qwazse

I think we should fess up that Eagles have to earn 23 meritbadges, including the required Project Design and Project Management. Then all of those Eagle advisors could be MBCs for either/both badges.

Not one for clubbing beavers. Ruins the pelt. Venturing is the "Un-Cola!", but as I try to point out to my youth, being contrary only gets you so far. My first generation of venturers avoided the VOA, even though they were very helpful to me personally. As that group went off to college I made it clear to the next round that real presidents confer with other presidents. That's helped our group stabilize (in spite of cost increases). But units that were just there for the sake of their own little clique quickly realized that they don't need any of the BSA trappings to be their own little clique. DE's kept those units on their roster as long as $$ for the minimum # of members come in. And that's why the peak in membership statistics in 2000-2005 is probably exaggerated. The fee increases over the past decade are helping to winnow that herd.

Some boys don't even want an ECoH. I hope that if your son earns his award, he will still want to have one. But be understanding if he's jaded on the whole process by the end of this. It really is up to him, and generally senior scouters in a district will do their best to help mend fences with no hard feelings.

Tempting for all of us who are a little ice-weary.

I don't think there's a "scoutmaster or designee" line on the MB application.

For those who insist on keeping score, the gold level Journey to Excellence advancement benchmark is 75% (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/pdf/2014_JTE_Pack_score.pdf). This allows for an excellent pack to have 1 in 4 scouts not make rank each year.

BP - I agree with you on one level. If it's not the youth's idea, National is wasting our time. I'm not saying that they should have the same requirements as BS. And Heaven knows, there's not a crew advisor alive that wants a merit badge program! My one crew member who got into the awards program did it precisely because it was not a "patch for every little thing" like her girl scout troop was doing. But it was a set of real goals with real accomplishments that meant something in the real world. I suspect the same light bulb went on for a larger portion of your crew. What I am saying is: it's silver, it has an eagle, it's suspended from red white and blue ribbon. Don't be fooled by the 'different program' double-speak. The folks designing that award wanted us to make a parallel. What does work for my crew? Well, I gotta say going down the Journey to Excellence with the officers. They are no where near Bronze level (wonder if we can change those names too?) But they pick one thing to work on every year and chip away at it. Usually it involves some way of involving more kids, or having some adventure that fits at least half the crew's skill level and figuring out how to bring the other half up to speed. Then at council and area crew meetings they compare notes. So far it has not been "Hey let's work on an award!"

Must be something in the water. A relative called with similar issues about his pack. Boys are a little discouraged. Not everyone made rank by the B&G. I'm here in snow and ice telling a Floridian, "Don't worry. Be happy." Common folks, it's okay to not advance! Advancement is not a checklist. You don't have to freak out if you can't track it. It's a tool for the boys to use to look at their book and discover a cool thing that they may not have done yet! Bobby didn't get Wolf? Have the boys go through what Bobby needs and see if there's something they want to do that will help him get a sign off. Summer comes and still no progress? well hey, let's make a fresh start and see if we can get Bear this year. Don't worry, be happy.

True. And stamping can be a gateway drug for letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/

Well, at least it's not an DAM underhanded knot.

Baggss, I'm not pullin' this stuff out of thin air. See my links to the guide to advancement. A signature vs. THE FACTS. Guess which one I want everyone here to go to the mat for? Our boys are counting on you all -- not to add to the requirements -- but to help them be sure that there is nothing bogus about the badges they earn.

In our Troop, after the Troop Elections, whatever positions are left are assigned by the SM to whomever wants them. Everyone does this differently. But it really gives something for the SPL to think about if you give him the responsibility for assignments. Then a month or two later get a one sentence evaluation from him on how each boy seems to be doing in his respective position. One time I put it on an SPL to decide if we should have two larger or three smaller patrols. Occasionally I ask him to consider with the boys if we need an SPL at all in light of our shrinking troop membership. One advantage of a smaller troop, we told the boys outright that we are going to stop caring about the patches on their sleeve. If you do the work: you're in the position. If you are irresponsible, you are not in the position.

Oops. I knew I should have cut-and-pasted the list.

