NeilLup

Hello John, Not sure if what I will recommend here will work, but I think it is what I would try. Sit down with the Scout and with a calendar. Point out what the requirements are and by when he needs to do them. Then tell him that what happens next is up to him. Say that he wants you to bug him and remind him, you will be happy to do so and together, you will set the times for it. If he doesn't want you to, then you will not mention it again until and unless he brings it up. But point out to him that it is HIS Eagle. If he gets it, it is his. If he doesn't get it

There are a couple of new Units of Supplemental Training posted on the BSA web site. www.scouting.org then Boy Scouting>>Adult Leaders>>Training>>Supplemental Training They are Mentoring and Supporting Scouts with ADD/ADHD. The ADD/ADHD unit is a lesson plan/course guide posted along with a PowerPoint presentation. You can obtain the lesson plan by clicking on "doc" under that section. Best wishes, Neil Lupton

Actually, dluders, depending upon how things are interpreted, I am pretty comfortable with your Troop policy. I believe that you said that your Troop policy is that a boy is "expected" to have a particular level of attendance. If that is regarded as a guideline and not as an ironclad rule, I think it could be pretty workable. If the boy makes that standard, he has some concrete data when he goes to the Board of Review. If not, it's not an automatic rejection, but gives the SM in the SM Conference and the Board of Review a concrete place to start saying "This is our expectat

You have gotten good advice. However, regardless of what all the posters say, your wise action as a BSA leader is to follow the official BSA literature. May I suggest that you obtain a copy of a manual which, I believe, is called "Advancement Policies and Procedures" or else the manual for District Committees. Both speak to advancement, particularly as it relates to Eagle Scout advancement. I believe that the manual explicitly states that percentage requirements for being active and for position of responsibility are not proper. However, don't take our word for it. Look it up you

I'm tempted to add my "ain't it awful" to the chorus. I have observed that many parents and families have a TV set mentality about Scouting. Meaning that, just like turning on a TV set, they want there to be an outstanding activity well planned an carried out if they plan to show up. However, just like a watching a TV set: 1) They want nothing to do with the planning or organizing 2) They want to make no commitments to participation or non-participation 3) If something better comes up at the last minute, they want to be able to do that something better 4) If the w

Hello dluders, Per your post, if the Scout made Life in February of 2005 and was active in the Troop until October of 2005, he has met the "active" requirement for Eagle Scout. If he held some position of responsibility during that period, he has met that requirement for Eagle Scout also. Nowhere in the requirements does it say or imply that the 6 month active service must be immediatly prior to his Eagle Board of review. If he is nearly 15 in April of 2007, then he made Life Scout at TWELVE! That's pretty doggone active. Someone was really pushing -- the Scout, hi

Not to be too confusing, but there is no requirement at all that a boy be 10.5 to earn the AOL If he completes the 4th grade at 9, he can start on AOL then and finish at 9.5. I know a person who finished the 5th grade at 8, so it can happen. Not at all a good idea to have boys going that fast, but it does meet the letter of the requirement. The other challenge has been the homeschooling parent who says "Well I certify that my 7 year old has finished the 5th grade, so of course he can be a Boy Scout." It is grade skipping and homeschooling that caused the firm age 10 require

You've received some great advice. I do have a couple of thoughts: 1) The tenure and leadership requirements need to be met while the boy is a Life Scout. They do NOT need to be met in the time immediately before he meets the Board of Review. If he met those requirements while he is a Life Scout, then the requirements are met even if he was less active for a substantial period of time. 2) It is his job to convince you and the Board of Review that he has met the Scout Spirit requirements. It is not your job to prove that he didn't meet them. It is very appropriate for you to

Hello Treasuremom, For youth who are legitimately "special needs" or have other disabilities, the age requirments can be completely waived. There are eople who are Cub Scouts who are in their 30s and 40s because that is their mental age. Similarly, there are people who earn the Eagle Scout in their 40s and 50s because their mental age puts them in the Boy Scout range. This is a very formal procedure and tequires participation of the unit, the chartered organization and the local council. But it is possible. Contact your local council.

Hello Tucker, First a question to consider. Why did the Scout do this? Does he feel tremendous pressure? Is he overscheduled? Are there very substantial parental expectations? Is this out of character for him, or does he normally cut corners? None of these necessarily excuse his actions, but they may help explain them. If he was responding to pressure that he felt insurmountable, then hammering him might only make things worse. He needs help to address the pressure. But if he routinely cuts corners, that's another matter. Cheating in schools is becoming more a

http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/ I believe that is the link your referring to. I stumbled upon this about a month ago, when I was looking for boy scout geocaching resources You're correct. However, I noticed that some new units have been added. That happens every so often.

