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@CodyMiller351, welcome to the forum. Woodbadge at 19? I'd say no. There are better ways to spend your time. At least for now. One of my concerns with eagle scouts that come on as ASM's is that they don't always understand the difference between being an adult and being a scout. The adult's job is very different from being a scout. There's no doubt you have all the outdoor skills nailed down but there's a lot more going on than that. Another thing you likely have is a ton of enthusiasm and that's great. My suggestion would be to study up on how a great troop runs (something wood badg

FWIW I attended and staffed WB in one council and now live and scout in another council. I’ve not experienced any hazing, fighting, belittling or bullying. In my experience those who get the least out of Wood Badge are those who go into it because someone is coercing them into it and those who think they have nothing to learn. I wouldn’t recommend taking WB if the course dates were scheduled close to college due dates and or exams. I also wouldn’t recommend taking WB until it is something you want to do. Spending 6 days outdoors with like minded adults can be some of the most fun and

I am also a relatively young leader who has been in Scouting since I was a Cub Scout. I got my Eagle when I was 14 and have read more manuals, guidebooks and articles on Scouting that you could shake a stick at - but I still value any opportunity I have to learn more and hear from other leaders' experiences to broaden my perspectives. That's why I come to this site - to learn more and gain from the wisdom of as many people as I can. I would never be so bold as to presume that I "have Scouting down," that I know everything or that I "don't need" more training. That would be arrogant and false o

I was in your shoes. Eagle at 17. Did some Scouter reserve and jumped in as an ASM officially at late 18 or 19 years old. Wait on Wood Badge. It would be more helpful later on as a refresher. I took it at 22. As for IOLS and SM specific, you have to take them to be an ASM, and if you're anything like me, I helped teach my IOLs. Made some lemonade out of those lemons. Also, sometimes troops are bad. So the training can be corrective for folks who had weak troops as a youth. I definitely learned a few things from SM specific and I was in one of the "good" troops. If you didn't,

Regardless of age, no one should do Wood Badge because someone else thinks they should. I took the course at 18, although it was a much different animal (pun intended) 46 years ago. As for SM specific and IOLS, if you want to be officially position trained, those are required. If JTE is important to your troop, having leaders position trained is important as well. As @Sentinel947 said, you may find yourself helping others who do not have your experience during IOLS. I came back into the program after a hiatus when my nephew was in Cubs, and moved into the troop with him. IOLS was not

Interesting little update on this. We made this girl a PL in the end. She’s needed a bit of mentoring, has had the odd hiccup, but generally has grown into the job. Worth remembering that the scout section here is 10-14 so a bit different to you. Anyway this morning I was able to see why she was the right choice and how far she’s come. She’s been planning a night for the whole troop for later in November which, through no fault of her own, has all fallen through. A case of life happening. With an evening to replan from scratch I’d emailed her a few ideas, just a few ideas to g

I strongly encourage it. It's the exact reason I got involved. I was very upset how things were happening years ago. BUT ... Don't announce you'd like to volunteer to change things. I'd instead get to know people, build friendships, build knowledge and become known to them. Then when an opening happens, step up. It sounds like you fully understand that our role is less about saying no and more about helping the scout succeed and finding ways to make things work.

@CodyMiller351, thank you for serving in the role of Assistant Scoutmaster. You have chosen to give back to a younger ones what Scouting gave you. I think you are a rare breed, a fresh ASM who just came out of the youth end of things. @Eagle94-A1 and @Sentinel947 are two of the ones I know best on these forums. They have loads to tell you about serving a Troop as a young ASM and seeing what their Troop was doing incorrectly, from the point of view of Scouters interfering with the Patrol Method, for example. @MattR hits the nail on the head when he recommends reading anything by William "

As a member who sits on my districts board that approves all Eagle Projects I would be very concerned about approving this as a Eagle Project for the following reason. The project listed is to give 50 Lego sets to a school. I would have no issues with your son giving them to the school but would have issues with this being an Eagle Project just due to the fact that the on showing leadership and work involved is to just to insure that each Lego set is intact with no missing pieces. The only way as listed above that I could approve this as a project is to have your son make storage containers

How frequently to do big-ticket scouting really depends on the boys, their resources, and their cohesiveness. However, not every high adventure has to come with a heavy price tag. It's nice to alternate expensive years with moderate cost years. After these scouts come back from Philmont, they should be better prepared to build their own adventures.

