jhankins

Yeah, I took it to mean 6 total. Thanks for the backup.

This too http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/news/local/hillsborough/north/story/Boy-Scout-trailer-stolen-in-Lutz/3OabyufjzEOWcra4dfLPYw.cspx

Just 1 suggestion -- if you haven't read the district training committee book, it outlines procedures to help go along with the job and can help answer questions in that regard for you as you figure things out.

Is this you guys? http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/About-HCSO/Press-Releases/Releases/2010/May/10-157.aspx

That's the copy I have right here (running this in June). I don't have an old syllabus, but here's what I know on this version. The title is "Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training" on the cover. There are 3 sessions-- 1-- Getting Started, the role of SM in a boy-led troop 2-- Lighting the Fire: The Outdoor Program and Advancement 3-- Keeping it Going: Program Planning and Troop Administration

I was doing some digging about this as my son would like to reserve his long sleeve shirt for formal occasions and this purpose. The only thing I found in the U/I Guide was that there is a limit of 6 in columns of 2, but nothing else. I have a parent telling me that Black Eagle's website is correct, that after six merit badges earned, the boy must never wear MBs on the sleeve again, as they all go on the sash. Anything official out there I'm missing?

Remember the mission statement of the boy scouts? Keep that in mind. If the boy is getting the ethics and morals, we've done our job. Eagle is just a bonus. If a boy isn't advancing, of course we want to take a hard look at how we do things, but in the end, it's probably not you (as you're trying!), it's them.

I came right into a GOBN as a volunteer, then became a professional and Man oh Man did that ruffle some feathers! Being a woman, a DE, and disrupting the GOBN? Hahahaha! Well, it took some doing, but it can be done. I had to convince the boys that I could play hardcore, too. I did camporee without a tent and slept under the stars, cooked my own meals on a backpacking stove, and stayed for the whole event. I had already been to wood badge and my ticket counselor made a big deal out of my beading ceremony in front of them. I came in uniform to every RoundTable, Court of Honor, and bought gifts for every Eagle on behalf of the district. When I went to IOLS that sealed the deal, and I became "One of the guys." Being a tom-boy a times and being willing to do what it takes to do the best for the boys will carry you a long way for a woman. Being patient and concerned with the program and focusing on the needs of the boys helps, too. Good luck -- it can be done!

Let the newspaper/TV people know -- usually when it's explained how important the gear is to the boys some of it is returned if it's a no questions asked policy.

I took training on the road this year before National did their mandate for the future -- it's worked really well. We tailor it to what a unit needs, stress things the CM or CC ask us too, and make it fun for that unit. It's been 5 direct trainings so far this year with 100% training for every committee. It's effective and meaningful.

Internet or not, I feel the networking, conversations, and tension-easing team development that happens among new cub leaders is very important at Cub Specific training. After talking with the Key 3 of my district, they still want me to offer Cub training on a unit basis -- going to units and performing it as requested when they have a group of new leaders. I'll still have a job, because training has gone on the road in my district. We go out and train entire committees in one afternoon. Training is going to become mandatory for top leaders next year, and all leaders in two years, so that means the more people trained at once for a COR, the better! The training may be available to your DFS because of his access privileges, but I sure don't see it yet.

Parental advancement is going to go away soon -- it's going to be den leader only, so it's good to prepare the parents for that. Getting that out of the way, maybe it's a child care issue, transportation issue, or we just don't know what's going on in their lives. My son was given a tremendous opportunity to join a band from a college at the age of 10, and he's getting free music lessons and support from the band members because they want him. It's on his den meeting night. We tried switching dens for him, but the other den is full and doesn't want him, so we're stuck. The COR is allowing us to do a kind of "lone scout" program within the pack because of this -- all it took was communication to make sure it was OK.

MyBSA also runs the stats, it's kinda cool. When I first saw my district's YP training at a whopping 13% I almost had a cow. But this includes the two years lapse my council has on the YP training. Simply after 3 months of reminders in email and RoundTable the number went back up to 47%. Direct input for training chairs should be coming in a few years, I hope that gets a follow-through.

Most of which occurred after his death. In his later writings and speeches, and his last attendance at a World Jamboree, there was a change of heart . When Germany failed to show for the WJ, he was upset because he knew war was going to overshadow the progress and unity of a European culture that was beginning to unit for the first time. Socialized services are parts of a utopian dream. Taking care of everyone is part of that, and part of what BP saw in Scouting.

