JFL49

Youth protection rules apply to EVERY Scouting situation, EVERY. Meetings are not excluded from the rules. Merit Badge sessions are not excluded from the rules. Specifically, one-on-one contact is prohibited between adults and Scouts. To avoid one-on-one contact, two deep leadership is required for merit badge sessions, whether held in your home or during a scout meeting. An exception: when it's your own son. You no more need to have a second adult present when you are teaching your son than you need to have a second adult present when your having breakfast with your son. Perhap

The Syllabus provides for two separate positions. The Troop Guide is a staff position on the Wood Badge course. After the course is over, some Councils may assign each Participant with a Ticket Counselor, typically an experienced Wood Badger (former staffer), to mentor the Participant on his/her Ticket. The Ticket Counselor is them responsible for signing off on the Ticket completion. Once a Ticket Counselor is assigned, the Troop Guide is no longer directly involved with the Participant(s). Alternatively, some Councils have the Troop Guide continue in the role as mentor to participants,

Interesting. The norm in our Council is for each Troop Guide to remain in the role of Ticket Counselor for their patrol. After the course ends, if a Troop Guide is unable to serve at any point as a Ticket Counselor (drops out of Scouting, moves out of the area, fails to perform their duties), the CD assigns a new Troop Guide/Ticket Counselor. For participants outside of our Council, we offer them the opportunity to have a locally assigned Ticket Counselor or simply keep their Troop Guide as a Ticket Counselor (that works well, given that so much communications today is via e-mail and phone).

No, you don't plan your own ceremony. In my Council, the Course Director follows a fairly standard "script" for the beading ceremony, tempered by the number of participants, the locale, and the time available. But we allow for, and encourage, "special circumstances". So, for example, if a participant would like his/her beads or neckerchief presented by a family member, we go out of our way to accommodate the request. Absent any special requests, the participant picks the time and place for the ceremony and the Course Director and Staff take care of the rest. Certainly, your Course Directo

Base, Don't give up, you put too much time into your Ticket. I'd suggest contacting the CD now and telling the CD that your Ticket is done and you need the CD to sign off or have another Ticket Counselor do it. If you have a specific date/event in mind for your beading ceremony (Court of Honor, Blue and Gold, Camporee, Roundtable, etc), why not share that date with the CD - that will put some time pressure on him/her. Should the CD not get back to you in a timely manner, contact the Council Training Chair.

Without quoting chapter and verse, I believe that overnight camping is inferred in the syllabus, but not required. But yes, it is a good idea. When we run IOLS at summer camp, the program is run during the daylight hours. Scout leaders can then camp with their Troops or go home for the evening.

Previously, IOLS started Friday evening and concluded Sunday morning. With some creative scheduling, we now start on Friday evening (around 5:00 PM) and finish up on Saturday evening, between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM. This revised scheduling works out well, all of the material is covered, and in fact this makes it easier on all participants and staff.

It appears that the tradition of some Councils is to force a negative experience for the participants in TGOL, even to the extent of prompting tension in many of the patrol activities. Ive even heard of one WB course that schedules TGOL as the final event on Day 3 before departing camp, to ensure that participants are storming during the entire time between weekends one and two. That is just wrong. In my mind, that approach almost constitutes mental hazing. Yes, the Game has value, if run correctly (which is not easy). It takes a dedicated, experienced leader, who ideally runs the

If they have the tenure and have completed the other requirements, why not put them in for the Boy Scout Leader Training Award: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34169-55.pdf

The Ticket is NOT supposed to be a big thing. The Ticket SHOULD be 5 goals to help you do your EXISTING Scouting job(s) better. Its up to each Wood Badge Course Director to set the tone and guidance for Tickets and its up to each Troop Guide to work with participants to develop specific Ticket goals. If you are considering taking Wood Badge, ask the Course Director in YOUR Council what his/her expectations are for Ticket goals in the course. Have that conversation one on one, not in a group setting. If YOUR Council Course Director cannot articulate in 90 seconds or less what the Ticket is desi

Please also remember (from Budgeting 101) that some costs of running an event are variable and some are fixed. If I need to use the camp dining hall for my camporee, my council may charge me $500. It's $500 whether 100 boys use the dining hall or 400 boys use it. If I estimate wrong when preparing my program budget, I may make a ton of money (AKA profit) or lose my shirt. It would be unfair to other Scouters to lose money on a event, so I will probably guesstimate a low number of participants, to make sure that I at least cover my fixed costs.

