John-in-KC

Mark, What is your position in the Troop, as a registered Scouter?

T2Eagle... The one downside of "a few hours early" is if this Scout advances to Eagle, the qualification check by the Council Registrar will fail if the date is not 4 calendar months downstream from First Class. Such is the joy (job) of ScoutNet. Sigh.

TWO People are responsible for scheduling the BOR: - The Scout, who requests it and reports his availability. - The CC, or his designated coordinator (advancement guy/gal), who actually puts the board together. BTW, when I was a CC, I chaired BORs, unless I was gone. Coordinator scheduled. QUARTERLY ONLY BOARDS OF REVIEW??? Whose GI was that? A quarterly BOR does not serve the Scout, and it certainly does not serve the Committee, whose job it is to evaluate the program and give feedback to the Scoutmaster!! VOTING TO SCHEDULE BOARDS OF REVIEW? A Scout Troop is not a Fortune 500 company. You get three members of the Committee together and say "Billy's ready for advancement. Let's encourage him on his way." These are kids, for criminy's sake. I endorse what Vicki said! (BTW, V, welcome back!!! )(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

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Roadkill Patrol: Join us on the trail. Become a Scouter. Then, you have some degree of voice. You have not told us what your Chartered Partner's guidance to the Pack on fiscal matters is: There may be a standing instruction to maintain a large general fund. You won't know if you don't ask. If you have real concerns, the best two people to talk to are the Committee Chair and the Chartered Organization Representative. This conversation is best done offline, over a friendly cup of coffee. Overall, I'd re-read Beavah's post to you... several times.

... Even J-Staff at Cub Day Camp, which is just days away in many Districts around the US!

PM me, please. I have a fantastic piece to send you. I'll need an email to send you this Mp3.

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Adam S: No. That is program. This is the business affairs of the unit (really, the support people doing what they need to in order to support the program people). You can be as formal (Roberts Rules of Order and Executive Sessions) or as informal (consensus) as you need to be. In my experience, adults playing nice can get along with consensus. Adults not playing nice may need more structure. Of course: The CC and the CM/SM/C/Adv need to know when to use good judgment and move a particular matter out of the general audience. Camperships are the first area that come to mind here, there are certainly others.

Lisa: The old course was the National Junior Leader Instructor Course. It was designed for youth who had been through the unit JLT, and then the Council JLT. They had been invited to serve staff to their Council JLT. Right there that increased the maturity of the training audience. The youth staffing the course impressed me! They'd been through the system, and then had been to this course themselves, and then had been staff in their councils. They were mature young men, very capable of great fun, but also very understanding of what was going on in the conference rooms. They arrived on PTC the day after we did, and spent their week prepping by trying things out on the various classes as "guinea pigs", with our agreement. I liked that the Course Director and SPL/program director spent time talking about their vision and goals with the Conferences at PTC. Finally, I like that we were invited to visit Rocky Mountain Scout Camp (the facility on Philmont that does this training, it's about 2-3 miles from base camp) and visit the activity. These young people were being taught EDGE six years before EDGE was a buzzword (of course, EDGE has always been around, it's been a model of training in the Armed Forces since my Dad was in basic training in the summer of 1941). I hope this helps

When I was a youth member in Boy Scouting and Exploring (1968-74 or so) I wore my LS shirt with the collar turned under in the cooler months, and a SS collarless shirt in the hot months. Collarless shirt was one of the dorkiest outer garments ever made. It's almost as bad as the red beret. It's gone. GOOD

There's only one small problem with what you propose, Mr or Ms dcope... God has not dropped the policy. The last time I checked, all the Epistles of the Apostle Paul are still canon.

The only time I held closed meetings when I was a CC was when I convened an executive session of the SM, the IH, the COR, and myself: Why, you ask? We were talking MONEY, in particular, how to get a couple kids to camp who'd otherwise not go to camp. As far as I can see, the meeting has to be incredibly personal in nature to close the doors completely to an executive session. (This message has been edited by john-in-kc)

OGE, I've looked at the sheet. Frankly, I'm not thrilled about the strategic goals set. Look at the Commissioner Service goals: Commissioner Service - insure that Unit Commissioners visit their units on a regular basis and recharter them on-time Forgive the bluntness, that's Motherhood and Apple Pie. How's about being the Friend, providing resources, being effective enablers of unit-council relations, ... I don't see a bloody word about youth members growing and having fun. Others are right. The advancement goal is far, far outside what the Executive Board, Council Advancement Committee and District Advancement Committees can do. That's a goal for chartered partners and their units. A better goal would be: Support the growth and development of youth members using program advancement as one metric. I can write it in non-MPA language, too: Help the boys grow using the Scouting program. Steady advancement is one way to observe growth.

