mdutch

If you do decide to do camping, Greenbelt National Park is right nearby, and offers a scout rate of $6/person/night(This message has been edited by meamemg)

I see nothing in OA policy that would prohibit a 19 year old and a 22 year old from tenting together.

I know that my lodge/section require medical forms to be on file for ordeals and conclave (I can't remember if they want Class I or Class II). I agree, check with your lodge advisor/staff advisor.

We used Cadillac jack this past summer. It worked well.

It also adds the new venturing positions to the list of acceptable positions. I find it interesting how it says at the bottom "EDITIONS OF THIS APPLICATION PREVIOUS TO THE 2000 REVISION SHOULD NOT BE USED." Does this mean you do not have to use this edition of the form?

Some sample scripts can be found at http://eaglescout.org/finale/coh/coh.html

I know that one of them is for 5 scouts at once, and I think there is another one that is for 2 or 3. Good lucks, and congratulations to your son

I was also shocked by the size of the troop...10 patrols...some with 11 scouts each. WOW

Mine was mostly formal/serious. But that is how I wanted it. I'd say it depends on what the scout wants, and who is selected to be the MC for how it turns out.

Sorry OGE, probably wont have any luck with that phrase today; this venturer has no clue what it means.

I have no expirience in this feild, however, National puts out a power-point training for camp health officers that might be of some help.

www.scouting.org/pubs/19-141.ppt

While graduated driving laws may reduce fatalities, there is little evidence that earlier curfews or older age requirements for driving do. New drivers (no matter the age) are worse drivers, so stopping young people from driving, simply means that they will have the fatalities later in life. This is the same as with raising the drinking age to 21, doing so reduced alchohol fatalities for 18-21, but raised the number of fatalities for 21-24.

I want to reiterate infoscouters mention that if he does not cross over with the rest of his den, a cross-over ceremony should be held in the spring, if he decides to join a troop at that point. Any cub scout joining boy scouts, regardless of whether or not they earned the AOL, should be given a cross-over ceremony.

Ok. This is kindof strange that someone revived this thread today, as I came across it on a random google search earlier today.

Anyway, there is a "scout law" computer game out there...http://www.hufsoft.com/bsa51/scoutlaw.html I don't know anyone who has used it, but it can't hurt.

Just a heads up to everyone that the national website is going to be redisigned starting this monday.

YiS,

Eric

I have a problem with this notion of a "light responsibility" position. I think any position can be "light responsibility" or heavy responsibility, depending on what you (and the scout who holds them) make of it.

I have served both as a PL and a Troop scribe, and could honestly say I did more work as a Scribe than I did as PL.

This was probably do to the fact that our troop operated on more of a "troop method" (if such a thing can be said to exist), than it did use the patrol method. PL's were expected to come to PLC meetings, and occasionally plan a game for the meeting or teach a scout-skill. As scribe, I too came to PLC meetings, and actually took minutes at them, and then typed up and sent out copies of those minutes to each member of the PLC. I also (tried) to organize the taking of attendance at troop meetings, and I am sure that their are some troop scribes who are responsible for some aspect of money collection.

I don't want this post to come off the wrong way, but want to look for a second at the reasons why a scout may vote against a special needs scout in an OA election. I'm not going to propose any solutions, but I think looking at the causes may help come up with some.

Perhaps this has to do with the nature of what we ask Scouts to look for in OA candidates. You are a young, tenderfoot or second class scout. You most likely don't know that exact nature of the SN Scouts situation. You may not even know that he has any special needs. You do know that he goofs off some (a lot) of the time; he doesn't always do what is asked of him, and has a hard time understanding concepts. He may have strange eating habits, and to accommodate him your patrol always has to have oranges at lunch. Socially, he is awkward to be around, and can't maintain a conversation very well. He occasionally has anger management problems.

Now let's look at the questions that scouts are asked to consider when evaluating OA candidates, and their potential answers.

"Who is pleasant and easy to get along with?"

Well, he is sort of pleasant, but I have a hard time talking to him, and haven't been able to develop a relationship with him.

"Is he kind and helpful?"

Sometimes, when he is able to, he helps. But he isn't always able to

"Who obeys promptly and cheerfully?"

