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I think we're way off topic at this point, but on the subject of advancement... It kind of seems like no matter what pace a kid takes, it will bother someone. Go too fast and you're missing out on the journey. Go too slow and earn eagle in the 11th hour before turning 18 and they didn't take it seriously, didn't plan ahead, procrastinated, etc., etc., etc. My feeling is if this is supposed to be about the journey, let it be a journey that fits each scout. No two journeys end up being the same. The kids have their list of requirements, but even within that there is a lot of choice an

I don't understand why anyone has to drone on about upcoming events. Does the Troop not have a website with a calendar? Does leadership not send out reminder emails? I spend more time writing and sending emails to the parents as a backup to the SPL's weekly announcements than I do on most other Scouting business. We use a website from SOAR that sends out a weekly eBlast to all Scouts and their parents. It has all of the events that are open for registration- they can register and pay for all trips online too. They can also (and this is HUGE) sync the Troop calendar to their phones or even Outl

Actually it’s 50% of ballots cast. So if you have 51 scouts show and only 40 submit ballots your magic number is 21. So it’s not scouts in the room but ballots cast.

Thank you. I totally agree.

Fixed your post.

@Eagledad @Eagle94-A1 I completely understand. I don't think bad of you at all for saying No - I don't have the time. I'm in the middle of my own burnout phase. Been Committee Chair for a troop of 75 boys with a Scoutmaster who has turned difficult and ungrateful into an art form. I do get it. I've said in other threads that I think the real problem behind much of this is the neglect of our district committees. Too few people left doing too many jobs. We lack a structure that develops new leaders and builds up our "community scouting" team. Camporee's suffer, Day Camp suff

It has been a few years since I was involved at the Cub Scout level, so things may have changed... but back then, the training for the Webelos den leader didn't exactly prepare them. The problem I see is that unless the leader has been involved with Boy Scouts previously as a youth, or has had a child in Boy Scouts, they just don't know what Boy Scouts is. Hard to transition boys to a program that you know nothing about! The Webelos program itself was not geared towards transition either when my son went through. The Outdoorsman Activity is the only one that I remember that encourage

Oh I forgot that no adults were ever on stage except the sm to give a 5 min update and those accepting awards. The spl or emcee were scouts running the show.

My troop had this problem but we were able to fix it by revising the script. Announcements were moved to slides that showed before and after the ceremony or were posted to the website. Ranks and mbs were all awarded at the same time by name. Guys were called up and given their merit badges and ranks all at one time and brothers were called up together. This was much faster than doing ranks in groups and calling a line of guys up alphabetically to get mbs. Our biggest change was in adult announcements and awards. Those were done at the end and in bulk. Friends of scouting was limited to 5 minut

Remember it's the kind of thing that beds in though. I think you're seeing it from the perspective of a den/pack going from as is to six (I'll call it that to distinguish from a full on patrol) If you are in a situation where from the moment they walk through the door aged 6 they are introduced to the idea of working in a six and that for various things someone may be asked to be in charge (obviously the complexity increasing from age 6 to 10/11) then that will be accepted. Young children are extremely impressionable and if introduced to something as being the way it is at a young age they wil

If the Webelos leaders have been doing their job, you can cut another month off of that time frame - the requirements for the Scouting Adventure adventure are almost identical to those for Scout rank, so ideally they should be able to pass off that rank after their first meeting. That's always my goal with my Webelos Scouts; I prep them in the weeks leading up to their advancement to Boy Scouts so that they are prepared to meet with their Scoutmaster and pass things off at that first Patrol gathering. But it does take careful planning on the Webelos leaders' part, and close coordination with t

LOL. Don't get me wrong, that sounds like a cute idea and it would be great for school or a family council or something - but not for Cub Scouts, where we have enough requirements to complete already!

Yes & No. I'm suggesting a second, alternative course in addition/as an alternative to Wood Badge. In fact, I'm fine with Wood Badge as the leadership course. To me, Wood Badge is the leadership course for Committee Chairs, Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, etc... I think it does a fine job at that. I've been a staffer twice and really like Wood Badge - but I see it for what it is and is not. Wood Badge is clearly not a course on how to be a Scoutmaster. How to mentor the SPL, how to organize patrols, how to organize campouts, how to promote boy led, etc... I could go on and on.

