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andysmom

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Everything posted by andysmom

  1. They issue one to our kids too...... it would be nice if they took the time to teach the kids how to really use it
  2. At almost all BOR for Star scouts and above it is asked of the scout what he has done to give back to the troop, specifically. Especially if they don't have a POR. They are told at their First Class board that to this point they have taken and learned from the troop, now it is expected that they give back. We expect them to be leaders, teachers and mentors. If a scout fumbles and cannot think of a reasonable example of how they have helped out the troop in some way, a conversation is had about how that scout is living up to the oath and law.
  3. It sounds like your PLs and SPL lack confidence that they are respected as leaders in the troop. Planning and running meetings and outings during the PLC usually help with that unless there are older scouts who might not be showing them the respect that their positions deserve. I have seen a couple troop guides come in and take over a patrol meeting, rather than mentor a younger PL. That erodes their confidence and will continue to hurt them. We had a top heavy troop for a bit and it took a while for the younger boys to grab the reigns, so to speak. It sounds like a conversation is in ord
  4. Sadly lawyers have gotten involved because some leaders decided they were "gate keepers". National has provided policies to protect the scouts and outline how the program is to be administered. As trained adult leaders it is our responsibility to know and follow these policies. The scouts may never open the guide to advancement or the guide to safe scouting, but they benefit from association with adult leaders you know and follow these policies. Our troop is a very well run youth lead troop. The scouts plan all activities and seek guidance when required from adults. As adults we do not run
  5. The unit needs to have clearly established expectations that the scout understands for a POR. 4.2.3.4.3 Meeting Unit Expectations. If a unit has established expectations for positions of responsibility, and if, within reason (see the note under “Rank Requirements Overview,†4.2.3.0), based on his personal skill set, the Scout meets them, he fulfi lls the requirement. When a Scout assumes a position, something related to the desired results must happen. It is a disservice to the Scout and to the unit to reward work that has not been done. Holding a position and doing nothing, produ
  6. POR are issues in many troops. Boys are troop historian in name only. This year, for the first time in many years, the boys in those type of positions were given a description of the position and they sat down with the SM and together they came up with goals. When the goals were met and time was served, the POR were signed off. We had a scout who hasn't met his goal. SM has had discussions with him about how he has a goal he needs to meet, asked what his plans are with meeting the goal, if he needed assistance, etc. Sad to say, that boy won't be getting his POR signed off. He and the S
  7. In our troop it is small enough the the SM is the only one who signs off for POR and scout spirit for just the reasons as you listed. He knows what they had agreed to as fufilling the POR. and he signs off scout spirit during the SMC In a larger troop I don't know how it would be handled..... I do believe that once it is signed off it it can't be taken back, but it could be discussed at a BOR about why the scouts are going around the SM to get the requirements signed off.
  8. For summer camp our boys pick up the list of merit badges that are offered and each scout circles what they want to take, the boys know the layout of the camp so they know about how long it takes to get places, they don't need help with that. It is highly recommended that first years take the "Pioneering Program" but we don't hang them by their toenails if they choose not to. SM talks to the scouts when they hand in their choices. If a tenderfoot wants to do a trek, he is told that he doesn't meet the camp's requirements. We did have a 2nd class this year want to do the trek (1st class is
  9. I have found that too many times a scout and leader have different opinions about how they would rate counselors.....scout's opinion, 5 stars easy, let me get away with completing a badge without doing the hardest requirement,, I ma sure most SM would not rate that particular counselor as 5 stars. I do know that many councils have MBC lists online, ours does not and we get a strict note with the list that we get each month that the list is NOT to be made public. Even in the guide to advancement it states that scouts should not have access. 7.0.2.2 Web-Based Counselor Lists Online couns
  10. I don't see it as being a gate keeper. I look at it as getting to know the scouts and wanting to be sure they have the best experience they can. A scout won't walk up to most adults and start a conversation, but if they need to request a blue card and signature to start a merit badge and that leads to a conversation about what their goals are in life and what challenges they might be facing or even discussing what their favorite subject is in school I guess I don't see where that is a bad thing, but what do I know, I'm just a mom.
  11. The signature it is the SM's acknowledgement that he gave the scout names of approved counselors from a list that has been provided by district who have completed youth protection. When the merit badge is completed the SM discusses what the scout learned and how the process went. If the scoutmaster learns, for example, that the counselor did not comply with youth protection guidelines or if the SM sees that the scout did not complete requirements as written he will know not to give that counselor's name to another scout. Our district does not put the list of counselors online, it is prov
  12. Absolutely agree. Having the SM sign the card after the MB is completed gives the SM a chance to discuss with the scout what he learned during the process and if the counselor "skimmed" through requirements, etc. That will help the SM narrow down the list of names he gives to the next scout looking to work on the badge. You have to award the scout the badge, but you don't need to give the name of this counselor to another scout. By the SM signing and giving a scout a list of counselors that the SM knows follow the requirements it keeps the integrity of the merit badge program.