As I understand, Eagle Project Coordinators are now called Eagle Project Coaches. Coaches are optional, but recommended as stated on page 14 of the Eagle Project Service Project Workbook. That said, the coach could be correct that the Council Eagle Board would not approve. And just as a coach should do, he/she gave feedback - recommendations to improve the project and its chances for success. A Scout who proposes a project to recycle HIS toys to help other kids, well lets work on this idea - the problem/need, who specifically will be involved and benefit, will the proposed

All of these other suggestions have so much going for them, that these might seem trivial, but if your scouts haven't done them, they might bite on these backdoor challenges: bike to Cumberland Gap, then on to Pittsburgh raft the Potomac bike around a Great Lake hike the Standing Stone trail in PA kayak in Pamlico Seabase

I'll lend my recommendation to anything in Alaska. After being a scout in the Panama Canal Zone, and lots of desert camping in Southern Arizona, we moved to AK when I was about 15. It's an amazing state. I went on a High Adventure trek north of Anchorage the last year I was a scout. Our troop camped/hiked/backpacked one weekend minimum every month, and twice in December, regardless of the weather. You know it's high adventure when you are backpacking in a state that still has mountains, glaciers and lakes that haven't been named yet....

Actually, you should salute the flag no matter what it is you are wearing. The question should be weather to salute using the Cub/Boy Scout Salute or to simply put your right hand over your heart. While in a BSA uniform (A, B, C, etc) you should salute using a BSA salute. Anyone else should salute using the hand over the heart salute. Practice at your Den meeting flag ceremonies.

lol, yeah storming in to strong arm something will end badly. I think it's so sad when someone is forced into a role they no longer want to have and it trickles down onto the boys. If a scout is cheerful, then their leader ought to be cheerful too. Boys learn WAY more by observing the behavior of others than they do from memorizing words in their scout book.

There has been a bunch of great advice so far my two cents would be that most ideas get shot down because the scout's idea wasn't reflected in the workbook. If the scout needs to explain the project after the coordinator looks at his workbook he needs to go back expand on his idea in the workbook. I always tell scouts that pictures are great to get your idea across{they are worth 1000 words} since most people won't read thru a workbook completely when they can just look a few pictures to get the premise. Maybe bring an example kit with or at least the instruction so the coordinator can see t

I don't think you need Wood Badge. I just became SM and it's really not something I feel the need to do. If you plan on doing a high adventure trip in the next 2 years, get WFA certified. Even if you're not sure, it's a good course to take. Decide later if Wood Badge is for you. Most important, thank you for giving back to scouting. I hope you enjoy it and make scouting enjoyable for your troop.

Thanks in advance for all of your service to the youth! Courses an ASM your age should take: Powderhorn Kodiak and/or Kodiak course directors course Crew officer training and the specialty award of your choice Seascout quartermaster BSA Guard Any young adult instruction your religion offers. Any volunteer first responder/search and rescue training that your community offers Range safety officer training Next-level training on whatever your favorite merit badge was So the next time your fellow adults harp on Woodbadge, tell them tha

I think it's an interesting project idea, and I'm curious about what the beneficiary thinks of it. Will they be on board? Is there anything else that they need even more than the Legos? Storage is not a bad idea -- as a person who has a lot of legos in my house, I think that having an organized way to keep the sets together (whether it is purchased plastic bins or built) and labeled, etc. might be good. Maybe from a construction standpoint they'd like some Lego tables or workstations for the kids to use too. Maybe your son could expand his project by seeking some donations from the

I like the project idea. Coordinating the work day to disassemble the sets, log the individual pieces present and missing, stowing the pieces, and following up would be fine. He'd need to talk about how he'd coordinate that work with his troop, youth group, or whomever is going to do the work. What supplies would be required for the cataloging and how he'd keep it all straight to get the replacement pieces involved. I'd stop thinking in terms of purchasing containers or purchasing extra bricks. Your scout should consider talking to his local lego store or writing the company direc

Most Scout Shops will ship them to your local Scout Shop or sometimes even to your house. It looks like the SKU is: 320

I have seen with my own eyes a group of Wood Badge people telling another Wood Badge person that they needed to take Wood Badge again because they took wood badge before the year 2004 and that old version of Wood Badge is no longer valid. I also have seen a group of Wood Badge people telling another Wood Badge person that they really need to retake Wood Badge, because the first time they took it their tickets were way too easy and should not really count and they should take it again and be serious about it this time and there is a Wood Badge person on staff that will help them write a RE

I think this is the start of a good project, and i'm not surprised that it wasn't given the green light right away. Projects that are unusual are often treated skeptically because that's human nature. I suspect that what caused the greatest skepticism, besides its novelty, was that it is centered on donating only his legos and that the benefit to the school may not have been clear or convincing. If your son wants to follow through with this I would suggest two things: 1) get in contact with the school and get their support, in writing, for the project, including specifically why this wo

This is exactly the kind of mentality we want to prevent. We don't want Scouts to ignore the uniform just because they aren't comfortable in it, and many of those people who have become too attached to their jeans may have even more to learn from the correct uniform than the boys themselves. We expect these kids to mature, and to learn to do things not for themselves, but for others. I have a friend who is a Marine, and I once had him come and speak to my Scouts about his uniform and how he feels about it. He appeared in full dress uniform, and he looked INCREDIBLE. It was clean; it was sharp;

I thought @Ranman328 was referring to some kind of rule that requires the Eagle Scout project to benefit the charter organization? As far as I know, the project can benefit any religious organization, any school, or the Scout's community (and "community" is defined very, very loosely). I can see how it might be good idea to do a project that benefits the charter organization, but I don't know of any rule to do so.

