BadenP

SP "Excessive", not true at all and your last post just proves my point. Why should you or anyone as a unit leader have to create a methodology to recruit hispanics? They have paid staff at National who's job it is to do just that for you. Publishing bilingual handbooks is a given but does not mean that National has developed any viable or successful programs to accomplish the goal of more hispanic membership, that hispanic cub soccer program was a total joke. The truth of the matter is that the department decision makers at National are nothing more than scouting profesionals who

Barry Sorry my friend but your analysis of Scouts Canada is mostly rumors and innuendos instead of truth. Like all scouting organizations they have had some tough times in the past. The facts are they have had membership increases for the last three years and are still the LARGEST youth organization in Canada, the BSA can not even come close to making the same claims. They have a new CEO who has a real vision for the future of the organization, and has already implemented changes to the program that the volunteers and youth have told them they would like to see. Scouts Canada have already

Two things that the National BSA is good at is creating grandiose programming ideas that they know stand little chance of success in the field, ie urban scouting, Cub soccer, Hispanic scouting. The second thing is spending huge sums of money to test these programs that they already know stand little chance of success, then they can tell everyone look we tried and it just didn't work out. It just shows that the so called movers and thinkers at National are totally inept, unqualified, and inexperienced at implementing much of anything except new rules and regs, which are a laugh in themselves, n

Three word reply to this topic : Who Really Cares? I love to see the passion fly about something that does not affect the BSA or scouting at all, just a group on a remote sight 12,000 miles away. Merlyn can really get to some people with a harmless little article. Besides Australia is not part of the British Empire anymore and hasn't been for a long time now. Cut the Aus. Girl Guides some slack already. Maybe it is time for the BSA to relook at their own DRP.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

The new ranks for Boy Scouts will be: Cupcake Scout,Internet Scout, I-Pod Scout, TechnoScout, Computer Hacker Scout, and the highest rank, Lost in the Woods Scout. None of these ranks will require any hiking, camping or any outdoor activities whatsoever so the helicopter parents will not have to worry about their little boys ever getting a boo-boo. All rank advancement and leader training, including WB21C, will now be totally done online. Troops will now have the option of having their meetings online as well. Well what did you expect if you want the BSA to be in sync with the world of to

j good The truth of the matter is that the number of DE positions nationwide continues to shrink due to councils closing and merging, and it looks like this trend will continue. However DE positions do have a high turnover rate due to the demands put on the person and the long hours it requires. It is just a matter of timing and best qualified for the position. Don't stop trying.

yeah BSA24 You would fit in just fine in 1938 with your attitudes, be ready to leave tommorrow at 8AM, LOL. bnelon The program has changed and been modified so much since then that it doesn't fit into todays BSA programs or rules and reg's. You can always pull some of their old outdoor ideas and projects and use them in your program as long as they don't violate the G2SS. Our crew loves doing the original pioneering and tracking skills as part of their camping trips.

Barry I totally agree with the last line of your post, however Get brings up some valid points. As far as the age thing is concerned, too many scout leaders when they get into their fifties are really scared to give up the reins,so to speak, because they feel they will lose their connection to scouting or the pride they feel being a SM or a Crew Advisor for so many years. However is that reasoning taking the boys best interest into consideration or is it just an issue of pride and loss for the leader. I gave up my Venturing Crew Advisor position for the crew at the age of 54 even though the

jgood ponz brings up a valid point, in order to even be considered for a DE position the BSA does require a bachelors degree from an accredited college/university. With the job market being so lean right now there is a lot of competition out there. Where you went to school and what your major was could be a deciding factor in making the final decision for the councils in which you have interviewed.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

I think Lisabob brings up an excellent point about the percentage we are reaching. IMO a big part of the problem is that BSA as an organization continues to get further away from its basic roots and program every year. What made the BSA a unique organization was that its emphasis was built around the outdoors as were its activities. With the US population becoming more and more sedentary the BSA program has followed suit and many of the pack, troop, and crew activities have also become more sedentary in nature, and much less fun and challenging.

j good Just a thought, after reading your posts here you come off sounding a little too desperate for the job. If you are reflecting the same thng in your interview that could be a potential problem in getting hired. No boss wants to hire anyone who is way too overzealous or desperately begging for the job. You need to be cool, project yourself as professional, competent, and grounded, and tell them why they would be lucky to have you on staff. Don't give up, just review in your mind what you may have said and did in the last interview that could have cost you the position, and work

emb021 I agree with your last post, especially your synopsis of the current mentality about leadership training coming out of National. IMO this is why the quality of program delivery nationwide has fallen in quality so much. As I said before the one size fits all training is nowhere near as effective with the three programs being so dramatically different in focus, delivery, and goals. It is also sad about PTC following suit offering generic superficial leadership training. When will National ever learn they are just hurting the volunteers and the program quality delivered in the

emb021 Not to split hairs but there is NO OFFICIAL WRITTEN MANDATE from National supporting your claims. What you are referring to are only eligibility requirements to attend and nothing more. That is not how it is in my and several other neighboring councils. IMO, and from a logical point of view Boy Scout and Venturing leader training should be seperate because the programs are very different as are the goals. When you combine the two you just dilute the quality and focus of the training. This is reflected in WB since they have incorporated Cub Scout leaders and Venturing leaders i

