Leaderboard

Wow,wow,wow!!! I couldn't agree more. Scouting is not a classroom and is not done is a classroom setting. Your observations are spot on. Merit badges provide kids with an introduction to a wide world of subjects taught by subject matter experts. These experts don't need the latest technological teaching aids. The mb councilor covers the requirements and ensures that the scout has completed the requirements, no more and no less. Merit badges used to require a scout to locate a councilor, call him/her and make an appointment, go to the appointment, and complete the merit badge. Youth pr

The way I expressed my feelings to my committee members and SM- these should be considered for helping the kid who is in the middle of working on a rank, but we shouldn't be pumping kids to start working on their next rank using these. It may be a few more weeks or months until we can have overnights, but no one should feel a rush.

Pearson Education markets expensive (time sensitive license) interactive (blackboards, chat rooms, quizzes, tests) online learning packages (multi-platform with a lot of bell and whistles) to schools and colleges. But we are NOT schools and colleges. We have a Patrol Leader, not a Dashboard. Our Scouts are Scout taught, in-person, six feet apart, or via Skype or Zoom - Show, Tell, Do. We simply wanted scout documentation online across platforms. Free would be great, but maybe a paid BSA library card (scout or unit) to cover online library expenses. Thrifty, My $0.02, Disclaimer:

if Any summer camp is to happen I could see the following requirments 1. limit the number of camper to 1/4 Camp normal capacity (bases on last years attendence) 2. Test camper for fever at check in 3. Test staff daily 4. Have isolation areas set up 5. Limit the number of weeks (possible skip weeks for cleaning) 6. Decrease the days to five (for cleaning) 7. one scout per tent 8. No foreign scouts or scouters 9. no out of state scouts 10 decrease size of any merit badge class to 10 or less Just my ramblings , still having a hard time believ

Yes. I even bought one or two to see if they were useful and how they worked. They were okay. The biggest problem was it was a profit center and we had to pay. http://ocscouting.com/blog/20-interactive-digital-merit-badge-pamphlets-including-every-eagle-required-badge-now-available/ Now, I see merit badges are PDFs at least for cover, requirements and a referenced materials page. Looking through Scouting.Org, I was pleasantly surprised that many DOCS are now PDFs. That's really nice to see. BSA has made huge progress. It's great to see. REALLY NICE TO SEE.

That is a root problem. Confusion is often willful too. Many don't really care about the goal as much as the certificate. At some point, I think Eagle would be better reflected by 125+ nights of troop camping and a variety of experiences.

Sadly that is not the case everywhere. I was working with a group on Citizenship in the Nation MB. All of the Scouts had Civics in School. I also had a 5th grade Webelos with me, my son, who had a US History class that went over the Constitution as part of the class. NONE OF THE SCOUTS COULD DO THAT PART OF THE MB! (emphasis). The Webelos knew it well. When I asked the Scouts what they learned in school, they told me the teacher told them to use their laptops, and didn't really do anything.

The underlying issue seems, to me at least, that "learning a skill" is ithe end goal. Rather than that, "using the skill" would encourage more participation, less school, and fix all the other things we don't like about merit badges. I suppose this applies to all advancement. Anyway, taking a merit badge should be the first step in doing something scoutish and not a goal in itself. I'd much rather see a patrol say "let's make a giant 8 person bike - let's take welding MB" then the usual "I gotta sign up for something at mbu and cit nation is required so I'll do that one." Making learning skill

I hate to say this, but if I ran the camp, I wouldn't allow someone with a high risk condition to attend. It's not worth the risk. And I hate that it's the case.

Many scouts roll their eyes at the MB program. Scouts see it as an overlapping and a shallow dive into topics already deeply covered at school and covered better. Scouting should NOT be about sitting in meetings. MBs should not be class room based. Scouting should NOT be about adults holding the hands of the scouts. . It hurts when troop leaders or parents arrange MB events and makes it so that scouts need to just show up. If adults make the arrangements, the MB event should be special and memorable. For example, scouts scheduling a canoe trip. I think it's okay for adults

Mergers and combining councils is the responsibility of the individual councils executive board and a national committee has no business discussing, promoting, or encouraging these actions.

