MarkS

You didn't mention how much, if any, help has been solicited from and/or supplied by the SPL. Have your boy ask his SPL for help, if he hasn't yet. In many instances like this, a boy's best resource can be another boy who has had experience in the leadership position in question. Any JASMs, Instructors, TGs, in your troop that were a PL at one time that he could talk to about his difficulties? I'm dissappointed in the support the SM seems to be provided. If he has a leader that is struggling, he should use that as an teaching opportunity for the SPL, ASPL and JASMs and advise them to

The Internet is an excellent resource for information on scouting in the US. BSA publications are an excellent resource for accurate information on scouting in the US--too bad they're so expensive.

We use the phone calls as follow-up to the Patrol meetings and reminders preceeding the next Troop meeting. Messages are usually just a couple minutes. Boys easily spend 20 minutes talking to their buddies about nothing, I don't see another 20 minutes calling his patrol as overly burdensome. The most important thing is that it works for us. Our Troop meeting attendance goes up when the phone calls are made. Yep... the PLC should know their school calendar but so should the SM. He can't provide advice on things he doesn't know about.

It was not mentioned what kinds of problems the CC is causing, but in general a personality conflict does not necessarily have to adversely affect the Troop program. At some point the SM and CC are going have to be adults and work together. If they can't, your Unit Commissioner (UC) should be there to help your unit resolve this kind of issue. Anyone can contact their unit UC for help. Hopefully, your UC is more than just a guy who signs off on your recharter paperwork. If that's all your UC does, maybe the District Commissioner should be contacted for help. Try to resolve this internally befo

usedtobeafox said, "How about the parents who hang at the Scout meeting and gather all the info for their Scout on Troop activities and wonder why the other Scouts don't get the info home about activities. I talked about a mailing home the Troop calandar each month to keep the parents informed (not every Scout get the info home) and they shot that down. Also on the Troop calandar they want the school activities on the calandar so our Scout activities don't interfere with school activities---the school doesn't put Scout activities on their calandar. Does the SM have any say in what goes on the

usedtobeafox said, "MB I was talking about was Entreprenuer and Salesmanship for the Troop fundraising project. They selfish parents also work on MB's during Troop meetings until their Scouts finish and then they drop the ball for the other Scouts and don't even follow up to complete the other incomplete. What do you say to a MB councilor who starts and finishes a MB before the SM ok's the Scout for that MB?" I'm not a big fan of doing Merit Badges during a Troop meeting. However, our PLC decided that they wanted to do a couple Eagle required MBs during this program year. Our SM identifie

usedtobeafox said, "Do you think I am going to let the Scouts dictate what time I donate of vacation from work? I don't think so and I am not going to let the parents do it either." I don't think a boy run program necessarily means that the Scouts dictate how much time you donate to their activities. The adult leadership should advise and set limits. You made it sound to me like your SM is running the program (maybe I misunderstood). You and I both know that's not how a Boy Scout Troop should be run.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

usedtobeafox said, "These same parents always want to get their own way like have their Scouts go to the same old resident camp and want us to plan our trips around their schedule. What do you say to them? The SM is in charge of program, isn't he in charge of what date....he is the one using all of his vacation time from work." Something is definitely wrong when the SM is in charge of your program instead of your PLC.

To be honest, with all of the safety concerns and potential injuries we have with the boys entrusted to us, this is by far and above at the top of my list.

A state too cold for camping? I can't think of any that get below -40 degF. ;-)

From "Cub Scout Outdoor Program Guidelines for 2006" Webelos Den Overnight Camping Webelos den campouts serve to move the Webelos Scout to the next level of the BSA's ever-increasing challenge in the outdoors. The boy and his parent or guardian will be introduced to the basics of Boy Scout camping. A Webelos den leader who has completed position-specific training and Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders training should conduct these events. Webelos dens are encouraged to participate in joint den-troop campouts, particularly in the fifth-grade year. These campouts should be

acco40 said... "In my neck of the woods, we (Scout units) may use the public schools like anyone else. The going rate is $25/hr for a classroom, $200/hr for gymnasium or cafeteria." I'd be contacting my local legislator and finding out if the school can charge me rent for something my taxes paid for.