I (sadly) do know units where women are not wanted. As someone else suggested, I think asking the Scoutmaster for clarification is in order.

I will email some folks on the board of NLAS and ask for an update.

I tend to agree with Stosh. That said, during the current Depression, I've known families whose circumstances changed from six digit incomes and plenty of opportunities for the children to unemployed, and tapping the retirement funds for costs of life. Jamboree and NOAC are both incredibly expensive. They're not Scout Camp. I think most kids could earn their fees to Scout Camp. Most kids are going to need the better part of 2-3 years of summer jobs to get to go to one of these, and they may still need parental assistance. HA bases, in and of themselves, are pricey, but not outrageous. Depending on distance from the home to the HA base, though, that meter can run quickly. Here's my personal breakpoint: If, as I've actually known locally, Mom and Dad are taking childrens' earnings for basic family income in these tough times, then if the Scout has to back out of the commitment, the unit/chartered partner either needs to accept it with grace, or find a way to help. OTOH, if the Scout simply changes his mind, then its a forfeit... My $0.01 (adjusted for coming inflation)

Eagle92 wrote in part... One complaint I've heard is that by having LDS units leave early, it does not promote eucuneicism (sp) with the other scouts when they do the 'Scout's Own" services. I'm not LDS, and I don't like most generic "Scouts' Own" services either. Too many of them end up being anathema to more than one major faith grouping. Talk around the campfire? Sure. Attend anothers' worship service to understand where his culture and faith come from? Been there, done that. Ask me to pray to anothers' Supreme Being? Nope. I can understand where LDS is on this.

Kahuna??? Your thoughts???

WestCoastScouter... Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, Commissioners: If you read the BSA literature, all three of these come with the caution that this is a significant Scouting position, and the Scouter should not be registered elsewhere in this unit. For Commish, they should not be registered as program side people elsewhere in Scouting. So no, Mr CM should not be CM and DL. The one exception would be if the DL is not available, and there's no assistant. Then the CM should step in temporarily. That's the same as the CC assuming the duties of CM if he/she is not available.

1) To me, the impact of a Council/District are the events they organize: Camporees, Order of the Arrow, summer camps. If there is a clear difference between the two councils, it'd be about the 3d tiebreaker ... certainly not a primary decisionmaker 2) A second impact is the quality of service and support given by District and Council, including advancement and Scout Shop. Again, if a clear difference, this'd be for me a 4th tiebreaker. Things I'd look for in a Troop: - Are the boys, through a leadership structure (the Patrol Leaders Council), with a light hand mentoring, making the program decisions about the Troop? If yes, POSITIVE. If no, negative. - Are boys teaching boys, particularly in basic skills (camping, cooking, primary first aid, hiking)? If yes, POSITIVE. If no, negative. - Is the Troop actively camping and going places? If yes, POSITIVE. If no, negative. - Do boys seeking in-depth skills seek out merit badges through their Scoutmaster and out-of-troop MB Counselors? If yes, POSITIVE. OTOH, if there are MB classes at Troop meetings and the unit goes to more than one MB day a year and/or goes to a host of "overnight merit badge campouts", negative. Just some thoughts...

What is this about AUTHORITY? Leadership in a Cub Pack should be collegial and collaborative. It's not about us. It's about those kids in the blue pants and shirts. Yes, the CC and the Committee are accountable to the Chartered Partner for seeking out Pack leadership and having a fully and properly staffed suite of leaders. That said, it's really everybody's job to help out with identifying and recruiting leaders. It's just the focal point is the CC. Absolutely agree with mds3d that CM should allow someone else to be the Bear DL. He's enough to do, supporting his DLs and being the ringmaster of the monthly Pack meeting.

Duplicate post. Sigh.(This message has been edited by john-in-kc)

Sebastian a lady, Actually, in the Council I serve, the Advancement Committee and Registrar, with the blessing of the Executive Board, have limited the number of Merit Badges a Counselor may counsel. Is it against ACP&P? Yes. Is it a fact? Also, yes.

What Ed said. It may be permitted, but it is not imo a best practice.