qwazse

Our secretary has seen me leave the office in full uniform on my way to the occasional meeting on the work end of town. They all know when I'm taking time off to haul kids into the back-country. Moreover, when Mazucca was SE here, he sent a letter to our chairman thanking him for allowing us the time off to volunteer as a scouter. My colleagues work with some really messed up kids. I haven't read all of their case histories (some go back to the '80s), but few of them involve direct abuse, and none of them involve a scout (or priest, for that matter). Long story short, there are so many ways that parents can jam up your mind, it's ridiculous. The BSA has a PR problem, it's our job to fix it in the long haul. That includes sticking to YPT guidelines and cranking out some kids who become thoughtful and caring adults.

It's more that the universe is the magic: it's so pervasive and frequent as to be taken for granted. Their ability to grasp it at this place and time is an act of grace by the creator. (The scientists I know use a singular reference, I suppose others may use plural. Haven't met one yet.) Moreover, they insist that their discoveries compelled them toward their creator. Not away.

Meyrl, many competent scientists proceed through their analyses under the assumption that the divine has granted a "window of stability" under which the laws of the universe may be within the grasp of the human mind. Why this is allowed, well that's a matter for theologians.

The pure naturalist would have you take the leap of of faith that, by producing an explanation that precludes divine intervention for the origin of all things, you should withhold credit to the divine for the origin of anything.(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

I don't see any rule stopping him from wearing his last rank held. Especially if he earned it as a venturer.

My first thought ... Treat him as any other boy who needs a place to have fun and not be a victim. Keep in mind that for every parent who would tell you such a thing, there may be another who would never give you the heads up. So confidentiality is important. With that in mind, when it comes time to discuss abuse (e.g., your pack might show the movie "A time to tell.") You'll want to give mom the heads up. It might rub salt into the wound, and the lad might be better off not being there. If anyone asks why he's absent your best reply is probably "They had a good reason, don't recall what it was at the moment." As far as program, you might want to be a stickler for YPT guidelines. Still be polite and everything, don't refer to this case, but remind parents regularly about one point or another and how accountability is an important part of the program.

GO: Our participation is 90% ... two troop meetings a month So, if we were to take averages to compare apples to oranges, your troop's weekly attendance is around 45%! Ken, I hope that makes you feel a little better! GO's program sounds a little bit more like a venturing crew with enough adult management to include jr. high boys. Not what I want for my kid (church youth group already does that), but whatever. Call me a throwback brainwashed by all those old GBB articles in Boy's Life. He does make a good point, however. Sometimes we set very high goals and are upset that we don't meet them. A 20% achievement in your very ambitious goal may be similar to an 80% achievement of my modest goal.

PD, I don't think by design, considering the whole cabinet (http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Venturing/About/NationalYouthCabinet.aspx) has kids from different regions. That said, central region runs a pretty tight program. (From my outsider's perspective.) They promote a lot of activities and encourage quality youth to pursue regional and national positions. Our council "steals a lot of plays" from their book. But, we haven't had kids wanting to climb that ladder for a long while. Stosh, This is where things get a little rocky. The sash is not a part of the "national" venturing uniform. But, it's within a crew's right to design their uniform to carry whatever elements they think is important. Although I never met a venturer plastered with regalia from tigers/brownies on up, there's nothing stopping it. The only thing I've seen in writing was the restriction on tan BSA shirts and red epaulets. It will be nice to hear from advisors who've covered a little more territory. What have y'all seen? Have their been issues among other scouters about it?

Brew, I'm going with your reference to n. 1. and say that if those rank patches are on the back, no one is going to confuse the sash with that of any other scouting organization. I'll suggest that to son #2 as soon as he gets that POR patch on his sleeve. (This message has been edited by qwazse)

I have a radio with a built in hand-crank dynamo and rechargeable batteries. It has preset tuning to national weather service channels.