All of the awards that Cub Scouts may earn are listed in their handbooks. If it's not in their handbook, it's not an award they can earn. So says, this FAQ on the National web site... http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/faq/awards.html For the complete list of Cub Scout awards... http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/awards/youth/index.html There. Now there should be no more threads about Cub Scout awards. ;-)

Buy some of the "Freezing Weather" patches from the scoutstuff.org web site and give those out. http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/images/05NDC/images/08755.jpg It's an extraneous council award such at this that does not impact advancement. Not an activity or merit badge or rank requirement. So IMHO, I think your unit should be able tailor awards such as this to meet the needs of your unit program. It's the quality of your program that promotes interest, education, and advancement.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

In the GSLAC there are always two classes per summer. They put together top-notch classes but you'll have to wait until next year to take them. The first meets the weekends before and after Memorial Day and the second meets the weekends before and after Labor Day. Suggest you add a link to http://www.stlbsa.org/Training/Wood+Badge/ in your Favorites folder and monitor it for updates. If I recall correctly, the Memorial Day course will fill up before January.

Scoutmaster Ron said, "most important they need to be trained." Yep that's very important but ASM59 indicated that outside of himself and one other leader, there is a lack of commitment among the adults. He didn't say there was a training issue. However, I think we'd all agree that if commitment is a problem, a lack of training is usually a problem too.

gwd-scouter asked, "How does requiring his father to come along prohibit the Scout from achieving the next level in Scouting? Or, any level?" Maybe someone already answered this, but it seems to me that if the father is unavailable, then the boy can't go on the outing. If the boy can't go to an outing, he can't earn the advancement requirements that are completed at the outing (especially summer camp). Boys can't advance if they can't camp.

Sounds like the Troop has already died and doesn't really know it. My son and I crossed over to a Troop last February and I am fortunate to say that it has a nice number of active adults sharing leadership and an excellent Scoutmaster who really knows what it takes to make the program a success--everything from being a great recruiter, program/budget planner, boy leadership facilitator, and trainer. I'm the newest leader in the Troop and he's really showing what it takes to be a successful unit. However, when I was in our feeder Pack, I was pretty much doing everything myself because

This thread is perfect proof of the mission statement and vision... you're thinking about it aren't you? Trying ot figure out how it applies to the program? Performing a little self-evaluation. Would you be thinking about these things if it didn't exist?(This message has been edited by MarkS)

SR540Beaver... don't get me started on the non-value of the Unit Commissioner. My Pack's commissioner is an empty uniform that only signed off on rechartering paperwork and showed up for two B&G banquets my entire five year tenure in the unit. I fully expect it to fold before the year is out because of a lack of recruiting and leadership. If only UCs did their job and provided guidance and advice, including training recommendations, a lot of unit training issues could be resolved.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

The reason Cub Scouts has more (or a greater percentage) of untrained leaders is easier to identify than for Boy Scouts... Many adults who volunteer to be adult leaders at the Cub Scout level are new to scouting, are only involved because their boy is involved, and have not vested into the program yet. They're waiting to see if Johnny really likes it before they decide to get trained--they don't want to take time for something they may not need. However, by not getting trained, the quality of their program suffers, and Johnny ends up not liking it. He drops out and they drop out. With thi

eagle-pete makes an very important point. Most leaders are volunteers. We shouldn't be forcing them to do things they don't want. That's the solution for when you have too many volunteers. If we want volunteers to take training so they can learn to fulfill the role and responsibilities of their position well, we need to make them want to take the training. This is why my earlier post said basic training should include lessons on how to motivate people. Getting volunteers to do things is all about motiviation. Mastery of this skill not only will help leaders build an effective leadership t

Given that my council publishes training dates for all districts up to a year in advance and leaders have training opportunities on almost a monthly basis... there's no excuse in my council for not being able to fit it into their personal and business lives.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

ASM59 makes a very good point... The sooner a leader gets trained for their new position, the greater the learning opportunity and value of the training. Fortunately, he had a unit trainer to provide OJT. Unfortunately, not all units always have smooth transitions in leadership. I found my SM/SA class and outdoor trainging very useful, but I took it a month after moving from my son's pack to his new troop. This doesn't mean that the SM doesn't provide me with OJT. It just means that he could devote more time to running the program rather than training a leader while I was a newbie.

Beavah... I'm not sure how you're differentiating between a training class and a learning opportunity. What have you seen wrong with training classes such that fail to provide a learning opportunity? All... In my limited experience, my district and council do a pretty good job providing learning opportunities in their training classes. They provide multiple sessions at various times during the year. This year two sessions of basic training for cub and boy scout leaders in the fall and two sessions in the spring--some during the week, some during the weekend. With the other districts in ou