Ours is still tap outs... For youth fairly firm, for the adults they really pound hard....

When I offer Den Leader Training courses for new Cub leaders in my council, that's actually a large part of what I try to convey. As a Webelos Den Leader, I think it's important to be aware of the local Boy Scout program so that I can sufficiently prepare my boys, not only for the program, but for the leaders and Troops up to which they will be advancing. My den feeds in to the Troop sponsored by our shared CO, so I always make it a point to attend their committee meetings and to know the SM and his assistants personally. That way I can give them information about the boys moving up soon,

In our pack its been kinda decided the Webelos are going to adopt the patrol method and start learning the real skills they need before joining the troop. Its also been suggested that the lower dens are going to act as patrols. Instead of one person cooking for everyone each den (DL) will cook for themselves. Our. Campout for this weekend was cancelled because its supposed to be wet and cold and seems like everyone has been sick. So we are going to just do a Beaver Day work day at the local camp. I was planning on taking a 10x10 popup canopy to cook under and a place for people

As Ronald Reagan once said, "There you go again." You have this incessant need to be right or close down debate when things don't suit you. Let me be clear (again): I am NOT talking about DATA!! That is YOUR argument. I am talking about getting ACCESS to and FINDING them!!! I'm done. You may have the last word.

Let's stay focused. We were given a working cellphone and cellphone network at the start of this discussion. Who initiates the distress call, is it the hiker? What if he is incapacitated? What if he is dead? Say the hiker has medical IoT sensors in his clothing to chain medical data via a working phone whether the user is conscious or not. So data is returned and shared, the hiker is at this location and has this pulse, temp, BP, respiration rate or he does not (He's dead Jim). The weather is getting worse, do you dispatch a SAR team ASAP or do you wait until the weather clears and

This is a great idea. It is also 100% within the description of your job (Secretary). To me this is one of those things that if you do it well it can have a tans-formative effect on a troop. A newsletter forces: - up front planning. You can't just wait until two weeks before to say - "hey, we've got a camping trip" - consistent messaging. You, as secretary, figure out length, format, etc. Parents get used to that and love it. - families rely on it. My daughter's middle school has a newsletter. When I can't remember something about a upcoming event I go back and check the lat

Good point. It would be nice to see marketing that is dual-purpose and shows boys and girls together, but logistically that kind of goes against what is actually being proposed in the program.

This is what I meant.

I made one (a scout is thrifty) it has a plywood seat, is orange, and says "home depot". The seat is bolted, sealed with silicon, and attached to one of those water proof screw lids. Good for canoe camping.

We talk a lot in Scouting about leadership. To me, a big part of leadership is standing up and leading. Every scout could do that, but many choose not to. We've got a kid in our troop that shows up 90% of the time, leads all kinds of events, and puts himself out there. We've got other kids that come 20% of the time, never camp, never participate, never show leadership, and in short - just don't try. We've got a lot more kids in the middle. As adults, I think we want to encourage boys to be more like the first example. Do things, try things, take chances, be a leader. Having a

Guys, you are missing the point of what blockchain data is, how it is stored, mined and used. Here's a decent primer on it. It can't be used for real-time SAR activities any more than a phone can. The tech on how this all works -- the blockchain, as well as the Loomia gadgets -- is highly prorietary; though I am concerned about them using a public blockchain as opposed to a private one. I would not buy any such gear myself. As @FireStone said, it is a bit creepy that my gear can relay ANY information I don't want it to, not to mention the RF exposure and other creepy things about the data

You have to tailor the questions to what you are teaching. I would recommend this: Figure out what you want to teach (e.g., parts of a compass, basic navigation terms and symbols, etc.). Develop how you are going to teach each thing (e.g., map reading game, presentation, etc.). Once you know what and how you will teach things, think up questions. One thing I learned as a soccer coach a long time ago, when you develop a drill/game for your players it should always allow those of varying skills to learn something, AND you should be able to adjust the drill/game based on one

In the LDS Packs I have seen, there were limited transition activities between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I remember that my son's Webelos Den visited a troop meeting and helped with a troop fundraiser. And of course there was a crossing over ceremony from Webelos to the New Scout Patrol. However, the New Scout Patrol was really his introduction vehicle into Boy Scouts. For my son, the Webelos period was mainly focused on earning his Arrow of Light. I consider myself rather expert in most Boy Scout topics, but I relied on others to guide my son through the Cub Scout program. Even today, m

