NeilLup

Hello Fishbelly, To respond to your question and, hopefully, add to Scoutldr's excellent answer: How can that boy make Eagle Scout? If he meets the requirements, he becomes an Eagle Scout. To answer the question that you did not ask: What would keep him from making Eagle Scout? If, for some reason, he does not meet the requirements, he would not become an Eagle Scout. But as many, many threads have outlined, if you expect some kind of SWAT team to come down from the National Council at the Eagle Board of Review and deny the boy his Eagle Scout award, I fea

Most sincere congratulations OGE. On both counts. However, you really can only receive the Silver Beaver once. But there is no limit to the number of great Scouters you can successfully nominate for the Silver Beaver and other awards. As that number adds up, it's a record you can be really proud of.

I had the privilege of working with Si in the mid 1980s on the National Boy Scout Program Development Committee and at Philmont Training Center. He was a great gentleman and I will miss him.

Hello Jethro and Elfdream, The answer to your question, Jethro, is "yes." Having said that, there is this line I remember from the Merchant of Venice: "The Quality of Mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon place beneath." I know of many, many courses where a participant was not able to make one or more sessions and they were permitted to make up the session with the help of their patrol. It is totally up to the Course Director. If the CD chooses to follow the strict letter of the law, the answer is that missing one session means tha

" As I posted leaders with strong imaginations can help bring out the best in the kids we serve. One problem with these Great Camporees is that I wonder how much of the imagination is really coming from the Scouts? While many of the activities help develop leadership skills, what real opportunity is there for true leadership?" This is a really interesting question, Eamonn. I believe that much of the framework for a great Camporee comes from the imagination of the adults. And I have no trouble with that. I'll tell you why. When I first became a Scoutmaster, I read the b

Welcome. we're delighted to have you here and hope we can help you. If I may, here is the first counsel you will get here. Take basic training now Take basic training now Take basic training now Take basic training now Take basic training now You can start by going to olc.scouting.org

"since boys can't be retested (or so i've read somewhere here)" I'm sorry, BulldogBlitz. That's an understandable reading of what you've read here and elsewhere but it's simply incorrect. You can retest all you wish. It is simply that you cannot deny advancement based on a retest of a requirement which the Scout has already passed. But advancement is only one of the eight methods. Here are some of the things that you can do (not saying they are good ideas, but they would be totally acceptable.) a) You can retest in connection with selection and retention of youth le

I concur with Gold Winger. I had been the first Eagle Scout in my Troop lo those many years ago. I had been at college but came back over the summer and completed 3 merit badges so I could get my Silver Palm. (Back then, tenure for each palm was 6 months, so to get your Silver Palm, you had to have gotten your Eagle earlier than 16.5) Why did I do it? Because it was there and I wanted to say that I had. I would also respectfully ask what other recognition is there which routinely is available for a Scout who was close to 18. I was a brotherhood member of the OA, had m

Things are more than a little different now, but I was a staff member on a course in which 4 participants were not certified after the practical course including one professional. It was a very messy and unfortunate situation. In the current generation of Wood Badge, it is conceivable but hard to imagine unless a person stopped attending. We did have that happen once. A person went home after the first day, then came back for the second weekend and was expecting to continue.

Just as for the Eagle itself, I believe that if all other requirements are met prior to the 18th birthday, the Board of Review can be held after the 18th birthday. Jet, I fear that your Scout is out of luck. The 3 month tenure requirement needs to be totally completed prior to the 18th birthday.

Hello Nike, As Beavah as said, I've seen a number of units like this over the years and have seen similar situations in training, etc. If you question what they are doing and ask "Oh? Where does it say that in the book? Doesn't it say niether subtract nor add?", their response is "This is how we do it." You can prove who killed Cock Robin all you want and, in my experience, these leaders will not change. So, frankly, it then becomes the question of whether you want to use your valuable resources changing this unit or trying to help other units which don't have any adva

Hello Al, At the risk of incurring some extreme flames, do you believe that the citizenship, character and fitness of youth is being improved in this unit? If so, is there not a tremendous temptation to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!" If not, then before doing anything else, I would identify the ways in which I felt that C,C and F were not being improved and try to figure out what to do to address that.

