NeilLup

I too agree with not making the criteria too specific for the awards. General criteria give the selection committee the freedom to do their job. As an additional award, I know of Districts that allow each unit to name a "Scouter of the Year" who will be recognized at the District dinner. That honors the Scouter and helps build attendance. I also know that one of our Districts presents advancement awards for units who have done a good job in advancement.

I am reluctant to post credentials because I believe that a post should speak for itself not because of the person posting. However, maybe a few credentials here would help. I took Wood Badge in 1970 in what was then Region 12, now Western Region in what was then the Scoutmaster's Course. I staffed in 1971 in what was the first Leadership Development Course in Region 12. Staffed again in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, advisor in 2003 and am scheduled to be advisor in 2004. I directed in 1973 and 2001. This represents 2 Regions, 4 states and 9 councils. I have

Hello Andrew, Congratulations and thank you for taking this important job. You'll have a great time. You have received some great advice from others. I'm going to suggest an idea now which I haven't seen done formally but I believe would make a big difference. You have been to 21st Century Wood Badge. So you know about values, vision and mission. I would suggest that you think a bit about what your personal values are and then about what your vision for the Troop is. You have the vision of being a great Scoutmaster and having a great Troop. What does that mean? Not

My company works with this population. There are at least three identifiable groups. The Deaf The deaf The hard of hearing The Deaf (big D and that is how they are referred to) are largely individuals who have been deaf since birth and communicate largely by signing as with American Sign Language. There is a very strong Deaf culture. The deaf are substantially individuals who are late deafened. They communicate significantly by lip reading and other simulated audio techniques. The hard of hearing are individuals who have some residual hearing and communicate with

Off the topic a little but to respond to TwoCubDad, I attended a meeting a little while ago where one of the attendees was a Cherokee from North Dakota. He said that the preferred term among individuals of that ethnic group is "Indian" or "American Indian." He said that, at this point, almost all of us are Native Americans. He also said that the term "Indian" is a corruption of the Spanish "In Dios" or "With God" which was a term that Columbus used to describe the people he found meaning their spirituality, closeness to nature, love, etc. It was and should be regarded as a

Frankly, in new and weak units, it is not at all uncommon to have people "double up" on jobs. It is not according to the book and you are not registered but it certainly does happen. Technically, you cannot earn the Den Leader award if you are CC. However, there is an award for Pack Committee people that you CAN earn which also gets you a square knot for recognition. You should do what you wish, but a solid Pack needs a Committee Chairman. From the CC job, you certainly can support a den and even attend every den meeting as unofficial "assistant" Den Leader if you choose.

Excellent advice from CubsRgr8 I only believe one item is incorrect. Fast Start training is indeed on the national web site, but it is not available through the national web site. You can only access it through a local council web site. So go to your local council web site and look for Cub Scout Fast Start training. It likely is there. If not, go to my local council web site www.bsaboston.org. We do link to the national site. I know that it is there. It may be reasonable to expect that the Pack leaders are better organized, etc. but likely, they are p

Dave, Laurie and other posters make some very good points. But here may be an interesting exercise to put us in the point of view of "them" rather than "us" Imagine, for a moment, that you have been appointed to the BSA National Sex Education Task Force. Your mission and that of your group is to write a sex education training for all members of the BSA. But, here are some of your ground rules 1) It must be acceptable to ALL chartered partners within the BSA ranging from some very conservative churches to some secular groups to some rather liberal churches and other groups

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Hello Ev, I respectfully suggest that it may be 20 years or more before be can say whether he was a role model or not. If you mean that we should not encourage other boys to impregnate their girl friends, I agree, of course. On the other hand, if we should encourage them that, finding themselves in a difficult situation, they handle it with responsibility, dignity and in accordance with the Scout Oath and Law, then he might be an excellent role model. And WE are supposed to be role models too. One trend which I greatly deplore in society over the last 20-30 years is

Hello Ev, I erased several flippant responses I wrote to your question before posting this. The young woman is now impregnated. The young man will be a father. Nothing we can do will change those facts. The young man now has an incredible challenge before him to "do his best." Many, many men and women fail in that challenge as parents. Perhaps we, in Scouting, can help him to meet that challenge if he is willing to accept the challenge and accept our help. The alternative would appear to be a shunning or else a broken sword ceremony like at the beginning of the o

Exceedingly interesting, exceedingly powerful thread. I did see a post on another BSA mailing list a couple of years ago about whether it's appropriate for an 16 year old Eagle Scout's girlfriend and their son to attend his Eagle Scout Court of Honor. In all the posts here, I don't think that I've read about conversations with the one person most involved -- the Scout himself. Scouting, particularly Boy Scouting, is a kid's program. By becoming a father, this boy removes himself from the status of "kid" from many points of view. But not all. He still is an adolescent,