I was recruited for that very thing. BUT, how much can we do in one hour a week. We turned a dying troop of 7 into a successful patrol method program of 100. That takes a bit more than one hour a week. There are many discussions on this forum of learning how to say "No". And please don't think bad of us. I had many choices for applying my one hour a week after I step back from Scoutmastering. I decided to go a route where I could accomplish the most growth with my limited time. It was a purposeful strategic choice of teaching adults and senior scouts at the council level. My dream was a c

Regardless of those slight changes, our Webelos are coming in a little sharper than before. I remember when I was a cub, Webelos made you tenderfoot-ready. (Plus, in my den, we had some skill with the DL's '38 special.)

With my lodge the problem is lack of information or being notified too late about stuff. Also they have way too many things and they conflict with other stuff on the calendar. Everything competes with each other and then people wonder why 3 guys show up. It used to be a place where I could hang with the guys. Now that’s going away too. So now it’s just another service organization that travels hours to do service. I can do nhs and stay in town and then hang with the guys at sonic. That appeals to guys more than what Oa offers now.

Then change it. Heck, just get your OA group to simply adopt your goal: "By joining the OA, you have chosen to join an elite group. We represent the best of the best scouts. While a member you will become experts with wood tools and will become confident alone in the woods. You're expected to represent the best of the Scout Law. Here you will be given a chance to become even stronger leaders that you are today. If you're up for that, this will be an arena to expand your dreams. If not, that's OK, but this isn't the group for you" I'd start with that. If everyone quits the

This seems pretty easy to solve to me. The camping coordinator or Scoutmaster needs to ask a better question. Something like: Scoutmaster: Boys, we need to plan the camping trips for this year. We can do one or two large trips - like Philmont or a long road trip. We also need to do 10 weekend trips that are within a three hour drive. Please come up with a list for both groups. The camping coordinator's form can simply ask both questions. If, for the big trip, every boy puts down Disney World - then great. if they put down Disney World for the monthly trips - hand it back and s

I think what OA represented is dead. OA used to recognize the above average scouts. They were experts with woods tools and felt very comfortable alone in the woods. They were givers of their time an represent Friendly, Courteous, and Kind to a fine art. Todays adults prefer mediocrity so that nobody feels bad being the below average scout. Advancement is more desired in groups and leadership is given so that each scout gets a turn. OA was a program that gave the above average scouts a bigger arena to expand dreams. Now it's just another boring program that is challenged to fit in a troop agend

Yes but isn't this where the Scoutmaster guides them? Isn't there something like -- well if you want to go to Disneyland -- how can you make it relevant to scouting, and are you willing to do extra fundraising?

The current Boy Scout Handbook says First Class within about 12-18 months. Scouts in my son's troop are taking longer (than they were previously) to make First Class primarily because they have trouble tracking their fitness activities at home for TF/FC/SC.

No, not talking about cutting them loose and do it on their own. Its my understanding each den will have its own cookbox. The campout that isn't going to happen this time we were going to cook breakfast and dinner at the den level. Tigers do Tiger Bites so they have (at least mine do) an understanding of what is healthy and what isn't. I see no reason they can't help plan the menu. They can't cook but in instances they can sure help prepare. Foil pack meals come to mind. If each den had its own dining fly to set up.... Tigers can help unfold the tarp, they can help straighten lin

Yep - like many things in Scouting, I think the OA has lost it's luster because the people in it have stopped giving it luster. One can't be entrusted with the OA in your district, phone it in, and expect it to be a great program. I think many havn't gotten that message.

When you say "acting as patrols," do you mean in regards to camping only, or through the whole program in general? I will be frank - as a Webelos leader and an child educator I am not in favor of this idea. The patrol method is, specifically, allowing the boys to manage their own affairs, and leaving them to their own devices when it comes to activities, cooking, etc. Boys of Cub Scout age are too young for this practice to work. There is solid educational, pedagogical support for the leaders guiding activities for boys this young. They need to have solid, positive modeling for how activi

Another reason, IMHO, that the Order has lost its interest. When it truly was not simply something you could get into by becoming First Class and doing a bit of camping, while staying on the good side of the adults, it actually was an honor. Now the mystique is gone, and it is simply something else to take up your time in too many lodges, and participation is generally sash and gone for the majority. There are still some lodges that have managed to keep some of the deeper interest, but not in our area. Ceremonies are not only no longer really semi-secret, but most of them are read from scr

