NeilLup

In the previous generation of Wood Badge, one of the things that we learned was that whenever there is any change in the membership of a group -- gain one or lose one -- it's a new group. If it is allowed to stay the old group or act like the old group, then the newcomer is permanently an outsider. We learned some very specific skills to reinforce the creating of a new group where everyone is a newcomer. Some have more experience than others but it's a new group and everybody is a newcomer. One of these skills, for example, is to have the group leader indicate that it is a new gro

Hello, Things still seem to be shaking out. I would say that for individual units, the effect of the National reorganization in the short term will be small. Hopefully, over time, it will be substantive and positive. For Districts, pretty much the same. For councils, in some areas like financial support, things may change a bit. But even there, I believe that it will take some time. Some very good National pros are now in leadership positions as are some very good National volunteers.

Hello Pack15nissan, I appreciate your comment. However, it really isn't just worrying on my part. Rather, it is based on a certain amount of experience. It can be very easy to risk burning out Webelos Scouts. It is great fun for the adults and the kids will do what it is suggested or implied that they do. Even something said like "Wouldn't you like to try for all 20 Activity Badges?" sets up the challenge for the Webelos Scouts. But there is the risk of burning out the Cub Scouts and the parents in the Webelos year and also the risk that they they join the Troop, there will

Some very wise, perceptive and shrewd comments, there, Backwoods. Clearly, you've been around and seen it happen. It clearly can happy that there are "A list" and "B list" Scouts in a Troop. There are some that the SM favors and others that s/he doesn't. I have seen much more commonly that there are "A list", "B list" and "C list" families and parents. There is the in group that says what will happen, the following along group that normally gets to do what the in group plans, and the group that the leadership would be very happy without. In some very good Troops, that lat

From scouting.org "unit leaders must ensure that he is fulfilling the obligations of his assigned leadership position. If he is not, then they should remove the Scout from that position." Precisely what I understand to be the case. Understand that I don't necessarily agree with what I am writing, only that I believe it is the policy. If the Scout is not fulfilling the obligations of the assigned leadership position (Den Chief), the Scoutmaster should remove him from the position. But the Scoutmaster DIDN'T remove the boy from the position. Consequently, the presumption must

From scouting.org "unit leaders must ensure that he is fulfilling the obligations of his assigned leadership position. If he is not, then they should remove the Scout from that position." Precisely what I understand to be the case. Understand that I don't necessarily agree with what I am writing, only that I believe it is the policy. If the Scout is not fulfilling the obligations of the assigned leadership position (Den Chief), the Scoutmaster should remove him from the position. But the Scoutmaster DIDN'T remove the boy from the position. Consequently, the presumption must

As I understand matters, being appointed to the position and not being removed from the position is all that is needed.

Hello Seagull, If you read some of the other posts on these boards, you will see more than a few about summer camps which make merit badges, particularly Eagle required merit badges, readily available. The term merit badge mill applies to those summer camps too. It certainly is possible that this is something that troubled your old Scoutmaster. As far as Den Chief goes, the requirement is to "serve actively 4 months in one or more positions of responaibility." There is no training requirement and clarifications from National have made it clear that there is no performance re

Hello SeaGull, I come late to this thread but do have a couple of thoughts particularly in your new Troop. 1) Agree with it or not, there is no "performance" requirement for the Position of Responsibility. If the boy is in the job for the required period of time, he meets the requirement. The SM is not permitted to put in a "training" requirement, particularly retroactively. 2) You mentioned that your son has been a First Class Scout since March '08 and PL since Sept '08. From March '08 to Sept '08, did he hold some Position of Responsibility in the Troop (scribe, qu

Hello, An important point of the Merit Badge program -- arguably more important than the skills knowledge of the specific merit badge -- is the process of contacting a stranger, talking with them, arranging approval, etc. As others have said, unless it is a very unique merit badge, your son will gain that benefit only if he contacts someone else. Perhaps sadly, the merit badge program isn't for you. It's for the kids. It is a shame if you don't have any kids to work with but that happens. I had it happen to me.

Well said, J-dawg. And there's another factor that you didn't mention. With unpleasant frequency, people playing sports get hurt. And someone can be a fantastic athlete with incredible promise and then have an incident and just not quite be what he or she was before and have that ruin any pro and probably any serious college potential. It can happen in a heartbeat. Contrast that with Scouting. It is only one anecdote, but the gentleman who is now the volunteer National Vice Chairman of the OA for training a number of years ago had a severe traumatic brain injury. He reco

The application is due and must be postmarked TODAY -- January 31st, but please be sure that this young man applies for both of the National Eagle Scout scholarships. www.nesa.org He should be able to get in the paperwork for the merit scholarship although you may need to write the letter for him that goes with it. The need based scholarship has some other things needed (transcript, etc.) that he may not have. But get it in. And note that the merit scholarship may be applied for each year through the junior year of college. But the need based scholarship may only be applied

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I earned my Eagle not long before I went out of town to college. My troop honored me with a full Eagle presentation kit and a very nice ceremony. I really appreciated it and felt very honored. I came home for the summer and served as an ASM going to a couple of summer camps. This month, I will have completed my 54th year in Scouting. In February of 2007, I flew back from Boston to Baltimore for the 50th anniversary of my Troop. I have never lived in Baltimore after I left for college, but I still consider Troop 750 MY Troop. Your unit

