Stosh

I know the moderators have no control over the software. Just connect the dots.

10 up arrows for TAHAWK!

Is this "BSA Speak" for don't hold your breath unless wearing goggles?

Sorry @RememberSchiff, I could only give you one up-arrow. That's been my experience as well. BSA priced itself right out of the market.

If the Committee is going to do POR review, why not replace SMC's with committee members "helping out"? And then the case could be made for the Committee determining Eagle projects and service projects. I'm sure it would be great with the multiplicity of ideas that the Committee should be involved in the annual calendar of the unit as well. OR..... the Committee could just do the job it's trained to do and that should fill up their time nicely. If they can't get a "pulse" of the program out of the BOR's, they need to go back and review their training. Maybe I need to start a thread

@Tampa Turtle, I understand the challenges of taking on girls is something most will be able to handle with a bit more effort, but chronic bed wetting, cat-hole accidents among guys isn't the same as cross sexual issues. Putting it politely, they need a bit more finesse when handling. Yes, there is going to be the requirement that there are co-ed scouters at every event and like "dads" all do, one can pass off the problem to "mom". As a co-ed leader of other organizations, I know how the process works. BSA in general and all of its training models will need to be changed to accommodate

Nuttin', Honey.

Sure, certain girls can beat out certain guys in just about any arena one wishes to pick. So your troop consists of football player guys and science lab gals. Yep, that's fair. Or how about Amazon women and couch potato guys. Yep, that helps the argument. Clinical studies have shown that the ages we are referring to 11-18 show that at the beginning gals have on average a two year advantage over boys. In other words, girls emotionally, physically and psychologically are at 11 years old on par with a 13 year old boy. In the NSP and S->FC the gals will have the advantage. Is it jus

MedicineNet.com When does puberty occur? The onset of puberty varies among individuals. Puberty usually occurs in girls between the ages of 10 and 14, while in boys it generally occurs later, between the ages of 12 and 16. In some African-American girls, puberty begins earlier, at about age 9, meaning that puberty occurs from ages 9 to 14. Adolescent girls reach puberty today at earlier ages than were ever recorded previously. Nutritional and other environmental influences may be responsible for this change. For example, the average age of the onset of menstrual periods in girls was 15

Sorry, but I measure the worth of an individual on other standards besides strength and endurance.

I am GAPed (Group Activity Position) in everything from feeding, sheltering, bulk delivery, chaplaincy, client case work, and a dozen other areas. I probably met your friends and didn't know it. I was the ERV Yard Dog, keeping the vehicles up and running throughout the deployment. It's a small world.

So one must ask the question, what drives the program? The goals and aims of the program or the needs of the members? The goals and aims of the program seem to be the root on adult directed from BSA down to it's membership. On the other hand isn't the goal of Scouting to have a successful membership that absorbs the goals and aims as guidance to success? That would mean that the boys drive the program. OMG! If one does that the boys are all going to run off on their ATV's, jet-skis and want to do paint-ball. No it doesn't. The boys know the policies of BSA and I have never had the

LOL!! I flew into Orlando to do a 2 week deployment on Irma with the Mrs. and the first thing they asked us to do was drive an Emergency Relief Vehicle (ERV) to the Wildfires in California. ROAD TRIP! When we got to Sacramento I asked if I should return to Orlando or say with the wildfires. I spent two weeks in Sacramento on the fires and then drove an ERV back home to Wisconsin. ROAD TRIP! I know there were thousands of ARC people down there helping the Floridians out, but after doing 4 weeks in Houston with Harvey then 4 weeks with Irma and California. it's good to be back home. Not r

Nope, I learned blowing bubbles to life-saving skills through the Red Cross. Nothing in Scouting prepared me for the swim test. Even at camp, if there are non-swimmers, they get 7 days "training" if they request it, but my recommendation is always to contact the YMCA for swim lessons. I am always disheartened to see that with all the aquatic program and outdoor water activities, BSA does nothing to help the boy with the prerequisites. The assume the boy can swim before he reaches Scouts and then tests to see if he can do enough to get a couple of rank advancement boxes checked. Not a well

Thanks for looking into it.

I guess I wouldn't call it maintenance...... I did notice more speed in the searches, but I guess I'd rather get the heads-up notices.

It hasn't been working. I have seen @Stosh in posts, but I got no notification of the tag. @ItsBrian This should turn blue and you should get a notification. I clicked on the blue ItsBrian above and it took me to your profile page, so the link works, just wonder about the notification process. If not I'll whine to the Moderators.

I have noticed that on a lot of posts people have typed @Stosh and I am assuming they want it to send a notification to that person that they were "tagged" in a post. Well, that doesn't work just putting an @ in front of the name. If one really wants it to work, the need to either use the pull-down menu option or type it in HTML code (member='Stosh') but use brackets [ ] instead of parentheses, Otherwise on the menu bar just to the left of the Font box is a blue square icon. Click on that and the pull-down menu will give you a number of choices to create links. Go to member and select tha

When I was a kid (oh yeah, here it comes) I started in a pool, shallow end, putting my face in the water and blowing bubbles. No goggles, no ear plugs, no face mask, just bubbles. By the time I was in scouts I had progressed through the ranks to facing the mile swim for life-guard certification. My mom said to me, be careful of what you wish for. If you have that certification, you'll be on the dock and everyone else in the water. I swam 10' short of a mile. The instructors were irate, but I knew I could do it. One of the instructors wanted to give me certification anyway, but I refused

I am ADHD, but not OCD. Yet I have precise lists posted on my closet door that dictates what gets packed for certain activities. I have pre-packed (OMG, there goes a Squirrel!!) prepacked backpacks, one for Red Cross deployment already to go on a moments notice. I grab and go and am on a plane within hours. Then there's the Boy Scout weekend backpack, already filled (Hey, what's that shiny thing over there under the chair). Already filled with everything for a weekend camp out. The #1 thing on the list is backpack and then the list of things I need to grab from storage like sle

I find it difficult to understand the rationale of jumping into the water over one's head and swimming any distance when all one is going to do is wade around in 3' of water in the first place. Theoretically a boy could wade out into the water, swim a half mile out into the lake, and return and because he didn't jump in, not pass the BSA swim test.

Granted, I have only one patrol at the present time, but they do plan out their meeting based on the guidance given by their PL. He will say we are doing First Aid training next week, and we're having a Campout on the 20th. The QM of the patrol gets the materials together, the GrubMaster starts putting together a menu, etc. all on their own. They know what to do, if not someone is given the responsibility. If not, they are replaced with someone else. Lots of failures, lots of frustration, lots of learning! This is a good thing! Next year when a newbie crop comes in, we further that l

One of the struggles I used to encounter is how this supposed "chain of command" works. Sure there has to be a goal set and needs to be met in order to run a successful program. I found that "outsiders" often set the goal and forget the real needs of those receiving the program. I made the switch early on to focus more on needs and the goals will take care of themselves. The ultimate person needing assistance is the PL who is the one working directly with his patrol members, i.e. the customer of the program, the one who needs to be successful in order for them to be content and successful

The PL's monitor the functionality of the POR's. If they are doing a good job, they stay in that position, if not the PL's put someone in there that does. If the scout can convince the PL's he's doing a good job by his performance for 6 months, he's given a check box for the rank. Otherwise, he asks for a different POR he might be good at and gives that a try. As long as the PL's are satisfied, so am I.

Currently 1 The boys initiated an SPL/PLC when the troop grew to 4 patrols. The PL's at that time would get together and have a "meeting" during free time on outings. They never set a definite time. Gathered as needed seem to be the consensus of the PL's.