infoscouter

From the Guide to Safe Scouting: "If a well-meaning leader brings along a child who does not meet these age guidelines, disservice is done to the unit because of distractions often caused by younger children. A disservice is also done to the child, who is not trained to participate in such an activity and who, as a nonmember of the group, may be ignored by the older campers." Our council solves this issue this way: http://www.camptomahawk.org/programs/family http://www.manypoint.org/content/family-camp

They probably didn't restate the requirement to hold ILST, because that's required to earn Journey to Excellence (Bronze), and earning the Scoutmaster's Key requires earning Silver JTE, which would include holding training.

There is a unit version of the National Outdoor Challenge Award, just like there was for the National camping award: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/430-016_WB.pdf I thought the Scoutmaster was supposed to attend the annual program planning conference. From "Program Features" V.1, pp 8-9 "STEP 3: Conduct the Annual Program Planning Conference This is the step where your troop program comes alive. The success of this conference began when you, the Scoutmaster, prepared your senior patrol leader. Be alert throughout the conference to help out the senior patrol leader. Dont wait for him to fail, but be careful not to take over for him. Careful, nonintrusive coaching will help your senior patrol leader build confidence. Share your leadership with him." "Who attends the conference? The troops annual planning conference is attended by the Scoutmaster, assistant Scoutmaster for the new-Scout patrol, assistant Scoutmaster for the Venture patrol, senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leaders, and troop guide." See also: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/membership/zip/BSA_Troop_Annual_Program_Planning_Conference_Guide.zip

Oh - and the further information is coming next week in the "Training Times" newsletter which will be posted on the National Council web site next week. The Facebook post was a 'heads up'.

Someone on Facebook asked about the "This is Scouting" requirement. "This is Scouting" is required to earn the award NOT to be considered Trained. The idea is that you must do more than the minimum training to earn the award.

Hot off the Volunteer Training Team Facebook page: "The new progress records for the Den Leader Training Award, the Scouter's Training Awards, and the Scouter's Keys for unit-level leaders are now posted on Scouting.org/training on the "Adult" tab. More details on these awards, and the timing of the end of the discontinued awards, will be in the Summer Training Times update that will be posted there next week." http://scouting.org/training/adult.aspx Scroll down to "Training Awards for Adult Leaders in Units"

Recently the National Council made changes to what courses are required to be considered Trained. Neither Fast Start nor This is Scouting are now REQUIRED. See: http://scouting.org/filestore/training/pdf/BasicTrainingCourseRequirements.pdf http://scouting.org/filestore/training/pdf/What_makes_a_trained_leader.pdf However, ScoutNet may not have caught up with these changes, and may still be showing N next to names who have completed the correct courses. Your registrar MAY be able to manually reset the training status, but it would be a big job. A status of N may also show because someone's Youth Protection isn't up to date. They may have been O.K. at recharter (whenever that was done), but have lapsed since recharter occured. A Training Status report run after recharter, may result in someone showing as untrained. With Cub Scout leaders the problem often is timing. A leader may recharter in March as a Cub Scout den leader, and begin serving as a Webelos den leader in June. S/he may have taken Webelos Leader Position Specific Training in May, but the charter still shows him as a DL, not a WL, so the Webelos training doesn't "count" because it doesn't match his current registered position.

If your husband want to do some self-directed learning, here are some links to some BSA resources, including online Fast Start training: http://scouting.org/sitecore/content/home/commissioners.aspx

Yes! Both troops I've served meet in the summer. The troop my sons were Scouts in met in a public school in the winter, and in the summer, switched to a nearby public park - those were great meetings. Instruction was very outdoor focused, and the inter-patrol games were much more lively because they had the park to play in. Current troop meets at the CO (a church) and often does outdoor activities as part of the meeting, but I liked the idea that the summer meetings were purposely outdoors.

I used this one earlier this month: http://insanescouter.org/p/4055/154/Cub_Scouts_Own_Service.html It was very well received and didn't take a lot of learning new songs, etc. You may want to invest in "In Our Own Way" - a small book which contains a variety of resources for interfaith worship and graces: http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/literature-media/religion/in-our-own-way.html Other resources from ScoutStuff: http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/literature-media/religion/reverence-pamphlet.html http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/literature-media/religion/strength-for-service.html

I grew up in the Ely area. Fleece blankets probably won't be enough. Nighttime temps can easily get down to low 40s or 30s. As Mooseman says snow or frost does occur even in July. If this is a canoe trip, weight isn't as big a consideration as when back- packing.

Well, the BSA has already defined that - if your registration on the charter says CC or MC, then you're on the committee. Otherwise, you're not. That's why bylaws for MOST BSA units are redundant and not necessary - most of the stuff covered by bylaws is already in the BSA structure, policies and materials. If you read the sample committee meeting agenda Cub Scout Leader Book or Troop Commitee Guidebook, you'll see that votes are not referenced. Typical unit operations don't require voting. Committee members have jobs. They are empowered to do those jobs and report back to the Committee Chair. End of story. So bylaws which define voting rights are generally not needed, since no voting takes place.

Our pre-camp meetings are in April and some leaders don't feel the urgency of going. Also, since our camps are 3-5 hours from our major population center, they are held in various areas of the council not at camp. I haven't had to go for years - I don't go to summer camp with the troop. However, when I did, the attendance was high - probably 70%. That may have been because it was for Webelos camp and most of the leaders weren't experienced.

There is an older version of ours on our pack web site. If you like it, I can send a Word version (late) tonight if you PM me your e-mail address. www.pack512.org

At the same time the red berets were issued for Boy Scouts/Scouters, there were navy blue berets for Cub Scouters (both male and female - but I've only seen photos of women wearing them). I have two which I purchased on eBay - they look good with my yellow/blue uniform combination.

