andysmom

I am hoping to clear up some confusion about my previous postings. "I am just seeing alot of skills training and no thought as to "why" we are going on hikes and campouts for example. Scouting is not supposed to teach scouts how to live in the woods, the outdoor program is one method of achieving the main objectives." When I posted that, again, I did not realize that the point of the thread was about skills training. Obviously the scouting program is intended to be run out doors. That is what interests boys, if it interests them they will want to participate. When t

Not disagreeing. I am just seeing alot of skills training and no thought as to "why" we are going on hikes and campouts for example. Scouting is not supposed to teach scouts how to live in the woods, the outdoor program is one method of achieving the main objectives.

Leaders need to be trained in the program, not just how to cook in the woods.

There definitely needs to be some evaluation of the trainers. Sure, they follow a syllabus but some really suck. There needs to be some re certification training every few years. Training needs to be accessible and given often. I think that non direct contact leaders need to be re certified as well. I think it would be beneficial to have different "tiers" of training. (Basic first aide a requirement before wilderness first aide. etc) Only very basic courses should be available online. There are troops that I have heard of that have no trained leaders (except YP), either the leaders

As a parent of a scout with Aspergers and AHDH I can totally agree with Bad Wolf. My son's behavior is not predictable, he can escalate VERY fast and for seemingly unknown reasons. He has run from the room, screamed at adults, covered his ears with his hands, cried, yelled, hid under tables and more. I have received calls from the trained professionals at the school to come in because they cannot calm him or get him to comply with demands. I would not expect a youth leader to deal with that. I do not ask adult leaders with that. Either my husband or myself are ALWAYS nearby, always!

Oh, I absolutely agree. He should not HAVE to be excluded from a traditional troop and IMO troop shouldn't ever turn an interested scout away. I apparently misunderstood the OP, I read the post that the scout was being asked to leave the troop and the family didn't want to peruse joining other troops because of having to deal with the unscout like ASMs in other capacities. I was simply stating an option that would keep the boy in scouting as opposed to dropping out of the program all together. I hate to see a boy drop out of scouting. Finding another troop and reporting the ASM who are ca

You could register him as a lone scout so won't have to have an affiliation with any troop?

The CC and SM SHOULD be on equal footing as they each are responsible for different parts of the organization. The committee is supposed to support the SM. Before our CC would approve an application for an ASM he asked the SM how he felt about the applicant, it is after all, the SM who would be working with the ASM. It all works best when the SM and CC respect each other and feel like they are on equal footing. When one starts feeling like they "outrank" the other is when problems occur. The training issue of non direct contact adult leaders is a huge pet peeve of mine. The only sp

How long do your courts of honor last? Our regular courts of honor are generally 30-40 minutes with skits, rank, merit badges etc. Recharter COH and the first one after summer camp are longer. If we add an Eagle COH after that we are looking at another 40-45 minutes, doesn't that seem too long to be sitting still? Another thing about scheduling Eagle work days, is often times the scout does not have a lot of choice when things happen because of restraints given to them by benefitting organizations, material delivery schedules, weather (needing something finished before the ground freeze

The reason the scout is talking to an adult is because the SM is the only person the pastor will speak with regarding reserving rooms at the church. The entire event is planned by the Eagle Scout and his family with the exception of booking the church and ordering a cake. That is all the troop does. The scout writes the ceremony and asks whomever he wants to emcee, do readings, present the Eagle badge, Eagle oath etc. The SM usually is asked to present the rank, the CC is usually asked to speak about the Eagle process and BOR. I generally help set up and clean up because I am usually ther

A couple of our committee members need to hang up their shirts and move on. Maybe at one time they were volunteering for the right reasons, but it seems like they have forgotten what the right reasons are and it seems to be more of an ego trip "I volunteer for blah blah organization and blah blah organization and hold this title for blah blah" etc. Our old SM was very passive and would roll over at the slightest confrontation and honestly toward the end didn't hold the boys to much of a standard. My husband steps in as SM a couple years ago and is better trained than anyone on the committee

Thank you for the suggestions! This summer is going to be busy for us, that is for sure. We had a very active group of boys who are working on Eagle right now. 1 project just finished, 1 project due to start early this month, 2 projects approved by the committee, 1 project coming before the committee Monday and more scouts putting finishing touches on proposals right now hoping to finish them this fall. Most of those scouts will Eagle before they age out, one is highly doubtful because of his merit badge situation. It will be atleast 2 to 3 years before we have another I suspect. Mo

To be clear, the troop makes the arrangements with the CO to reserve the rooms because we have an uptight pastor and will only schedule things with the SM. The scout and his family do all the planning, decorating, feeding, setting up, writing the script etc. Scouts are there early to help with set up and the troop provides a cake and mails requests for congratulatory letters. The primary problem has been our current and past committee chairs. They are so far out of touch with how things should be done that they can't be reasoned with. For the boy who the CC didn't want to schedule a BOR f

