qwazse

A lot of dads like the old winter cabin camp with the trash can Turkeys. I bring plenty of sleds so the boys can build runs through the woods. But my favorite was a tent camp on a friend's property. We borrowed a little electricity and I brought a video projector and antenna and a scout set up a screen and a pop-up to cover the equipment and we watched a Steelers v. Raven's playoff game. It was like being in the stadium except if the fit took you, you could go off and build a snowman or get wood for the fire. The most musing? The set-up scout, who was a techie of sorts, was astounded that I could pull an image out of the "ether" without patching into the cable box!

Moms gotta worry! Chances are it will be the moms and dads who think they need to sweep in and save your son who will need to be educated. But that will need to come from your son. The boy is at the point where he will learn to self-advocate and specify where he could use a little help. His buddies are likely the ones who will have time to figure out most of his cues. So,,let the DL know that your son has two conditions: impaired vision and a stubborn streak.

Matt, is this in addition to summer camp? Are you the adult leader for every trip? I'm wondering because for me, the hardest part of being a crew advisor (and I think my co-advisor would agree) is setting aside those vacation days when we also have to support kids in college. Working extra to balance budgets is a bit of an issue, but the family is expecting to be home during breaks, older kids are getting married, etc ...

I suggest getting in touch with the course director, who should be able to tell about "locked in" time commitments. (Usually an orientation day and two weekends.) For me, the hardest part was being on those weekends when I could be doing something with our troop or crew. You can expect to be put in with a "patrol" of other scouters from all over the area. A lot of extra time commitment will involve touching base with your patrol between weekends. Then they will be your source of encouragement as you develop and work your ticket. The camping weekends themselves involve a mix of lectures, video, skits, and activities. It's a "little something for everyone" approach. So, if you've been to a lot of leadership/management seminars, the lectures may bore you. If you are really good with scout skills and have done patrol-type activities, the outdoor stuff will feel kind of "dumbed down." As with any broad-based training, I would look for one or two "nuggets" of things that may apply to yourself in the upcoming year. The rest of it should get filed away for future use.

Well, you really are in the big leagues now. Aside from writing and deleting a letter, I suggest you take stock of what was said. From the former SM's apprehensions, sift out real threats from hypotheticals. Have a "plan b" for the real problems. Don't sweat the hypotheticals.

BTW, congratulations to the boys in your troop. When more than half make Eagle, the dynamic changes. It is a good indication that they are inspiring one another "to go for the silver." It's almost a breath of fresh air when a boy ages out at a lower rank.

Sincerity, and a little bit of introspection. That sometimes may be tough for younger scouts. On the flip side, when it comes time to write essays for scholarships, etc ... they'll have a leg up! Sounds like the SM and CC need to talk to your district advancement chair.

IMHO Technology is neither a method nor aim anymore than is canoeing or basketry or theater. But, we scouters are obliged to help tech-savy boys make ethical choices over their lifetime (which BTW is likely 5 times as long as the orbits of the current flotilla of GPS beacons). So (for example) sometimes using the aims means learning navigation without electronics (or even magnetics), Sometimes it means learning to use readily available electronic gadgets. (BTW, anybody try navigating to the nearest radio beacon recently?) Sometimes it involves the story of how a tribe of radio enthusiasts appropriated the weapons guidance system and redundant communications protocol of the world's most powerful military for the purposes of the largest game of hide-and-seek known to man. In doing so, we help explain a boy's responsibility as citizens to balance use of tax dollars for social needs against the need for warcraft and innovation. I'm not that bothered about boy's technophobia (or the opposite). I am concerned about his acquisition of ethics.

I am not a fan of lots of bling. So take my opinion with that grain of salt ... To me, knots serve the purpose of "mini medals" just fine. That spares the scouter worrying about pins and such when he/she takes that field uniform on a march, and might not have the nicest accommodations to keep things in order. I keep my medals in a box. If I'm at a CoH or awards ceremony, I would only select the medal relevant to the award being given. For truly formal occasions, the dress uniform has a decent lapel that should hold a couple of medals, and neck-ribbons look quite nice. (Again, discretion is the better part of valor in this case. E.g., I would probably hang the Eagle and Leadership award at a Silver Beaver recognition ... God and Country, if I had one, at a religious award recognition, etc ...) So the only place that "mini medals" would make sense to me is for the dress uni ... where someone is frequently before diverse audiences, has little time to think in advance about what medals are commensurate with each event, and it would come in handy to have more than 3 or 4 important awards on display.

For a while, our troop had three. They used their trumpets. At summer camp, for taps, they would take it on rotation and two would go to either end of the site. One would lead. The other replied. It all depends on the time and talents of the boys ... and what your troop does. Lot's of backpacking in areas better served by silence in the evening is not conducive to bugling.

Not quite over 50 ... on the bubble. And "my HA" (motivated somewhat from learning about minimum impact camping from Jambo) before going off to college was a week-long 50-miler across our county with my SM and two other scouts. Not downplaying' date=' clarifying. HA Bases/Jambo exist to inspire a [u']minority [/u]of scouts to acquire new skills and challenge their units to do the same.

SP - My only suggestion is to not go off half cocked. You may be bothered by these shenanigans, but your committee and CO may not. I've known boards to turn away donations if the motive of the donor seems like political grandstanding. Make your case clearly about why you think any money you make should go in a different direction, and be sure it's all about programming that can be purchased and not about your opinion of the leadership.