Other quick methods of making a boat - use a juice box or slim water bottle, add a skewer or straw for a mast and an index card for a sail. Or use an aluminum mini-loaf pan (available in the baking section of your supermarket). Squeeze one end into a bow, add modeling clay in the center to hold the mast.

Another option is the 'vintage' (pre-rank specific) Cub Scout slide They are available on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-B-S-A-BOY-SCOUT-Vintage-CUB-NECKERCHIEF-WOLF-SLIDE-Scarf-Tie-Clip-/170846272155?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c73b3a9b

And I'm going to go farther than the others and say that bylaws are more than a waste of time, they're dangerous. Bylaws are the root of units making up 'rules' contrary to BSA policies. Bylaws are the source of dispute between parents/leaders or leaders/leaders, which then drag commissioners or professionals into unit wrangles. Bylaws lead to mis-understanding, bad feelings and "enforcement" (somehow or other someone thinks because there's the word 'law' involved - then a remedy/punishment much be created.) Most of what a unit needs to operate is in BSA literature. A few carefully thought out _policies_ e.g. amount of dues/fees & due dates, are all that's necessary beyond the mountain of paper the BSA supplies. Venturing Crews can create by-laws for the youth, because they actually do elect officers and may need by-laws to operate. Packs, Teams and Troops don't need them.

Well, unless they REALLY can't find another committee member, say 'No Thank You'. Boards of Review are meant to be conducted by members of the troop committee. The Guide to Advancement says: "8.0.0.3 Composition of the Board of Review A board of review must consist of no fewer than three members and no more than six. For further specifications, see Particulars for Tenderfoot Through Life Ranks (or Palms), 8.0.2.0, and Particulars for the Eagle Scout Rank, 8.0.3.0. Unit leaders and assistants may not serve on a board of review for a Scout in their own unit. Parents or guardians may not serve on a board for their son. The candidate or his parent(s) or guardian(s) shall have no part in selecting any board of review members." Later it goes on to say: "The board is made up of three to six unit committee membersno more and no less. In units with fewer than three registered committee members available to serve, it is permissible to use knowledgeable parents (not those of the candidate) or other adults (registered or not) who understand Boy Scoutings aims." And rather than the SM Handbook (which is out of date on this topic), I'd direct you to the Guide to Advancement. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf However, as the UC I would think long and hard before agreeing to do this, not just because its the committee's responsibility, but also because of your role as a commissioner. You're supposed to be a neutral outside party. By inserting yourself into the troop's operations, you may lose that position. Also (and maybe I'm being paranoid here) are they using you as an advancement stopper? What is the unit's motivation in asking you to sit on the board - do they perceive you as a "district guy that will set this kid straight"? Or, is the troop functioning so poorly that they can't round up three committee members? If its the latter, that's a legitimate commissioner concern. But serving as a substitute on a Board seems (to me) to be inserting oneself too closely into the life of the troop. I tried to find something in the Commissioner Fieldbook to help, but I can't get it to load from the National Council site.

Council wide our density is 18.5%. In our district its 11.75%.

Since you can't work on two ranks at once, it stands to reason, that if you've advanced to being a Bear Cub Scout, then you can't earn Wolf electives. The 'switch over' date in the National Council's computers is June 1 - as far as they're concerned, Cub Scouts move to the next level on that date.

For future reference - since I'm late to the topic I've worked at our council booth at the state fair for several years. We always have an interactive hands on activity. One year we did catahoops. They were the biggest hit. Had to peel kids away so more could play. You can find directions here: http://www.cubroundtable.com/assets/rt-newsletters/ae-oct-edition.pdf (see pages 4 and 5). The hands on stuff gives kids and parents an idea of what they have to look forward to.

Yes - you can have a den flag! It can be used to mark where the den sits at pack meetings, as a second flag in a den flag ceremony (like the pack flag at a pack meeting), to mark your den's area at a pack campout or at a council camp, to lead the den while hiking. At one time every den in our pack had a flag which was displayed at the pack meetings. We awarded trinkets and ribbons to display on the flag to recognize den achievements.

The Cub Scout Roundtable guide is still published in paper, and is available http://www.scoutstuff.org/roundtable-planning-guide.html The Boy Scout Roundtable guide is released every year as an electronic source, and posted on the National Council web site on the Commissioner pages http://scouting.org/filestore/commissioner/pdf/BS_Roundtable_Planning_Guide.pdf The Venturing Forum guide is also posted there: http://scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34342.pdf The Varsity Scout Huddle planning guide might be kicking around a council with a large LDS memberships, but I can't find if its still published. OUr district is fortunate, we have good attendance - about 60% of the packs show up over the course of the year. Naturally, we try to increase that. Why do they come? Information - we have a large and active district. Roundtable is one place to find out about the events sponsored by the district and its units. Training - every roundtable covers topics of use to the leaders. In the Cub Roundtable we concentrate on activity ideas, field trip resources, theme materials, games, songs and skits. Fellowship - leaders share information ideas and resources with each other. Tradition - many units just have a history of good attendance. Experienced leaders bring new leaders because it is part of the unit culture. The last item may be the biggest hurdle. You have to pump up the program, and then advertise long and hard to get them to start coming. Once you get a core of attendees, they will reinforce attendance within their units.

The National council typically does not communicate directly with leaders regarding membership. That function is delegated to your council. Due to the nature of ScoutNet, your membership & training records are local records. If you move to a new council, the record does not magically transfer, but has to be re-entered at the new council. So action to drop leaders who did not comply with YPT requirements was executed locally.