With young Cub Scouts, I would not get too picky over it. Make sure you are setting the right example personally, the kids look up to you!

I am always impressed whenever we have a guest speaker from the police or fire department or the military, how awesome they look in their uniforms. I mean, there's a very clear, sharp identity that comes from wearing a uniform well. Now Scouters are a little bit of a sloppy bunch in comparison, we are clearly volunteers with our various bling and whatnot, we are obviously not professionals in uniform. But a uniform gives an impression when it is worn well. P.S. I hate the pants but I have like 3 pairs!

Cody, I understand your point of view. I felt the same way in '85 when I went through what was then called Scout Leader Basic Training. I was an Eagle in '77, and served as SPL and JASM in an outdoor-oriented troop that treated me like an adult and expected me act as such. SLBT was a big let down. Huge let down. That said, the BSA expects us to go through certain courses to be officially trained for our positions. Once you go through those courses, for good or ill, you're trained and a member in good standing. I keep my SLBT training certificate in a nice, safe place. WB i

As an adult who has been through all of the training, including wood-badge (I used to be a bear...); and a former youth that went through the entire program (Eagle Scout).. I agree with you. Adult training is focused on folks who were not part of the program as boys, and the attitude of some adults is poor - you need to go through the training like I did! That said, the training is easy - and doing it isn't going to be that difficult - do it now and be done with it - before you don't have the luxury of free time! My $0.02

There is no clear threshold for what is a good project and what is a bad project. It's more working through the reasoning and defending your concept. Donating his toys supports the project, but is not the project itself. The donation is similar to a family donating money to make a project happen. It's fine and a non-issue. In this case, it may be a distraction against the real project project. I'd evaluate the project based on the rank requirements which can be simplified to Plan - What is he going to plan? What does he have to solve? What does have to coordinate and

I think it's time to put a end to this "family-friendly" stuff. It has it's place but they should not be allowed to go on the camping trips if they are causing problems. If they want to become official leaders and learn what they need to, then fine. This is sounding less like Boy Scouts and more like a couple parents taking advantage of y'all and just tagging alone, doing things their way. The best thing to do would be to sit everyone down and explain the problems. Try to get the parents to become actual leaders. Those who agree, great; those who don't, bye! They can find a different tr

Consider the respect from the experienced adults you will gain for the effort. Sadly, In the eyes of most adults, you're still just a kid. But, just showing a willingness to be an adult will gain you the respect that you can cash-in later on ideas and opinions on the program down the road. I wish the course wasn't so long, that has to be considered. But, I would think it's worth it in the long run if you plan on becoming a SM in this troop. Let us know you ideas for ticket items. Barry

My opinion is this is a weak project. At it's core it's just looking to donate his old toys to a school. That's not to say there are pieces he could build on, but as is, I'd be reluctant to say this is something to be proud of. Sorry to sound harsh, but that is my answer to your question.

The only experience I have with Eagle Projects are my own and the couple other I have helped with but I think this should count as an Eagle Scout Project. I think there is a good amount of thought put into this idea. For my project, I replaced a flag pole at a church that I have no real connections to. I just needed to find something to do for a project. It sounds like your son has a great idea, the only problem (which you have already experienced) is do others consider this an acceptable project. I think it needs to be considered that some of these leaders who don't think this is a good

I guess it depends on whether we do something on our own or pick an established HA camp. While we'd need to commit to something in the next few months, the scout planning wouldn't start until later. I don't think it would require 2 years of planning. Sea Base required little scout planning, although it should have had more from them. A former ASM in the troop ended up signing us up for the trip without running it through the scouts. We had a great time, but it was not done right. Philmont will require more prep. We're starting that. They will choose their trek. We'll work on skills

Its the Scout doing the Eagle Project responsibility to find and provide the workforce. No where does it say it has to be fellow Scouts to volunteer. Personally I would encourage an open invitation because more hands could me quicker work. But if they feel they can get it done with a select group, then that's their decision. As a Eagle scout mentor, they should remind the Scout that in a work place in the future, they will have to work with people not of their own choosing, and this would be a great opportunity to get experience in working with a vast group of people.