The BSA's fundamental flaw in training is that they assume basic training is sufficient. It is not. The fundamental problem with all of this is that the program is too complex to be understood in a basic training. Look how much time we spend around here talking about patrol method and boy led. It's ridiculous that every troop does this a different way. For the BSA to really fix this, they need to either: - reduce the complexity of the program - develop a real Scoutmaster training. To go to SM training, you should have been an ASM for a while and understand the basics well

I'll let someone else spin this about something like who's got any news about WSJ acceptances ... @FireStone, don't get me wrong. I want boys to master first class skills ASAP. Girls too ... my crew, when active, goes for wilderness, and we only go as deep as skills allow. The sooner those skills are mastered, the sooner we can make better hike plans, do better service projects, build honor guards, support civic ceremony, cook really good meals, etc ... But, I'm in no hurry to put a patch on a scout who hasn't mastered the skills in those requirements. And for all but disabled boys

In the true spirit of political correc........ I mean safety, it is now called Call Out, and no contact is allowed.

I posted this before, but I think it's pertinent here I had two sons two years apart both joined scouting when they turned11 and stayed till they were 18. both had in their own words a blast. both were elected Patrol leader, senior patrol leader, to rhe OA,and both count the time they spent in scouts as some of the best times of their life. One of the made eagle, the other managed to get to first class after five years. Different people, but both success stories.

It’s a big reason we do our own because no one wanted to sit through 2-3 hours of scouts and adults being called out. Instead we do ours before camporee and then hang out on Saturday night and do our own special camp fire.

Our troop let’s each candidate stand up and be recognized so guys know who they’re voting for. We also announce their service hours and camping night. Our SM introduced this idea and the plc kept it because it really helped make it less of a popularity contest.

I don't really see the night as a hindrance at all.... we did it at night in the cub scouts....although that was a very simple level.... Still, I think the darkness reduces the chances of sneaking with the eyeball to find a small waypoint marker. When i was searching for it back for the cubs, I found lots of really great ideas for scavenger hunt type things using a compass..... the clues for the next waypoint would be hidden at the waypoint you're trying to find like in a baloon....but there would be lots of decoy balloons with bad clues inside so you couldn't just find it by eye. F

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As a former LDS New Scout Leader, I can confirm that these 11 year-old patrols do function very much like Webelos Dens, with lots of indoor and outdoor instruction. That first year is structured as a soft introduction into Boy Scouts. That is one reason why they are limited to just 3 nights of camping. Dads accompany sons on every campout during that first year (by design). There may be other weaknesses of the model, but I do not necessarily agree that learning is compromised by this approach. It is an intensive year of skill building. A variety of resources are enlisted to teach these sk

That's all very well and good but how would you do that during an EBOR? Very few Scouters know the rules and process well enough to help in such a manner. Couple that with some overzealous district person who is full of themselves and their own "power" and you have the making for a unnecessary paperwork showdown which takes both time and effort. The silver bullet to all of this is simply filling out the form and getting the district rep to sign it at the same time he's singing off on the proposal. Done! Needless? Perhaps. But 5 minutes at this phase can save a candidate a ton

Dang if I know. When my Son was SPL he kept asking the adults for some cost numbers on trips (for over a year). So he and the PLC could...you know....actually take ownership and plan trips with a budget (I know what a concept!). He got constantly stonewalled. I brought it up at committee as well. I think a lot of it was transportation costs...that has been a big cost driver, along with expensive 'group' meals (the popular "lets stop at Golden Corral on the drive home") and "we need to put the boys up at a hotel along the way". The solution is Patrol campouts. Amazing how cheap those got.

Update: Dec 29, 2017: Two years ago, a Superior Court judge effectively ended attempts by a Hingham developer to buy Camp Richard, the Nantucket property used by generations of Boy Scouts for nature hikes, overnight excursions and campfires. Judge Gary Nickerson ruled that the 100 acres of open space between Lovers Lane and Fairgrounds Road should forever remain a “campsite for the scouts of Nantucket,” and must be transferred back to its original owner, the Nantucket Civic League, if it is used for any other purpose. The Cape & Islands Council of the Boy Scouts of Am