Eagledad

We have two ASPLs and both are responsible for program. They alternate every other month to lead the planning and leadership of all the troop activities. Barry

Everyone are right on and gave excellent advice. I only add that I spent a little more time on character and leadership during my confrences because that is the expectation of Boy Scout. I gave more focus on character during my Star confrence and little more time on Leadership during my Life Confrence. My reasoning was that I held Star Scouts and higher ranks to a higher level performance living of the Scout Law and Oath. The Life Scout is closer to Eagle and generally the older scout with a lot more Leadership Responsiibility. Barry

>>My advice is to run it past the local Fire Marshall, as Hal said. If you're really that gutsy and confident, invite him to one of the ceremonies and surprise him.

Boy that is a tough one. I tried to kill such a Troop (with the blessing of the DE) in our District when I was District Membership chairman. It had long and bad reputation of terrible leadership. I also had concerns of safety and bad examples of role modeling (adultery among the leaders). Our goal was to kill it long enough to clean its reputation then start it back up with a fresh new CO and committee. Our problem is that this is the oldest Troop (real old) in the area and a few of the committee members (real old) were scouts in the troop during its hey day. They would rather have a bad

I will stand up and brag that Ive done the ceremony many times. I wont get into the details about safety, we did an extensive job to be safe. A person would be at more risk slicing potatos for dinner. The mix splattering on folks is impossible, at least the way we did it. I will say that I found indoors better than outdoors because we could control the elements a lot better. You all go ahead talk down something of which you have no experience, but this is a discussion on safety. Oh I understand folks being afraid of what they dont understand. Lots of troops dont allow the uses of axes, h

>>Our derby is this Sunday and I've been asked to help check-in cars. Does anyone have a template "check-in" sheet which includes all these "cheat factors" to look for? I'd love to use one so that there is consistency in the process. Thanks.

>>Whenever possible let the Scouts handle the safety. I have found that if I can wait just a little longer than I normally would to put a stop to something a Scout will. The difference is that when a Scout tells a another Scout that what they are doing or about to do is stupid he only has to say it once.

Our troop has about two miles that we four times a year. Our town even put up sign with our Troop number giving us credit for that street. I used that activity to get younger scouts some leadership practice. Beary

In the old days this would not have been and issue new scouts lerned their skills from their patrol mates. And we have to understand the difference between advancement and learning skills. As other have said, he needs to hang with his friends and enjoy the parts of scouting his friends bragged about. I'm sure they will be glad to teach the skills their friend needs to enjoy the program. Barry

>>This type of camp program puts the onus on the Scoutmaster to just say no.

I'm with Narraticong, boys dream of this stuff, help them make the dreams real. I think this is a great idea I wished I would have thought of. Some folks look at bows as tools, then there are those who only see weapons. So let the scouts carve the bows and then take the group to a range to learn safety and shoot their hand made bows and satisfy the can't do folks. I like the idea of teaching a little history and learning how to make strings as well. This could be a great project. Good Job Barry

One of my first Eagles was deaf. It doesn't take long for everyone to think of him as normal and treat him that way. You forget he is deaf until someone new in the troop meets him. Evmori has great advice as he always does. Your scout is just like all the boys with the same dreams, attitudes, boy problems and behaviors. In fact, our scout tried to used his deafness to his advantage. Its seems that sometimes he didn't hear the instructions, if you know what I mean. The parents of our deaf scout were so proud that I did his Eagle Scoutmaster Confrence at his home so his parent could watch.

>>Boys do stupid things and adults should be ever vigilant to any and all situations,

I dont think it really matters whether you use an SPL or PL, the goal at this point of time is to develop a patrol method type program. As Eamonn said, that is a challenge on its own. I suggest that all the scouts and all the adults involved get the Patrol Leaders Handbook. That gives everyone a guideline toward where they should be going, and how to get there. I also suggest that the adults, at least the SM, get the SPL Handbook for himself and the youth leader so they can work together under the same guidelines. These books are a quick read and very clear. They are enough to point the

My dad's Scoutmaster didn't go with them on many campouts. They would tell the SM about their experiences at the next Troop meeting and he would then discuss with them how to do the things they did wrong differently the next time. That was during WWII and their SM couldn't go out of necessity. But I wonder if that should have been the norm. Now of course my dads troop never camped any farther away than they were willing to hike out of Laurel Mississippi. Still, I'm sure it was an adventure. Barry

I stayed away from the troop for six months while the new scoutmaster got his feet under him. It was the hardest six months of my life. As much as that job enhanced my life and gave me the ability to give so much of myself, I could probably never scoutmaster again because of that six months. I love that scouting stuff. Barry

>>I am talking about "bragging rights" which can be lost when bested. The events I described are posted on a big white board for all to see.

I like the idea of a known set of coordinates for troops that have not done geocaching. Our troop likes to do survival geocaching where the scouts need to find the boxes for firestarting, food and other nice to have needs when you are dumped out in the wilderness with nothing accept a sleeping bag. It takes time to set up a geocaching course. Barry

>>Is there program experience that one can comment on where the program went back and re-emphasized scout skills as a means to improving patrol leader success?

What ever you teach them, work to make all the instruction consistent between the teachers so that they are role modeling a style of teaching for the scouts. And, since you eventually plan to hand the responsibility over to the scouts, your instruction to the ASMs should be the same one you plan to give the scouts. For example, our troop does something like this for our adults and scout: 1.Introduce yourself. 2.Tell them what you are going to teach. 3.Hold up the resource of what you are going to teach so they know where to find it. (Scout handbook, MB book, other) 4.Demonstrate the

Wow Twocubdad, that is a great post and you are right on target. I learned back in college that about 4 percent of the population is natural leaders, or in your words the charismatic leader. But scouting is a program that develops the other 96 percent into leaders as well. I also want to support what you said about the scout craft skills. Done correctly, the first class skills program is one of the best tools for teaching leadership skills. . I have always said that what scouting does so well is develop confidence. It really doesnt matter how skilled you are if you have the confide

So what I gather you are saying Stosh is that your cherry picking post didn't apply to this thread and you were really starting a new one. OK. By the way, I knew what cherry picking meant, it just didn't make sense to the discussion. Barry

>>Cherry picking your best boys to get special treatment is viewed by all the outsiders as unfair, and a point of conflict for those sitting close on the fence. Without teamwork of the patrols, this problem will always arise in the troop.

Sounds like your Scoutmaster is a really good man Beav. No surprise, I enjoy reading your braggings about your troop, and your son. I also learned quickly to ignore age and because some boys mature faster, or slower, than others. And we once had an 11 year old bicycle racer in our troop, how could I tell him he wasnt qualified to go on a High Adventure bicycle trip in reality, we need him to train us? One other thing that you kind of hinted to is the SM also has to be of some authority for the adults. Just like with the boys, I learned the hard way that adults need to prove themselves as

Yes, from the scouts perspective, shakedowns are important for training and for finding our physical and mental weaknesses. But there is a bigger issue here and you nailed it, maturity. This is one of those situations where the boys have to learn the lesson. If they dont learn it here, it is going to hurt a lot more later on in life. Who knows if they listened to your wisdom, but that is your job and I know you do it well. Before I became a SM, I was talking to a Scouter whom I respected very much. He was a very successful SM of one of the most boy run troops in our town. He told me