Eagledad

>>Focusing on any rank, including Eagle is getting your eye off the goal. Your making advancement an end in itself. But that isn't the goal. The goal is character development, citizenship training, and mental and physical fitness..>Too many parents think the goal is to get Eagle and then get out and have their sons do other things, maybe things they think are more important (like sports.) I think one of our jobs is to explain to them what the real goals are.

I like this kind of thinking, but it can already be going in the present program. I've said before the quality of the older scouts is a direct reflection of the rest of the program. We strive to make the troop program a progression of leadership experiences. I wasn't really sure how well it worked until I spoke with a Star transfer. His SM in another part of the state told me he was one of their best scouts. The scout told me he was very intimidated by our youth leadership because they were so far advanced from his old troop. Our district OA representative told us the reason the last three Lodge chiefs came from our troop was because they knew how plan activities and run meetings. Our troop isn't special, we just made sure every position in the troop develop some kind of leadership skills. We never had a bugler, but if we did, we would identify some skills for him to practice. Typically a new scout starts out as a Grub Master or Cheer Master because those positions require just enough practice with planning, communication, and directing, for the maturity of a 10 year old. Patrol QM is the next step requiring a little more maturity and experience with the APL requiring a little experience. Same goes with troop PLC positions. You can use scribes and historians as entry level positions stepping up to more responsibility with Quarter Master and ASPL. The TG, SPL, and JASM were our most mature positions, but each troop can design their own leadership progressions. The hard part is identifying the skills the scouts should practice in each position, and stepping up the challenges as they get older and more experienced. If you do that through your whole troop program, you will have a culmination of learning experiences for the Eagle as well as senior leaders. And they didn't even know it because it was all part of a clever little scheme of learning while they did the fun scouting stuff. A progressive learning program require a liitle work up front, but nothing near as hard as getting National to enhance the Eagle program. I love this scouting stuff. Barry(This message has been edited by Eagledad)

>>If we can go five minutes without mindless blather about values - an empty word on its own - I would appreciate it

>>My quibble is that it reverses the traditional order of Belief, Community, Self. The best way to find yourself is to help others, make the world a better place, and not concentrate on your on belly button so much.

What is BSA still doing right: Mission statement Vision statement Scout Law and Oath Three Aims and Eight Methods. I know those are a bit idealistic, but when used as intended, they provide the best youth scouting program in the world. Personally I'm still impressed by it. Barry

>>The big question is: How do we keep the original scouting tradition alive but have a program that meets the desires of our modern youth? If we don't find the answer, I'm afraid we wont have a program to share the traditions with.

We had a couple scouts leave because they were looking for a fast track Eagle program. Yes I hated to see them go, they were good scouts. We got two types of transfers: First were older scouts looking for more adventure and independence. The other were awkward or handicap scouts who didn't fit in other troops. Barry

>>Heh, heh! Now that you mention it, I would like to see a troop arrive for summer camp that pile out of a Greyhound style bus, followed by a 14 wheeler packing their gear! I'd be hustling over to this discussion board to report that event, you can be sure!

I have never seen it either. The parents who wanted to bring siblings in our troop stayed a public camp down the road. Barry

>>A secondary complaint he had was the same old "car camping" experiences. The boy-led PLC was not adventurous when planning campouts. In his 2 years with the Troop, owning a backpack was not really necessary. While I agree with the boy-led concept, you need adult advisors that are willing to coach the boys to consider more physically challenging outdoor treks and have adults that are willing to accompany the boys on these treks.

>>This really comes down to basic personal hygiene. Parents, talk to your kids -

>>One correction: I think I have been careful NEVER to write anything that "clearly defines (my) feelings of religious principles and for those who believe in them

>>Religion, lads, is the only thing that has ever brought people together in groups beyond race/ethnicity/tribe/political caste/economics, and the only thing that has ever tempered the darker and more destructive nature of those other beliefs.

The problem with three strikes is you have two strikes before the third. If we can't in some way understand the wrong of the first bad decision, then we are just delaying the lesson of the first strike until after the third. Typically several small bad decisions occur before the big one. You need to change the behavior with the small bad decisions, so that the big one was never considered. Barry (This message has been edited by eagledad)

>>That's not a question we can answer without reviewing the careers (formal and informal) of all 96 scouts. For all I know, the scout who was 2nd class at 18 and only held APL is responsible for recruiting half your boys and mentoring your most recent PLs! He might have never taught an ILST, but he was always there with fireside advice for any boys who wanted it.

The question is "which One scout has the most impact of positive growth on the whole troop?". My troop had 96 scouts when I retired as SM. Which "one"? Barry

>>So why not the regular monthly roundtable? Well, one issue with us is that it falls on a troop meeting night for two of the troops. The other is that our district was absorbed by another, two years ago, and things are pretty much run by the other district. It's not the same any more. Because they are remote from us, we've sort of lost our local identity.

Yep, I totally agree. We had a stash for that exact reason. I will say that we did not recognise Eagles until National approved. There is still a very slight risk National will refuse. But once Council called, we pulled an Eagle badge from the stash and presented it at the next meeting. Barry

>>Honestly, his Webelos program was more fun and engaging than the Troop. I realize Webelos is an "adult-led" program but the boys learned, went on campouts, went on hikes, did outdoor activities, and the weekly meetings were educational, engaging, and enjoyable. We had no falling membership during those Webelos and Cub years; we had rising membership.

>>Adults who distanced themselves open themselves up to more trouble..Isolating yourself from the scouts leads to potential disasters...So say Scouts were horse playing and one gets hurt. They all are afraid to tell because they will get punished..Monday Morning a Parent calls Council office and complains because her son comes home from camp with a Broke Ankle...your screwed .. You have no knowledge of it being broken and you rendered no Medical treatment

(LOL) wish I could of seen that. Barry(This message has been edited by eagledad)

Yah well the objective is to get the scout to realize his own mistake and voluntarily change. There are as many ways to guide a scout to see the bulb come on as there are people in the world. That includes physical exercise. I once took four excited giggly new scouts on a midnight hike for an hour on the first night of summer camp. Oh sure they knew they were in trouble when they were asked half way through the hike if they understood what parts of the scout law needed a little practice. Or maybe they didn't we also looked at stars, watched critters and just talked about the fun stuff we were going to do camp that week. I think there was a little bonding there too, but it was pretty late. Selfishly, I also wanted to wear the boys down a little and let the rest of troop sleep. I know I know, I'm just a big bully, I admit it. Even worse, I have no regrets and I will do again under the same circumstances PERIOD! LOL You guys crack me up. I love this scouting. Barry

>> Well, you lost me there, Barry. I don't see what the two have to do with each other.

It's real touch and go and pretty bad around Colo Springs. Garden of the Gods is out and probably AF Academy. White Water is farther south and over a large area, so you should be OK there, but it might be smokey. There is plenty to do around where you guys are staying, so the tour company should keep you busy. Have a great trip and drink plenty of water at Philmont because the arid air at the altitude dries you out fast. First sign of a headache, drink. Oh, and don't feed the bears. LOL Barry

Its pretty bad, I'm sure Garden of the Gods is out. Pikes Peak may be OK. The Air Froce Academy is a great visit as well, but the fires are close there as well. Where are you staying and how are you getting around. And if it fits, check this site out in LaJunta way south of the fires. Its worth the visit. Be sure to check the Dancers tag to get their times, this is all done by a Boy Scout Troop and it is very impressive. http://www.kosharehistory.org/ Barry