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That is at the discretion of the Crew President and Troop SPL. We encourage them to work together, but ask them to use judgement as to when and how. I do show them the chart of appropriate activities for each age range. It gives them an idea of what allowed activities might be common to both groups, but also gives them a vision of things they can do that they might not have considered. Boys who are members of both units may use both mailing lists for announcing their service projects. Practically, about 1/3 of the activities are shared. Typically, that's the backpacking and servi

I've gotten away from the term High Adventure. Because I'm with a crew and HS kids have broadening interests, I prefer "super-activity". I think of it as something that will challenge you to extend your skill-set. So: If you serve at soup-kitchen, maybe next year you'd spend a week helping with famine relief. If you visit historical sights, maybe next year you'd travel someplace to participate in a large re-enactment. If you do wilderness survival weekends: maybe you'd go try an "outward bound" experience. If you run cross-country: maybe you'd plan a travel itinerary to vario

I agree that SM plays a huge part. The unit leader puts more hours in than anybody, and those hours translate into the tone for the troop. But the boys are also putting in time. The SPL who confiscates the smut mag and walks it the 100 yards to the SM (without looking at it) is going to set a different tone than the one who reads it with the boys or tells them to put it at bottom of their pack. The PL who says grace before lunch sets a different tone then the "Good food, good meat, good God, let's eat!" guy. The instructor who comes to the PLC with an idea of what the new scouts need

Wife's line to me at Seabase Bahamas: "You bring me sailing on the most beautiful calmest sea, to the most beautiful island in that Sea, to walk along the best beach in the world .... WITH TEN KIDS????" Actually our captain said the most difficult crews were the ones with a disproportionate number of adults.

assuming it's being held in a church, my guess would be that it has nothing to do with their teaching position .... But why **** don't you ask THEM Don't cuss. It betrays the dismissive and repressive behavior of the common secularist. Held in a church in accordance with all statues as far as I can tell. This person I talked to said that, because of her position as a teacher, she wasn't supposed to be organizing baccalaureate.

Culture, of any kind, is rarely a single person show. For a troop, it's an interaction of the leader and the boys. We get the boys in that meeting or on that campout after parents and school have put in a lot of influence. A troop exists because everyone present agrees to function on certain terms, only a few of which are spelled out in the handbooks! A leader lays out those terms, and the boys take them up. In that process, a troop forms it's own culture ... Hopefully it's something the boys can take pride in and the leader can manage. Sometimes it works the other way. My troop had a

Short answer: yes. Those scripts were written by folks who weren't in your troop! Growing up waiting to receive advancements at CoH nights, I used to be bothered by my boys' troop giving them early. But, it does catch recording errors earlier if boys know they should be receiving an advancement at the next meeting. Suggestion: Check with the CO rep if they have any opinion on how folks should dress in their sanctuary when it's not being used for worship. Most are pretty informal these days. Strong suggestion: explain to the PL's how you plan to run things. Ask them if it

Odd, then why do my kids' teachers not want to be known for organizing the baccalaureate service?

But do they require background checks for all parents who drive kids to/from away games? That's the equivalent here.

BD - Q in the dolly sods you need to keep an eye out for unexploded ordinance. Why do you think the boys love coming back? Seriously, so far, I've kept the youth on designated trails. The last UXO found was off trail in 2004. Anyway, for the rest of you, here's a nation-wide UXO fact-sheet http://www.engg.ksu.edu/HSRC/Tosc/uxo.pdf.

there just isn't a Crew and we end up not being BSA members and where does this leave us? Pizza+Beer? Camping with friends, paperwork free?

I like to hear about how folks got lost because understanding that prepares you for when you're in a situation and are asking "how'd I get here?"

