Jump to content

andysmom

Members
  • Content Count

    159
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by andysmom

  1. We have been trying to recruit new committee members for the entire time I have been on the committee, in fact, just prior to the BOR I spoke with this particular scout's father about joining the committee and he asked me to send him information about what is involved... My son is 13, he is a first class scout who just had his SMC for Star. When he ages out our intention is to be sure whatever positions we hold in the troop are covered and move on to district or council levels for him and I would like to volunteer at the council office.
  2. I pointed this out to him during the exchange while the scout was out of the room and he asked me if I got that information from my "training" or if that was official policy because as he recalled they were told never to put anything in writing. After both BOR were over and I had access to my bag I pulled out my personal copy of the 2013 Guide To Advancement and pointed that out to him and he argued with me that we did not fail the scout, we deferred him. Did not fail, did not need a letter.
  3. I appreciate everyone's comments. We will be visiting other troops. It's sad but we have been involved with the pack from the CO since Andy was a tiger. My husband was his assistant den leader and pack committee chair. I was on the committee as well and served as advancement in that role. We crossed into the troop knowing that the current SM was planning to retire and my husband, then an ASM hoped to take over. He was the only one interested. He LOVES being a SM. Right now in our troop we have trouble getting volunteers. My husband has camped every single month with the troop since An
  4. Sadly, one of these two leaders is our current committee chair and the other is his replacement (appointed by the current CC) The first thing that happened in this BOR was the "New" CC tossing a rope to the scout and asking him to tie a knot, which sadly he struggled with. I told him to stop and after the scout left I informed the "new CC" that this was against policy and he wont do it again. He asked how are we supposed to know if a scout knows his skills and I told him that is the job for the asst scoutmasters and scoutmaster not us. To his credit he apologized and was receptive when I
  5. I am not claiming to know everything, that's why I come here and read message boards and subscribe to newsletters and take training and read the policy guides. I think what happened to this scout was wrong. He is a good scout. I am at 99.9% of meetings, I have spent time at camp because we dont have enough other leaders to step up so I have been the 2nd adult. I know these boys. He should have advanced. I feel bullied because I am a woman and havent been in the program as long as they have. They kept saying "in my experience we do an injustice to a boy by advancing him to fast" and
  6. I thought a BOR was to talk with the scout to indirectly evaluate that he has completed the rank requirements (no retesting), to see how the troop is running from the scout's perspective so the committee can evaluate how well the troop is running it's program and give feedback to the scoutmaster, to encourage the boy to continue his journey in scouting, to be sure he is living his life according to the scout oath and law, and to provide interactions with adults. I think the vague thing is the question about if he is getting our of the program what he should be. How do we qualify that and
  7. The SM is furious and threatened to quit, actually it is all I can do to keep him from leaving right now. The reason given was that they would "like the boy to show more leadership" the reason he gave to the committee was he had a "gut feeling" the boy wasn't ready and if he "showed up in 6 mos for a Life BOR he would be eaten alive" There were 4 of us on the board. The CC who is stepping down next month after 19 years, his unilateral appointee for his replacement who was SM form 2000-2004 and has been on the committee since (she shows up for Eagle BOR and some Life, he has been to
  8. He was asked to come back in 2 weeks to show some sort of "leadership" while doing a scout skill. He is choosing to set up a tent. I guess to show that he can teach something to someone.
  9. We had a BOR for a scout to earn his Star rank who was asked to reappear before the board in 2 weeks. I am interested in a couple of things, one of which is if the committee should provide, in writing, the reason why the scout is asked to return. We read the policy in the 2013 Guide To Advancement and there was a difference of opinion in the interpretation. And secondly, and more importantly, for what specific reasons can (or should) a scout should be delayed/deferred/denied rank advancement after a BOR. The scout had all requirements signed off in his book, held his position as the tr
  10. We gave our outgoing leaders a framed picture of the den (or pack, depending on position) with an engraved plaque thanking them for their service.
  11. I agree. With all due respect, one of the biggest parts about scouting is that we TEACH scouts many skills. As leaders, isn't our job to guide the scouts? I believe our committee is fairly rigorous when it comes to approving Eagle Scout projects. We want to make sure the scout has thought through the project and give his some things to think about. With the older Eagle Project Proposal I don't think I saw 1 scout get the proposal signed the first time through the committee (not saying that I agreed that they shouldnt have been signed, but our CC made that decision), the changed proposal
  12. I will talk with the district advancement chair, we see him fairly regularly. I will be seeing the council advancement chair tomorrow evening as my son is working with him on a merit badge and I think I will ask him as well. I spoke with the council Eagle processor about it, he said he just checks to see if there is one and he doesn't even read it. Many of our more recent Eagle Scouts have been extraordinarily bright and have written outstanding life statements. Most of the scouts that he has been critical of are not academically at the same level, coupled with the fact that the CC doesn
  13. There is some friction about our newish SM and our long term CC about the Life Statements of our Eagle candidates. The last 3 years or so we have seen a dozen or so scouts earn their Eagle ranks with atleast 4 more coming up and 2 applications sitting on my desk ready to be delivered to council this afternoon. Our SM is in his 2nd year, very passionate about the program. a wood badger and staffer, a district trainer. He pretty much lives and breathes scouting. Our CC is going into his 19th year, has a bit of an ego, demands to sit on every life and Eagle BOR, until recently was the only p
