarily for otherwise competent scouts. The only thing that's harder: helping scouts tune out scouters who use the youth's story to take swipes at his/her parents. In this case, I'm pretty sure there aren't personal grudges against Mr. I (maybe his profession, but I wager that's only inasmuch as his sound bytes are likely crafted through that framework). That's all the more reason to not get hung up on the extent to which he has made this a publicity stunt. I have no idea if she's exceptional. Either Miss I's done everything that
    1 point
  18. WHY? “…trademark licensing program has grown from $6 million dollars in retail licensed product sales annually at the end of 2006 to more than $75 million dollars in retail licensed product sales annually at the end of 2016…” WHO? Mr Greg Winters, Manager, Licensing Programs, Boy Scouts of America http://www.hktdc.com/ncs/alc2018/en/s/Speakers.html According to a trade magazine http://images2.advanstar.com/PixelMags/license-global/digitaledition/05-2016-top150.html#46 the BSA is # 150 of the Top Global Licensors. Bigger than I would have guessed! Girl Scouts were #
    1 point
  19. Okay, since I have been involved deeply in branding in my professional life I feel the urge to chime in here. BSA has a very strong brand, both nationally and world wide. Brand equity, value, recognition, recall and a whole slew of other metrics are strengths for BSA. If BSA did not have a strong brand do you think GSUSA would have spent so much effort and money after the last policy announcement? BSA is certainly using it's brand to their advantage in bringing girls into Scouting. If Trail Life had made the same announcement instead of BSA I don't think you would have heard a word f
    1 point
  20. 1 point
  21. I firmly believe those Scouts that are left to their own devices (and time frame), enjoy and value Scouting more. My son didn't get into Scouting immediately after Cubs. When he did he spent almost a year at Scout, mostly due to sports and trying to find a Troop that did the things he liked. He then shot up to First Class with the minimum time in TF & 2nd Class. He spent almost a year as First Class. He got Life 6 months after Star. He has been Life for about 9 months and has only a vague idea of what he wants to do as an Eagle project. He has almost 2 years left, so he is in no rush.
    1 point
  22. I thought I would share about my son's journey to Eagle. My son was a 17yr and 11 month type of Eagle. His attendance with the troop started to decline during high school. His freshman and sophomore years, he was on the wrestling team with meets on Saturdays during the fall, so he missed some camp outs. But he participated in the Spring. He was also involved with Junior ROTC at his high school. His Junior year, he was Spirit Team commander for his AFJROTC unit, which meant on Friday nights, he had to attend the school football games. Again, this took him out of participation in the Fall
    1 point
  23. Me neither. And I have seen it happen . The youth was given Eagle on appeal to national, and the entire district advancement committee resigned in protest.
    1 point
  24. That would be opening a massive Pandora's box. As far as I have seen extension are given for medical reasons or for special needs Scouts, a date range for a policy change does not fit the spirit of the extension rule. Exceptions are given on a case by case basis and need a darn good reason. Even if BSA concluded that the policy change IS a darn good reason, which I do not think it is, and doubt BSA will either, that would set up the situation where any girl 17 years 364 days old or less could ask for an extension. Denying the extension to some and not others would be a potential lega
    1 point
  25. Thanks for the idea. I've been of the mind to make my own casket. Given plans for cremation, maybe I could start with my own urn. Maybe in the shape of a PWD car 5x scale? It would hold patches and neckers until I die ... to hand out to my mourners. i probably wouldn't put a BSA logo on it ... No point in leaving my estate with hassles from BSA licensing.
    1 point
  26. You speak the truth. I have witnessed the same thing with many Eagle candidates. The process can stall for many months because the boy is so intimidated/bored/repelled by the paper blockade. Personally, I don't think some adult assistance with paperwork is unmerited. This is how I have approached it as an Eagle mentor when I sense a mental logjam over paperwork. I will simply volunteer to sit down at the computer with the Scout and act as his scribe. I am doing nothing more than typing out his words as he verbally answers the questions in the workbook. Relieving him of typing duties frees
    1 point
  27. I put this thread in I&P because it can go any where it wants.
    1 point
  28. You are right, but missed the point. We've all identified that same work around. The issue is BSA is marketing a contradiction. BSA is promoting "family" scouting, but hinted at single gender troops. That design would be inherently a contradiction, an oxymoron and no different than today but with girl troops.
    1 point
  29. Yet you want them around your campfire? Driving your kids? Not me.
    1 point
  30. One thing I am not a fan of: conferring rank on the basis of the squeaky wheel. There is likely some other 16 year-old girl out there quietly putting up with this "outrageous and embarrassing" situation - documenting every skill/activity/responsibility along the way, but whose family and troop is keeping her out of the magnifying glass. There are certainly other women who have the paper trail to prove they did everything to advance according to the rules of their day -- except be male. I do think the nobler thing for BSA to do is give all of those cases due recognition. But, if it is
    1 point
  31. I suspect Mr. Ireland is not a very good lawyer because his research and reading comprehension skills are considerably lacking. Even my 19 year old son knows where to find the WSJ registration requirements. But what happens if Ms. Ireland is not one of the 10,000 people selected to go for the US contingent? Will she badger her Canadian friends in Ontario to be part of theirs? If she does not get in there will daddy fly her to Zimbabwe to be part of their contingent? Where does this sense of entitlement end? He knows darn well that she could go, IF SELECTED, as a member of a Venturing Crew
    1 point
  32. Hmmmm, if rule making by adults is important to the operation of the troop, why not have an opportunity for each boy to be SPL for a 1 week, 1 term election and then everyone can mark it off on their resume/college application they were an SPL. From all the negative feedback about SPL's not doing their job very well, most troops wouldn't notice any difference. As a UC that goes around fighting fires in units all the time, when it comes to elections in troops, I would venture to say about 100% of the times people are upset about leadership selection in troops is because of adult made up r
    1 point
  33. This topic was well before my time, and like a fine wine, it's aged well.
    1 point
  34. Magical stuff. I am just old enough to have to write a thesis on a typewriter. But it was electric and had an auto-correct tape feature. You have no idea what you missed. In grade school I just loved the smell of the mimeograph machine in the morning. It smelled like victory.
    1 point
  35. Had to google “carbon paper”.
    1 point
  36. There are digital alternatives that can be done which fix many of the technology problems noted in this thread. There are free programs (and low cost commercial ones) that BSA could use which would 1) standardize the process which will save time, 2) implement a standard method for providing photos, etc., without losing data, and 3) allow for a digital workflow (again, standardized) which would allow everyone to submit the same way, using the same open, free and easy to use system. Case in point: Google Classroom. This software is quite easy to use and could easily be customized to fit the
    1 point
  37. The reason we are pushing is that some of the girls were interested in summer camps this summer. By allowing them to join now they are eligible for camp. Otherwise I agree and I’m not pushing any recruitment outside our current Pack families until next Scout year.
    1 point
  38. I had a meeting with my DE. Very few packs are proceeding with this option (my understanding is that my Pack is the only one or two in his district), so yes we will have a lot of love and attention from our DE. The DE will setup training and help explain how we can run a single cross grade den (similar to how he runs the extension? program). Our DE has been very helpful but I do expect he will be monitoring for national. I’m not sure what involvement there will be outside our DE; however, he emphasized that they will look for new leaders to be registered as den leaders to show se
    1 point
  39. Good luck! So whose minding the store? Will a DE be dropping in to make sure you all are compliant?
    1 point
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