lrsap

Eagle Foot, One piece of advice regarding these forums, sometimes it is best to lay out as much detail as possible to keep people from jumping to conclusions. No condescending message here, just something I learned. In terms of the event, I think it sounds like a great plan and a good way to incorporate Patrol movement. If you haven't given thought to it, perhaps the electronic device for the Patrol Leader, and different stations requiring different skills (like morse code). Then if you get the plan out to the troops soon enough, the PL can work with their patrols to appoint one of

"Ignore it until the parents of your 12-20 new Scouts fill out the paperwork, and you panic because you are not really prepared to multiply your Troop's membership by four (4) in one week" Kudu, I have to be honest, you nailed me dead on with that one. When you said "Why not 12-20?" my eyes shot open a bit when I started thinking about the tents and other gear we don't have. But then I started thinking, if I take a kid who has never been camping before and I can just get him out there once, sitting around a campfire looking at a billion stars he has never seen because of the city li

BD I agree and disagree. I totally agree that an "After Project Party" is pushing the envelope way past the scope of what the donations should be used for. Want to say thank you afterward? Host a cookout or something on your dime. It's a nice thing to do, and proper socially. But to say it should be part of the budget is to suggest the volunteers should expect it, and that's wrong in my book. I also agree that if a Scout came to me requesting funds for materials needed to make park benches, bird houses, whatever, and then I hear the money also went to the feeding of the crew, I might feel

I read the thread about how to take 100 boys and run the PM, and there was some great advice in there. I am a SM on the other end of the spectrum. We are about 6 months in, and have grown from 5 to 9 boys. While it was not my intention to run a version of a NSP, I opened with two boys that now have drivers licenses and then the rest are freshly 13 to 11. So I have the two older boys in SPL/ASPL positions, but really treat them as JASMs, which we will officially make them very soon. We have set a goal of "16 by Summer Camp". We recognize the need to grow by at least one patrol to ru

Had the day off with Scout son, so it was a great time to take in a new trail. Found an owl pellet, which may sound silly coming from a grown man but is always cool to the both of us. It kind of made me think, for you what is that outdoor thing that, no matter how many times you experience it, always brings out that 11 year-old in all of us. A few of mine: Looking at the clear night sky the first night out Lightning bugs Beaver dams The smell of bacon cooking on a camping morning Yours?

Curiosity also makes me ask, are the leaders required to sign similar contracts, and if this were a leader's FB page would he be asked to resign? What's un-Scoutlike for the goose...... I do want to say if it seems like anyone is being to heavy-handed with the criticism, I think everyone is in agreement that you and the SM are doing a great job of working through this potential mine field.

"We also explain to him that we expect him to adhere to the Scout Oath and Law in all aspects of his public life. This is explained to all of our "office" holders and they are required to read (with a parent or guardian present) and sign a statement that they will adhere to these standards in and out of scouting. There lies the problem. To a certain extent I personally believe he violated this standard." To back up what Beavah said, I'm not to keen on using the Oath and Law in such a manner. Now full disclosure being we've never met and all I know is what read, so this may be working grea

Thanks, and yes they are a good group that is really starting to come together. One thing I enjoyed was seeing the good natured jabbing back and forth between the older boys and the patrol concerning their separate menus. Not to talk negatively, but the ones that came from other troops before joining us were new to the whole "You mean the whole troop doesn't eat the same thing?" idea. At breakfast one of the older boys looks at a new scout cooking on his first trip and tells him "Ok, we got you with dinner last night, but you got us on the bacon this morning." And the icing on the cake wa

And my thoughts about the ones who would leave if you fire the boy from SPL or otherwise is to have them let you know when they find that perfect troop full of perfect boys. And you will never hear from them again.

Just got back from a quick overnight camping trip with the new troop. As we are set now, we have basically a New Scout Patrol and two older experienced Scouts performing JASM roles. Well, this camping trip is one I will remember as a fantastic trip, but I'm not sure anyone else would recognize it. It wasn't any elaborate setting, actually much more "civilized" of a spot than I ever want to go again. Real nice for Cubs if you know what I mean. No great program or anything like that. What made this special to me was seeing a new 2nd Class PL become a Patrol LEADER. He had his by-the-book st

The good news is they started with themes, then thought about MB possibilities for the troop afterward. I have to be honest, part of me would be real interested to see how they do trying to pull it off. Kind of a "Great ideas guys, here are some phone numbers" kind of thing.

....and thought of some great ideas. Being new I only had them focus on the first 6 months. The older, experienced scouts took the lead and every month they thought of a great theme to work on and......THE MERIT BADGES THEY CAN PLAN TO EARN WHILE DOING SO! The thing is, I think I'm ok with First Aid, Aquatics themed badges and Cooking. We are doing our planning in two phases, first phase high level then next week dates and details. That is where I will have a better opportunity to reel them back in from some of the others. They were so excited about taking the lead I was reluctant to stop

SP, thank you very much. And just to let you know.... "A non Scout leader who gets trained should do well, except that they MIGHT not have much background in outdoor skills like backpacking, orienteering, canoeing and such, and it takes a good deal of practical experience to be competent in those skills." Good call. This is where my largest feeling of inadequacy lies. We held our new troop's first annual planning conference on Saturday, and the boys flat out said "Canoeing, we definitely want to go canoeing!" I love the idea, but I'm glad they agreed to move it to May instead o

When reading a current thread in the Patrol Method as well as others, a common problem recognized by some people in these forums are adult leaders who were never Scouts. Being one of those myself, I would like to counter that theory with one of my own. Before I present my case, there are two points I will concede. I wish I had been a Scout. As a Dad I am very happy for my son when I see him enjoying his Scouting days, and know I would have loved them as well. And had I been a Scout it would definitely help me as a leader. Point two, when we walk in the door we are, for the most part, clu

What's funny is to think there are people that would vote for Newt to be POTUS, but wouldn't want him to be their son's SM.

