John-in-KC

My Council will let the app go in after the 18th birthday, but everything to the Scoutmaster Conference must be done by the day before the 18th birthday.

I'm getting ready to go out and do FOS Family presentations. My Council says the magic number per Scout is about $150. That's a moderately substantial delta from $239. IMO Eamonn's Scout Executive owes the FOS presenters some frank talk about the cost of operations in his Council.

I'm less than thrilled about one Scout holding a position for an extended time. First of all, the Scouts' own youth development needs mean he should be exposed to an array of responsibilities. Second, there is something for all to learn when a Scout has a POR, even if he's bad. There have been threads here about recall elections, after all. Additionally, there is the constant press of young men advancing, who need these assignments for their own advancement. A generation of Scouting lasts at most 7 years (if a boy joins at 11 and stays to adult transition at 18). With a fairly typica

Eamonn, And you've been a District Commissioner, and if memory serves me, you've been on the Executive Board. What I didn't see in in your posting were the things Scoutldr discussed: - How much is property upkeep at the Scout Camp? - How much do Council vehicles cost (if provided)? - How much does your United Way send TO you? - How much do FOS Community and Popcorn bring in? - How much is FOS Family put on the hook? Does anyone know of any requirements for transparency in Scoutings' budget process? We are, after all, non-profits (which means at the big macro level, ex

If I read the BSA envelope with the recharter packet correctly, the Distict Executive is supposed to pay a business call on the Chartered Partner Executive Officer 90 days (or is it 60) from recharter. The way I read that, it's a physical call ... go and visit the man or woman. Now, Lord knows I've had my head in the sand before... What say you? Do your DE's visit their IH's before the recharter cycle, do they phone them, or do they blow this off? John Now a COR

I have enough problems getting the UCs of the units I COR to show up at all. They're the invisible men. Their ADC wonders why I instruct my units to turn in their charters at Council on the very last day. Maybe if I saw that "year round unit service" promised in the Charter Agreement...

As a COR who has been a CC and MC... The IH and I have instructed our Scoutmaster to have a Scoutmaster Conference before issuing any Warrant Offices (an older name for the appointed PORs). He is to ensure: - The Scout has the TIME to do the work to standard. - Access to learning the SKILLS to do the work to standard. - The SUPPORT of his parents in doing the work to standard. Example of why: A Scout wanted to be, and was appointed by SPL as OATR. Only one problem: His parents REFUSED to let him go to Chapter meetings (concurrent with District Roundtable); he had a ch

Ms Vmpost, I think we're in violent agreement! I had a grad school course just like your second example. The professor read to us his forthcoming book. Toughest graduate hours in my entire degree... fighting to stay awake. At the end of the day, from the student's perspective, especially since they are giving up time to take our programs, training has to be: - Relevant - Somewhat challenging - Engaging - Give good solid takeaways. From the perspective of the course director looking at the instructor and his training audience, training must be: - Accurate! - Curre

From a Commissioner's College I attended: "I just got this syllabus from National for teaching you "Fundamentals of the Guide to Safe Scouting" last night. It's a bunch of garbage, it changes things from the way we've always done them. So, I'm going to teach you the Guide as I know it and as we've always done it." Sometimes the offense is so egregious you remember it word for word. Not only did I write up the instructor, I went and grabbed one of the assistant deans of the college and pitched a huge fit at him.

WDLeader, By and large, I will endorse what ScoutNut said. PRAY changed the curriculum for God and Church in late 2003. The "denominational supplements" no longer exist. Instead, the program is designed with specific points where the Scout must go and talk with his Pastor. Those points come - in unit 3, where the youth must be able to recite the particular denominations statement of belief from memory. - in unit 5, where the youth must learn about the structure of the worship service, to include how the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper fit into his/her de

The Executive Officer of your Chartered Partner (aka Institutional Head) and your Chartered Organization Representative are the DECISIONMAKERS for Committee Chairs and Program Officers (cubmaster, scoutmaster, advisor as appropriate). Committee can nominate people to them, but they make the decision. Program Officers are ex officio not members of the Committee. They come to the Committee with the program, so that Committee can support it. That's policy. Now, if there's someone trained and ready to step up to the plate, you might encourage those folks to call the COR. For that

Something else that works: RECOGNITION. Give them a pat on the back for a job well done. Recognize folks at daily flag ceremonies for MBs completed. Kids eat up attaboys!