There are a couple of new units of supplemental training that are on the National web site. Go to www.scouting.org Then hit the icon for Boy Scouting >>adult leaders>> training and support>>supplemental training The new units are: 1) Recruiting Quality Training Staff 2) Promotional power point presentation "National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE)" Best wishes, Neil Lupton

I understand that this week, every Scoutmaster in the USA will be personally mailed a copy of the 2006 Recruiting and Retention Tools packet. In addition to the recruiter's patch and the recruiting video, there is also a DVD with each of the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class skills videos now available on the National web site. One can play them from the DVD, make copies of the DVD to give out, download individual skill items to an iPod for podcasting, etc. This should be a powerful new tool for skill instruction, and by that, for improving program and enjoyment of Sc

Hello Aquila, I directly solicited money from one of the Troops in our council. This very large Troop has an annual budget well over $50,000 and has a "war chest" in the bank over $20,000. They do not do popcorn and refuse to attend our council's camp instead going to and supporting the camp of a neighboring council. They "generously" contributed $200 to FOS and refused to allow us to contact parents directly. I suggested that they were getting a lot more than that from the council and that either they should permit and support a FOS solicitation among all the parents in their

Hello MaScout, I don't have a copy of the Application for MB form here and apparently it is not downloadable, so I am sure that the form is exactly as you have described it. However, the SM signing the "applicant's record" is, as I would understand matters, essentially a receipt. It allows the Scout to prove that he has turned the form in. However, it does not represent an after-the-fact approval or confirmation by the SM. I am 100% certain that if a Scoutmaster refused to sign a card which the SM had previously approved and which was signed by a registered counselor, the Scout

An interesting thread. First, MaScout and Lenape, I believe that what you have said is inaccurate. The SM must approve the blue card BEFORE the Scout goes for counseling stating that the Scout is ready to go to the counselor. After that, if the Scout is approved by a registered counselor, the SM and Troop have no prerogative to stop the awarding of the Merit Badge. There is no signing of the card AFTER the badge is awarded. If the Troop believes that a particular counselor has done a poor job, they can tell the district and the person can be removed from MB Counselor status. Bu

Hello frznpch, I regret the mess that you are going through. I have seen a few of those in the 50+ years that I have been in this "jolly game." We have a saying in Scout training "Send a monkey to training and you'll get back a trained monkey." There's a corollary to that "Put a Scout uniform on a jerk, and you'll get a jerk in a Scout uniform." Just because adults (or youth) are involved in Scouting doesn't change their basic personalities. I would like to think that we do a lot better than average but we are far from perfect. You have said that you are disappointe

The Gray Areas document was written, as Kudu's site outlines, by Doug Fullman who is Assoc. Regional Director for Program of Northeast Region. The Gray Areas document is found, among other places, in the Wood Badge Staff Guide which is an official, approved, reviewed, National BSA document. The information is presented as training which is to be given to leaders at every level of the BSA. Eagle Foot, if you believe you were blown off by the camp staff, I might be inclined to have a friendly conversation with my Scout Executive (not District Executive; the top guy.) I would frame

Hello, When I was SM for a Troop on an AF base, we dealt with this many, many times. I presume that the boy came with a transfer form which was approved (signed) by his outgoing council. If so, as I understand matters, that is sufficient documentation for all advancement listed on the transfer form. The procedure was that the unit would fill out the form, send it to the council office, they would sign it and then the Scout would take the original with him and our unit would keep a copy. If he didn't have a transfer form, or if the transfer form wasn't approved by the

FScouter makes some good points about not being hidebound by precedent, but I respectfully disagree. One of the areas for which we strive is fairness which, to me in this case, means that all Scouts are considered equally and on their merits without consideration of family, being liked or not liked, or other such factors. The opposite of fairness to me is arbitrariness or randomness. I would be EXTREMELY troubled if a Scout wanting help in the funding of his Eagle project could not go to his Troop committee and say "You gave help to Scout XX. Here is my case which is equa

There would seem to be two factors at play here: 1) The fact that the Scout needs $1000 or so for his project and is asking the Troop for it 2) The fact that your Troop seems to have problems with the Scout's family and they have problems with you I might ask if the Scout and his family were the Troop's and the Troop leaders' strongest supporters, and were always there pitching in, would you even ask about the $1000 contribution? Having said that, to me, one element of Eagle Scout project planning is being realistic about funds and about raising funds. If the Scout can

Most sincere congratulations to you both. Well done!

I must disagree with Scoutldr. I believe that the advancement procedures (I don't have the book here) say that if the SM or CC refuse to to sign the Eagle application, the Scout can still insist upon a Board of Review. The board would, of course, want to know everything imaginable about why the SM/CC refused to sign. This to keep the SM from blocking a boy's advancement and to ensure that a personality conflict between the SM and the Scout or a spat between the SM's family and the Scout's family does not permanently ruin a boy's Scouting experience. Please check it out in th

Congratulations to you, Eamonn. And congratulations to your son too. The gift will be yours also. I believe that one can take until 21 to reach Quartermaster in the Sea Scouts, so there is still some additional time. Who knows, maybe he will try for the Silver Award also and go for the trifecta. Happy father's day. The only father happier than the one who has an Eagle Scout son is the father whose daughter is dating an Eagle Scout

Check out the units of supplemental training at www.scouting.org. Go to Boy Scouting>>adult leadera>>training and support>>supplemental training There is a unit on Scoutmaster's Conference and one on Board of Review.