The sash really clashes with that Kelly green! I think for examples of how "blinged out" you can get, refer to the national venturing cabinet: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Venturing/About/NationalYouthCabinet/2012-2013President.aspx But, since uniforming isn't a method of venturing, I'd say your crew president and his/her fellow officers need to decide what's appropriate for your crew's uniform. Even in our troop, we don't bust an 18-20 y.o.'s chops if he hasn't removed his rank patch. In general, I would talk to the boy about looking at his collection of MB's and seeing if the ones he's earned since joining the crew can count as requirements towards bronze awards. My take on the venturing system of recognition is that a bronze award should be equivalent to a star rank. Or, about 5 merit badges worth of work.

perhaps it's time to change that. It sure could prove messy. Have you seen the average boy's room when they are most happy with it? Neat does not come to mind. Anyway, start looking at the glass half full: You have about 45 scouts who run troop meetings nicely! Find a way to recognize the scouts for their efforts. It could be as simple as at the end of the year have the boys circle up and each say what the favorite meeting was and why. Or if one patrol did a bang-up job presenting a meeting topic, maybe you can award them a ribbon or ornament for their work. You have a PLC that compares notes! I envy you. Praise the patrols for their hard work. You got 4 patrols of boys going on outings! The ad-hoc for campout thing: fix it. I like the idea of each patrol planning their own. But, given how you've formed patrols, that might not boost attendance. The core of my crew is small -- effectively a patrol. But they are diverse and have a really hard time scheduling a meeting when more than a couple of them would be available. Have a heart-to-heart with your poorest performing patrols and ask if they think the could regroup in a way that works better. (E.g., if all the soccer addicts form one patrol maybe their open weekends would be synchronized.) You have 90% attendance at summer camp! Yippeee! You have 4 boys who want to go to the boundary waters! Support them. Find at least one adult who would like to go. Ask around other troops/crews in your council if they have a handful of youth who'd like to join you in forming a contingent. Ask the PLC to schedule one or two activities to help those boys shake down before their trip. Schedule a troop meeting for those boys to debrief after the trip. Within a month, circulate a sign-up sheet for your next big-ticket trip. Keep talking smack to the rest of us who are wishing we had your problems! Surveys? Well that's fine, but I don't think that will get you much further along the boy-led track.

Can't speak for other towns, but prolonged outages are routine around here. They may be isolated to a couple of blocks (sometimes more), but we can usually count on needed to check on elderly neighbors who are too stubborn to spend a couple of days outside of their home. Starting to hear of landslides now that the ground is saturated.

I did not know about the temporary insignia. I think that's a great use of the sash. It keeps the momento box from being cluttered. I got nothing against a boy choosing his favorite activities to promote on his uniform. I agree with Dean that it's a distraction on a lot of activities. But, I feel that the boys showing their tracks is definitely meaningful for CoH's. Moreover, the sash goes in the drawer when you're an adult, right? Make's it clear that we're talking about the boy's story. But, I'm still trying to get son #2 to sew his new POR patch on. Anybody got a video game simulation for that?

Have you done Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops with your leaders? Frankly, if you get a more complete calendar, you'll be way ahead of the game. This might also be a good time to fit in SM conferences. Rather than focus on advancement, focus on hobbies, academic interests, their favorite teacher, girlfriends, siblings. Stuff that doesn't always come up in "business" meetings. Maybe meet with two boys at a time for a change. I often ask the boys (and girls in my crew) "Two summers from now, where do you see yourself?" You can ask it in terms of what rank they will be. What trip you all will take. How many new boys will be in the troop. Ask what they might do differently about Courts of Honor, your meeting place, etc ... You might want to challenge them on one thing for the weekend. It might be a song the troop will sing at camporees and summer camp, a skit for new scouts about how to earn MB's, a sharper flag protocol, a design for a gateway the boys might like to build, be your council's fastest catapult builders, best BSA barbecuers. That will take up more than a day of your time.

For one of our winter camps, we usually do trash can turkey. (Maybe in your parts that would be an oil barrel.) this is obviously a plop camping kind of thing, but the boys like helping to set it up. (Minding the fire, not so much.) This is all dependent on burn bans being lifted, but teaching boys how to manage an old fashioned barbecue is a skill in itself. Converting mama's favorite recipes to outdoor treats is often a great challenge. Start with what you really want to eat. Figure out the equipment you need and plan what you will have to set up. Some things, like ground meat patties, are better in a foil pack, others like whole chickens are better roasted, etc ... Tripods, and cooking tables lash together on site. Some mess kits, with a little wire, can be rigged into a double boiler. Think fondue! That's an ideal patrol dessert. All it takes is one kid staring down at his last meal of lukewarm franks and beans and saying "never again".

