qwazse

There is a bit of "eye of the beholder" going on. For example, having a couple of scouters 100 yards away in an open meadow -- while the SPL/ASPL may shuttle between scouts and adults as needed -- is what I call "reasonably engaged." But, last week we backpacked mostly first-years over moderate terrain to an idyllic, but narrow site between thickets and a stream. My dog was the only seasoned backpacker under the age of 13! So, yes, the adults were within eyesight and earshot. On the other hand, if this group keeps itself together, in 3 years, we'll be on the opposite side of the valley from them. They may even show up with a hike plan, and if I'm convinced of their training, I'll let them work it and rendezvous with them at the end of the trail. So, we bend the PM to fit the terrain.

It's like I have a long-lost brother! When ever we visited home Mrs. Q helped prepare meals, Dad would come up to her and make sure she knew which cupboard had the garlic! I do share these criteria to scouts of both sexes tongue-in-cheek, but also to help them think about core values. Are they outdated and sexist? What, pray tell, should be a post-modern nomad's criteria for mate selection? Beauty? Personality? Desire? Wits? Beauty vanishes, personalities change, desire waxes and wanes, wits dull, but ... If your spouse leans into the plow and secures wealth for your family and the poor in your community, you may hike and camp more and work double shifts less. If your spouse puts out a good meal, you may be presumed fed ... and freer to welcome the stranger to your table. So, yes, I am having a little fun, but provoking thought at the same time.

Sounds like the sister would be in the dog house after that recommendation!

I agree with sewing as the best strategy. Obviously, that means a fella can't swap out a temporary patch but once a year while taking online YPT (that might be the only spare time someone has) ... so choose your absolute favorite. Mine's been on for nearly 40 years (actually hopped from shirt to shirt once ).

The problem about tarps (and most modern tents with low-slung flys) in winter: to keep "exhalation frost" from building up on everything, it's actually best to allow for a lot of ventilation. So the trick is proper alignment of vents, and bodies. That requires lots of practice that 1st years obviously do not have. In the days canvas floorless tents, piling snow around piled around the walls of the tent not only blocked wind, but attracted condensation. So even in calm frozen nights when the flaps weren't kicking open, canvas walls were frost-free on the inside. (Although folding them at the base could be rough if you packed the snow to tight!)

Well about 1/2 or fewer bring their own tents. Boys decide among themselves who's bringing whose tent. The "or fewer" is on account of older scouts who tend to be "tarpologists" or hammockers. I've encouraged this out of memories of being in college in the big city and wanting to "get out" but not having ever bought a tent of my own and suddenly on a tight budget, I had to rely on the generosity of strangers. Son #1 came into the troop with a family-size armory of canvas. He soon saved up for his own (or got it for a present, can't remember). Mrs. Q, would bargain hunt and garage sale. so our family was well stocked with the intention that our kids would be able to provide for their buddies. Other families were of similar ilk. And, most of us don't like to see gear sitting idle. I guess it depends on the culture of your community. The troop does have a small collection of lightweight models for boys who want to try a backpacking tent.

In terms of budget cycle, most troops want to take stock of accounts after all summer camp money is spent. That would include purchases of awards for the CoH. The checkbook balance is probably your lowest at that point. Our troop doesn't have tents. So, I can't tell you when to make those purchases for those new webelos. But, it sounds like you're on the right track of making a reasonable plan for growth, that helps set the mark for fundraisers.

I gotta brag about Son #1. A family was in dire straits with their baby hospitalized for an extended period. So he swung by their place every week this summer and mowed their lawn. Once coming back from them he stopped and weed whacked at my place because I had injured myself the week before, and he was afraid I'd overdo it. I have a lawnmower kid!

After hiking in a good three miles to camp by a favorite stream, the boys took to catching crawfish, then using up my fuel to boil water. I told them it was just sinful ... to cook them without garlic and butter, which of course they didn't have. But they did have spicy pumpkin seeds! So, they boiled them first to dissolve the salt and chili powder, then added the five crawfish they had. They said they tasted great!

