Mrw1

I regularly explain to new parents how the program works and WHY. Most of them understand that it is about teaching the boys responsibility and not about who gets which badge when. The really pushy one or two eventually get the point or move on to another troop.

As AC for our troop, I keep the updated MBC listing and the boys need to see me for a name before earning a badge. New parents come to me and are gently told that their son needs to ask me. Then I explain about the son calling the counselor for a meeting and how it all works. And I use how I saw my own kids (now 24 & 27) grow through the process when they were in the troop. Once they see they are not sending the kids off with strangers alone, most of them calm down.

"In our district we have troops which will only accept SPL as the POR for Eagle. Another has very strict attendance policy (and has well before last year's change). One has fixed age requirements Scouts have to reach before receiving various ranks and before attempting a Eagle project. One has a long list of American history and government and Scouting history questions they must pass for each rank. I suppose my greatest transgression is refusing blue cards for merit badge universities and a handful of required badges taught at summer camp."

We have 35 boys registered in our troop right now. They elect a new SPL every 9 months currently. It was 6 months, but the boys decided that was not long enough for the term. By definition then, only a very small number of our boys would ever be able to even dream of Eagle if SPL were required.

We also have a few boys for whom the long list of history questions would be a serious issue, but they know how to camp and cook their meals. Would you hold them back on that?

And really, you refuse to give merit badges if you do not like they earned it at camp or in a merit badge college program?We may want to encourage our boys to not skirt requirements and to not earn all their badges through such means, but to not allow what a counselor has signed is a pretty big roadblock.

Our troop is pretty by the book and gives all our boys chances to advance at their own speed. We have our 8th grade boys anywhere between Scout and Life right now as some are working hard and some are enjoying, but hardly working at the last miscellaneous things they need for the next rank. This is how it is supposed to work and we have decent scout retention because of it. We age out 3-5 boys per year and most of those are Eagles. Typically they earned thos Eagles between 15 and 17.9 and hung out to help the younger guys along a bit as well as joining the Crew across the street.

Do we emphasize really knowing and practicing skills and first aid and such, sure we do. But no extra roadblocks needed!!!

That has been around for about 2 years now and you do need to use it carefully. It will sometimes put you on very busy state routes. And just because it shows something that is said to be bike path, does not mean that said path has actually passed the planning stages and been built yet. It has directed me to a couple paths that I know have not been worked on past the acquisition of the right of way (as in not even cleared enough to walk there!).

Great starting point, but not a substitute in any way for double checking a route or noting an alternate before hopping on your bike.

I really like what your prof is saying!!!!!

If more kids heard this more times as they went through school, we would be a far more productive country with far fewer people sitting and waiting for the "government" to give them a hand-out or solve their problems for them.

I know juggling school and a job and homework and a social life is very hard work, but the payoff is fantastic if you learn the lesson he is trying to teach you.

If the JC is not offering what you need, go ahead and bite the bullet to go on to where you need to be to get what you want out of life. Life is too short to put up with poor service and put off dreams.

We once had a boy where the den leader was having a hard time getting the mom to sign off on the Bear religious requirement. The requirement was something like practice your religion as you are taught at home. Easy right?

The CM talked to the mom about how this was holding back the boy from his badge and her resposnse was, "I signed him up for scouts so I did not have to do things with him."

If ever there was a boy who needed scouts and time away from home, this would be a poster child for that.

Unless the child is a hellion, see if there is a reason before judging that the boy needs to have the parent there or involved to any degree.

If you want to keep the furnace really low in the house, that might be ideal. For camping, worthless. Try to walk around outside with something like that and the bottoms would be filthy and probabaly wet from dew. Yuck!

The younger ASMs and SMs do not have as much vacation time to take. If they spend a week at summer camp, there might not be any family vacation time at all for the year.

It is good to hear the scout complained about the counselor and did not accept a badge for doing nothing.

As the AC for our troop, we have about 30 boys of 50-ish go to summer camp each year and earn an average of 4 badges each. The adults at camp do spend some time wandering by the various MB classes and activities to ensure the kids are where they are supposed to be and are doing something productive.

But considering the size of the troop and number of badges earned, generally over 100 with a high of 132, there is NO WAY I am going to double check with each kid to see if he thinks he did all the requirements and learned something from it. That is the whole purpose of having the MBC in the first place.

We pay for the award kit, neckercheif and slide. The rest is whatever the family wants and that ranges from full dinners to no ceremony at all. Most seem to do cake and punch for the whole group and then something smaller for the family after.

It is a toss up between two trips.

The first is a rim to rim hike in the Grand Canyon. The second is mountain biking the Bolivian Death Road (look it up on YouTube). The first is more likely just due to the cost of getting there.

