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eagle_scout98

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Everything posted by eagle_scout98

  1. ever thought about starting another Venture Crew in your area? You could "set it straight" right away with that and possibly move into adult leadership with that once you turn 21.
  2. I will feign some ignorance here since I was a Scout during the 90s and have continued on since then but I had a patrol all through my Scouting time and know pleny of units that have patrols in their Troops. So, feigning ignorance, I have to ask if the general thoughts behind patrols are any different than they were when my dad was in Scouts (late 60s and early 70s). The only thing I think that may be different, basing it off of my views on the local Troops, is that patrols don't go off and do things on their own as much as they could. I also don't think that the idea of a Venture p
  3. I would say that while it shouldn't be something the Scout puts together for a day or weekend just to get the merit badge but they don't necessarily have to incorporate. A lot of youth could start a business (let's use yard work) without incorporating. They can still advertise, get clients and have invoices and expense.
  4. I've been doing some research at the request of others since we have gotten back from a weekend campout where the lows were in the 20s. There was discussion on the "Polar Bear Award" as it pertains to camping at temperatures below freezing. My question is: Is this a council based award or a national award? So far, all I have found is some councils versions (pretty much the same but still unique) and not thing on a national scope. And by "award" I mean patch given to someone who completes the requirements. Not something you would hand out at a COH as an 'award' earned.
  5. Thanks for all the great information. I have two questions. What is a Coke Wagon? How do you go about selling mulch? Thanks!
  6. I agree with eagle-pete. We sang the Wood Badge song ALL the time at Wood Badge. It was one of the first things we were taught. So I sing with it all the time even though I haven't finished my ticket yet. "I used to be a Fox and a good old Fox to but now I'm finished Foxing, I don't know what to do! I'm growing old and feeble and I can Fox no more so I'm going to work my ticket if I can!"
  7. Amongst my other Scouting duties, I am the Committee Chair for a Venture Crew. The Crew is going to Philmont next year and we have promised them many fundraising opportunities (about half the kids are from low income type situations). We are currently selling popcorn and will be bagging groceries next month. I'm hitting a wall coming up with other good fundraisers. What has worked for you in the past? Thanks.
  8. Check out this website: http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/index.php?p=trailcrew There are a lot of good links off of that site. The one thing that I was told when I expressed an interest is that it is youth only (16 through 20).
  9. I agree with Fuzzy Bear that delegation and recruiting are important. About 1/2 of what I do could be made easier by some delegation or recruiting (or recruiting to then delegate). My only issue with the delegation is that I've gotten burned in the past by people not following through. I've ended up doing it all myself anyway, so why not just do it?
  10. I agree with everyone else in that there is no limit on how many hats you can/should wear. It is up to you and what you feel you can do while keeping everything else in order. I have been involved in Scouting for about 22 years straight, both as a youth and an adult leader. Here is what I do/have done: I am Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner I am Committee Chair for a Venture Crew I am the District's Family FOS Chairman for 2007 (and probably beyond) I am coordinating the first of (hopefully) many District Crossover ceremony's I have taught many training sessions. I have
  11. As I believe I said in my post, if the youth did everything right and it was an oversight of the DAC and/or miscommunication then it should be on the DAC. WE SHOULD NOT PUNISH THE YOUTH FOR AN ADULT MISTAKE. However, compromising is a slippery slope. If adults compromise on little things or let little things go by the wayside, what does that teach? In theory youth will learn that they don't have to do all the work because the little things will be 'compromised' on. Plus, what happens if more and more and more is compromised on? People can say, well we let x go why don't we just l
  12. Den Chief is an awesome position for a youth to hold. Unfortunately it seems to be seldom used. At least in our District. Having boys serve as Den Chiefs can not only help the Den Pack to succeed but can also help to get more boys into Boy Scouts. You may even be able to retain older boys if you give them this opportunity as a specialized opportunity. Wouldn't it be great if a 15 or 16 year old Eagle Scout served as a Den Chief? I don't see an issue with the one boy calling himself a 'Den Cheif for a weekend' but I would approach him and ask him if he wanted to be a Den Cheif. L
  13. As has been stated before, a discussion needs to be held with the DAC and/or the CAC to see what counts as approval or not. If the youth went ahead in good faith that the DAC had approved the project then that is not the Scout's fault. This comment bothers me. 'But we make compromises on all kinds of little stuff like this all the time.' Do we want to compromise and Eagle award? What does that say about Scouting. "Don't worry, we will just compromise, you don't have to do it right?"