I believe that this policy is exceedingly unwise. However, since adults are only nominated for OA membership and the final election/confirmation occurs by the lodge, if they wish to impose such a requirement at the lodge level, they are probably within their rights to do so. In doing is, as another poster has said, they are truly cutting off their nose to spite their face. But that won't happen until the current adults decide they will leave. Then there won't be anybody to replace them. But that won't be their problem. I would hope that the Supreme Chief of the Fire ge

Congratulations and thank you. You make us Bob Whites proud

Bob was, I believe, also the author of the staff guide for 21st Century Wood Badge, author of the Fieldbook and may have been author of NYLT staff guide. If nothing else, take some books to have autographed

Hello International, I am sorry that your son had an experience that he found frustrating and negative. I am trying for a moment to look at matters from the point of view of the Troop adults. A Scout is a Troop Quartermaster. His job is to take care of Troop equipment and ensure that it is available, ready for use, etc. He attends one campout He does not attend another campout. A third campout is cancelled. You have not said anything about meetings or about what he has done to do his job at meetings or times other than campouts. Has he done anything? What has

One of the interesting things about the Game of Life is that even if you know exactly what is happening and how it works, the game still happens, other Troop members act as they are going to act and one is not guaranteed to "win." A bit like life.

And that is the problem, highcountry and Gold Winger. There have been many cases over the years where there is a personality conflict between a Scoutmaster and a Scout or between the Scoutmaster's family and the Scout's family or between the Scoutmaster's church and the Scout's church or ..... You get the idea. A Scoutmaster does not have a veto power over a Scout's advancement. The Scoutmaster does have an extremely strong influence over a Scout's advancement. However, to ensure that there is no veto power, the Scout may request a Board of Review even if the Scoutmaster decli

Look over my shoulder as I talk with one of the Scouts in my imaginary Troop: Scout: Mr. XXXX, I'm ready to advance. You remember that talk we had 3 months ago. That's my Scoutmaster Conference. I know that the requirements don't say that I need to pass it, just participate in it. So please sign the book and then I'd like to have my Board of Review. Me: Sure YYYY. Happy to. Walk with me for a few minutes. I've been observing you as a Scout. I believe that you need improvement in several areas before you are ready to advance. I'll tell you specifically what they are.

Perhaps you could have the adult leaders of the unit can record a 1-2 message of thanks each telling what his donations have meant to them personally and then maybe some messages from the youth in the same vein. Then give him a CD with each of these messages for him to have, play and replay at his leisure. Alternately, you could have a "this is your life" type presentation for him with people noting the things that he had done throughout his life concluding with thanking him for his contributions to the unit.

Perhaps you could have the adult leaders of the unit can record a 1-2 message of thanks each telling what his donations have meant to them personally and then maybe some messages from the youth in the same vein. Then give him a CD with each of these messages for him to have, play and replay at his leisure. Alternately, you could have a "this is your life" type presentation for him with people noting the things that he had done throughout his life concluding with thanking him for his contributions to the unit.

I have seen several 18 and 19 year old ASMs. Some were successful and some were not. Those that were not seemed to regard their job as being some kind of "super SPL." They wanted to be out in front of the Scouts, lead things, etc. Those that were understood that their job as young ASMs is to mentor younger youth, help them, give them knowledge, etc. Another possible function for the young ASM is to have responsibility for some very specific function. Being responsible for physical equipment -- serving, if you will, as a "super Quartermaster." Or alternately, servin

MacScouter, I find your comments extremely interesting. I strongly suggest that you share them with the National Wood Badge Task force particularly if you have other games which could accomplish the objective without the negative risks and consequences. I know that there is far from unanimous opinion on the National Wood Badge task force about the Game of Life. By the way, you have precisely outlined the purpose of the Game of Life and the time when it is conducted as I have heard it described by the Chairman of the National Wood Badge task force and other members of the Nationa

Scouting exists for one reason -- to improve the citizenship, character and fitness of youth. Everything that we do is for that purpose. Leaders are selected as leaders only because they can improve the citizenship, character and fitness of youth. When this young man was a Scout, he was on the receiving end of this improvement. So even if he represented a challenge to the Troop, his continued involvement can be significantly justified as improving his citizenship, character and fitness is one of the purposes of Scouting. That changes when he becomes an adult and, perhaps sadl

Thanks for the clarification, Robert and sorry for my misunderstanding.