LauraT7

We call ours "Merit Badge Opoortunity Days" and they run for 6 weeks, meet 3 times - every other saturday. A list of offered badges is given out, and the boys sign up - listing up to 3 badges and alternates(in case classes overfill) Badge classes meet for about 1 hour each of the three saturdays. this gives time to teach at one meeting, and test two-4 weeks later. Also if there is outside work to be done, the boys can work on it at home and return it later to th4e badge counselor to be signed off. they also know what they are signed up for AHEAD of time - so pre-requisits can be

I agree that the troops should not be specialized - if a PATROL chooses to specialize it's emphasis within the troop - that's fine - by the time they get into a regular patrol, they should have enough different experiences to make a choice about what their favorites are, and if they chose to do mostly back packing, or canoeing, or whatever - that's great. But what does a 12 yr old know about what he wants? most cubs don't get much chance to camp and as first-year scouts they are working on building their skills. if they aren't given opportunities to TRY different things, how can they m

First, survey boys, leaders, staff and parents as to what THEY think is FUN at camp? More swimming? more boating? Waterskiing? Sailing? animals in the nature hut? a ropes course or climbing wall? Metalworking? leathercraft? Cooking? putting on a play? free time to swing in a hammock? biking? wilderness survival? Try to think OUTSIDE the typical camp offerings of outdoor merit badges & advancement only. Take inventory of your staff's skills, interests and abilities. While you are surveying, take inventory of current camp facilities, space, equipment. Repair the good and TOSS th

Scouting membership in TROOPS is not regulated by location, nor does being in a certain "pack" mean you MUST go up to a certain 'troop'. ('feeder packs' are common, but noting in BSA says you MUST go from the same CO's pack to their troop) Boys are encouraged by national to 'shop' for a troop that fits their needs - regardless of it's location or charter organization affiliation. logically, it would follow that packs are open to membership by choice, also. I can see that recruiting habits and tradition might establish that if you attend "X" school that you then join "X" pack - but a

The boys in our troop use Mr. or Mrs. Even our SM's son calls him Mr. Lastname while in uniform. I have told them they can call me Mrs. T or Mrs. lastname. I prefer Mrs T - and in a casual setting, like at a meeting or camoput, the boys generally use that. My son's friends use that also, when they are over at our house or I see them at school when I was younger and my son was younger, I had everyone, including his friends, call me by my first name alone. I'm an informal kind of person, and "mrs. Lastname" makes me think of my ex-mother-in-law, not ME! heck i didn't like being 'm

ManyIrons: the links are GREAT! I had to laugh when I saw the "hitching post" one - because our troop HAS one of these! Ours is mounted on a box that we do store our ropes in, it also stores the candle log and other ceremonial equipment. It does not have the eyelets that would allow for the tautline hitches, etc - they may have never been installed, or they might have been removed so people could sit on the box comfortably - I'll have to look for holes next time I am in the troop room. Our troop is very old, and we have alot of stuff whose use has been lost to past generation

tells you how much i know about sports - doesn't it! LOL! ;-)

EagleInKY - I agree with all you said - and given the chance, I would (and have) done the same as you, and talked to the camp staff & program director, right then and there while still at camp about the problems with the merit badge counselor changing the badge and not giving the boys the opportunities intended by the badge. but apparently, you and I attend camp and know the program well enough to challenge discrepancies where necessary. How would you handle it if, like the original poster, the discrepancies with the counselor didn't come to light until camp was over and

Thanks for the update on your poll - that's some interesting info - I think I'm gonna save it somewhere, it might come in useful someday. As I had said, our troops only attempt at NSP failed last year, because WE (the adults)failed to properly support and plan a program for it. As Bob pointed out - this has affected our retention. We got 8 new Webelos last year - 3 have left the troop and one is practically inactive. He may come back after football - but I doubt it. I have asked our SM if I could be the advisor to the NSP - I like the younger boys, and I think my son will do

Ed, FOG, Eagle in KY, Will someone please tell me exactly where you are getting the idea that the SM 'approves' or 'assigns' a MB counselor to the boy? I have checked the boy's handbook, A guide to Merit Badge Counseling, and the SM handbook and they all use exactly the same verbage: "obtain from your SM a signed MB application and the name of a qualified counselor for that MB" it does NOT say that the SM "approves" the counselor. the only difference is that the adult books say 'obtain from HIS SM..." as they are not talking to the scout. I think bad verbal info has go

I like the jepardy one, too - and it would give the different skill levels all a chance to shine - some that know some really odd knots could show what they've learned and yet the ones who are just learning the basics could participate & earn points, too. Jon likes the jepardy game, too, anyway - I bet this will appeal to him, too. We are doing this at a meeting, in 30 minutes, so I don't think we have time or space to lash a flagpole or find a big tree. I like the tree one - but they all did it at a camporee this fall, so they know the 'trick' to that one. thanks -

