Leaderboard

I would not put into by-laws anything about advancement except that you all will comply with BSA's Guide to Advancement and maximize the opportunities for youth leaders to sign off on requirements under the direction of the Scoutmaster. You could add that any counselor failing to teach the entire content of an MB's requirements and review each scouts completion of those requirements on an individual basis will be black-listed from the troop and never again recommended to counsel any other scouts in the troop, district, or counsel. Don't worry about the 'semblance of evil when what m

A friend's daughter created her LP as a "do something club" that was entirely service oriented. It lasted until her peers started worrying about college, and she got a job as a barista to save up for books, etc ... On one slow day at the shop after she had served my iced-coffee, we caught up on her plans for the future, and her reflections on high school. She said, "I really wish we had done more exciting stuff, like backpacking." Before my drink started to boil in my hand, she said that she knew that I was always "there" for her. I guess what LPs can gain from a troop is inspir

When our troop did a campfire style show for the community in January of 2018 they had to include one of their favorite skits that they call the Motorcycle Gang. Has your troop ever done this skit? https://youtu.be/bfX3u6V1AXI

Thank you very much everyone for your response and time.

Scout 1). How about starting with a duty roster? Everyone needs a job so she has to decide. She should also not give herself a job unless she's short scouts. It seems to me that scouts have a lot of trouble delegating because they don't want to rock the boat. We're all friends and nobody tells anyone what to do so I can't mess that up because then I won't have friends. Talk to her about servant leadership. It's not the evil boss. There's a time to play and a time to get work done. One of her jobs is to help her patrol get the work done faster so they can play more. She's not telling others wha

Also: "Scouts may wear only one merit badge sash at a time. A merit badge sash is never worn on the belt" and "Temporary patches may only be worn on the back of the sash. The merit badge sash and the Order of the Arrow sash may not be worn at the same time".

When I was Scoutmaster I signed off on rank requirements and SM conferences for all three of my sons. Whenever somebody questioned whether I should do that or not, I said "find me somebody in our troop who knows more about Scouting, the patrol method and Scout skills than I do and I will be happy to have my sons meet with them." There wasn't anybody. My older son told me one of his friends once said that he is lucky to have his dad be the SM because its easy. My son replied "Yeah, well you don't have a SM conference in the car after every meeting or campout asking how things went, what went we

Don't 100% avoid working with your son. It can be a very meaningful and grow your bond with him. As it applies to my sons ... I think MBC is an analogous role. For each of my sons, I've only mentored one Eagle MB. For the non-Eagle MBs, I've done one or two further. But then again, those extra MBs are more unique opportunities I don't think would be offered other ways. Motor boating for example.

I see very little difference between adults taking over the operation of the patrols any different than the older boys taking over the operation of the patrols. In either case, the dynamics of developing leadership are taken away from the new boys. Is it any wonder then they just sit back and do nothing for the first two years, struggle the next two years and then quit. A level playing field, a well trained TG and hands off ASM, and the new guys get an opportunity to show what they got right from the git-go.

Thanks all. Am inclined to not allow Adult Leaders to check off their kid's requirements except for perhaps service hours. Will get feedback from Troop Committee and put into bylaws. I think its important to have this sort of policy in the troop bylaws, but I suppose that is another topic.