Part of BP's goal was that we as citizens of the world learned we're all in this together. We're to help and support each other as best we can. Our personal bigotry gets in the way and it's defeats the purpose.

Your council training chair should be a resource for you. In some councils, this person has resources and knowledge that can help the entire training committee. They'll be better suited than we are to fill you in on council happenings and how things are done. Let me correct something though -- MyBSA has the excel advantages, not ScoutNet. ScoutNet is mostly raw data that has some ability to tweak, but it's all command line computer stuff from the stone ages of computers (No offense Eagle!). My BSA is all web-based with new filters built in. The information is still coming from the same place, just a different filter. A training survey is just what I do with my units, contact each unit, find out who's trained and not trained, codify it (PM Me and I'll send you a code sheet), and then make sure it all gets recorded at council.

Troopmaster makes a district software program I would love my district to use. I downloaded the demo and LOVED it!

It just says Scout -- can it be a Webelos coming in? What about going to another troop and sharing the wealth?

Welcome to Training paperwork and reports! Eagle's spot on. Most of the numbers are inaccurate for many reasons, the most notorious being that MyScouting doesn't always get recorded to the database because the ID number is missing, or group training online. A lot of that will be changing in the next 3 years. MyBSA will also do trained reports now into Excel by position and unit -- so you can see who's listed with and without training. If your DE, FD or DFS don't know how to do this, let me know and I'll write out a step by step explanation As the training chair, I'm polling each individual unit, emailing that unit's info to the COR, CC, and CM/SM and asking them if the leaders that aren't trained indeed are. If they have trained cards, or information on when the course was, I do the research then get back to the unit. If the person is indeed trained, there's a handy little form in your Training District Booklet that you fill out and send to your council staff member in charge of inputting the info. I do one of these for every unit as the data comes in. This is going to be important in the coming years, as it looks like training chairs will get input privileges to put stuff directly into ScoutNet. It's best to get the records up to date now before we get more tools and toys to play with.

Our honoree is looking for things to happen during his dinner that highlight the power of a good turn. We already have an Eagle Scout speaking to that for 10 minutes and introducing the honoree, and we have a video of scouts in action to show as well (That's more of the fundraising video for camperships). I'm using a song entitled "Thanks to You" for that one. I'm looking for background music to play during another slideshow highlighting 100 years of good turns. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks to jet's son for the personal description.

I live in a financially strapped part of California, meaning unemployment is now over 19%, and underemployment is even worse. I lost my job as DE due to financial issues and the recession. I'm still focused on looking for a job, and fill out 5-10 applications and resumes a week, but it's tough here. Scouting is what keeps my family going, though, and it's low-cost activities that run the show for my son, and camperships thanks to generous donors in our district who give money every year just to send boys to camp. Some packs in our district are offering position rebates for parents who work for a year in a leadership position. For parents who serve as a den leader, they get 10-20% of their annual dues back in an account for the boy to use for day camp or resident camp. If a parent leads an outing (like Klondike), then they get to go free for their work in organizing the event. It helps in times like these, it really does. But, we still don't go to every outing if we can't afford it. Outings don't just cost the fee at the door, they cost the gas to get there ($3.09 a gallon) too. I would much rather see units strive to work within the confines of their fundraising to run their program than trying to fundraise even more to deliver a bigger program.

You probably don't have one, but a unit commissioner is a great way to get this kind of issue addressed. As a unit commissioner for a pack, troop and crew, I deal with the COR and the IH once a month to give them a snapshot of their units from a scouting QA perspective. When it came time to remove a leader in the past two months, I was able to advise the leaders on the policy, bridge the gap between council and the unit, and help the COR realize he needed to be more active in his leadership selection process so what happened wouldn't happen again. If you do have one, be sure to contact them, they can help communicate the needs of your unit to the COR without the information coming directly from you.

Isn't it if two or more boys are in the car at all times, transportation is alright with one adult in the car? So if you're driving a boy home, as long as your son is in the car, you're okay.

When I was a DE, I made sure the commissioners brought the year-end form and the new-year form at recharter time. That way the goals could be set at the same time as the review -- so in November the goals were reviewed, and the next year's time was December to November the next year.