You do not need her book for camp although it would be helpful. Call your neighboring districts for their cub camp plans and you will be all set to go. As far as the equipment, arrange for a district storage place and require all district supplies to be stored there rather than in personal sheds. You can change this policy again as soon as all the materials come back in. Thenfind her a job to do that does not involve interacting with kids and you will be golden. She will still have involvement in something she apparently cares about (but does poorly) and you will have less friction at activities.

How does your troop schedule boards of review?

The week after a campout we do not have a regular meeting, but a PLC and advancement night. Younger boys can just show to get sign-offs or help while the PLC meets in another room. Committee members are regularly reminded to be present for BoR's this night. We can do as many as there are boys needing them. They have also happened on campouts if the rigt number of adults are present.

Do these occur at troop meetings or at separate designated times?

During PLC meetings on a regular troop night.

If not at troop meetings, how often are BORs offered to the scouts?

Once a month but more can be added if needed like after summer camp.

Who handles the scheduling?

There are 2 clipboards on the table at every meeting. On the first one a boy signs up for a time slot for his SMC. Typically just before or just after a troop meeting so he can have the SM's full attention. these have also been known to take place on campouts. After the SMC, he signs up for a BoR on the next scheduled night.

Who sits on the boards?

Committee members

How are BOR members recruited?

If you are on the committee and present, be prepared to be asked to take part.

Having been the AC for our troop (40-55 boys)for at least 10 years now, The original post would never fly for me.

I am at most meetings, so badges and ranks are recorded in Troopmaster at meetings. I get to the Scout Shop about once a month to buy whatever has been earned since the last time I was there. The biys get the patches at the next troop meeting after that. Generally I try to get to the shop the week after our monthly BOR night.

We do a COH about quarterly. There is not all that much actually handed out at the COH, but each boy that earned something the past period gets called up and recognized in front of the parents and families for his achievement.

BOR's are generally scheduled the one week a month after a campout when we have a PLC meeting and time for kids that need sign-offs or help to get some individual attention. We can generally get as many committee members there for boards as we need to accommodate all that want them. If a boy cannot make this, we try to get him squeezed in the next week. The cut-off for ranks and badges for the next COH is usually the monthly BOR evening. This is more for the ASM who wants to print programs listing all the badges than for me, as all my paperwork is done before I go home that evening.

As for parents, I generally explain to new parents one time why their boy needs to take responsibility for asking me for things or turning things in to me. If the parent brings it, I hand it back to them to have their son turn in. They seem to learn pretty quickly.

Never had a FOH.

50 registered. About 3 are inactive and have said they will not be coming back. 4-5 will be aging out in the next few months. We do not see them much as they are mostly active with the Crew and not the Troop at this point.

We have a pretty good mix of ranks, with 3 EBORs in the scheduling stage and at least two morre expected later this year.

We have been averaging 45-55 scouts for about the last 6 years. And this even after one ASM left to form a new troop and took a handful with him.

Why 21 originally? This probably dates to when the age of majority really was 21. The juvenile legal system being able to hold kids to age 21 is also a legacy of this. Most other definitions of adult reverted to age 18 when the voting age changed. The drinking age went to age 18 in many places for a while, but has been boosted back to age 21 also.

Why should it probably stay at age 21? I can see several reasons. I do know kids that are more mature than this, but in general, this seems to apply pretty well.

1) It has been documneted that the protion of the human brain that governs reason does not finish developing until the early 20's in the average human.

2) If a scout turns 18 at the beginning of his senior year in high school, how is he going to have adult authority over scouts who are in class with him as kids every day?

(Mother of two Eagles and a troop AC)

Just remember, and remind the other parents in the den, that this is NOT "Webelos 3."

Boys at this age are ready to learn how to do things for themselves and take great pride in it. And if they do it poorly the first time around and need to try again, they learn more from failing than they do if their parents step in to prevent failure from ever happening.

There is nothing wrong with you going on many of the camping trips and all with your son, but the adults should be separate and remotely supervising. The adults should not be doing for the scouts unless there really is a big problem.

So ask the SM what role he or she has for you to be involved with the troop, but take a step back from the CS role you have now. Let your son know that you will be around and be there to support him, but that he is now a boy scout and capable of so much more than the little guy who started in Tigers. Your confidence in him will boost his confidence in himself more than anything else can.

We had a spreadsheet we used that we had put together ourselves. Then we finally bought Troopmaster and are thrilled that it has much more functionality as far as tracking things and running reports.

We had a SM who would answer such questions with, "I like my coffee black." This let the guys know they were asking things that they needed to take care of.

I also know a teacher who often tells her students, "That is a problem YOU can solve." That seems to be a good way of empowering the kids to do what they can before asking for help with the harder stuff.

If they are wanting to spend that kind of money on a gift, they had better be DARNED sure the recipients will appreciate and use it.

In 7 years as a den leader, I got token thanks gifts from the Pack each year (corsage for B&G, tote bag, etc) and two small Christmas ornaments from one family.

