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Grand Rapids, MI: "What started as a group of less than 10 girls is, today, the second largest all-girls troop in the state with 43 in total.", Scoutmaster Kim Mast. Source: https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/grand-rapids-north/scoutmaster-leads-second-largest-all-girls-boy-scout-troop-in-state/69-997dd2c6-906a-4b6b-bf31-7a81665691e1

I live nearby. Toyed with the idea of going, until I saw the registration fee. Is the content really worth that much? I could send 3 adults to Wood Badge for that.

The effect of off-shore wind turbines on bird and bat flight paths "Dominion Energy agreed to install a wildlife-tracking system called Motus on both turbines at the end of the required monitoring period. Motus uses antennas to detect signals from birds and bats tagged with tiny radio transmitters. Since the Motus network launched in 2015, more than 30,000 birds, bats and butterflies(?) have been tagged, but the majority of the 1,500 antennas are on land. Meanwhile, many species migrate over the ocean. Extending the Motus network offshore can help managers identify migration p

Content? Hard to know. I have not attended one. From outside the closed doors, I sense it is more like a Blue and Gold - announcements , awards, food - more social than business. From my experience when a company annual meeting is more social than business, it means business continues as usual. I keep hoping for more transparency and open, thoughtful discussions - that online fireside chat with Mr. Krone with questions sent in from the field would be a good start. And we have questions. My $0.02,

Ahh... you are not limited to attending events in your District. You can go where ever convenience dictates. If anyone gives you the stink eye tell them you got permission from Scouter.com !! LOL

Thank you all for the input. We spoke with the camp and they will make sure that troops follow the proper procedure and that no one will have sole use over any portion of the facilities.

As stated above, your District is where the physical address of the CO is located. We had a situation where we got a new CO, which was physically in a different city and district, by about 100 feet. The SE made an exception for us, since the IH lived within our old district.

The unit is in District A, the location of your CO. The CO owns the unit, regardless of where it meets. The DE for District A supports. At recharter, same as above... DE for District A. No, no National policy... the only thing remotely covering is that the council has geographic boundaries... and CO's located in those boundaries are chartered within that council. The council gets to determine its own geographic or functional boundaries for its districts.

Right. Signs can be moved. Schedules can be adjusted. Separate times scheduled and posted for youth/adult and female/male is good practice. That the troop was unable to accommodate male troop camping next to them speaks volumes of their leadership.

Does not require separate facilities... G2SS is quite clear... Separate shower and latrine facilities should be provided for male and female adults as well as for male and female youth. If separate facilities are not available, separate times should be scheduled and posted. Should does not mean must.

I"m sure this camp falls under a council. How about bringing it up to the council board. Just not going is good for your unit, but leaves the same problem that would fill your troop's week. How about identifying the troop to council and camp that took over the latrine. I'm more of the thinking Scouts can be courteous, but not a weak victim and just take it on the chin. Standing up for yourself and others is scout like too...brave? And to those leaders on the site (I hope they contribute) that condone taking over the latrine, you allowed Scouts to show an ugly side of shared camping and

Your sign idea is solid, and the other troop's behavior was not. That's not at all acceptable. First dibs on the big shower is not scout-like at all! And I'm with Eagledad, how can a troop override the camp leadership? Camp leadership needs to fix this for you. I'm also struck by that they had their own signs, which means they planned it. And it wasn't just that they hogged the good shower and sink, they did so by reference to gender. I can't know for a fact, but it smells like benevolent sexism, like they thought that they deserve the nice facilities because it's men's duty to sacrifice

This is a camp problem, not a you problem. Echoing similar advice: Don't leave it to chance. Address it with them before committing to camp and then hold them to it. If they can't commit to making it a comfortable experience (facilities and experience/emotionally) then find a better option if you can.

If the camp commissioners and other staff are not doing their job, go to another camp.

One of the kindest, most mature, and friendliest of my scouts made his arguments about why BSA should not have included girls to me and, I later learned, to scouts of mixed sexes in a merit badge class being led by a female camp staff. Exactly which cudgel should I have had BSA reign down upon him? Meanwhile I have had to help multiple female scouts stand firm against proper sexual harassment from scouts (or sometimes verbal abuse from scouters). They don’t want anyone to get hurt, they don’t think they’ll be believed, they think they led on, or they think it’s part of the job. It’s

I really don't understand where these extremist comments are coming from? It's out there. ... Society has been debating major topics for decades and will continue to do so. The "who can hit who and for what" is mid-evil. I pray that's not the frame of mind brought to this forum. ... The topics now are balanced funding for both Women's Studies and Men's Studies departments. Inclusion of women on men's sports teams and inclusion of men on women's sports teams. Mandatory paternal parental leave. Bring your son to work day. Why are more women graduating college than men? ... There i

I was curious what relevant material the CyberChip Award might have. In the Scout Cyber Chip Contract which is modelled after Scout Law Brave: If I witness any instances of cyberbullying, illegal activities, or suicidal threats, I will go directly to my parents. However from Advancement Updates 2024 "The Cyberchip has been phased out. Scouts should use the Personal Safety Awareness training at https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/scouts-bsa/ for both Scout and Star ranks." From there a video link https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/YPSAT/bullying/story

I thought that one of the points of YPT was to, in fact, shield scouts from people wishing to do harm? A lot of YPT is about prevention. Allowing hateful comments to remain on BSA social media posts (many remain and aren't deleted) seems like it would go against what we're trained to do, to stop the harm from continuing. We wouldn't just opt to ignore bullying comments made in-person, we respond to them, stop them, and address the scout or scouts making them. Comments made to make scouts feel unwelcome in the BSA constitute bullying, no matter where they happen. We certainly can't sh

Agree with much of this. If Instagram is a public forum (and it is, because government officials use it to engage with the public) then people can say whatever the heck they want. Now, BSA tagging and reposting IS a problem. But that is on BSA... And yes, adults should tell their Scouts to ignore posts that BSA has tagged for their Troop, exactly because they (as you say) seem to allow people who make hateful comments. Your Scouts need to learn to speak up to confront, or ignore, just as you and I do. There are a lot of hateful people in the world... you are not going to shield

Since you mentioned "Do I really spell out why that's contrary to the Scout Law?"... can you help me understand how a Pack "ignoring the separate dens by gender rule" isn't contrary to the Scout Law? Does that teach our Scouts that a Scout is Trustworthy? Ignoring rules that don't fit our agenda ("my scouts' ability to scout together") and then making reference to the Scout Law is rich.

Haters gonna hate. It’s hard to toe a hard line as BSA risks losing those who disagree. Not meant as an excuse, just a reality. Important thing is that BSA stays on track and does not waiver. Change takes time, and it will get there. Keep advocating.

No idea what the BSA system allows.... but where do you want to be registered? I'd pursue that District. There may not be much practical difference to your District affiliation. DE support could vary between Districts, but often there is little difference between Districts. For training, events, etc... most Districts welcome participation from other Districts' Units. I'm in an area where 3 States and 5 Councils are close to each other. Not too long ago when I was a District Commissioner we had a Unit who was registered in Council A, CO was in Council B, usual meeting place was i