Eagle732

A high adventure program for older Scouts. Our council's camp offers a program for Scouts over 14 which includes kayaking, tubing, and scuba. Some of our Scouts have attended this program every year and they all think it's great!

So the decision has been made that our troop will remain on our current schedule of Wednesday evening meetings. I (the SM) believe Sunday meetings would increase attendance because it limits scheduling conflict with sports and homework. It also happens to be the meeting night for the pack that we draw most of our new Scouts from. The committee, or at least the 3 who were present at the last committee meeting disagree.

highcountry, Just went to the wilderom.com site, what a great resource! Thanks!

"We find it awfully coincidental that all of this comes after the maelstrom of the troop being found negligent in an injury my son sustained while in their care on a campout last month." Yea, I'd want to know more about the circumstances behind that litigious statement before I accepted this boy into my troop.

The only cards I sign without a MBC name on them are the ones for summer camp. I think I'll start putting a note on them so I know they are intended for summer camp only. I agree with Hal's theory, it allows choice with guidance.

"The Scoutmaster assigns the MB counselor just like it states in the SM and Boy Scout handbook." What the SM Handbook says is that "The Scout obtains from his Scoutmaster a signed merit badge application and the name of a qualified counselor for that merit badge." The key word is "obtains", the requirement doesn't say the MBC is assigned by the SM. If the Scout "obtains" several names from the SM and choses the one he wants to work with why is this a problem?

Good point about shopping for counselors. A Scout goes to a MBC and figures he'll be too strict so he shops for another. The name of the MBC should be on the blue card before the SM signs, if the Scout changes MBCs then he would need a new card and an explanation why he needs to change.

All of the SMs I talked to around here let the Scouts choose from the district list. I called our council's advancement chair on this one to get clarification. The SM Handbook states "The Scout obtains from his Scoutmaster a signed merit badge application and the name of a qualified counselor for that merit badge." Council advises the either having the SM or the Scout select (with SM approval) the MBC is correct. When the SM refers the Scout to the approved list he is in effect giving him the name (or names if there is more than one counselor) of a qualified MBC. In my opinion the purpose of t

In another thread the practice of the Scoutmaster assigning MB counselors to a Scout was briefly discussed. Some said it's the SM's job to assign the MBC to the Scout. I felt that the Scouts are capable of choosing one from the approved district or council list. So how does your troop decide on which MBC a Scout will have, does the SM assign one or does the Scout choose from an approved list?

The point I was trying to make was not about the quality of the experience but that I have no say in which counselor the Scout gets. I've never had a Scout come to me with a blue card with the name of a counselor who I thought was not qualified or was a poor match for the Scout.

So I'm wrong to allow the Scouts the responsibility of choosing their own MBCs. They choose from the council's approved list and the MBCs are all adults so they don't miss out on the association. You're right that it's not about leadership but it is about allowing Scouts to make decisions. And by the way I have no say over who the counselor is for merit badges earned at summer camp. The Scout chooses the MB (and yes I let them decide on which MBs to take all by themselves) and the camp provides the counselor.

Hey John, I'm just pointing out that on one hand we (BSA) champion the boy led theory and on the other we (BSA) take the simplest task such as choosing a MBC, and make it an adult decision. My post wasn't meant to criticizes you and what you're doing here, just the BSA policy, which I apparently don't follow.

Another thread talks about troops being boy led and how SMCs and BOR's go against the boy led theory; "... the YMCA added Scout Spirit requirements, Scoutmaster Conferences, and Boards of Review to keep BSA Troops adult-led." And here we point to the BSA requirements that the "Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors." How does this help the troop become more of a Boy led troop? I leave the responsibility of choosing a MB councilor to the Scout, I think they are very capable of doing it themselves. After all B-P said never do for a boy what he can do himself

SSScout, What district's day camp did you attend?

Our troop only enters the requirements into TroopMaster after a BOR. The AC says he has tried to get books from the Scouts and keep the database more up to date but he could never get the Scouts books on a regular bases. Then he would have to keep the books until the next meeting so he could enter the info into TroopMaster which is on his home computer. Obviously not a desirable situation, so we depend on the Scouts to maintain their handbook between rank.

You expect the AC to record every requirement from every Scout as it is earned?

One of my Scouts comes to me the other day wanting a SMC for Second Class. He hands me his book which is brand new with nothing signed off in it. Seems young Tenderfoot left his handbook in his pants pocket and mom ran it through the wash! Hey, my wife won't check pockets either but a handbook? How could you not notice that! Then figuring it was ruined, she threw it away. Anyway this can't be the first time this has happened (well at least losing a book). What does he do about the requirements that were signed off for Second Class? Does he have to do them over? Do I take his word that they wer

Well for us Mondays are out, that's Roundtable, District or Troop Parent/Leader Meeting night. In this area sports of one type or another take up just about every week night. Probably one third of our Scouts miss meetings during baseball season. The only night that is not taken is Sundays. I've heard from some of the parents that that is their family day and they wouldn't attend if we changed, others liked the idea. I hate to make a change and loose Scouts though.

Our troop meets every Wednesday from 7 - 8:30. We go through spells when attendance is poor due to sports but especially take a beating during baseball season since many of the boys play. Several months ago I (the SM) went to the committee with a recommendation that we go to Sunday 7 -8:30 meetings with a short meeting after returning from our monthly camping trip on those Sundays. The majority of the parents did not want to change, but I see attendance during sports seasons as a continuing problem. Also, except during the summer, homework can be a problem. I can't tell you how many times I'v

We us SOAR too but haven't decided on using PayPal for donations or paying for trips yet. If you do let us know how it works out.

Last election no one wanted to run for SPL. Finally one of our Committee members, an Army Ranger and past DI stood up and said (in his DI voice) he would love to take the job. The first item on his agenda was GI hair cuts for everyone and PT every meeting! I agreed that we would have an adult led troop and that our Army Ranger should be the SPL if no Scout wanted the job. Within 2 minutes we had 5 Scouts running for SPL!

We're using a portion of each meeting preparing for the next camping trip. What I haven't been doing is asking each Scout personally and in front of the other Scouts if they are going and if not then why. I might just might start though.

We just started using the Soar web host, http://www.mytroop.us/ Check our website out at www.troop400delta.com

We just started using the Soar web host, http://www.mytroop.us/ Check our website out at www.troop400delta.com

We just started using the Soar web host, http://www.mytroop.us/ Check our website out at www.troop400delta.com