Fuzzie, To answer your question, look on eBay, and search for "Wood Badge Beads" or "woodbadge 2beads". Some companies (typically in Hong Kong) make metal beads in gold or silver color. They are a cute novelty and the sets that I've seen close up are reasonable quality.

If the only reason you want a tax-exemption certificate is to show to the store manager to allow your unit to sell popcorn, you better believe that your council will come to the rescue. Since the council shares in the popcorn profits, the council has a big incentive to make this happen. Give your DE a call ASAP, or go directly to the DFS or Scout Executive. I'm guessing a quick telephone call between one of the professional staff and the store manager will clear the way. Good luck.

Some additional history. The Sage Venture web site notes that patrol colors were in use until 1929: http://www.sageventure.com/history/changes/#ribbon The patrols for the first Wood Badge course were the same patrols as today, held at Schiff Scout Reservation, July 31 to August 8, 1948. That course had Beaver, Bobwhite, Eagle and Fox patrols. The second course was held at Philmont, October 2-10, 1948, with the same four patrols represented. See pages 24 and 26 of this link: http://www.scatacook.org/WB/WB-Book-Part1.pdf

The Boy Scout Handbook, First Edition (1911) identifies various patrols by name AND BY COLOR. That seems to make it as "official" as you can get. Patrol information starts on page 37 of the printed edition. To view this book on-line or to download a copy, see this link, for example: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29558 The same information can be found in the 1920 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook, starting at page 71. Search for the book here: http://books.google.com Given that the color system was devised as a means of identification of Boy Scout Patrols, there was

This link was listed in the December 2010 BSA alumni newsletter: http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/AlumniAlive/AlumniNews/2010_12_Active_Alumni.aspx Unfortunately, following the link in the article to the BSA alumni web site was not very enlightening. Perhaps others will have better luck finding the requirements.

The BSA Age Appropriate guidelines seem fairly clear, winter camping is not appropriate for Cub Scouts or Webelos: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/ageguides.pdf I'm not sure how you could justify taking Cubs or Webelos on a winter camping trip to for the purpose of simply earning a patch, especially if someone became injured. I know my personal liability insurance does not cover such an undertaking.

If you need help convincing an employer to pay for Wood Badge, we've found this type of presentation helpful: http://www.ctyankee.org/fs/page/001148/08woodbadgedearemployer2.pdf

AFL-CIO offers scholarships: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/Relationships/AFL-CIOWoodBadgeScholarship.aspx as does the VFW: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/Relationships/VFWWoodBadgeScholarship.aspx Some employers will pay for the program once they recognize the value returned. Many units in our Council pay for at least half of the Wood Badge fees, and often 100% of the cost. Finally, we have an annual WB Dinner for the express purpose of raising funds for participant scholarships, typically paying half of the fees of participants based on demonstra

I believe this is what are looking for (half way down the web page): http://woodbadge.org/graphics.html

The insignia guide, which refers to BSA Rule and Regulations seems to cover this issue: QUOTE Use of Uniforms Clause 6. The official uniforms are intended primarily for use in connection with Scouting activities as defined by the national Executive Board, and their use may be approved by the local council executive board for council events or activities under conditions consistent with the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America. UNQUOTE http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/02.aspx It would not seem that soliciting personal business is a "Scou

At the risk of being a wet blanket, cross-dressing is at best a Gray Area, and at worst...well, worse. See, for example Doug Fullman's, missive on Gray Areas: http://www.bsatroop159.net/Pdf/Noteveryskitisingoodtaste.pdf

Lots of suggested resources here: http://www.ctyankee.org/program/religious

shortridge, it depends. Councils are encouraged to offer Wood Badge as frequently as possible. Having said that, Wood Badge is usually not offered unless there are at least 30 participants; and the maximum recommended course size is 48 participants. So a Council that has trouble recruiting 30 participants per year might be better served offering the program every other year, or join with an adjacent Council to offer the program yearly. A Council Wood Badge course that is consistently oversubsribed (48 participants plus a waiting list) may not be meeting the demand with a single course and

Amen.