It may not be possible to make Quality District or Quality Council every year, but you can come close. We likely will miss Quality Council this year because of finance. We have lost over 10% of our council budget from foundations who say "We love you guys dearly, but because of our investments, we just don't have any money." We have been a Quality Council the last 5 or 6 straight years. My Scout Exec and I joke about winning the "most improvement" award every other year. Actually, there is a problem with the way that Quality Council membership figures are handled. Since

Only once have I seen a problem in a co-ed activity in Exploring (which was the program predecessor of Venturing). It was at summer camp and involved a provisional Explorer post formed to accomodate any teenager who wanted to come to camp for a week. The Exploring exec told me that he had to do "chastity patrols" every evening and have the "breakfast club" every morning. However, this was NOT a standard Post (which would now be called a Crew.) It was a group thrown together just for this camp. All the other coed Crews (or Explorer Posts) I have been involved with were outs

Dave, thank you for keeping me from being the top man on the curve. 58 And I hope to get my 50 year veteran's card in 2005 and attend the 50th anniversary of my troop's founding in 2006.

Knots are fun and represent a physical skill that older youth can teach younger youth and then the younger youth can do and use. I think the greatest knot teaching idea I heard was to take the teaching ropes and dye them with several different colors of food dye/ magic marker or whatever. That way, when doing a complicated knot, the individual strands are easily visible.

One of my favorite SM Minute stories which I use for adults (too heavy for youth) relates to something I saw on the Discovery channel. The ancient Egyptians believed that a person did not die but still lived as long as their name was remembered. In that spirit, Gil Buffery, my WB Scoutmaster is there whenever I am on Gilwell field. My Scoutmaster, John Duley, is with me whenever I am at a Scout campout. And my dad is there too. He wasn't much of a camper, but he put up with it for me. In that same spirit, your Scout group is alive as long as you remember it and

Hello Scouter659, You're fortunate that in your time in Scouting you haven't seen this before. You're very fortunate that your Troop apparently operates as such a well oiled machine. I will run the risk of having other posters call me an amateur psychologist. You have a problem with this woman and the problem is called "agenda." You indicated that she in a divorce situation. You indicated that former husband was an active Scouter, Wood Badge, trainer, etc. That right away can suggest that she will be finding fault with Scouting. The risk is that she really isn't

We veterans are pleased to be able to return the salute.

Hello OGE, Feel free to question it to yourself. Feel free, if it were in your District or your Unit, to question the adults in the Crew and Troop. Feel free to suggest to the youth that he discuss the matter with his Crew Advisor. But, in my opinion, it is improper for an adult Scouter to question a Scout or Venturer or suggest improper advancement using the impersonal mechanism of a message board when that youth's adult leaders are not present and/or participating. It is the adults in his unit who are empowered by their chartered organization and chartered by the BSA to car

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To my adult colleagues: It is very appropriate for us to provide guidance to and even comment on and criticize the actions or opinions of each other. However, concerning our 15 year old Venturer colleague, may I suggest that his Crew Advisors, district and council personnel are the appropriate persons to give him guidance on what is and what is not proper advancement procedure. We do not have all the facts and for us to suggest or even hint on an internet message board to a youth that his advancement has not been properly earned is, in my opinion, not appropriate for us as respo

Cub Scout - Bear Our 12 den Pack went defunct then because it had a waiting list. The pastor of our parish supposedly said that if everybody who wanted to be a Cub Scout could not, then nobody would be a Cub Scout. I always wondered if we were getting the full story. Boy Scout - Eagle with one Silver Palm. It was a bit tougher then because the tenure requirement was six months for each palm. Current Scouting Job - Vice President for Operations for my Council -- plus a couple of other things

May I suggest that anyone who wants to suggest changes to a Merit Badge should write to the Boy Scout Division in Irving Texas and lay them out. I know of a couple of cases where a single letter from the field caused changes to a requirement or to a manual. As far as the six foot "rule", I hope that a certain amount of common sense would prevail. If a prohibition is in the summer camp standards, then, as was said, it pertains to summer camp. The BSA knows how to make changes to G2SS and if it isn't there (yet), then I believe it is not a BSA wide rule. However, it could, of c

I was a loquacious Bob White from course R12-25 in 1970. Our course director from our council's last course was a Raven. That name was fairly common from large courses in Western Region in the past. Northeast Region still occasionally has a professional Wood Badge. Personally, I believe that a pro should take Wood Badge earlier in their career and it should be in their home council. However, I have had pros tell me that they are uncomfortable doing WB with volunteers, particularly if their outdoor skills are less than great. I can understand how a Scout Executive or other