Let's think about how many POR's are available in a troop of 50 scouts. Assume they divide into 6 patrols. That means: 6 PL 6 APL 1 SPL 1 ASPL 1 QM 1 Librarian (If you got a lot of 1st class scouts, there are a lot of MB pamplets floating around!) 1 Scribe 1 Historian 1 Guide 1 Instructor 5 Den chiefs (assuming there are 5 dens nearby who may need a little help) 1 O/A Rep 1 Webmaster 1 LNT trainer 2 JASM 3 Crew officers (assuming that some of the boys are also in a venturing crew). 1 Chaplains aide That's 34 positions without even coming up with special projects. The most qualified boys get those positions, period. How that is done is between the SM and SPL. Advancement needs ARE NEVER TO BE CONSIDERED. So, for example, if a tenderfoot is very good at tracking everyone's gear he may be QM even if he has no intention of ever advancing! Even so, in all likelihood you won't have more than 30 scouts "needing" a position for advancement. But if you do, what other projects can be assigned? I've heard of lot's: Popcorn Kernel/Fundraiser Coordinater Advancement Chair (who says an adult has to do it?) Auditor/Treasurers Assistant (ever wonder who's watching the treasurer?) Car Washer (all those drivers deserve to come home with clean vehicles). Medic (got a boy earning EMT?). Mechanic. Carpenter. Painter. You get the idea. Sometimes a boy is just not fitting the mold of an official position. But, he will do good work if you give him something that he's enthusiastic about. (E.g., we had a webmaster long before BSA had patch for it.) But what I've observed: if you give a boy a position just for the sake of advancement, his work will be slipshod at best.

More specifically ... Cub Scouts are in Packs; Boy Scouts, Troops Venturers (not Venture Scout -- sore subject), Crews; Varsity Scouts, Teams Sea Scouts, Ships (although for administrative purposes they fall under Venturing).

To be fair to Evans, my kids have balked at the recognitions (in contrast to BP's crew), and it has probably cost us in terms of the level of creativity and variety in our program. Maybe stability for the 1% is not what our aim should be. Personally, I think the awards should be named more in lock-step with the Boy Scout Awards (along the lines of Star-Venturer, Life-Venturer, Eagle-Venturer). But, even so, I'm not sure that would increase their popularity.

I wish it weren't true, but it happened frequently enough that scouters insisted that the guide to advancement chapter on MBs (http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/TheMeritBadgeProgram.aspx) include an article (7.0.4.7 Limited Recourse for Unearned Merit Badges) on how to handle this. Sounds like the SM is trying to proceed by the book on this one, assuming an assistant leader was in on the discussion. As to how this may happen, the chapter on Mechanics of Advancement (http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/MechanicsofAdvancement/BoyandVarsity.aspx) shows a common example involving Citizenship in the Community (4.2.3.6 Fulfilling More Than One Requirement With a Single Activity). It's not clear if this was the problem requirement in this scout's case, but it shows how all parties may have meant well, but were not as attentive to the letter of the requirement as they should have been.

Pretty much the same, except insert steps for actuaries and claims agents, maybe a few lawyers and judges.

See my comment to your next reply. I'm sure his new MB counselor will help him with what he should say to his SM.

I understand how distressing this seems. But the first counselor's initial might have been on "subjective" information that, when your boy talked it over with his new SM really didn't meet the objective criteria specified by the requirement. It's a life lesson. And at this stage not a very costly one. My college roommate had the discouraging experience that many of his high school grades were inflated and did not give him an adequate background in math and chemistry. It made for a disconcerting Freshman year. He went on to be a decent chemist, but not after actually learning what he thought he already knew. The SM is not going to catch every discrepancy between each sign-off and corresponding mastery of skill. But if he does, he's doing your son a favor. Any call for a scoutmaster conference without the boy making a good-faith effort to touch base with a merit badge counselor is misguided. If the SM is in the wrong, the best thing your boy could do is report "I talked to my new counselor about this and he said [whatever the counselor said]. How should I proceed?" That means the next thing you should do as a parent is get your boy in touch with the counselor.

Interesting that they still have the PC/USA logo on their church sign. Maybe not for long?

Awards like these come and go. I'll leave that discussion to someone else. But the answer to the latter part of your question is yes, you can drum up a unit camping award. Have the boys meet with the company rep and come up with a design they'd be proud to wear. (Give them a budget first!) The trick is to make it look unique and something you could only get by being part of your unit, but still be recognizable as honoring something that anyone would be proud to accomplish. Frankly, I think local awards like these are really special.

Sorry for the "bump" in transferring. It sounds like your new SM is really trying to help your boy develop. He's probably not faulting your son, but he probably doesn't think the first counselor did his job. Even so, it is probably very hard for your son to feel good explaining the situation to you because he had a sense that something was being "short cut" at the time he was taking the badge. It's easier to admit that sort of thing to an SM than to a parent. The boy should call his new merit-badge counselor to tell him exactly what the problem was that he and the SM discovered and arrange for a follow-up meeting. Then he should call his SM to let him know that he's making a plan and ask him if there is any special paperwork required in addition to his signed blue card. You could argue that a signed blue card is a signed blue card, but sometimes we all need to stop and ask ourselves "What's better for the boy?"

YPT does not allow any overnight without at least one leader of the same sex as that of the youth members. The prevalence of opposite sex attractions being so high, BSA without such a policy would be held liable for any statutory rape that may take place under such circumstances.