andysmom

When we have a scout ready for a BOR I (AC) send an email to the entire committee.  In the past we just haven't had committee members come to the meetings so it was usually just 3 of us doing all Boards (myself, treasurer and cc)as the 3 of us were generally at all the meetings.  We have had some new parents join with our recent group of crossovers so I hope that will change now and we will have more MC available for boards as it isn't always convenient for the treasurer especially to sit on them.  In a pinch we have asked parents of some older scouts to help with them even if they weren't on the committee (for scouts other than their own, of course)

Scouts and leaders circle up, SPL gives general reminders, announcements, recognizes scouts who have completed BOR that evening, that sort of thing.   Scoutmaster minute.  Join hands (right over left or left over right, I honestly forget) and a scout selected by the SPL starts the Scoutmaster Benediction and everyone else joins in (we say "may the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with us until we meet again" ) and everyone says "Good night Scouts".

Sorry. I wouldn't pay. We've told our district loud and clear if they charge a fee we will relocate two blocks away to the other district that will never charge a fee

Not a district thing, its a council thing.

Our council implemented a $22 per registration (youth and adult) "activity"  fee instead of collecting for FOS.  $33.00 national + $12 boys life + $22 activity fee = $67 per scout just to register :-(

In case anyone is interested.....

http://www.scouting.org/nsc.aspx

Sleeping in a cabin during the winter does not count towards advancement or nights for the camping merit badge, yet we have plenty of boys advance in rank and get the merit badge.  All I said is that if a scout is not prepared we do not allow him to sleep outside during the coldest months.  The cabins have wood stoves, bunks and electricity but they are far from the Holiday Inn.  The scouts spend their days outside and have the appropriate clothing for that.  All of our leaders and many of our older scouts have the equipment and "training" to stay safe in those overnight temperatures and some of them do sleep outside all winter.  We generally have one camp out in the winter that has a very large porch that is covered but unheated.  Scouts are encouraged to set up their tents there to "test" winter camping if they are unsure.  It gives them a safer feeling knowing that if they are cold they can go inside the cabin during the night.  Our unit feels that it is better to get a scout out, away from electronics, and spending time with friends, even if they only have a 40 degree sleeping bag.  Your unit may do things differently, but this works for our unit and our scouts.

My husband is my son's Scoutmaster.  I think most of the time if an outsider showed up to a scouting event they would have no idea that they are related.  My husband does not sign off on advancement for our son and all SMC have been held with ASM in our troop.  They do share a tent sometimes on camping trips because my son has complex medical needs and requires my husband's assistance on occasion.  This summer our son will not be attending summer camp (for the first time) but my husband will be there for the week, as usual.  I do think he is sad about it though.

One of the things that i am noticing is that people are using "camping" and "tent camping" interchangeably.   We live in the northeast and while many of our scouts have over 100 nights camping, they are not all TENT camping.   While it is allowed, most of our scouts do not have the proper equipment to camp in a tent in the coldest winter months of Dec. Jan. Feb. and March when we have snow on the ground and overnight temperatures often dip down to below 0 and we will not allow scouts to camp in conditions for which they are not prepared.  Our troop rents a cabin during those months.  Depending on what time of the month the troop camps in Nov. and April scouts may not have the proper equipment either.  Just because they are not TENT camping does not mean that the scouts do not get outdoors and do not work on requirements.  If a scout is active in multiple sports I can understand why they might not have the required number of nights TENT camping, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a scout hasn't camped. 

The outdoor program is just one of eight methods of scouting.  It is NOT supposed to be the entire focus.  The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.  Not to turn them into campers or outdoors men.  Just because a scout doesn't enjoy camping does not make them any less of a scout than anyone else.  My .02

Could the committee want someone there to see how the scout is demonstrating leadership?  This would not be a reason to delay the project, however.  There is nothing that says a committee member must be present for an Eagle Scout Service Project.

Although I don't believe we have had scouts complete projects where no unit adults were present, I believe it could happen.  If there is a question about how the scout demonstrated leadership in this case the committee could talk to any of the adults present.  As a committee member, I do not always work on the service project but I almost always stop in to see how everything is going and see if everything is needed.  It gives me an opportunity to see the scout "in action" so to speak and speak with the other adults there.

I would not consider an Eagle Project a "troop activity".  Eagle Scout projects are arranged and managed by the Scout, not the troop.  Scouts can perform service without troop leadership present as in the example of a patrol service project or of a scout does community service for an organization on his own to get service hours for advancement.