How about ... no staff that has recently traveled out of state ... or staff must quarantine at home for three weeks after traveling out of state before arriving at camp

I wish you the best. I'm trying to make just a simple decision for summer camp ... if summer camp is offered. My last son has a medical condition that makes him vulnerable and there is no chance of a vaccine by July. So do I wait until I have to put money out? Or do I cancel now? Our local camp is asking for deposits, but they have been fairly good at waiting for full payment. My gut says there is no way I'll send my kid even if the camp is open. But, I'm leaving options open for now. I just can't see how any summer camp will happen right now. This will take a year and a v

My daughter took a flight this week. Six passengers on each leg. I'm pretty sure the airlines will be ready to take your $$s. IMHO, the right call to make is have a plan A, B, and C. Be open to your committee helping you decide to drop plan A now. Some people find keeping options on the table too stressful, and you've already mentioned why that might be the case. But, if the you all come out of that meeting willing to keep everything on the table until next month, and even the month after that, roll with it. In these situations we learn a lot about our teams.

I'm editing in order to deccentuate the negative .... I want to quietly make one modest evaluation: That is one awesome group of scouts! @TMSM, there is only one thing you should strike from your list: I am thinking of bragging to my troop about your troop. But if you throw in the towel now, the scouts who know which forums I browse will get wind of it and say, "Serves you right for listening to strangers on the internet." Don't let National freak you out. If your scouts and their families are letting you keep channels open, spend time on those channels. We work

Our trek is end of July. If it's going to be cancelled, I'd rather know now. I want to go. I want the scouts to enjoy it. I fully understand BSA not being able to give definitive answers. Right now, I have little respect for people who claim to be certain of what the right call to make is for late July. We have a committee meeting (virtual) next week to discuss this.

We did a 10 tree ID challenge that new scouts thought was fun(each scout went out by himself and took pics), Scout Jeopardy in patroll meetings was fun, broke out older scouts (Star +) and the met with the Eagle coordinator and was productive. We broke into ranks and worked on specific FA requirements. We were going to do a litter cleanup project but too many parents lost thier minds over this so we cancelled. I am thinking we could maybe deliver a troop tent to the crossovers and have their Patrol leader help them virtually to set it up. This would be a race to see which patrol could se

I've never been that caught up in any one "requirement" as I view the scouts need to do many things to earn each rank. And it's that journey that is important. Each individual requirement I could take or leave. Maybe swimming. I think that's very important. I've always thought the scouts would benefit in one or more ways. IMHO, the requirements were never the benefit of scouting. It was always Fellow ship of other scouts. Learning to work together. Experience new things together. Helping each other. ... Build citizenship New experiences. Stretching the comfort zone. Ex

The promised 15 April update from Philmont. Upshot: Go/No Go decision for each high adventure base will be announced on 1 May. https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/coronavirus/ High Adventure Base Update Regarding Summer of 2020 Update 4/15/20 – 8:30 AM Status of summer 2020 operations COVID-19 has brought unprecedented uncertainty, financial challenges and impact to our daily lives. The leadership of the BSA and the National High Adventure Bases (HAB’s) recognize that Scouts and leaders have been planning for many months to enjoy a li

You don't need to resign. I'd hold fast with the same investment, planning, effort, growth, etc that need to happen. BSA says in the same statement ... "Even when using video conferencing, all virtual campouts and activities should consist of as many elements found on a normal outdoor campout or activity as possible. The most significant difference is that patrol or troop members are not all in the same location. All existing youth protection policies and digital safety guidelines must be followed." So ... where it says "stove" ... I'd strongly interpret that as a "camp stove" or a "fir

Here's the deal, National has already stated online outdoor training is not allowed, yet A) they are jumping into it and B) People are ecstatic about it.