MichelleP

For the last few years, we've striven to hold a Youth Protection training for our Scouts about once every 12-15 months, showing and facilitating the video, A Time To Tell. The Scoutmaster has been the one to lead the training. We will be doing so again next month, just a couple weeks after the new scouts cross over into the Troop.

I took over as Scoutmaster about 6 months ago... and I'm a woman. My question is, should I be the one to facilitate this training? I certainly don't mind doing it, however there are some pretty intense/graphic scenarios, and I wonder if the boys will feel uncomfortable discussing it with me? I'm wondering if I shouldn't have a male Asst. Scoutmaster do it?

Thanks for any thoughts,

~Michelle

Well done, congratulations! Your unit will be better for your efforts. =)

~Michelle

Curious wrote:

Have you ever considered petitioning national about expanding this material on the syllabus? Or for that matter, even creating a separate course about the patrol method? In fact, you wouldn't even need national approval for a new course. That is something that can be done in-council or even taught at Univ of Scouting.

What an excellent suggestion! I would sign up for a Using the Patrol Method course at University of Scouting in a heartbeat!

LeCastor,

Your attitude suggests a lot about the experience you're going to have: great!! I am on Wood Badge staff this August, and am also super excited (and nervous!) to be a Troop Guide, I want to give my patrol the best experience possible. My troop guide a couple years ago was pretty good, although not very accessible after the course was over, I plan to be there for my patrol whenever they need help.

I see you're in Wisconsin, you aren't by chance going to Northern Star Council WB are you?

Having practically run the gamut of Scouting positions (including being a former DE), I've gone through a few pairs of pants. I bought the women's nylon switchbacks when they first came out, needless to say they fit horrendously, the zippers around the thighs were much too tight. When they reworked them, I bought the canvas switchbacks and they were MUCH more comfortable. Unfortunately, they completely wore out in the legs, right near the crotch area. The pair I currently wear is the older women's pants (twill, I think?), but am going to have to get a new pair of switchbacks, as the CD for the Wood Badge course I'm on staff for in August wants everyone to wear shorts. Blah, I'm not a shorts fan. Maybe I can talk him into capris? =)

We have a former Scoutmaster who has waited for over a year to hear from National to see if he will be reinstated. At this point, I think they are just avoiding making a decision.

I'm going to be a troop guide for the Fall 2012 course (Fall... in August? hah!).

I want lots of gifts!

~Michelle

(OK fine, I don't need any gifts. I just want a yummy camp-cooked meal during that second weekend! )

The best advice I can give (and already saw mentioned) is to offer Den Chiefs to the pack. Let your boys know how important it is to keep your troop healthy by getting new scouts each year to come in, and hopefully they'll be willing to be a Den Chief (an ACTIVE Den Chief!). When those cub scouts see the older boys in their uniform, acting in a leadership role, they will most certainly want to be like them!

Our pack and troop have a pretty good relationship. We have a campout each fall very nearby and invite the Webelos to come out and stay the night Friday night. They learn how to set up their tents, and on Saturday we do scout skills stations led by the boys such as fire building, first aid and knot tying. They get to cook their meals, and we have a big campfire with skits on Saturday evening that we invite the parents to. We also make sure to invite them to a troop meeting in January, to fulfill their Arrow of Light requirements.

You can't make them come to your troop, but if you put on a good program, they'll start coming for the fun!

As many packs as there out there, that's how many different ways Blue & Gold banquets are. We have about 100 scouts in our pack, so door prizes would be a bit spendy! It certainly isn't necessary.

We've always had the dens make centerpieces based on the annual theme (we did Scouting through the years one year too, our den printed some Norman Rockwell Scouting paintings and glued them to sticks stuck into some craft foam). When we were smaller, we could get away with potluck, but now we have the food catered by KFC, a special treat the Scouts love, and then have the families bring desserts.

We have the district's OA ceremonial team come most years and do the Arrow of Light ceremony for us, the Scouts and parents love that as well, seeing the Indian regalia, the drums and dance, and the whole ceremony of it. Then the Webelos IIs cross the 'bridge' into a Boy Scout troop. We wind it up with some sort of entertainment (magician, Science guy, reptile or bug guy, etc.), but financially not all packs can do this, so guest speakers are an idea, or maybe even a Cub Scout talent show (which would probably take a bit of pre-planning and/or auditions).

TT - GREAT idea!! I'll put it on some of the twine being used for lashing. Thank you!

Until last week, we weren't doing any type of patrol competitions, I'm trying to show the boys what kinds of things they can do; last week was the first one, I put together a bearing/distance course where they found a small container of Reese's cups at the end (so fun!). I plan to have the scouts take over the planning of these in a month or so when they get the idea.

"- Lashing three staves together to create a pole long enough to reach out and snap a mousetrap." I'm going to do this one tonight. My question is, what sort of 'award' should the winning patrol get? I'm guessing something to hang on their patrol flag, I'm looking for a few ideas (something I can throw together this afternoon, preferably!). I am so looking forward to seeing their faces when they get to hang something on that flag, and have some bragging rights!

Thanks,

~Michelle

Me either, I'm a Chrome fan, I guess IE will be the standard for at least awhile longer though.

Ahaaaa!