Sounds like your boys have the right idea regarding HA by wanting to mix it up ... Not there yet, but our crew is eying Rocky Mtn. National Park. If your boys are thinking as far away from TX but still in the continental US, I saw a troop having a great time at Acadia National Park when my family was camping there. (North Atlantic waters might be a "cool" novelty for your boys!) Not sure if they brought their own canoes or rented, but there are plenty of outfitters in Bar Harbor. If some of your boys are willing to do a little "research," have them learn about Federal Wilderness Recre

Well, Eng. statistically, if only 2% of scouts are Eagle only a small percentage of youth are scouts through HS, then you may not see an Eagle in 100 resumes. If all a kids ever done was earn Eagle, then the resume would probably be pitched. That piece of bling is a starting point for a lot of boys. And "Eagle" is usually on the bottom of the resume because there have been a long list of accomplishments since then. Like I've said before, I've had interviews where the employer was antagonistic toward some of my accomplishments (not scouting). Not a problem. It gave me an opportunit

Welcome to the club! Hopefully the boy will be able to apply some of his scouting experience on the athletic field,

NJ, the wiki's not lying. Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages and have lots of words in common, the word for Messiah being one of them. And, Peri, my apologies for making the Greek Protestants, Catholics, and others feel left out!

These things are like pendula, they go back and forth. Son #1 was scholar athlete along with a couple other scout buddies in the troop. There were a string of football players in our troop like that. Son #2 is the only scholar athlete in the troop, the boys are mostly technical school types.

Ya Pint, I'd rather send my Christian kids to a proper Druid service. Give them an idea of what St. Patrick was encountering every year when the days grew short. By the way, the X is simply a Romanization of Chi, the first initial for Christ in Greek orthodoxy. (If the Arab world were into mash-up abbreviations, it would be Mmas, because they use the Semitic word, Messiah.). It's use is in no way meant to remove Jesus from the purpose of the day, but rather to remind Christians who tried to ban the Victorian celebration that the last authority to try such a tactic was the Roman empir

The problem, as I see it, is that Venturing is this "other program". When venturers aren't part of the picture on National's web page, it shows a lack of vision. One prominent scouter told me "but venturers make up a small percentage of our base.". That's not the point. National should put up a picture of what percentage it *should* make. If they believe that every CO should have a venturing unit, then the stock photo of scouting should have a Venturer and a Sea Scout behind a cub, web, and first class scout. Donors should have a clear vision of whom they are supporting. If National bel

OGE, I was referring to root beer. Don't know what Beav was talking about.

A few decades ago, middle school was easy to be a scout, but I was the only kid in my High School who wore his uniform on Scouting's anniversary. My classmates were good people, and respected individuals. But I was also the guy who stood up for bullied kids, even when my friends were doing the bullying. In any case I carried Scouting with as much pride as the QB carried football. I felt sorry for the boys who were afraid to put themselves out there ... I can see nowadays that middle school would be tough, but social media encourages individualism, and once kids are able to use that

I'd be more impressed if the conclusion was more like ... "So I'm starting a new youth organization: free of duty to God, an 11 point law, and welcoming to adult leaders of all sexual persuasions -- strictly new morality straight. You're kids will love it! You'll be amazed by their superior character compared to youth from other narrow-minded organizations," Praising folks for defunding youth is just gay and empty-idealed whining.

But reduced registration fees don't do anything for event or camping fees. In the grand scheme of things it is a small amount of money. So if you dropped it to $5 then you end up with a bunch of members how can't afford the outings Above food costs which the kids would be spending anyway (c.f. Beav's comment regarding pizza and beers), I bet I could get a couple of vehicles of kids to some pretty sweet trailheads twice a year on $12 per. Two more activities per year -- not pricey. Just enough to get that esprit-de-corps growing. On a cub level: second pinewood derby. Or, ano

This stems from having a bear of a time getting my crew to recharter ... $15.00 (registration fee) + $1.50 (unit accident insurance) + $40.00/crewsize (unit recharter fee). Keep in mind that I'm in a crew where kids pay their own way for most everything. Even if the check comes from parents, they are thinking of their investment, and the above fee structure merely puts them on the mailing list. They are very much aware that they are paying 50% - 100% of the cost of one activity just to "stay connected". Not always worth it for college kids who already shell out for student activ

I wish I had Beav's advice for a couple of my pastors. Anyway, all the best BP. Don't forget us. You might need the sermon fodder! Oh, and on Scout Sunday invite a crew pres or JASM to take the sermon...