qwazse

Thanks for the report. As and advisor whose venturers have not pursued awards, it's good to know the opinions of folks for whom it matters.

In another thread, SP notes: So, what parts of your CoH's seem to motivate your younger scouts to work that advancement method?

Old troop paid for kit, necker, and slide, and either invites/programs or a scrapbook. (For son #2, I' don't think I bothered requesting reimbursement.) Their name is added to a plaque in the church hall. Now that we've merged, not sure what we'll do.

I can't recall precisely, but the Leadership Corps in our troop was SPL and JASMs who went to Junior Leader Training.

A worthy, but challenging Cit. Comm. project for a lot of our communities: getting folks to look at how weather-hardened their buildings really are ... http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/20151230-engineer-finds-examples-of-horrific-construction-in-tornado-wreckage.ece

Happy New Year! I thought it would be fun for us scouters to reflect on last year by relaying the best thing some youth said about each of us. I'm not necessarily talking about some speech at an awards ceremony ... but an out-of-the-mouths-of-babes one-liner that pretty much sums it up for you: Mine came via a note at the tail end of the year from the family we had taken canoeing two days earlier. They were hiking and their dad told them to stay on the path. One of my great-nieces replied, "If we were with Uncle @Qwazse, he would take us off the path to show us things!" The shoe fits. I'm wearing it.

It's never the user's fault! Some developer just didn't take the time to build the intelligence to detect the various patterns in which a transferring scouter would be "thumbed."

Once the Mrs had to fill in for a colleague who patched up the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancers. The Nutcracker was especially brutal, so they always had a therapist at hand. The gig came with seats near the pit on the exit isle. Son #2 and I were free (I.e., not camping) so we went along. The show impressed the little guy more than he thought it would. (We also had a dear young friend who was starting her career as one of the bumblebees -- now she dances internationally.) But, better than that, as soon as the curtain closed we had to dash backstage, which for an 10 year old with a mechanical mind was astounding. They had dropped the 3-story set and were reordering it for the next performance. Then we waited in the hallway as the Mrs. worked on a ballerina, who was in the ultrasound room the minute she completed the last bow. As soon as she realized that my wife had family with her, she shouted, in a Russian accent, "Well, bring them in!" She was a fine gal. She last danced the Arabian and was in full costume in stark contrast to the high tech sports med equipment. She engaged my son ... Asking what he thought about the show. What he like best ... Etc. (all while in a lot of pain from dancing on a sprained limb). Then she said "Do you want to be a dancer when you grow up?" He shook his head "No." She replied "Good! Your life will be so much better!"

Thanks for clarifying, @@John-in-KC. I leave it up to the boys to look sharp. And they generally do not bring their sashes to Scout Sunday. I'm not sure that anyone in our CO thinks less of them for that. So, it would never cross my mind to do things one way or the other. @@SSScout, You say belt, I say sash rack. How much do you all require boys to wear their MB sashes. We actually tend not to bother except for Eagle courts of honor.

I'm not trying to make a case for merging, or for co-Ed scouting. I'm not even thinking daisies or juniors camp more. But, whatever vision of the program gets passed down to the girls, many are not proud of it! Simple example: almost everywhere, every cub every year builds a pinewood derby car. The whole process is full of pomp and circumstance. It's just a dumb car ... but over five years, those five cars show a trajectory of improvement and innovation that no patch can replace. What do Brownies and Daisies do that they can be proud of and improve upon year after year? Like @@blw2 said, they work the patrol method pretty well, but ... With the cadets and seniors ... It seems like there are adult filters that go up and many GS moms talk the girls out of outdoor adventure. (Those of you who don't, bless you. But how many of your fellow leaders balk when you even suggest they make your program as outdoor oriented as yours?) The younger girls -- especially those with older siblings -- see what's in store and don't look forward to it.

This comment from @@John-in-KC caught my attention: "... Frankly, I'd be more concerned uniforms fit, that uniforms are uniform (S-E wear MB sashes, Scout-FC don't, no OA sashes (or OA sashes), ad infinitum... Make sure the kids show off to folks who normally don't see them (or who do, and don't know they're Scouts). ..." I like my scouts to look sharp. But try to balance that with only informing them of BSA regs and encouraging them to take pride in their accomplishments. So, I would never prevent a first class or lower rank from sporting his MB sash. Does anyone else make this distinction? My understanding was that any scout could wear a merit badge sash. We have a lot of boys who take four years to earn First Class, so they've earned a lot of MBs in the meantime. I'd like such a boy to proudly display what he's earned.