Watching the kids grow and learn and experience things they did not get at home was far better thanks than a pricey gift.

I have never been a "girly" girl and a trip to the spa sounds awful! I would far rather go for a hike with a dinner at the restaurant near the trail head!

We run a three day merit badge university in the troop, for the troop. This is no cost and using the same counselors the boys would see otherwise.

It is spread over three months so boys can start three month record badges, be checked on mid way through and complete on the last day. We also offered First Aid for the younger set. It gives them some structure to work in, but it they do not attend all three meetings AND do all thier requirements, they will not earn the badge at the end.Nothing is signed just for showing up!

Our district also runs a one day Midway that we announce to the kids and at which we encourage attendance. They are on their own for showing up. It is made clear to the boys on the registration litereature that they can finish something they have started, start something new, or get a check-up on something they are in progress with here, but they should not excpet to complete a badge just for showing up.

We have 43 active boys. We have about 30 in the three meeting program for at least one badge. We had 8 go to the Midway and complete 12 badges. About half of those saw the counselor they had started the badge with in the first place and it was just a more convenient way for them to meet again. The others were badges that the boy had done all the requirements at home and just needed to see a counselor for the sign-off (things like Art for the kid whose father teaches at the Art Institute).

Along with the other above suggestions, make sure the SM knows the boys need to camp overnight, in tents, with the troop to earn their Camping merit badge for earning Eagle.

If it is just that he does not like to camp himself, he does not need to go as long as you have other adults willing to go instead.

Try to work with him, not against him and you will go farther.

Well I was not going to comment at all. but based on the additional information presented in your last post, it becomes much more clear.

So the 5th graders are into hanging out and not advancement. Regardless of whether they are presented with awards or go onto a troop, they will age out in a few months anyways. This problem solves itself.

Stop wasting time on them and focus on making the best Pack experience for the younger boys. have the boys from the troop visit or become den chiefs for the younger dens and this will show them more of what scouting is about then they will ever see from the older guys.

"Even with Troopmaster, the advancement process is paper intensive....all that paper has to be generated, verified and then entered into Troopmaster.

And then you have the issues of missing paperwork, so it doesn't get entered at all...that's the worst part...ASM's and PL's not tracking who did what when amd where then bashing the ACC because something is missing.

Our troop is about 100 active Scouts.

Far worse than that is that the ACC in our troop also does all the MB scheduling for summer camp... "

As advancement chair for a troop with just over 50 active scouts, I cannot see where the ACC is spending all that time if using troopmaster. Nor do I see where all the PLs and ASMs have all sorts of paperwork to do. I maybe spend an hour or so a month on a trip to the scout shop and labeling award cards out side of troop meetings.

We let the kids know they are responsible for making sure their books get signed and shown to me for recording at a troop meeting. They turn in blue cards to me at a troop meeting. All that gets entered into Troopmaster during the meeting.

If little Joey does not turn in his blue card or show me his book once in a while, his advancement does not get recorded or awarded.

I do try to catch up with the kids who never remember to show me stuff, but again, that is an announcement at the beginning of a troop meeting that they need to remember to show me stuff.

A month ago we were organizing a First Aid course for anyone who did not have it and one boy protested that he had earned it. I had no record. The next week he sheepishly handed me that signed blue card as well as another one - both over a year old! Now he will remember better who is to make sure things get turned in.

As far as scheduling summer camp badges, if each boy fills out and turns in a page of what he wants to take when, just compliling this would be extra time, but should never be 30-40 hours worth!

Our troop does recognize adults at COH. The names are called with the position stated. The person stands so the parents can see who it is and then sits back down. Short and simple. Committee members and ASMs both are handled this way. Those who are on the roster in name, but generally not active are normally not there anyway and are skipped.

I explained to the parents that they needed to read the information and then talk about it with their child in as much detail as they thought appropriate for their child.

I had a couple I am pretty sure just signed the book for their son and did not go over it at all.

I had one though that thought it was presented so well he had all their kids sit in on a discussion.

I only had one parent out of maybe 15 (two dens, many years) that had to be told more than twice that their child could not earn the badge unless they did this. And that unless they did it soon, the child would not earn his badge when all the others did and might be upset about that.

Many years ago, when I still had Cubs, I had a new boy join at the beginning of fifth grade.

I explained to him and his parents about what he needed to earn both the Webelos badge and the AOL. He wanted the AOL.

So each week he did all the regular activities with my Webelos 2 den and they in turn each week helped him with the other pins they had earned the year before, doing the fitness activities and Bobcat badges and such. He coasted right through and the others got some experience teaching and leading - win/win!!!

Not only did he earn the Webelos badge and AOL for the B&G and crossover, I think he probably finished 12 activity pins.

As a den over the year and a half of Webelos, we had opportunity for all the boys to earn all the pins if their attendance was good and they worked at it. I had 2 of 7 boys in each of the Webelos dens I led earn all 20.