Kandersteg. If you want to meet lots of scouts from lots of different countries, and have high adventure, this is the place. I haven't been myself, but everyone I know that has been has raved about it. One of my ex-explorer scouts was staff there, a "pinkie", he loved it. Of course, you'll all need passports. And you'll probably have to fly via New York or something. A quick google suggests 12-16 hours on planes and in airports, then it's another 2-3 hours from Zurich to the campsite.

I would not call any of those ideas trivial. Personally, I'd love to do any of them and I'm sure our scouts would, too. We have a meeting tonight. I'll see if I can start getting an idea of what this group is thinking. It's hard when we've barely started Philmont stuff for 2019 and kids change so much year to year. Some of those things are activities we could consider for next scout year. Of course not in full, but an exposure to them. The scouts who went to Sea Base said some very good things. For most, it was an experience like nothing they'd done before. Yes, it was far easie

I must respectfully disagree. I find that most people who defend wearing jeans with the uniform are those who insist that we mainstream what is an inherently casual garment, and I don't believe that supporting, or worse, endorsing, the slow slide towards 'casual Scouting' is a move worthy of our consideration. There is a legitimate psychological effect underlying the reason we wear official Scout pants or shorts in place of jeans, an effect that comes from (among other things) color, fabric, and our vision. See, the eye automatically makes connections through color - red lights mean stop

Wow this thread is old! But I think it's important to add one of my favorite B.P. quotes here: “Smartness in uniform and correctness in detail may seem a small matter, but has its value in the development of self-respect and means an immense deal to the reputation of the movement among outsiders who judge by what they see.” I am now a Scout leader working with the same Pack and Troop I was part of as a youth, and were ALWAYS lax about uniforms. But as I progressed as a leader and came to understand the program more deeply, I realized that the way the boys dressed directly affected t

As Julius Caesar said, "Alea iacta est." The die is cast. Informed the SM next week is our last one with the troop to finish things up. Also told the CM I will be stepping down as Webelos DL. I don't feel comfortable being the WDL for this pack anymore since the entire purpose was not only to fill a position, but promote the troop and prepare them to join it. I do not want a repeat of being blamed for stealing another troop's Webelos. SM got the full story. CM got the one for public consumption, Monday nites are getting crazy for us. That is true. but it isn't everything as I've posted here.

The purpose of all education is to prevent having to discover things separately, originally, for one's self. Theoretically, WB is intended to educate Scouty folks in Scouting things. The problem is that , despite the detailed curriculum, it is taught and experienced anew by every staff and every class. My WB cannot be your WB. I can pass on many, much of my Scout lore and experience (that bucket of axes and carved tent pegs fer instance). I can tell stories from my experience and youth. WB is like that. I am told that someone who took WB in the 1950's (with GB Bill ?) would not

What sounds easy for you may be a stretch for them. Just like an Eagle project, the goal is not the project but the planning and leadership (and related) skills they put to use in accomplishing the project.

District is well aware and not happy about it but nothing they can easily do as I understand it. If the CO doesn't object, then the only recourse to my knowledge would be to pull the charter. If we do find a home in the other troop, the most effective thing WE can do is for my son to be an outstanding Den Chief for the local packs and help recruit them to his new troop instead of letting them go to his old troop.

We've done a mix of our own and official high adventure bases. Each has a different flavor, but I'll never forget all the ones we did on our own. Our selection was mainly triggered by what was within an interesting driving distance. Sometimes that distance was 10+ hours.

Remember what the DE mantra is... More applications equals more green.....

I thought Wood Badge had some helpful offerings in how to run a unit, but they were incidental and part of other topics. It certainly wasn't the nuts and bolts of how to plan a program or run a unit. I think that's actually a huge hole in the training curriculum of SM Specific/IOLS --> Wood Badge. Conversations/presentations on Sample Troop/Patrol meetings, conflict resolution, coaching and mentoring of youth, servant leadership concepts. At least in my course, one of the five tickets could be a personal goal. One of the five needed to be related to diversity in scouting. The other thre

@Summitdog, I can't recall if I welcomed you to the forums and thanked you in advance for all that you'll do for our youth. So, pardon my redundancy: welcome and thanks! If you're new, I would hold off on taking WB. It really works best after you've had a few years applying the basic training you needed for your position. So the replies to your topic may be worth reading sometime down the road. What it offers (in no particular order): Networking: you spend a lot of time with other scouters. Two full weekends working on anything pulls folks together. Plus, there's time between w

Welcome to the world of Scouting.... LOTS of gray areas!

The uniform is defined by BSA. Variations adopted formally or informally by individual units or unit leaders are uniform components. Terms like class a, b, c have no universal definition.