Make sure your complaint goes to the course instructor. Venturing will collapse if the only vision presented to crews is of BSA HA bases. One of the "big four" is a fine goal for about every 1 in 10 crews, at most. The rest of us might have a group of kids with that cohesive interest and will to pay for it once every five years. More likely, you have one or two scouts who can't get their buddies interested, and will need you to connect them with another crew who is looking to fill their contingent. Break out a map and brochures of your state, maybe a neighboring state or two. Put it on the table with your crew. Highlight some of the features on the map (parks, water, monuments, trails, concert venues, etc ...). Then leave a calender with a set of weeks that you and your co-advisor think you can get time off for in the next coming year. Leave the room and tell them your coming back in a half hour and want a list of three target locations, times, activities and activity chairs who will be accountable for doing research by the next meeting. Figure out how much prep will be needed, schedule with enough time to plan conditioning, fundraising, skills/gear acquisition, etc ... Let us know what they come up with. P.S. - You could tell them that an advisor in Pittsburgh thinks their plan should include at least a few days in the Porkies.

Some of these posters have had to deal with race/class slurs directed to the boys in their troops. Within my troop, there is a cultural divide between inner city and suburban boys. Parents who've paid big bucks to "flee the blight" have bent my ear so bad I wanted to wash it out on the spot. And young women in my crew are the best that can be found anywhere, yet I've had to deal with adults saying they'd ruin scouting for little junior. I've had to deal with adults who tried to defend boys who were sexually harassing female staff (who were professional as you describe). Fortunately, the boys in all of these cases were smart enough to negotiate these choppy waters (apologizing profusely where necessary). The adults, well some got the burrs out of their butts, and others found someplace else to build their little fiefdoms.

2c, although I've found the letters helpful, (SMs and ASMs are welcome to read them in our district.) I would buck your council's system the minute it was imposed. I enjoy writing them for boys, and prefer to give them directly to them, giving the lad control over the process.

Although possible, I would not allow it ... Ever again.

If that girl joins a crew, she can bring two co-advisors into the mix!

Again' date=' not disagreeing with you in the merits of advancement as a method. In my way of thinking it falls under "[i']blessing of their family and respect of their nation",[/i] but advancement and recognition is not the exclusive way that that need gets met. We need to be cognizant of that as we encourage boys to advance. On the trail to first class, it's like "We want you to make rank because you'll have the basic skills needed to hike and camp independently as a citizen in this great nation." On the trail to Eagle, it's more like "Would you like to make the next rank? What's your plan? How can we help you?" With my older scouts, I train them to have an answer to "What's the plan?" Spoiler: some boys will fail to implement the plan. They won't make Eagle. That doesn't make the process less valuable ... it does make the badge more valuable. And that's where you need to withhold your judgement of Ambitious Athlete. You want to encourage your boys to evaluate if he's ready for a particular position, and ask them to elect him to the best position for his abilities. Then sometime around January, you need the boys with PORs to evaluate each other. Nothing complicated. Go over each position, give the boys a chance to say what's going well, what's not so well, what should change. Have them give an action plan. Give them time to implement. Evaluate ... Repeat ... Then after summer camp, ask Ambitious Athlete to reflect on his experience in position X. Ask him if he thinks anything from scouting might help him be a better football player. Ask him to try and not disappear for the season (suggest he start Personal Fitness MB and see if it helps his game), but regardless, when the season is up, invite him to try another position of responsibility ... just for kicks. What you are doing here, is planting the seeds to enable the boy to talk about the balance of sports and scouting (and the rest of life) to those new crossovers a few years from now.

Wow! It's like the evil twin of one of my patrols. With some exceptions ...

St717, do your requirements allow a scout to commit to something else for a season? That's what OB seems to be complaining about.

I was brought up learning "no other gods" ... false or otherwise. I've had some relatives who've aligned themselves with lesser gods. They can forgive my use of "lesser" because, well, obviously one should think more highly of their object of worship than anyone else's. To call them "false" would be insulting. Athletics is important. Scouting is important. Each has a role in their community ... in the same community. So, your boys need to figure it out. Each person is an individual. Your football player may not be scouting for 5 months, but may dive back in full-tilt for 7, invite his QB to come camping, line up a service project that involves the troop and the team, and maybe even the cheerleading squad. That guy shows up, and giving him a POR is the best thing ever for the troop. Giving it to some other year-round-slug who's marking time in meetings may be the worst decision a patrol could make.

I missed NER-A4's meeting, so I can't contribute a broader perspective than my own observations. In general, local management makes for a better program. However, the rural councils surrounding us have had incredible boom and bust job cycles. Thus in almost as many years, two councils merged with Greater Pittsburgh to form Laurel Highlands Council. So, the challenge is to allow local management to occur while maintaining accountability across a wider area. Then we have to figure out the right "carrot" for the local boots-on-the ground. Do we consolidate properties? Do we keep a diversified collection? (I think most of our properties revert to the original donor's estate, so there's no windfall to be had from consolidation.) What council activities can we have in the areas that were recently absorbed? How do we pitch that to to scouts and parents who have to commit to driving to those events for them to be successful? How do we make teleconferencing fun? Plus, there's the big picture for our nation's youth. It's not merely Hispanics. Many of our fellow citizens are living what I call a "Post-Modern Nomadic" lifestyle. Committing their youth to 7-14 years of scouting is just not in the cards for them.