  13. This year our dues were $150. We charge $5 per attendee for food for camping and the troop pays the difference up to $12 per person for food. We started charging only $5 for food because we had a surplus of funds and didn't think it was right to carry that much money from year to year. We charge extra for "big trips", its an extra $60 this year if a scout chooses to participate. Summer camp is $375. Class B shirts and troop caps run 30-40 extra depending on what type is ordered. We provide handbooks, neckers, slide and epilets upon crossover. The troop pays for merit badges, awards
  14. When the new Eagle Workbook came out that did not require a scout completing a final plan before the project started it caused a big firestorm in our troop. When our committee sits down with a scout to approve his project we ask him questions about how the project will be run, what his timeline is, how he intends to "provide leadership", basically all the details that would go into a final plan. Anyone can come up with a basic proposal, we try to use our collective experiences to help the scout see his proposal from different perspectives and to prepare him for things that he might not have
  15. Very true, there are good leaders and there are not so good leaders whether or not they have boys in the troop.
  16. It absolutely does hold true for any leaders. I stated what I see in our troop are some issues. We also have an adult leader who has never been married and have no children, he is one of our best leaders. He is a committee member and is greatly respected by our leaders as well as the scouts. He takes the time to know the boys, he knows what they do outside the meetings, he talks TO them. Many of our committee members have scouts who have aged out and are on the committee because they truly believe in the scout program and see the benefits, they stay on because they mentor Eagle Scouts
  17. In our troop the SM and ASM generally have boys in the unit. When their boys age out they join the committee or move on to positions in the district or council. One of the problems that we have when leaders don't have "skin in the game" is that they loose touch with what is relevant to the boys, for example, time commitments for school and other activiites and methods of communication etc. When you have a boy in the program you know what else goes on in the lives of the boys, when your don't you tend to forget how busy they are or what you can reasonably expect from boys of that age. I ha
  18. My son has multiple food allergies (egg, dairy and tree nut). We pruchased him his own cooking and cleaning equipment. We get the patrol menu and make him a menu that is as close as possible to the patrol menu. We provide all of his food and he cooks it all himself.
  19. This is what had been going on in our troop (some of you will remember my thread about a "deferred" BOR) We had to contact district and council to get these individuals educated about BSA policy.
  20. Coffee stays in the adult chuck box, syrup and condiments will go home with SM to be brought back out at next campout, if something has been opened but not used up it goes back to the family that did the purchasing. If we have something leftover that hasn't been oppened it either goes home with the SM to be saved for the next campout or dontated to our CO food pantry. Good question, we have discussed having the troop provide condiment packets and all paper products (our scouts go through an absurd amount of paper towels). We often have 3 bottles of ketchup open at a time depending on wh
  21. We gained 4 of the 5 crossovers this year! We had none last year. One pack had no Webelos 2, another pack NEVER has scouts come to us and the third pack's den leader older son went to the other troop 2 years ago, we expected this year's den to follow. Turns out the other troop turned the den leader's son off so much he dropped so we got most of the den. Yeah us!
  22. Wow! I second what qwazse said. She is brave for saying something for sure and she will need support. Will keep you all in my prayers.
  23. Our troop's policy is no merit badge work during troop meetings. Our scoutmaster is at 99% of troop meetings 1 hour early for scouts to work on merit badges or advancement. It makes it easy for scouts to have a place to work and MBC know there will be atleast 2 deep leadership. We have had, on occasion, a scout organize a merit badge "class" for a few scouts, but it is up to the individual MBC if they will council a group (I will not council more than 1 scout in a meeting for Family Life). We have a few "in house" counselors, but not all scouts even use them. We feel very strongly that a
  24. I absolutely agree! Or, they don't know that there have been changes. In our specific situation, the two committee members might not have realized that the wording has changed in the requirements for Star and Life that as "scout needs to serve in a position of leadership" to "a scout must serve in a position of responsibility" A quick update on our situation, due to weather issues we have had to cancel our troop meetings on 2/2 and 2/9. There will be no meeting on 2/23 because it is during school vacation week. DAC will be out of town for "a few months", we reached out to council, th
  25. I love this video, thank you for sharing, sadly I doubt either committee member would watch it. After telling the DC that he understood the no testing rule and promised that it would never happen again, we offered to give "new CC" my copy of the GTA and the committee guidebook because he is taking on this new responsibility, he turned him down flat and said that he has every intent of having the scout set up a tent. Maybe he didn't want my obviously used copy with my notes from the last 3 years of committee and advancement training that I have taken, but I doubt it. We sent several emai
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