Well, he is usually happy. But he sometimes has problems obeying.

"Does he control his temper"

No, not really

"If you were at camp with him for several weeks, would you enjoy it"

I don't know. I think I would get tired of dealing with him after a while

I realize that in your case this SN scout might be high-functioning enough to not necessarily elicit these responses, but I think I could easily see a young scout being able to answer the questions these ways, and if I answered "no" or "not really" to that many questions, I probably wouldn't vote for a scout to be an OA member.

So you may have a case of ignorance, rather than malicious action (as I think was evident in Calico's case) that causes him to not be elected.

Jambo band members apply on the same application as other youth staff (atleast they did in 2005). To the best of my knowledge, that application has not come out yet for 2010.

Interesting how the uniform guide (http://www.scouting.org/forms/34283.pdf) for Boy/Varsity Scouts does not indicate the option for placing the name tag on the right pocket. Another inconsistency.

I very happy new year. May 2008 bring much success to everyone.

Ditto to everything Beavah said, especially the part of getting in touch with either your troop eagle advisor or somebody at your council office to find out how things work by you. Also, in many cases, your SM will want you to have the writeup of life purposes/resume before your SM conference (and the conference MUST be done prior to your 18th birthday).

Best of Luck!

I think my troop is somewhere between #1 and #2. I think a lot of it depends on who is doing the sign-off. I listened to an instructor in the troop (who was also an EMT) talk about first aid for about half an hour, and then got all the first aid stuff for 1st class signed off. When it came to knots, one SMs rule was that you had to come back to him on a different day from when he taught it to you, to prove that you still remembered it. When I was signing off on those requirements, my rule was that they had to tie it 3 times without any help from me before I would sign it off.

Something like TF#1 "Present yourself to your leader, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it." we would give more leeway on. If we didn't have time to do things before we left on the trip, the scout could go over the gear with a leader sometime during the camp out.

So I think we have a large variation both between how we treat different requirements and depending on what person was signing it off (probably not a good thing).

As to how long it takes scouts to get to first class, that varies. It depended on a scouts motivation. The year I joined, one of the scouts joining with me was planning on going to Jambo that summer, so he needed to be first class within a year. Me, on the other hand, I didn't really care much about advancement, so I took 1 year to get to tenderfoot, and another to get to 1st class. I know of one scout in the troop who after 4 years still wasn't first class (he was active, but didn't care about advancement, so never asked anybody to sign off requirements for him).

No problem that I know of, as long as both you and the Scoutmaster are ok with it. I think in the case of the SMs son, it would even be recommended that someone other than the Scoutmaster conduct the conference.

I would also wear medals anytime that there is a event on display for the public:

parades, scouts acting as color guards

I'd also add troop courts of honor.

So, actually, pretty much any time that I was wearing a uniform for other than a meeting or outdoor activity. I'd say that these are the same times that youth should be wearing their merit badge sash.

James,

Just 3 months ago,I was in almost exactly the same situation as you. Assuming you have finished your project, it is doable, but you will need to make a plan NOW, and follow the plan.

First, look at the eagle scout rank application (http://www.nesa.org/trail/58-728.pdf) and figure out exactly what you have left to do. Next, sit down with your Scoutmaster or Eagle Advisor and make a plan for doing it. Figure out which merit badges you will do (I found that architecture, scholarship, and public speaking in many cases can be done relatively quickly.). Get in touch with Merit Badge Councilors now!

Before your 18th birthday you must have finished your project, finished your merit badges, held a leadership position, and hold your scout master conference all before your 18th birthday. In many councils, the application (which also has to be signed by the troop committee chair) must be turned in to the council office by your 18th birthday. Check with your SM.

You can do this, but it will take alot of planning and some work.

Good luck!

I'd be careful making requirements like that. It simply needs to do the job. As my teachers throughout school have also answered when us students have asked how long a paper should be, "Long enough to answer the question". If the answer they give was long enough for the SM to get an idea of the scouts life purpose and ambitions, then it is good. And if it isn't long enough,perhaps that just mean there are more things that can be talked about at the SMC and the BOR.