While Eagle mills and advancement driven units are sure to be part of the answer, one thing that can't be ignored is the way technology has made many things easier during the last 20 years. Think of all the time spent making copies, faxes and carrying around binders full of manuals that are no longer necessary due to advancement in data sharing and storage. And the youth today are on top of that much more than your average adult. In essence, you could use the same requirements for Eagle as 20 years ago and perform them just as diligently, but not have to spend the administrative time a b

While he may be stirring things up, I did find one thing extremely interesting after I read the article. That is the fact that any girl may join, but you only have access to certain awards of the program by pledging an oath to God or a religion. No matter what side of the argument you are on, this can never work. Another thing I found interesting was this from the spokesman for the Scout Association: "They need to have a faith or be willing to explore having a faith if they're to be a Scout." So what happens if a boy willingly explores having a faith, but then decides it is not

First of all, JK, RELAX. Of course advancement is an important and valuable aspect of Scouting. Just a friendly chat for the sake of chatting. I hope not everything on this site is meant to solve all of Scouting's heaviest problems. Sometimes around the campfire we let our imagination loose too. The thing is, I know I am new and so is my troop. I'm just hoping the overwhelming feeling of "Am I doing this right" gets to be a little smaller as time goes on. As of now, I really haven't talked much about advancement with too many of the boys at all, and I'm afraid I could be doing them a diss

We have had fun (at least I have. It is just a virtual campfire among friends, right?) with the last couple of threads debating the use of pen and paper while at the same time describing similar ways of running programs in every other way. So just for a little more fun, what if the next handbook came out with no rank advancement at all? I know it's pure folly on my part, but it would seem to me everything a boy gets from advancement he can get through the other seven methods. Imagine if you will: * A COH where a Scout's experiences of the last few months were highlighted, not his lates

On a side note of this discussion, if I am reading between the lines of what is said correctly the good news is it seems everyone is on the same page as far as presenting a quality program is concerned. That if two boys of similar skills entered fred8033 and Eagle92's troops at the same time, both troops would run a quality program and 18 months later these boys would have a similar set of skills and great experiences. The difference would be the patch on the shirt,or how long he has had it. To me, big picture matters a lot, but I'm a common ground, non-confrontational type. If you think

First of all "drowning in a forward direction", excellent. I'll make sure to give you credit when I, er, borrow that one. Troubling aspect can be where there are judgement calls when these things are concerned. The kid that struggled still, in the eyes of the SC Aquatics Leader or Director, passed his swim test. So do you sign because he did what the requirement demanded in the eyes of others, or do you not sign because he did not meet your standard? Also, since in your mind he did not meet the requirement, are you then required by conscience to take his swim tag from him even though the

Reading this thread and the other has made me think about how, if you do not believe in "one and done", do you actually know when certain advancement milestones are met. Two that come to mind are FC requirements written as follows: 8a. Demonstrate tying the bowline knot and describe several ways it can be used. 9b. Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test. You would think they would be simple. Scout comes to you and say "SM (or PL, SPL, or however your unit works), I have been working on tying the bowline at home so I can earn FC. Let me show you." He then proceeds to tie a perfe

Being small at the moment, our boys in our new troop came up with a solution that takes the communal bug juice out of the equation. The guys love the Mio flavors, liquid alternatives to individual flavor packs. They are small, so they are easy to carry individually. They come in multiple flavors so the guys pick up what they like before the outing. And since they are concentrated, one will last them the weekend or more. The sharing between boys who just started camping together ("Hey man, try this mango flavor", "That's good, try this fruit punch") was an unintended benefit.

I totally agree. From the sounds of it, that was a forecast for a nice breeze and great sleeping weather. trainerlady, I do truly hope you haven't taken any of my posts to be meant as disparaging. It's hard enough making sure your email to friends has the right tone. On a forum like this, sometimes it can be darn near impossible. And on one hand, it's a shame the Webelos event didn't go as planned. But on the other, the troop was able to show an ability to react, adapt and overcome a difficult situation.

"That havin' been said, I always tell folks yeh should cancel any individual event when yeh feel it's beyond da skills or the gear of the group to handle. That's just prudent. Then yeh should look at what yeh can do to improve da skills or gear of the group so that next time yeh won't have to cancel." You know what Beavah, I think this is exactly the answer I was looking for. Thank you, because it makes perfect sense. One troop's group of Life and Eagle Scouts with Philmont experience and gear have a different tolerance level than my new bunch of Tenderfeet (or is that Tenderfoots?) with