Firebuilding - all boys love to 'play' with fire... just make sure you have a cleared area and keep water buckets handy! ____________ have them collect their tinder and kindling - they won't need fuel wood for this. you need some stiff coathanger wire bent into a big hook or shepherd crook with a small hook on the short hooked end. put these into the ground at the same heights around the fire circle and attach a fist-sized water balloon to the hooked end. Have them build and light their fire underneath - give them a limited amount of matches, (they lose points if t

the BSA handbook, pg 187 says "obtain from your SM a signed MB application and the name of a qualified counselor for that MB" it does NOT say that the SM "approves" the counselor. the SM might personally know of good and bad counselors and my recommend one he likes, but can you really expect a SM to personally know the quality of at least one MB counselor for all 100 + badges? I'm sure our area doesn't even HAVE counselors for all those badges! I guess the problem comes in that the SM and troop 'should' check with the camp and council to make sure all their MB counselors ARE regist

we are preparing for Klondike and my son has been given the job of coming up with a 'game' to use knot and lashing skills for the meeting next monday. All we have come up with so far is knot relays (boring) and possibly a challenge to tie knots to earn the parts to lash a 'bridge' and cross a fake 'river' the knots would earn them points and parts to construct the bridge, and the quality of their lashings would earn points. But judging and the point system is looking a little tedious... he has a time limitation of about 30 minutes for this activity. Any other ideas? wh

i don't know about the paperwork or BSA requirements, but if you want to replace your 'old style' astronomy badge with a 1970's replacement, check e-bay and the collector boards. there's alot of BSA memorabila being sold out there as collector's items. In fact, Our troop is SO old (90 years) and we have lots of old pins and awards. Don't know if we have any badges, but i will check with our advancement chair who is enthralled with such stuff and an Eagle himself from the early 80's. If we have one, I'll let you know! laura

Once an Eagle, ALWAYS an Eagle - may you enjoy smooth winds beneath your wings, and fly high and long! congratulations! Laura

earning Merit badges during troop meeting time is not considered an effective use of the program, it's true. But I have never heard that working on advancement should not be part of the weekly meetings -Practically EVERYTHING a scout does is part of advancement for somebody, somehow! Working as a patrol or troop; planning outings, teaching methods, organizing the QM room, learning outdoor skills, holding ceremonies, being tested on a skill by an older scout or adult, participating in a BOR or SM conference, these are all appropriate prts of weekly troop meeting activities AND part of adva

The merit badge counselor has the responsibility to see that he/ she follows the badge and that the boy covers the requirements as written. The counselor cannot ADD, DELETE or change the requirements. Neither does the troop, SM or committee have anything to say about how a boy earned a badge. It is not under their jurisdiction. About the only thing you CAN do is to make a formal complaint to the camp and it's council. You can choose to not send you troop to that camp again - but if you DO go to that camp, you can't tell the boys that they can't take certain badges - or that your

Eamon, I think you are right - the key is getting the word out to the people who need it the most - and those probably aren't the real active scout/ scouter families that get council news etc. Heck, most of the parents of the boys in our troop only have a vague idea that our concil office is in Rockford - many boys go completely through scouts without ever seeing the council office - it's too far away. I've only been there once myself - and that was because I had another appointment in that town that day. You need the info to get to the boys WITH the cooperation of their parents t

A scout is trustworthy.... However, as people have noted in other threads, being an EAGLE scout is valuble to people outside of scouting - for that very reason, someone may go down to our local Ace hardware (our local retail distributer) and try to purchase an Eagle patch. Point being that if they are NOT a scout - they are not necessarily 'trustworthy' i doubt that anyone outside of scouting would know or care what OA or square knots were, and those IN scouting that were not qualified and tried to wear tham would be known, by somebody in the council. It's also been point

Hobbies? you mean there's hobbies OTHER than scouts? When I was young, I used to design clothes, sew clothes, shop for clothes, cosmetics & jewlery - typical girl. then I bought a house. Now I get giddy over power tools, tile samples and plumbing fixtures.... same thing - but now i adorn my house instead of me! part of my house is always torn apart and being re-done, some because it's needed, but often just for fun. (and I don't have a wife who gets annoyed at the mess!LOL! - its MY mess!) I'm hooked on home improvement shows, Trading spaces and Changing rooms

PS - i would be really interested in seeing your compiled results of this informal survey, or your report - when you get it done - Please post the results or a link to them when you finish? i'm sur I'm not the only one who'd like to see the 'trends' thanks! laura

How many boys registered? 26 How many boys active? 24 How many Patrols? 3 Does your troop go to summer camp in or out of Council? Both Does your troop go to Dist/Council Camporees? YES Does your troop support FOS? YES Does your troop sell Popcorn?YES If not, what are your fundraisers? popcorn is actually very little, though, and it ALL goes to the boy accounts. We also sell bottled water at community events, do car parking for the county fair, and recycle ink cartridges Does your troop use NSP, FCFY method? FCFY- yes, tried NSP, failed - hopefully will try again Does your t

BITE your tongue and knock on wood..... Don't you know that I asked Santa for 'peace on earth, good will toward men'? I thought maybe I got it at least SOMEWHERE! LOL!

I had this idea - and wanted to run it by you guys and see if we could pick the faults out of it..... I have known that many troops, including ours, have a "uniform bank" of gently used, outgrown uniform parts that boys can borrow or use. But there is also a need for alot of non-uniform clothing and personal gear that often becomes VERY expensive - especially as boys grow and scouts and scouters establish specfic needs, likes and dislikes in gear. One of the big problems with giving stuff away, or donating it to the troop is a small (for our troop, at least) circle of people t