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Go ahead and start another subject. I enjoy these discussions and can talk hours about it in person. The whole idea of Patrol Method is to put scouts in situations where they have to make difficult decisions from the interactions with patrol mates. I learned that the preparing meals is the most intense patrol activity that exposes the scouts true character. And usually forces them to learn better habits of interacting with other people. We didn't always go to a camp where the patrol prepared the meals, but we made sure the patrols were independent so they would have to rely on each oth

Maybe what we did is wrong, I don't really know... My kid is signed up for Astronomy and Fishing. He is also going to take the Second Class uhhh class and First Class class. He is working through the requirements with the Troop. but I think, based on his personality, he will benefit from experiencing and learning the information from someone else. He needs things 2, sometime 3 times before it sinks in. Also going to take instructional swim. Then I think there is like 4 hours of whatever till lights out.

As long as the instructors and counselors mentor Scouts to meet the requirements as stated, then sure. This should be a different topic, though... Summer camp is supposed to be a week in the woods "under canvas", with all that entails... “A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.” BP It should focus on "...making camp, putting up a shelter, cooking over a fire, exploring our surroundings without getting lost, learning about the natural world and how to use what it provides, constructing things with pieces of tree and rope, tracking

@RememberSchiff, sorry, but this does not meet the country-club merit-badge-mill motif we are going for. Gotta shave off as much Troop & Patrol work as possible to maximize the number of merit badge classes a Scout can attend and be awarded!!! (I did not say earn) C'mon, man! Get with the revenue program!

My preference, Boy Scout camps provide secure pantry and refrigerator space and loaner cookware for attending units . Units/patrols bring their own food according to their needs. The only food ordered by a camp would be for their provisional camp. Mess halls for Cubs. My $0.02,

As to the photo I posted above, are you able to explain what it takes to become a certified time logger and fee application preparer? Mama "needs" a new pair-o-shoes. I'll cut down the hourly from $298.237519 to an even $250.

Is 2 MBs at camp ok?

@5thGenTexan, I agree with @Eagledad. A couple of MB’s and mastering basic scout skills is a great start. I’m told that down your way, maximizing time swimming is essential to beat the heat. For my family, who spends a lot of time on water, those instructional swim periods took a load of of my mind.

That sounds pretty good to me. Fun. Usually camps do the swim test first. How good of a swimmer is he. I had several scouts scared of the idea of a test and it turned out they were good swimmers. I have also had scouts that learned a lot in instructional swim. Barry

One of our local council camps does weeklong tracks so the scout can come either with a troop or patrol or on their own and do a week of marksmanship or aquatics or climbing, etc. They used to run an ATV week that was popular but I haven't seen it in a few years so maybe that's no longer in G2SS.

I wish we could get back to patrol method summer camps. Sadly I do not see this happening as the current structure is too ingrained in parents, Scouts, and many, many Scouters. I have had parents tell me that if they are paying for camp they will be picking the classes that he can get the MB at camp, otherwise it is not worth it. I have Scouts who enjoyed their COVID-19 summer camp, which used the patrol method, tell me they do not want to do to again because of the limited MB we worked on. And I had a scout retake a MB because it was fun, and another Scouter told me he was wasting his time.

I remember a scout who spent TWO weeks at the rifle range, and archery range. Those were the only two mBs he earned. Said it was the best summer camp he had. Another scout spent a week fishing, and he already had the fishing mB!

THE TRACK — Boy Scout Troop 83 at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, may have had the coolest Pinewood Derby track ever made. They teamed up with popular YouTuber Taylor Calmus, known as "Dude Dad," who made a track with a loop that is taller than many, if not all, of the Boy Scouts in the troop. He says at the start of the video that it could be the Dude Dad's "most epic project yet." Loops are not unheard of in Pinewood Derby tracks. One Pinewood Derby service advertises "circles of death," which is a loop system typically added after the competition races

Back in the day, I came home after a week at Provisional with just 2 incomplete blue cards, Rowing and Canoeing. I had a great time outdoors and that was fine with my parents and scoutmaster.

As suggested by @InquisitiveScouter and @Eagledad, I created a new topic

The track is really cool. (Hope they have a big place to store it.) I also really liked that they had a build day. Every scout can at least have a reasonable car and it's no more than a few hours. That brings back the fun.

Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council (CA): Camp Pico Blanco in Big Sur Council is asking $1.8 million and a set of conditions for the sale of Camp Pico Blanco, and $1.6 million for an adjacent 350 acres of undeveloped wilderness area. Eric Tarbox, deputy scout executive, says a volunteer group will grade each bid against the same criteria, which includes: plans for the land; whether the new owner will allow future access to scout programming (the Esselen Tribe has included this in its proposal); and how much money the bidder is willing to spend for the land. Tarbox says the vision fo

Everybody in the troop is allowed a "chaos" bucket: generally a five gallon bucket and lid. Any personal food, especially all the junk they buy from the trading post, is kept there. They're stored in the trailer at night so there's no temptation to have food in the tents. In addition to food storage, scouts tend to keep in them stuff they're working on like their handbooks, mb paperwork, projects, etc. That way they're not going in and out of a hot tent as often. They also make great seats for sitting around the campfire As SM I used a plastic toter rather than a bucket, but for all

Freeze dried meals are pre=packaged highly processed stuff loaded with salt, sugar etc.. Bringing some extra food for yourself is a good idea, but you can do much better than freeze dried. An easy way is to dehydrate your own homemade meals. Generally any one-pot meal or casserole style will work. One doesn't even need a fancy dehydrator, it can be done with a oven on low and the door propped open. Even better if you have a convection oven as air movement is more important than heat in dehydrating. Camp menus like this are just one reason I dislike dining hall style summer camps. At patro

"I THOUGHT" ... and it's been a long time ... it was tickets (5 tickets). Now one ticket with 5 individual goals. Categorization ... Tickets were categorized (personal, unit, district/council, etc) ... Now "strengthens me" versus "strengthens my group". Plus, one must have a diversity aspect. Added listing personal values Added description of scouting role Added statement of success The ticket workbook smells like the Eagle project workbook. http://woodbadge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Ticket-Workbook.pdf Doesn't always feel like

I was extremely dismayed to discover that BSA had created a DEI group, and have considered pulling my son out of Scouting because of it. Especially when they started pushing the new Eagle-required merit badge. DEI at face value sounds great. Who could be against diversity, equity, and inclusion? The co-opting of these terms has been ingenious. I believe DEI is sinister. Diversity inevitably starts having metrics. Metrics that presuppose some kind of quotas that should be met. This invariably results in punitive measures taken against whoever is not in the favored class. It's t

After working in the Dining Hall last year, I asked basically the same question as your feedback suggested and was told that healthier options cost more money and took longer to prepare. So in the end, it's cheaper to buy unhealthy bulk food and all you have to do is throw it in the warmer to thaw out. So glad they asked me to take over Shooting Sports this year.