Train and re-train constantly. That's a truism from Tom Peters. I've got friends who are blue-collar, hands on folks. They are in the classroom a couple of weeks a year, rock bottom minimum. For them, it may be a new technique, governmental mandate, or a new material for use at the jobsite. I've got friends who are white collar and spend their days looking at a PC. They are in the classroom a couple of weeks a year, rock bottom minimum too. For them, it's a new protocol for handling items, or a new form and calculations they have to program. In the case of a lady who leads a pr

Dad was assigned to Corregidor, with the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment, in December 1941. A few hours after Pearl Harbor in solar time, but on 8 December 1941, World War II began for him. Just over five months later, his active combat ended and he was taken captive by the Japs. (I use that term malice aforethought). He was held as a slave of the Imperial Japanese Army until August 1945. The Japs, in a note through their/our embassies in Geneva, Switzerland, told us they were not signatories to and would not honor the Conventions on treatment of prisoners of war. To this day, Dad d

I didn't wear BSA's poly/wool shirt; I wore the US Army's. It was an optional shirt with our Class A and B (Army Green with and sans blouse respectively). Jerry Schleinig: Did you wear one when you had to wear Greens as a SGM? One of my duty stations was Houston, Texas. My assignment required me to wear Greens as much as BDUs. I wore the shirt there, in the summer, with a white cotton T-shirt underneath. If you've been to Houston once in July, you know the true meaning of HOT. I liked it as an all-day business shirt. My thoughts. Hope they help.

When someone going on a Trek gets the Philmont Class III Physical form (all trekking must complete PHILMONT'S Class III), there are some specific height and weight guidelines. It's a combination of physical fitness and ability to manpack a human out of the backcountry.

From the National Lutheran Association of Scouters: http://www.nlas.org/resource.htm There's lots of source information on this page. I'm also going to PM you, so I can get your email. I'll then put you in touch with our Council's Chaplain Trainer. I think there is accomplished work you can adapt and re-deploy, rather than building a product from scratch. John Another Good Old Owl Too C-40-05

Mr Kahits, I'm going to second all that emb021 and Eamonn have told you. I'll give you the same advice I gave Ms BoxyLady: Find the President of the Council Venturing Officers Association. (It'll be a youth member). Ask him or her for input and feedback). Further, find the Commissioner who specializes in Venturing in your Council. Get his/her input and feedback as well.

Beav, You need to guide for a nice, predatory bird, something that swoops down on Beavers and eats them for lunch. Beavers are best when their pelts become fur felt hats. Consider the Eagles or the Owls... John A Good old Owl too. tongue firmly in cheek

My son is 16. I gave him his second PC for Christmas, an iMac. He'd had a clamshell apple powerbook before. I keep an eye on where he goes and what he does. His grades determine his access. C+ or below is not satisfactory; at that point he starts losing privileges. IM'ing is a privilege. Some email is essential, other email is privilege. As President Reagan once said, trust but verify, or ... always cut the deck.

It's 0448 Central. There are 1577 users. I suspect more than a few of them are bots or spiders crawling the internet.

Kaji, It sounds to me that yes, he signed off on the requirement, but has reneged, and now will neither accept the work nor sign out the MB unless the Scout does new work. That's called a Catch-22 in my book. My recommendation is the post above, simply put, is: BYPASS the son of a gun. He's not worth the Scout's effort.

Kaji, The problems here are, in order: - The Counselor concerned won't sign off on this Scout's work. - The SM, who is responsible for unit program, won't get in the knickers of an IN-TROOP Counselor. My read: If parents think the young man's work is up to par, then they should encourage their Scout to ask for assignment to another Counselor, and be done with it. Lesson for the Scout in question: Life isn't fair. (BTW, if the SM won't reassign him a Counselor, parents should then go to District Advancement Chair without delay). Additional read: Parents concerned sh

Eamonn, The day that we are not in Scouting to help raise up great young men and women is the day we should pack up and join Rotary, Kiwanis, Masonic, or (insert other service group here). As long as: - We are current on our training... - We understand "the rules" and business practices change over time... - We can take ourselves with a grain of salt... Then all will be well. Your bride is also looking at one other vital factor: Scouting needs a constant infusion of fresh adults. One opening at the top can trickle down to 15 or twenty in the trenches.

Eamonn wrote, in part: The budget is put together by the Council Executive. I do question what real training they have to do this? Most professional Scouters I know don't have a business or an accounting background. Very few know very much about grant writing. Eamonn, as a businessman, and as a Council Executive Board member, how much did you and other volunteers assist the SE in developing his annual budget? I wasn't born yesterday; I've learned there are folks who are far more savvy than I in any number of intellectual and functional skills. I've learned also that Scout