"Venturers under 18 should go to NYLT and over 18 to WB, that is National policy" - emb021 Sorry emb021 that is NOT, NOT National policy. Venturers are not subject to adult training rules within the crew. A teen who is active in a troop or crew will get very little from WB. Besides how many teens over 18 are still really active in a troop or crew? Very few. The reality is that WB was designed for ADULT scout leaders not for teens, and NYLT is designed to teach young boy scouts leadership skills,with little to offer older Venturing teens, that is what Kodiak was designed and developed for,

"Most Venturers are not trek ready"- qwasze I don't think that is really true, at least not in my experience or in my council. The teens we get for Kodiak are really open to a challenge, and we do an extensive questionaire beforehand to see what their outdoor experience has been and model the trek to be challenging but not overwhelming for them. We have had Venturers from crews who do little to no outdoor activities and they always seem to be able to reach deep inside and succeed. Of course the more experienced outdoor teens help the others to complete the trek as needed, part of developi

jgood Eagle92 gives some good advice. Any council is looking for someone with real people skills, who presents himself well, has a good idea of what he brings to scouting and the council.Don't be afraid to ask in depth questions about the council, the district you will be assigned and the expectations they have of you. Both Eagle and I are former DE's and we have seen both sides of professional scouting. My experience in a nutshell, be open and honest with your volunteers and they will help you 100%, never try to put anything over on them and show them you really care about what they do b

Hotair brings up the biggest problem with NYLT "that it parallels WB21C." The venturing crews in our council have pretty much ignored the program. Instead, as Tokala stated, we have beefed up the Kodiak training substantially to the point where we have had crews from outside our council asking to participate. The SE is fine with the Kodiak program being offered. WB21C in the opinions of our adult Venturing leaders belongs to adult participants who have a slightly more tolerant attitude than the teens would with the more monotonous and irrelevant parts of WB21C.

well said Moosetracker. Besides how many people even read that ridiculous magazine. Ammoland, what a joke, oops maybe BSA24 does. Norris has really lost the last of his credibility now, bad enough he has his own character on the computer game World of Warcraft. Walker Texas Ranger has lost his marbles.

shortridge I agree with your synopsis. Maybe the problem at National and on the local level too many packs, troops, and crews are concentrating too much on the bookwork and rank advancement rather than giving the youth more of the outdoor adventure and challenges that are exciting and fun, and would advance them in rank even faster than sitting in a room with their books signing off requirements.

You know what Callay for being a self proclaimed sociologist you really are out of touch with the reality of poverty in this country. Just because you may have put a dollar once in a homeless mans hat does not give you extensive experience or knowledge of the poor. As I have stated before I worked with a troop in East LA for three years, as part of my ministry I have and continue to work with homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks to name just a few and have extensive experience working with the poor and destitute in this country. By the way I am white and do not hate whites as you a

emb021 You are so correct about the new/current Venturing shirt. Our crew maintains an inventory of the older shirts for the members who need an official BSA Venturing shirt for camp staff or district/council functions. You are also right about the melting, one of the new members of the crew was given a new shirt by his parents. The crew went to a lake on a hot day and the kid wore his new shirt and left it on a rock in the hot sun while he went swimming. When he was done he went to get his shirt and half of it had literally melted into the rock face. He ripped away the half still intact

All CO's select their own COR, not the units. The CO via the COR gets one vote on the council no matter if they are sponsoring one or three scouting units. Technically there should be only one COR per CO who represents all the CO's units in district and council. Refer to BSA pub. "The Chartering Organization".

After spending years camping in the woods, having encounters with bears, and as any ranger will tell you there is no one size fits all model in dealing with those critters. The only surefire thing is make sure that there is a tall tree nearby and that you can climb it faster and higher than the bear. We have had bears wander into camp during mealtime and even when we made loud noises and banged pots and pans the old guy just stood up and growled as we quickly backed away and left dinner for him. He ate his fill, left the camp a mess, and wandered back in the direction he came from. Over

SP Maybe that's the way its done in Seattle's council but in ours we do have a core of COR's, myself included, who do attend every council executive board meetings and per BSA Regulations DO get to vote on all the issues brought before the board. We have voted on the improvements at the camp, whether or not to harvest some of the timber at camp, elimination of a professional position at the council level, big budget items, to name just a few. A couple of years ago the then SE was planning to sell the council camp in order to expand/improve the council office, the SE wanted to double the s

BSA24 Your last comment just continues to prove your indifference, arrogance, and ignorance of the reality of the world around you. I hope you enjoy living in your little plastic bubble world for now because one day it will break and reality will come crashing down on you hard. Who knows even you could wind up poor and destitute someday, and some bozo will come up to you living on the street in a container box and say to you, "You choose to be poor", that is what is called poetic justice.