  14. If the Scout has made a mistake and he was the only one then he may be out of luck. If the DAC screwed up because he didn't sign but gave all of the approval through other means then it shouldn't be the boy's fault. DON'T PUNISH THE YOUTH FOR MISTAKES ADULTS MAKE. The youth move through the program with the understanding that the adults will direct them in the right ways.
  15. Eagledad - what you are doing sounds awesome. I commend you for teaching those types of leadership skills and making holding a leadership position important and mean something. The issue of adding requirements comes up frequently in our District. Here is what it always seems to boil down to. If the SM or other adult leader is denying rank advancement or merit badge completion because the Scout hasn't completed requirements that they have added then that is wrong. I see no problem with a Troop having the expectation that the boys will go to training because it is the right th
  16. Based on my research of BSA resources here is my answer: There is no reference in any BSA material supporting that training every 6 months is required by the BSA program for a youth to hold a leadership position. Here is what you will find in the scoutmaster handbook and through basic and advanced scoutmaster training... that training youth in leadership skills is the responsisibility of adult leaders, that is what adults are there to do in the Boy Scout program. Training doesn't happen every 6 months. It happens constantly. Training happens in the Scoutmaster junior leader tr
  17. Keep in mind this is my opinion, but I am also doing some research. I can't imagine that National would require it every six months. I don't know how they could enforce that. It may stated somewhere that since the PORs are usually only held for 6 months that it is a good idea to hold the training for the Scouts taking on PORs that they have never held before. Maybe the SM is misunderstanding the suggested policy. I commend the SM for wanting to have the boys all trained but I can't imagine making a boy sit through Troop Guide training every six months for as longs as the boy i
  18. My District works the same way as emb021 said theirs does. We have one person who is generally in charge and they come up with the ideas and plan it and then ultimately run it. Ideas and such need to be approved by the Activities Committee/Program Chair on the District Committee. This is how our fall camporee runs and most of the time this is how our winter Klondike runs. Occasionally (like this year) a Troop takes on the responsibility for running the Klondike. I might suggest this for the future. Might lead to some more ownership in the camporee. We have, on average, a very low attend
  19. Let me ask a few questions for clarification. What exactly are you wanting to do? It sounds like you want to say that if someone needs a bigger size of say, shorts, you would like them to give you in exchange the pair that no longer fits. Is that correct? If that is what you are looking to do then set the rules that way. If you want shorts, then give us your old shorts. If you want a shirt, give us your old shirt. And so forth. Another option that I have heard used is to buy the old uniforms from the parents for say, $5.00. Then you turn around and sell the items to the ne
  20. You know, everything in this forums leads me to this conclusion: the best way to overcome any of this is to run the program correctly. Not the way someone interprets it (ie adding their own requirements, deciding to ignore others, etc) but the way it is put out. This also means having quality, TRAINED leaders. How many of the leaders in this case took the necessary training to do their job right? If there are major issues with one Troop on not doing things right, form a new Troop and run it the right way. My question is what are you doing to correct it? unless otherwise referenc
  21. Good or bad, each District (and the professionals in them) have requirements for growing Scouting. This not only includes the number of Scouts but the number of units as well. I have talked to enough people and the general consensus is the "if you build it, they will come" mentality. In our District units are focused (Cub ones anyway) on schools, then churches, then other organizations. Boy Scout units and Venturing units are hit or miss on where they charter in my opinion. I can see the logic, but also agree that you should focus on serving the units that are existing before worrying ab
  22. It all comes back to that immediate recognition. I had never heard of the ones for the Boy Scouts (and now explained I know what the Cub ones are) but they are not a bad idea. There is a Troop in my area that I used to be associated with that has name tags made for each Scout (nice ones with a leather holder) and they have beads hanging from them that represent the number of nights they have been camping. There are two different colors of beads, one for days and one for weeks (obviously for when you have 7 days, you redo it to reflect a week) and then a third color bead for # of summer c
  23. I'm not aware of the kits but immediate recognition will always be a good thing. If a Scout earns the award by finishing a board or a merit badge by getting the card signed off on, pull him up at the end of the meeting and announce that he has gotten ______. You don't necessarily have to give him anything but he will feel good about being recognized right away. Also, get him the badge as soon as possible and let him wear it right away. You can make another announcement at the next Court of Honor.
  24. If he is interested you could wait until he is 18 and look at joining a Troop as an assistant Scoutmaster. I echo everyone else in saying that Venturing would be the best bet and to look at starting one up.
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