I am curious how other troops schedule Eagle Courts of Honor. In the past, the Eagle Scout and his family have come up with a date, we check to see if the church (our CO) is available and if it is the ceremony is scheduled. Nearly all of our COH, Eagle or otherwise are held in the sanctuary of the church with a "reception" in the fellowship room downstairs. Most of our Eagle COH are done independently and not part of a regular troop COH although the scout is given the option of what they prefer. Our new committee chair does not like separate courts of honor for the Eagle Scouts and has str

It is important for us to remember however that troop meetings are run by the scouts, and scouts aren't always as organized about how they do things as adults would be. The scouts are learning, and that is what makes the scouting program so much different than other youth organizations. I don't know how old your son is, but it will be good for him too. We have been in the troop for 3 years now and in the beginning of every year the meetings are chaotic messes, but they get better and the boys, mine included, see what works and what doesn't. He trusts his fellow scouts and they accept him f

No, it doesn't make them bad people, but going out of their way to pass on their presumably negative opinions to another troop about this young man and his family do not make them nice people. My son has Aspergers and ADHD. We had past issues with an ASM in the troop that my son wanted to cross into. We made an appointment with the SM and CC of the troop to sit down and discuss our concerns. We told them that we didn't want our son to have to deal directly with this particular ASM for any reason and explained to them specifically why. My husband became an ASM (which I understand you ha

Our crossovers participate in the pioneer program at summer camp specifically designed for new scouts. It is a half day program so they can choose merit badges for the afternoon. The boys get a sheet of what they do each day during the program. For years the ASM just signed the books assuming that the skills were taught and tested. We learned they are not. The skills are touched on but not mastered by any stretch of the imagination. ASM have been told not to sign of t-1 requirements that the boys "learn" at summer camp unless they can demonstrate them.

This is very interesting. We have an opening flag ceremony and announcements and our patrols go off into their patrol meetings. We are lucky that we have a 1 large room that we use for opening, closings and games if they need to be inside, and 4 other smaller rooms. Each patrol gets their own room for the evening. The SM stays in the big room for SM conferences, and other SM stuff. Our ASMs are either wandering through the patrol meetings or in the big room to sign book for advancement and other ASM stuff. Our SPL and ASPLs either wander through the patrol meetings or are in the large

I find it cyclic. For 8 or 10 years we will have all the help we need, then the next 10 or so we are stretching those who do volunteer too thin. Sadly, right now, our troop is in the lean years and it is like pulling teeth to get anyone to do anything. They can't even bother putting anything on their calendars 3 months out because "i don't know what we will be doing that far out". I was taught that you put something on your calendar and you turn down everything else, unless it is something really important. People seem to be waiting for better offers, and teaching their kids that it is o

Yep, chartered continuously with the same CO since 1913.

Interesting. We have tried to donate $500 every year to our CO (a church). We have been chartered there for over 100 years. Ever since I have been associated with the troop or pack we have had an outstanding relationship with them. The congregation always seemed to enjoy talking to the scouts and hearing what was going on with them. We even used to have a "column" in the monthly church newsletter. We held COH in the sanctuary and had pretty much free access to any room we needed (for Eagle project reviews, BOR, etc). We supported their food pantry with scouting for food and helped on clean

Our troop debit card has a $500 limit for purchases and no cash access ability. $500 is enough for camp fees and enough for a deposit for bigger things until a check can be written.

It is because the demands of High School are increasing exponentially. In our district 9th graders have the option of taking classes for college credit, taught in High School by a college professor, in 10th and 11th grade they can spend 1/2 their day at a local university. We have kids graduate from high school and receive an associates degree the same day.

We have a kid who we haven't seen since fall, the told us he plays baseball and practices on Monday nights. His parents think he is the next Derek Jeter, whatever. We have several scouts who are on the robotics team, build and competition season lasts a couple month, we don't see them, we know ahead of time. Captain of the swim team, check. Co captain of the soccer team, yep. We don't see them during their "season" Star of the school play, things get tight for them only at the end of rehearsals and during the shows. Science Olympiad, Odyssey of the Mind, Debate Team, Confirmation classe

Sadly, giving out "agendas" in elementary school is happening whether we think it is necessary or not. They are taking away recess in many elementary schools, parents in our district have fought tooth and nail to keep it. By middle school sports teams practice 7 days a week, yep, 7 days. Miss practice don't play, robotics teams members are not seen at troop meetings during "build and competition" times. My son is in 8th grade and I can't help him with math anymore, had to pass that off to the "engineer husband" We loose kids at troop meetings because they have to much homework...... one of