On one level, I agree that getting everyone on the same page has intrinsic value. But, there needs to be a way to deliver that training during the time that parents are with their kids on the activity. I think units are almost there, but not quite. For example, YPT in "multi-player" mode would enable parents to circle up during a meeting and knock out their modules with the added benefit of community discussion. Right now, they only way that can happen is having a trainer at the ready. On another level, do I really care if my kid is being taught to paint a PWD car by someone who got caught with a late teen when they were in their twenties? No. That's mainly because, for every one of those, there may be twice as many who were never arraigned ... and those are the ones I'm betting on to be an imminent threat. Better the snake you know ... Should I take comfort in BSA being able to deny liability (because of their comprehensive policy) if some predator slips through the cracks? I'm guessing in the long run, it will help keep dues low.

What your SM does is probably better, in a sense that he has tailored it to his scouts and their interests. But ILST is usable pretty much out-of-the-box for your new SM to deliver to new youth leaders (but it sounds like you really won't know who those are for a few months), then the next time, those seasoned youth leaders deliver it to the new leaders.

The other constructive way that you can handle this suspension time is getting to know the other scout families better, one at a time. Invite a family in your boy's patrol over for dessert or go out for ice cream. Maybe even start with the family of the boy who your son hit. Explain that it's your way of making up to them, but also a way of teaching your son to think better of people so he can respond with kindness and courtesy instead of anger when he's stressed. This doesn't have to consume much time -- maybe a half hour -- unless the boys have something in common like a game they want to play. But maybe this will give your son an idea that he isn't just in a holding pattern, but that he's working on things that will make being in the troop more fun when he returns.

Got it! So, what age range are you actually dealing with? The full 10-14? Or is it more like 11-12 year olds? I ask because if you have a few interested 13-14 year olds, or you this lot of youngsters seem like a bunch of natural born leaders, you may want to put Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops ILST on the agenda for a December or January activity. That might be a good complement to those SPL/PL handbooks. The other way that I think linked troops could use ILST is for the two PLC's to do it together. (I say "do" rather than "take" because it's actually designed to be run by youth with your SMs/ASMs in the back of the room.) Over the long run I think this is a good way for the boys to compare notes with the girls and make sure they are each doing their part to deliver on the promise of scouting. I don't know, however, if it's a good idea for a joint ILST in the beginning of year 1 -- especially if the boys have been doing it yearly already. The only reason is from my experience with Venturing, is HS girls don't like to step up when they think there's a boy who's had experience with the task in question. At the end of that first year, one or two of the girls who've taken the course will be ready to team up with their male counterparts in delivering it.

Ditto Barry. Your mission statement is already written for you . What you are talking about are 1/2 by-laws and 1/2 transition plan. Fiddling with your outline just a little you have: Separate resources Meeting rooms Female Adults (SMs and Committee?) Training Female Youth Training Schedule of Events Shared resources Building Meeting time Meeting elements (to be determined) Courts of Honor SPLs share the script? Equipment (The 5 troop waiver thing sounds really confusing. If I were a COR, I would tell you to use our gear and add to it.) Trainers Senior MCs and ASMs Senior PLs/JASMs/TGs? Explorers/Venturers? Events - at invitation of the host PLC As you discuss with our people, items may move up and down. My only thought is two committees could be an undo burden on the CO/COR. Either you are asking the COR to devote time to two committees, or asking the CO to cough up another COR, and then those two CORs would have to compare notes. If I were you, I would only treat this as a plan for the first half of 2019 and schedule an evaluation after summer camps (include MC's, SPL's, and SM's). I don't get what good an Explorer Club does for 6 months. But maybe if you explain it may help some other stranger on the internet.

@Zebra132, the bitter truth? Based on the literature you cited, if BSA were plain spoken, the simplest synonym they would choose for "adult participants": liabilities.

I'm never a fan of worksheets. It robs scouts of any age of a piece of creativity. Writing one's requirement on a page of a field notebook by oneself is empowering.

It may impact membership. Jr. High girls who've been told to wait three years to join a crew might opt to start a troop and have so much fun, they won't think twice about Venturing. That's a long term hit to the pipeline. Venturing females who join a troop probably won't quit their crew. If they want to scramble to earn first class, I suspect most leaders will help them. But, that won't stop any girl from still earning her next venturing award. For example, if a 17 gets her crew to give her troop (or maybe an entire district of troops) of 11 year a olds a weekend of five-mile land navigation hikes, her PL might sign of on 1st class rank, and her Crew President might sign off on a Tier II adventure. Male venturers have been pulling these kinds of "amp it up" antics with their troops for decades -- even if they weren't interested in Venturing awards. My bet is that dual-registered girls who started to earn one will try to earn both. Venturers don't switch, they synergize.

