Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/24/19 in all areas

  1. I've been a leader for over 25 years now, and I've never seen a ceremonial UK flag disposed of or destroyed, but your right, the official flag protocol is burning, or cutting up. Most of us are just trying to make sure we put the UK flag up the right way, so we're not telling other ships we're in distress!
    3 points
  2. But dear lord after 3x through ILST, they are so sick of it. we have had scouts refuse to take leadership roles because they didn't want to take ILST again. once that is removed, many of them are the best leaders we have ever had. Having them sit through classes like this over and over again is a great way to push kids out of scouting. They want to scout and have fun and they will lead. They go to school for a significant amount of time and they want scouting to be different from school.
    1 point
  3. That my experience, it's not a theory for starting a discussion. Where did I say that? Often the older scouts encourage the younger scout to take on responsibility so the older scout has an opportunity to mentor. In fact, I often watch our SPL choose the ASPL and Troop Quarter Master for that very reason. Can a leader be anymore serving than that? Not in our council. Brown Sea (or whatever it was called) taught advanced leader skills beyond the handbooks in planning, meetings and working the group. District and councils teaching scout skills at advanced leadership courses make
    1 point
  4. We had one very eager to rank up. He was looking for a BOR and I asked about troop activities. He said he went on the raft trip, went climbing with the troop, did the five mile hike, and took a hike to an outpost, and had been to summer camp. I had to explain him that as all the list of activities; raft trip, climbing, five mile hike, and hike to an outpost; took place while at summer camp, that was only one troop activity...summer camp. Each thing he did while at summer camp was not in fact a separate activity. We discussed that the intent of the requirement was to have scouts be involv
    1 point
  5. 1 point
  6. Our troop slotted two months out of the year for patrol campouts. They were very popular for the scouts and adults who supported them. Fishing and hiking seemed to be the most popular theme. To further encourage patrol independence, they are asked to find their own rides for both scouts and gear for all camp outs. If they need additional space for gear, the PQM calls the TQM to reserve space in the trailer. If a patrol needs the troop trailer, they can request as well provided the driver and PQM have been trained and checked out by the TQM. I imagine insurance may have further requirement
    1 point
  7. Excellent idea! i'd advocate for giving the award to the patrol that goes furthest "outside" the rut of whatever the troop's usual themes and sites might be...encourage the kids to think for themselves.
    1 point
  8. Insoles help me. I wear Sole Reds now. I previously wore Superfeet Green which are popular. I had to experiment which gets expensive though less than a $400 custom orthopedic insert. This link will give you an idea of different brands. I have not bought from this online store. I buy Soles from local shoe store and Superfeet from REI. https://www.theinsolestore.com/backpacking-hiking-boot-insoles.html?foot_conditions=396
    1 point
  9. Thanks, Hawkwin! It slipped my mind that girls could have been active as Venturers or Sea Scouts. Appreciate the reminder!
    1 point
  10. https://oa-bsa.org/article/2018-membership-update
    1 point
  11. Looking back, I can't recall very many scouts reflecting the leadership of their parents. Visa versa, some of our scouts also weren't a reflection of their really good leader parents. But, in most cases, the sons were remarkable reflections of their parents' character. Without getting into natural leadership (a whole different breed of leader), leadership skills have to be acquired one way or another. But what exactly is leadership? We push servant leadership in the scouting program, but what is servant leadership? I look back at two groups of recognized leaders in our troop th
    1 point
  12. Amicus is a good brand. MSR, too. Here's a good review of backpacking stoves.
    1 point
  13. Great Question because so few troops look at their program in this way. They have expectations but don't really analyze why the scouts aren't meeting them. Instead of stepping back, reflecting and trying something new, they react by intruding and pushing. Now, I'm not saying adults should never provide input to boost the program, scouts simply run out of ideas. But, when a scout has to be continually told to wear his uniform properly, something is a miss. Scouts need self motivation to grow, not the threat of adult intimidation. The reason I rather used mixed age patrols instead of same
    1 point
  14. Actually John, I think your reading is a bit off. I don't claim to be an expert but if you look at Sec 771 it says that no one can wear a military uniform unless otherwise provided for in law. Sec 772 then provides for the BSA to wear whatever uniform it chooses. So if the BSA decides to adopt the current uniform of the US Army, they are free to do so. They would, by my understanding, need to swap out all military insignia (including buttons on dress uniforms) for BSA insignia, but other than that the uniforms could be identical. In fact, in the early years, the uniforms were indistinguis
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...