While canoeing a couple of junior Girl Scouts through flooded savannah, between sawgrass, and toward a white crane, letting them dip their hands in the water (because that's what crazy great uncles heedless of snakes and gators do), I once again heard the refrain "Boy Scouts are more fun than Girl Scouts." These two have slightly older brothers so they've been to pack events and have seen the oldest come back from troop events. Of course that was while canoeing downwind. After having to work and slog upwind, they may have given me a different opinion if they weren't so tired! I don't propose to understand the nuances in GSUSA culture, but either there is something about the young female mind that is wired to say the grass is greener, or the field they are in needs to be reseeded!

As a general rule, I tell scouts to make themselves useful to their parents to the tune of $100 more a month in a job, added chores, or flawless academic marks. Then earn Personal Management MB. That way when opportunities like this arise, they will be prepared with funds to take advantage of them. That'll get you in the ballpark if you start saving now. I think it is wise to wait until a boy is solidly a First Class scout until committing to big ticket scouting. Thirteen is mighty young for a first Jambo, 15-16 is just about right IMHO.

Latest link from http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/08/11/2019-world-scout-jamboree-held-summit-bechtel-reserve-gets-dates-theme-official-logo/And the official site http://2019wsj.org/ have no details yet.

Son #2's girlfriend brings us farm fresh eggs ... This'll come in handy.

Both the gushing and the sub-Spartan meal are hallmarks of this series. He loves talking to and working with his guests on a personal and friendly level. This is why the Brits find him so well suited to "chief scout."

First of all congratulations to your son and his hard work! Secondly, it's your son's decision to make not yours or your wife's. It's on him to iron things out with the troop (and the crew and whomever) if feathers get ruffled. So you need to let him know HE must talk to his SM's about what HE would like to do. Thirdly, although lots of adults involved with the project would love to talk about him, none of them would be offended if he just chose one representative to speak on their behalf. Fourthly, we in western PA save up our dimes for big old graduation parties (in the summer ... in the winter it's superbowl parties). Then we embarrass the tar out of the kid for every single award he's earned as an army of folks march through the house to offer him all manner of praise.

Not much surprised me. There wasn't a mention of scouting, but I did like the reference he made, while growing up in Hawaii, to hiking and camping independently with his mates.

@@RememberSchiff, thanks for the 'minder. So far I'm finding the show quite enjoyable. Just waiting for Bear to ask POTUS if the girls would like to join scouts.

Our new SM brought his paper copies to HQ, I can't remember if he said they scanned them and gave them back or held onto them. Otherwise, no. They only see digital.

@@Krampus, what I'm saying is that it's not just the standards (which are admirable BTW), it's the enthusiasm of the boys. If they are enthusiastic about advancement, it'll work. If they could care less about advancement but are enthusiastic about executing each campout flawlessly, it'll still work. If they are enthusiastic about fellowship because the 15 minutes of dodge ball and 5 minutes of silly songs, it'll still work. If you have a steady stream of boys who are enthusiastic about the same general things one formula works perfectly, until you get a half-dozen odd ducks (like one of those patrols your SPL is up in arms about) who will come and go and make your stats look bad ... unless you figure out how to get under their skin.

The clearances go directly to council HQ. Any volunteer who does not have all of their clearances on file will be dropped from the charter. The unit just gets paper copies as back-ups.

To balance my reporting ... although we didn't harp on the definition of "active", I routinely made declarations like: The SM and I don't care about the patch on your sleeve, if you didn't do the work, you didn't hold the position. If you're not wearing the patch, but you do the work, guess what position you're holding? If you're not at a meeting we'll miss you. Let your PL know so we don't worry! If you don't know where your boys are, you're not leading. If you do and you don't have the PL patch, you're leading. Think about it. Likewise, now that we've merged troops, I've suggested to the SPL (who just joined my crew) that he have patrols sound off at every meeting just like we've done at summer camp. Being passionate about where your troop/patrol is and what they are doing ... I guess that's "front end" attendance enforcement.

Personally, about 5 more hours of my time I'll never get back. Laurel Highlands council has a site to upload copies of docs. So turning them in isn't so bad. Making sure the two places where I volunteer with youth have everything they need and figuring it all out kills the time. As a unit, I've had to explain this to adults more times than I should ever. And, it's about to gut us! This is more hassle than about half of our adults want to go through. They will just have their registration dropped. I have one college student ASM who needs FBI clearance, and it's taking months. So, he's gonna get dropped until it comes through. In short, it's a mess.

I agree with @@hendrickms24 (welcome to the forums by the way) in that his is a sensible interpretation of policy. If someone asks, that's about what I'd say. But, I agree with @@SeattlePioneer that an SM who goes and throws his sash on is not hurting anybody's order. Nobody would get bent out of shape. It's just not nearly as incendiary as wooden beads!