My council has a form that we need to print out that list the scout's name the merit badge he is receiving, the date of completion and the counselors name.  They must be turned in with the advancement reports so council can be sure the MBC is on the list.  I usually don't have trouble getting awards but some overzealous Scout Shop employees want to check the paperwork. 

MBC lists are put together by our districts.  Every year they confirm YPT and ask if the counselor wants to stay on the list or be dropped.  At least that is how our old district did it, we had a district reorganization take effect Jan. 1 (our old district was dissolved, separated and merged into other existing districts) and we haven't received a list from the new district (DAC called our old district's MBC list "a mess")

In our council references are checked by the unit, in our case, me, the advancement coordinator and I fill out a form stating that I checked the references and not anything negative.  That form gets submitted to the council with the Eagle Package.  I send requests via email and prefer to get an email response.  If I can't get a response via email I call the reference and take notes on our conversation.  At the Eagle Board of Review I provide the letters and/or my notes to the board to review.  The letters are not given to the scout per the GTA.

I love the hair splitting here. SMCs are not BORs, so the rank is not done until the BOR is done. That's in the GTA. The Eagle exemption is for Eagle only. You're making up your own rules to suit you and that's unfair.

 

The Scout and unit leaders had well over a year to make sure their scouts were not impacted. Either the unit leaders or the scouts dropped the ball, but 1/1/17 was a pretty clear deadline. It's March, nearly April and this should have been handled months ago.

 

Not using the new requirements now is akin to cheating. Sorry.

IMO what would be unfair is making scouts who finished the requirements and had their SMC at the last troop meeting of the year do the new requirements because we couldn't get a BOR together the last 2 weeks of the year (for various reasons)

As far as the original poster goes, it begs the question of why a BOR has not been completed before now and exactly when did he complete the requirements.  Just because you are involved in other activities does not preclude you from the rules everyone must follow.  Was there an attempt by the committee to be more flexible about their boards to accommodate the scout, why couldn't the scout speak to their coach about being late to or leaving early from practice.  I think honest answers to those questions should determine the answer.  Scouting is about character building, if the scout had any opportunity for a BOR far earlier than now and chose not to make an effort than it is on him.  On the other hand, if the committee did not make any effort to work with the scout's schedule, that needs to be accounted for (again, my opinion)

I guess I am missing something.  On the Eagle application they look at date of first class rank and above.  Internet advancement does not know what requirements a boy used, in fact, the original poster's scout could have been using the new requirements for second class since Jan. 1, 2016.  How is anyone (except the unit) to know what requirements he used?

Our troop viewed the deadline for boards of review the same way that national looks at the board of review requirements for the eagle rank.  If a scout had finished all the requirements up to and including the SMC, the board of review could happen after the "deadline".  I believe we had 2 or 3 scouts have their boards of review within the first 2 weeks in Jan.  I am not anticipating any problems.

I only cringe because I've seen so many well intentioned adult ideas go off track, gaining weight and self importance that they become a really bad experience.

 

For example, our district used to have a committee review Eagle project plans, taking months, each cycle adding more comments.  It did not add value.  But it did drive scouts away.  And those that went through it had a bad taste in their mouth.  It was never part of the BSA process.  Our district could have done it differently and made it a useful positive experience for the scout.  But people kept deciding to add their value.  Until the BSA 2011 GTA revision and Eagle workbook, no one ever said "Let's eliminate this step.  It doesn't match why the scout is doing the project."  

We are going through this now.  We have recently been redistricted and the our new DAC has her own way of doing things.  I took a Life to Eagle class from her at University of Scouting a couple years ago and it was very clear she did not understand the process as outlined by national.  She recently told our Scoutmaster that if a boy wanted Eagle they had to go through her and do it her way.  She requires a Life to Eagle class, we tell our boys about it but if they don't go she is threatening to hold them up, I see that as adding to the requirements.  She has her own ideas about what an Eagle Project should be.  We have 2 excellent Eagle mentors in our troop who work with our scouts on their proposal to be sure it fits within the guidelines and helps them iron out any issues, our committee is thorough and responsible (even though we have a couple members who are crazy with what they want to see in a proposal).  None of our Scouts have had their proposal turned away at the district level and I have been told that our boys are some of the most well prepared scouts that our district has seen.  So we get this new DAC who insists on meeting with all candidates personally to review their projects, on her schedule, and in her town (about 45 minutes away).  She wants to approve the project plan before the boys begin their project as well.  We told her that the project plan is "optional" and she replied that it isn't if our scouts want to make Eagle in her district.  We have no idea what to expect as far as the project review goes because she is a "my way or the highway" person and requirement 5 is so vague that she can dismiss the project for her own reasons.