I was reading in the New Member Problems thread, someone mentioned needing to use Internet Explorer. I took what you said and tried that, it did the same thing as you, it didn't actually continue but when I went back and checked my profile it did finally change my email address.

Thanks for the help!

~Michelle

I couldn't find a more appropriate topic to post this in (tech help or something similar) so here we go.

I keep trying to change my email address and profile info, but get the following error:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e14'

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]

Incorrect syntax near ','.

/members/modify/process2.asp, line 19

I'm not using any punctuation (I even removed spaces!) but to no avail. Anyone have any suggestions?

~Michelle

Most of those things aren't really tricks taught to the cat, they're things the cat does either out of instinct... or hunger! LOL I was thinking more like with a dog, Sit, Stay, Lay Down, Roll Over, etc. But I see your point, we can interpret many of the things mentioned as trained tricks I suppose. He's going to video his cats doing different "tricks" and I will be generous in my interpretation.

Now, I need some advice on the second part I mentioned, please! =)

I was contacted by a couple Scouts to be their Pets merit badge counselor; this was the first time I'd counseled anyone in this particular merit badge.

Requirement 4 says:

Do ONE of the following:

a. Show your pet in some pet show.

b. Start a friend raising a pet like yours. Help your friend get a good start.

c. Train a pet in three or more tricks or special abilities.

One of the boys has a couple cast. He showed them to some friends, and told them all about cats. He thought that would qualify for 4a; I didn't think it counted. It would be pretty difficult for an 11-year-old to get a friend to go get a cat, so 4b is pretty much out for him. As far as 4c goes... anyone ever tried to 'train' a cat? Heh, that's a good one.

So I guess my question is, how literal do I need to be on this? Would "showing friends" your pet count as "some pet show?" Would dangling a string and having the cat chase it count as a trick?

Here's another question. Although the Scouts got their blue cards signed by the SM in June, they didn't contact me until 2 days before I met with them.

Requirement 1 states:

Present evidence that you have cared for a pet for 4 months. Get approval before you start.

Does that approval come from the SM, or from the counselor? What I've been able to glean from reading various websites is that it should be counselor approval, therefore the 4 months should start from when I first meet with them. I told them this and parents pitched a fit; I relented, because they thought the SM signature was 'prior approval,' however I told them next time they need to contact a counselor before they start working on the badge. I know a lot of requirements can be worked on beforehand, but this one specifically says 'prior approval.'

Thoughts?

Thanks everyone for your replies, they were very helpful!

~Michelle

We recently switched to online signups for campouts and events using Doodle (just set up a poll with ability to check things like "yes my parents give me permission to go," "take the money from my scout account" or "I will bring a check to the troop meeting," etc.

Scouts are checking to take from their scout account, even when they don't have any funds. I suggested giving them online access to their account balance, however the committee consensus has been that each scout's balance should be private, so there would need to be a password for each scout, rather than just having a list of everyone's individual balance.

What are your thoughts on this? Should their balance be privileged information? Is it really that big a deal for the other scouts to see how much they have (and would they even care)?

~Michelle

Thank you all for your input, it has been most helpful!

Whew, it has been a LONG time since I've visited this forum! Gained some experience since then, but still have lots of questions; I guess that's true with life in general. =) I hope this is the appropriate forum, I couldn't find anything more geared toward committee operation/finances.

The last two years, our Troop has been going through some major transitions in just about every area. We are really moving into a good place now, and we have an AMAZING Scoutmaster who I feel really blessed to have as a positive influence in my kids' life. We are still tweaking our bylaws, and this subject has come up in the last couple weeks so I wanted to pick some brains here.

We've really upped our program to include at least one campout per month. Our Scoutmaster has been going on every campout, driving scouts without gas reimbursement, and paying what is currently our standard half-price fee for adults. Understandably, his financial resources are about tapped! What is the general practice for covering costs for a Scoutmaster? Annual registration fees, cost of facilities on campouts, cost of food, cost of gas, training fees? Are the rules for summer camp the same as weekend campouts? What about Assistant Scoutmasters? Other adults attending campouts?

I brought this up casually with a couple committee members and they were split, one thought the Troop should pay for some of it, the other thought that as a volunteer they shouldn't be reimbursed. I know there isn't any one right answer, however I've been searching the internet for what other Troops do and am having difficulty finding any answers. I'd sure appreciate some advice, and something I can go to our committee with to say, "Look, here is what other troops are doing."

Thanks!

~Michelle

Oh, another fantastic idea, let me know how it goes! My husband is also involved in karate, he's a black stripe, although I doubt he's up for performing for a crowd! hehe but some of the higher black belts could probably be encouraged to do the same... another great suggestion, thanks Leigh.

~Michelle

Ooooh yes, Mad Science, great suggestion thank you!

To answer your question, John, I believe we do have a dance team in the district; we have a Venture Crew that comes and does our Arrow of Light ceremony, which is very cool, especially for the parents. We're looking for the entertainment to be something fun for the kids and younger siblings, as well.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply!

~Michelle

Does anyone have some different ideas for hiring entertainment for the Blue & Gold banquet? We don't want another magician, we've had the Raptor Center, a Reptile guy, and a yo-yo master. We'd like something a little different this year. Any suggestions?

Thanks!