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I am building a list of merit badge counselors that are in my area that are willing to do online merit badge counseling . That way our scouts that can earn merit badges and want to can do so during quarantine. Anyone else doing the same thing? I am looking for someone who is a Public Health merit badge counselor that would be willing to do it. For those that have taught one online, how did you do it? Was it open forum like, slide show based? How do you test their knowledge and retention of the material? I am not a fan of just being present. I would think that someone present

^^^^ Does this seem just plain wrong to any of you?? Good on you @RememberSchiff for meeting the need directly! Spot on!

We all failed. We try to pre-package Scouting into discrete things like merit badges, Summer Camp, service projects, etc. Scouting is a game with a purpose! Did he have a good game? Did we meet the purpose? What makes an Eagle Scout? As a Scoutmaster, I have written many letters of recommendation over the years. Some are easy. Some are not. The easy ones are long letters regaling the BoR with how I have watched this young person grow and learn, and some of the experiences we have shared. They usually end with this statement, "Jimmy is an Eagle Scout, an

Jameson76, That would be the cat's meow! A Troop having its own week long Summer Camp would be Scouting at its best:) I encourage you to try it... One issue with "industrial" Summer Camps is that Scouts are too "busy", as almost every moment of their day is scheduled for them. I encourage Scouts to keep one or two merit badge sessions free to do whatever they wish...nap, fish, hike, play basketball, swim, read, bird watch, contemplate the universe, etc.

We are discussing (blue skying really) about having our own summer camp. Not sure it will happen, but it could be interesting

Yea my NYLT staff is doing some virtual training and presentation practice, but it's likely with the course taking place in early June, that it will be cancelled.

Yeah, in theory I should be planning to run a cub scout day camp this summer, but I don't think that'll happen.

I hate to be the grinch, but most likely all high adventure and summer camps will be cancelled or limited to August. Cancelling the entire summer would actually mean good news with respect to number of hospitalizations because the curve will be stretched out. Italy thought China was an outlier and now everyone thinks Italy is an outlier. And yet the US is not slowing things down as well as Italy is now. The US population density is much lower than Italy and we are younger, so that's good news, but it's still going to be rough. My county went from 7 to 19 cases in a day (that's likely due

Summer camps . . . Every organization that does such is in the same boat. In our case, (non-BSA) registrations are already way behind the usual. We have even had some requests for refund of deposits. Need to hire, train, schedule staff. Order gear and prep the cabins , pond, kitchen, lodge.... How to do that with what we know already? Scout camp? Cub Scout Day Camps? Our county Parks run a very respectable program. Maybe. It will be a long summer, regardless.

yeah, it's a rare year that goes by that I don't recharter a kid --- or two --- that I never see again.

Proof of the BSA's indifference to unit level scouting--the recharter process is Exhibit A.

Tomahawk missiles. I need to buy at least two...

Found this in my internet travels. In the past, I have donated directly to the scout family in need without strings.

If treks are cancelled, it will be doubly sad for some Philmont crews. Many crews that couldn't go because of the Ute Park fire of 2018 opted for a 2020 trek. Then I recall what happened to my dad in the mid 1950s. Just as he was getting ready to board a bus in Iowa to go to Philmont, his scoutmaster received a telegram stating that Philmont was closed because of a disease (polio or measles, I can't recall). Life being what it is, he didn't get a second opportunity.