  14. Thank you for your kind words. It was my son's 3rd year at camp. My husband is is scoutmaster and I have been on the pack and troop committees since he was a tiger. We believe strongly in the scouting program and want our son to get out of it what he should. We are also aware that because we are so active in the troop there will be some that think my son "skates" by so we do everything we can to be sure he can prove that he doesnt. He is always extra prepared, poor kid. LOL We are at the troop meeting place an hour before the troop meeting starts every week so scoutmaster conferences can
  15. I sew pockets closed. If they want useable pockets they are more than welcome to sew themselves. I am a huge fan of elmers school glue stick. Glue the patch where it is supposed to be, let is sit for 30 minutes or so, and sew on using thread in the bobbin that matches the shirt and medium weight nylon thread on the top. Sashes are done the same way, badge is glued on, then stitch 2 rows all the way across all 3 patches in the row. I will admit that when hubby held multiple positions (committee chair, unit commissioner and whatever else) I used velcro so we wouldnt need quite so many shirt
  16. Our troop got home Saturday. No problems with homesickness except for the one scout. Our 3 crossovers had a great time, although one might have trouble explaining to his parents that all of his spending money went on candy. Had the usual amount of spider shooing and chipmunk chasing from tents (canvas tents on platforms), a mouse managed to find his way into the chuck box. Power went out a couple of times, no big deal except that the dining hall generators werent working and camp was not prepared for that. Oh yeah, huge storm came through on family night and cancelled all activities.
  17. I have anxiety issues myself and was able to connect with this scout when I told him about my most recent anxiety attack. He seemed to appreciate that I could somewhat relate to what he was experiencing. He told me he doesnt have the anxiety with school. I do know that Mom was his den leader in cub scouts and has purposely not been involved in troop activities because she wants him to more self sufficient. I dont know the Mom well, as he is new in the troop, but I would like to talk with her more to try to figure out her position and see how open she is. I agree that having Mom spend the
  18. Thanks all. I haven't heard how he did last night. I think everyone might be right and this is just something that cannot be handled by the troop leadership. I suspect this might be why he left the other troop he was in. We are lucky enough to have a scout camp very nearby and the troop camps there often. Maybe if he starts by coming just for the day, or even a few hours at a time we can get him over this. Even if he is able to call home every couple hours so he knows that everything is ok. Summer camp has no cell service. Personally I think this is a problem that needs serious attentio
  19. Yes, he is a 3rd year scout, going into 8th grade, probably 13. He has friends in our troop which is one of the reasons he left the other one. His tent mate is a friend who encouraged him to give our troop a try instead of quitting scouts. I think he has severe anxiety issues and needs to learn to manage them but I am worried about him.
  20. Our troop is at summer camp this week. Yesterday one of the scouts was suffering from a severe bout of homesickness. He was wailing and crying for his mother, it went on for hours. His mom's orders to the troop leaders were to tell him to "suck it up". This was this scout's 3rd attempt at camp and both times previously he needed to go home early. He transferred into our troop from another earlier this year and had not been camping with our troop. Has anyone dealt with anything like this before? What did you do? Neither the youth leadership nor the adult leadership could calm him. His h
  21. Food allergies are not something to mess with. Before we knew the extent of his allergies my husband shared a cashew with our son. Within 10 minutes he had hives and within 30 minutes we were in the emergency room because he couldn't breath. Many if not most allergins can be tested for through skin tests and then fine tuned with blood tests. When used in conjunction and with patient history ,it is my understanding that they are quite accurate? Some people outgrow food allergies, some don't. My son for example grew out of his wheat allergy, but according to the experience his allergist
  22. My son has allergies to tree nuts, egg, and all dairy products. When my son started scouts my husband took on a leadership position, that way he was "in the know" about what was going on and would be in a position to keep our son safe. When he crossed into the troop we decided that we weren't going to put the responsibility of our son's health in the hands of other scouts. My son has his own chuck box, right down to cooking gear, stove and dish washing bins. I have seen how some of those boys "clean" camp gear and theere is just too much risk of cross contamination for me. We provide all
  23. As far as I know every troop that attends summer camp here provides a binder with all the medical forms included. I LOVE the idea of scouts keeping track of their own medical forms. Do you put them all in a single binder when you collect them. I am managing the medical forms for our troop of about 40 scouts. It is a nightmare getting ready for camp. I screen the forms and we get them pre screened before camp bu the camp director and still have issues. Doctors not dating the forms, kids bringing expired medication, putting "just in case" medication on the form and not bringing it to camp.
  24. Thanks. Too often scout parents want their scouts to advance so fast . Our troop frowns strongly on the "do everything as fast as you can to get your rank faster than the next guy" method. Our numbers are declining. This year we had 2 crossovers from the 3 cub scout packs in town including the pack from our own CO. When asked why they chose the other troop in town I was told that the other troop "makes it so easy to get merit badges". All Eagle required badges are down with in house counselors, as a group, during troop meetings. Yes, they produce Eagle Scouts, but we produce Eagle Scout
×
×
  • Create New...