Forgive me, Mr. Boyce, but you're not thinking like a kid. Do you think that a kid will join Tiger Cubs because there is a one in a trillion chance that he'll win a scholarship? Not on your life. Now if there was a chance to win a part in a Disney or Nickelodeon show, that's another matter. And if there were a show on one or both of those channels that showed Scouting in a favorable and exciting light frequently, big impact. But I contrast ESPN that shows the Little League World Series cover to cover on basic cable with the recent Scouting based show on the Ourdoor Li

In response to 2eagles, I too have seen being an Eagle Scout making a difference in employment. However, I have yet to see being a Tiger Cub having any difference at all in hiring. What message is it sending to youth and what message should we take ourselves when we honestly look in the mirror when we are saying that unless one is an Eagle Scout, the value of Scouting in college applications, employment, etc. is zero or less? It's not Scouting which is valuable, it's that one super bauble that comes at the end of the trail. Otherwise, forget it. Don't waste your time.

If you mean BSA member rather than strictly "Scout", there are tne many Cub Scout awards ending up with the Arrow of Light. There are the Venturing Awards of Bronze, Gold, Silver, Ranger, Quest and Trust. There is the Quartermaster Award of Sea Scouting.

Oh my. With appropriate respect, the sound you hear is the dinosaurs trumpeting. Permanent patrol leaders were part of Scoutmaster's Wood Badge and part of Leadership Development Wood Badge. They were explicitly removed from 21st Century Wood Badge which became national in about 2001. I have never heard a good reason why. In Leadership Development Wood Badge, the permanent patrol leader was supposed to set a good example by completing his/her ticket and encouraging and coordinating the other patrol members to do so. In the Scoutmaster's course, it was honorific. We also

I would suggest that ScoutNut has it exactly right. These girls want to have a Venturing Crew for a reason. The reason presumably involves either what Venturing is or what they perceive it to be. Likely, that involves some kind of hiking/camping, etc. but not necessarily. You do need to find out. I know of one Venturing leader who had a GSUSA Troop who then registered them (with the girls enthusiastic participation) as a Venturing crew also. Of the about 10 girls involved, all earned the GSUSA Gold Award, the Venturing Silver Award and the Venturing Ranger award. About hal

With all respect for many posters, I believe that many of us have forgotten what it was like in high school. Sports - Extremely high status. Pep rallies with everyone cheering for you. Being treated as a God around school, particularly if you were a star player. (At least this was how things looked to me as a non-athlete.) At the same time, having it made very clear that you were expected to be at all practices, etc. If you missed one or more, even if you were the star, you sat or were thrown off the team. Lots of newspaper press, news coverage, etc. Band - Some sta

With all respect for many posters, I believe that many of us have forgotten what it was like in high school. Sports - Extremely high status. Pep rallies with everyone cheering for you. Being treated as a God around school, particularly if you were a star player. (At least this was how things looked to me as a non-athlete.) At the same time, having it made very clear that you were expected to be at all practices, etc. If you missed one or more, even if you were the star, you sat or were thrown off the team. Lots of newspaper press, news coverage, etc. Band - Some sta

"If this is how scouting adults treat each other, maybe we are doomed. " I must completely agree with Barry here. I believe that if BP were to hear two adults sincerely discussing or debating the best ways to do Scouting and serve youth, he would welcome the discussion. On the other hand, I believe that if he were to hear adults insulting each other over what Scouting is and the best ways to do Scouting, he would say it represents a grievous misunderstanding of what Scouting is and what the Oath and Law mean.

Beavah and BadenP, In many ways, you are both correct and you make good points. Normally, if negative personnel discussions are occurring concerning a Scout Executive, they are initiated by the local council and concurred in by the Region. I have seen it happen the other way where the Region wants something changed and the local council says "We're really happy with our Scout Executive. We want to keep things just the way that they are." One of the most painful things comes if the Region/National wants something to happen and the local council quite pointedly tells

Hello emb, I believe that, per the National reorganization in October, Sea Scouting is no longer part of Venturing but is a separate program.

There's something about the idea of the badge and certificate that rubs me wrong. I'm not completely sure why. I agree with praising him in a Cubmaster's minute. I think that a nice signed get well card would be nice. But the tradition in Scouting is that the first aider gets the award, not the victim. It isn't exactly the same, but a few years ago, I had a situation where there was a Scout who was very seriously injured and did first aid on himself. It was determined that he probably saved his own life. I pursued it through the National Court of Honor to see if a nomina

Hello, 1) If the "blue card" is what I normally think of as a blue card, It does not contain any information on partial completion. That is on a separate sheet. Perhaps your council or that camp uses a blue sheet for partials. But if not, then just have the Scoutmaster sign a new blue card and you're good to go. 2) There are several purposes to the merit badge program, as with advancement, as with all Scouting. Growth in citizenship character and fitness is the point of all of them. There can be an important lesson to be learned in responsibility by being told. "This