Our youngest Eagle in recent memory was 15.  He is the troop guide for the new scout patrol.  He likes the title and the new crossovers (and their parents) LOVE that red, white and blue necker!

I have spent  time just this past week talking to parents who's Cub Scout "will make Eagle, come hell or high water" and a parent who's son wont make it who is complaining about "all this time, wasted".  They don't get that the program is about so much more than just a patch on a shirt.  So sad, really.

In our council, if a Scout does not belong to a religious organization, a Scout's parents can act as the religious reference stating how their son demonstrates a duty to God.  As stated above, the ONLY reference that can be left blank is the employer reference if a scout is not employed.  We are required to have a religious, an educational and 2 personal references.

Our Scouts knew of the changes since last year.  We told them that it might be in their best interest to reach 1st class by Dec 2016 and at T-1 Boards of Review the Scouts decided which requirements they wanted to use going forward.  Many finished First Class in time, some didn't.  It is what it is.

Scouts pay $175 dues, $10 OA dues, summer camp fees, and $5 per campout for food.  They also must buy a class B shirt and troop cap.

Troop covers equipment, camp out fees, registration, Boy's Life, council imposed activity fee, remaining cost of food for camp outs, SPL fees at NYLT, fees for camporees, books, neckers and slides for crossovers, all ranks, badges and awards, Eagle kit, cake and engraving on our plaque for Eagle Scouts.

In our troop the SM will let the advancement chair know that a scout is ready for his BOR.  The advancement chair emails the committee that a BOR is required and the next time we have 3 committee members at a troop meeting we have the BOR.  If it is close to the date for a COH or some other deadline (like getting Scouts to first class before Jan 1 and the requirement change) we will pull an experienced parent into the board of we only have the 2 MC who are regularly at troop meetings.  Because we have some ridiculous committee members we never do BOR on the same night of the SMC and require at least a 2 week notice for Life boards.

I think your nephew is going to be just fine.

You should be proud of the opportunity you are giving him.

It is made clear to anyone who donates that the troop purchases popcorn for the overseas troops with any donation that we receive, it is told to anyone who says they just want to donate and we have a sign posted as well.  We have a military presence in our town and many of our scouts have friends and/or family who are service members.  Everyone seems happy to support both organizations and doing it with $5 is a better option for most than paying the $30 to $50 option for the military donation.  We have never had anyone, to my knowledge, request their donation back upon realizing what we do with donations.  We will have a new popcorn kernel next year (after 8 years) so perhaps that will be discussed, but for now it works for us.

I used Packmaster when I did advancement for the pack and use Troopmaster now for the troop.

We use it for communication, advancement and award tracking.  I find it very easy to use and I am not computer savvy.

The desktop version is on my computer only and everyone else has access to the web version.  I am a bit worried about database safety when everyone has access to change it etc.  Right now I am the only one who can add or archive scouts but I suspect they will have different settings for various users.  troopmaster has served us well and I honestly am not in a rush to move to Scoutbook.

The mobile version is a bonus!

Here it is, from the Fiscal Policies and Procedures for BSA Units FAQ:

 Thank you!!

When we do show and sells we get more donations than sales...... all donations go into a fund that purchases popcorn to send to the military.

It seems to me that if a scout is going to "pay his own way" he is going to be thrifty, thrifty with the resource of money.

Our committee has suggested that the scouts plan and run their own fundraisers but when are they supposed to do that?  At troop meetings?  Our troop meetings are used for trainings, team building, planning for skits, campouts and the like.  When are they suppose to plan a fundraiser?  By all means the scouts should participate in fundraisers somehow, but planning them should be left to the adults IMO.

We have some adults who ask for donations form business to help run events or large expenses (car dealer sponsoring a pinewood derby for example, huge trophys given out, tee shirts for everyone, catering donated for blue and gold dinners)  it was suggested that the scribe write to businesses requesting grants to fund camping equipment.  I have no problem with donations but I have a problem with asking for them.  We had a donor purchase our troops trailer but the scouts were fundraising for it and a former scout donated the portion that the scouts did not raise, we also have a large company donate bottles and every 2 weeks they call us to come and collect the bottles.  My son and I go pick them up and take them to a redemption center.  We get about $1000 a year from that but we did not ask for it, they approached one of our parents asking if we would be interested.

What are thoughts about requesting donations?

In addition to registration, our council collects a $26 per person, mandatory "activity fee"  that replaces the FOS program.