None whatsoever. The requirements for Venturer, Discoverer, Pathfinder, and Summit will remain the same.

Not tangential in the least. The CO has a very strong influence in these situations. In fact, the first person I might consult in situations like these is the COR and IH. And it's not just for any sense that they have moral high ground (although they may). It's to get an honest outside opinion on the matter. Yes, "clean" is to be interpreted broadly, as per BP's description. I have never noticed a pattern regarding which CO's influence troops in which directions. I think this is, in fact, because most CO's are hands off. They want good kids coming through their doors and getting acquainted with their institution. They mostly are counting on the leaders and parents to shape those kids. A religious CO might have certain expectations. Ours expects kids to say grace before meals and be charitable in all things. My friend and his grandson were Jewish members of a troop with a Roman Catholic CO who insisted if the troop was out on a Sunday they stopped for mass. He and his grandson waited outside of a lot of country churches on they way home from campouts! On the other hand, the gun club might expect the troop to attend an NRA convention. The Legion might expect the boys to look sharp for parades. But, I find that IH's usually expect a wide envelope of behavior from our scouts and are optimistic that the rough edges in most will smooth out if we persist.

I think I am going to stand by my quote, which paraphrases my kid's non-BSA youth leaders ... You all are going way of the rails in taking the concept of "public" communication to extreme. I interpret "public" quite narrowly. I don't want internet trolls, strangers from national, our DE, or even our UC, to be privy to the machinations of our PLC. I do want my SM, ASMs, and the PLC's parents to be able to follow them without contributing to them. If there's an issue, it goes through the SM to the boys. That is public enough to keep my scouts safe. It is roughly the equivalent of the PLC of my childhood posting a hand-written (maybe typed) calendar or memorandum on a cork board in the scout house for anyone who cared to copy the information into their memory, notebook, or permission slip. In fact, I'd heartily endorse the paper and cork-board model for today, but it too is not safe from the prying eyes of some janitor with ill intent toward my scouts.

I tell my scouts, to get their priorities straight with girlfriend selection: First, is she rich? Second, can she cook? Assuming that scout has followed that imperative, and the gravid young lady can work hard and prepare decent meals, the second question becomes: how is he preparing to tend to his new family? How will he be trustworthy, kind, and thrifty going forward? That would determine to me how seriously he takes scout spirit. If in spite of this moral lapse, these are decent young people who claim they want to do the right thing, I would Ask why they haven't helped me restart a venturing crew? Challenge them to do so, and If they succeed, call dibs on baby-sitting during meetings.

As a general rule, we try to award Totin Chip well before summer camp. Otherwise, cross-overs would have to wait 4 months to safely handle blades. Ideally, they would earn it on their first or second campout. That way any abusers of knife and axe safety would be ready to present their card for corner clipping, thus allowing negative reinforcement to have its desired effect prior to the close quarters of summer camp.

Call your newly-adopted council service center. There's a lot that goes on during daylight hours ... Scoutshop ... Scoutreach ... Exploring ... school talks. There's no telling where someone with UC training will be welcome.

@shortridge, I agree that synergy is the name of the game. The challenge in post-modern nomadic culture is the absence of bubble-breaking town halls. A lot of us are counting on the social media to do that shoulder-rubbing for us, and with BSA in the straights that it is, it ain't happening in some districts and councils. I'm just saying the scout who hops from bubble to bubble, pulls a few of them together, and maybe gets a few adults to see what's being asked plus maybe one adult to step up while the others are sitting on their hands ... that scout earns a reward sweeter than any polished, established unit could ever offer.

You know, when I was a kid the Holy Grail was to set up semaphore stations between patrol members in different neighborhoods so that we could communicate without Mom, Dad, or Girlfriend complaining about us tying up the phone with scout stuff. That said, my kids were strongly encouraged by their youth leaders to set up their social media accounts in such a way that adults who they could trust were in the loop.