I think POTUS was demonstrating all the things the agent could buy with the money they can no longer spend on escorts.

E92, sounds like your taking the right tack in not charging in to a particular position thinking you'll be the "fix-it" man. You need other adults to buy into a new vision, and courteously work it into the program. This is also where a UC comes in. He's the guy who should be "gently nudging" the ASMs to training, encouraging the committee to underwrite youth leadership training, etc ... Of course it's important for the CM to communicate how the troop made the Webelos and their parents feel unwelcome. But, until he's trained as an ASM, his credibility as an agent of change is no better than yours.

Fred, just creating drama. Of course, references to EDGE are hot-button with me. I bet none of our older boys (most of our troop now) even carry their chits. Like any tool, it can be used to train and discipline or bludgeon and demean. If it's doing the latter, definitely stop using it. If it's not doing the former, then maybe it's not worth your effort. Anybody know the origins? Totin' Chip was definitely in practice when I was a scout. Never heard of Firem'n Chit until my son joined.

Actually, I kind of like the juxtaposition. Maybe that's the venturing kool-aid coursing through my veins. It reminds me that scouting is very much about defining life for a youth in terms that will become part of his/her essential character. It makes me think that many of the boys who attended the first jamboree were probably great men by the time the statue was unveiled. (Plus it was the sixties, so one or two of those men may very well have been roaming a commune dressed like that!)

EBOR's may happen after the boy's 18th b.d., so I don't see how taking a little longer to chase down references could be an issue. It might bog down the board if they have a number of candidates whose references haven't replied. But that's not the worst problem to have!

Way to make the easy hard, Fred. First of all adults don't tear off corners. At least I've never bothered. I just point out to a boy that he's behaving hazardously and let him know that, by rights, his PL should have a look at his chit. I'll leave it up to the PL to decide if immediate action needs to be taken. The practice is a teaching method in itself. Older scouts re-enforce their knowledge by recognizing hazards. The perpetrators get immediate guidance on the importance of discipline. It's usually just one kid who loses all of his corners. (I think it's a corollary to "There's always one in every bunch.") This kind of kid should get assigned to a JASM or ASM. As soon as you can, have him read the card, try to go over what went wrong, determine how much was ignorance vs. how much was conduct, and based on that set a time where the boy can re-earn the card. IMHO, you want a boy to earn/re-earn his chits ASAP because fires and knives aren't going away while he's in the dog house! Admittedly, there's always the possibility of some anal SPL lording it over other boys and wantonly "ripping corners" at the slightest hint of violation. That's a leadership training issue -- not a problem with the method itself.

Northeaster on Lake Erie. I've heard old-timers talk about this sort of thing. Not sure how often it lasts for 48+ hours. Whatever wasn't tied down in Canada will wash up along my in-law's boat ramp. Hear's hoping Flagship Niagara is dry-docked. As far as Pittsburgh goes, I figure a lot of our linemen are getting ready to head east once they take care of micro-burst damage here.

We cover everything in Second Class for both cards but some boys want to earn these right out of the gate, even before Tenderfoot. I think you answered your question. The young boys want to earn them. It's fine to earn a second class requirement before getting Tenderfoot. (Sometimes it's a good idea. E.g., the non-swimmers!) It's also fine to show the new boys your program calendar and when there will be instruction so they won't nag you at inappropriate times. So if a boy wants to proceed in order of interest (rather than order of requirements), let him as long as your program can support it! We have a tradition that if you are being unsafe, the SPL/PL may request your card an tear a corner from it. Once all four corners are gone they may cut/burn a hole in the middle at which point you have to re-earn the card to qualify to use knife/axe/fire. Since we stopped teaching boys to play mumbly peg, I haven't seen any cards lost -- maybe a few corners torn. Along these lines, has anyone thought of going to an E-chit? I.e., list the "certified" boys names (First name. last initial.) on a troop web page?

I confront someone immediately if harm is likely. That may also include if morale might slip because of too much "grey area" discussion. Other stuff, I wait and talk to someone with more authority or experience than me. It's pretty rare that I pull out a guide and throw the book at someone. I usually find the rules defend my actions against folks who would put up barriers.