DugNevius

It depends on the scout and the program, i think. For us many of our eagle scouts remain active in the troop. I myself am one, my scoutmaster was an eaglescout from the troop as was his assistants, and of our last 3 eagles in 2004, 2 are now assistants and are going to Philmont as adult advisors the was myself and the other two eagles with me did in 1998 and 2000. Those that dont take a formal role still stop by from time to time. The program has to interest the kids as well as the SM and the Eagle BOR committee should impress upon the canidate that getting eagle is not the end but really the

One thing i have to say about the Ist class in one year idea is it keeps the scouts interested, they love to stand up and get that badge. But also, remember not to focus JUST on advancment. It may seem to be like homework or school and having fun in games keeps them interested too. I just had a talk with our new cross overs. Every year its a big reminder how much respect 5th grade teachers need. At that age they are a handful, their focus is wirey. Remember to have patience and to lead by example.

actually, our Board of Ed just outlawed the X-mas chorus concert because it was religious in nature and therefore public schools were not to participate in singing such songs. Really, its a backlash against the exploding push for more religion in our country and a very religious Adminstration. I dont want to get into a political debate, and want to keep my bleeding heart liberal mind out of this, but i think a balance is needed and our Board of Ed went too far.

I disagree JD. Times are changing and we are seeing the ever increasing trend of infantilization of our boys and girls and unlike even just 10 years ago, Eagledad's method becomes harder and harder to do. At least in our experiences. That said, when i was a scout though the early 90s we had only 3 or four fathers involved outside the scoutmasters, mine being one of them. Now, since ive been an ASM we have 10 that are going out west to Philmont and our Southwest tour and another dozen that are heavily involved in camping and troop comittee. Our policy hasnt cut dads (an moms) from being a part

From what i have learned, our Patrol selection and having scouts sit on BOR of Tenderfoot to First class is not the "recommended" way.

Well when a cubscout or new youth join the troop we usually talk to both the parent and the kid about or feelings about parents on the first two trips. In the past we didnt have the policy and have had issues withw eening dad from the scout. After the second trip the scout usually is the one to tell dad to go away. In my experience.

We have atroop olympics, which i talked about in "Ideas". We also have a scoring system. Patrols get points for advancement, winning sports games, uniform inspection, contests and so on.

JD- We try to urge the parents not to attend the first two trips for a few obvious reasons. One, it forces the kid to start to rely on his patrol leader for answers and help instead of running to dad (or mom i guess) for assistance, and two, it a jump start for the scout towards self reliance. He learns he can live without mom or dad, and really, mom and dad learn that their son can get on without them. After the second trip we love to have parents help out because, I cant go on every trip 12-13 times a year. As far as asking the kids, we had visiting cub scouts to our cabin and were exp

We've never had a mother or wife on a camping trip, although we have had girlfriends "show up" but we have no policy that they cant go. We have several women that are important members of the parent committee, mostly handling fund raising and eagle court orginization as well as some merit badge counselors. Last month the question was asked to the Staff and PLs, would you want a woman on a trip and every one of them said they would prefer not to. I just thought that was interesting. Another point, mostly unrelated: we try to urge parents of new scouts not to go on their sons first 2 trips.

Sprints are a good way to build up short burst endurance and getting used ot lactic acid buildup. The way inidan sprints work is the crew jobs in a strait line and the guy in the back sprints up to the front of the line and when he gets there the new rear guy does the same, and so on and so on, all while going about a mile or more. FSscouter- Blood. Along with their soul.

Having young leaders isnt a crisis. It depends on the leader not the age. Do you have strong Patrol Leaders? Our SPL and his assistants are all 10th graders. It can be done. Just takes teamwork.

Anarchist- Im behind yu on this. Cell Phones, Game Boys and other electronics have no place at summer camp off the bus. (Well, ok, we let our guys listen to their CD walkmans after lights out) especially backpacking trips. Like, as it seems, everyone else, we had a case of homesickness calling home on Cell Phones, and had to remove all cell phones from the troop. Cell phones now are no longer aloud on any trips. The SPL or his staff sees one, he takes it away and gives it back to mom and dad when we return.

Exactly. Have a sport thats your troops, make it a tradition. For us, Ultimate is part of our identity. Since i was 10 the troop would always have a disc at the ready and even if there wasnt a large enough field we could still do drills. Then, every year we went to summer camp we would challange the camp staff, its got to a point where the camp staff would look forward to our troop arriving to play us. It was an annual event. We challange any group we come across, especially rival troops in our area. Our alumni have gone on to play it in college and even coach it. Scouts reach first class they

What about Round Valley?

I was wearing the same pants at 25 that i was at 15. I just got a new pair, and what a difference it makes. I like the new pants much better.

Hey there packsaddle. Here what i have to say about "The book". Its a great guide. It doesnt fail you. Troops that Follow the book, the way a guy who doesnt post here anymore does have good programs that help kids. After all, its the Boy Scouts. However, we as leaders must be able to think about what it is we are doing and why we are doing it, and think about if things can be added in order to improve upon. In many of my discussions with guys like a guy who doesnt post here anymore i have asked them why they think they need to do things there way and why we cant do things ours and the onl

Good points. I agree that it is important that the scouting program does not to a back seat to anything. Scouts should not play football in place of working on advancement or getting the job done. Work first, then play. The program has to be defined and backed when having sports a part of it. Our troop makes sure it plays one game each week during our meetings for the regular school year. This is not always something like basketball or dodgeball, many times its games of tag, steal the bacon and some games taken from some scout handbook. During the summer, and once every other month we hav

Sturgen, thats totally awesome. Its wonderful to meet guys from other troops that have similar ideas and systems. I dont think our system and program is the only way. The way i feel, and the way my fellow adult leaders from my troop past and present feel, is that Boy Scouts is one of the best things in the world and each troop is different and adds its own to the growth of young men. That said Im glad to see that we are not alone. Old Grey~ Im not sure what you are saying here.

I dont think sports like soccor or basketball need to be eliminated at all. Scouts shouldnt ONLY play sports but there are many merits to orginized sports in scouting.

Essex county. If you ask a guy who doesnt post here anymore, we dont do anything by the book. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

The scheduale had been planned last summer and provided to each scout and leader attending Philmont. They have all signed commitment forms as well. To miss something they have to notify myself or the other scoutmaster in advance with a good reason and then its made up. The reality, our pre-high adventure prep years are not that far different from our regular years. Scouts in our troop are the kind that enjoy things like this.

since i joined boyscouts in 1989 none of our eagles were in 10th grade or lower. that was 16 eagles. None were told at age 14 they werent capable of being eagle, but our program is so busy and challanging it just doesnt happen.

Last week we had a fish cleaning and gutting demo. The boys all loved the chance to pull out and hold fish guts for a few seconds. We got the fish dirt cheap from a local fishmarket when we told the guy what it was for.

we have almost always used first names. The scouts call me Dug, the other SM Carl and my scoutmasters were Doug and Conan. Only our old old scoutmaster, the guy that built our troop and was part of it for 35 years amd has become troop legend was Mr C.

absurd. We have several eagle scoust with ear rings. I can only imagine what this guy would have to say about my tongue ring.