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Beav, There are ways to do that. Simplest for him might be to say that their crew does not offer Boy Scouting advancement. So lads who want to earn Star, Life, or Eagle have to stay active in the troop. I've as much told kids that's how I'd prefer they operate. However, if a venturer says "I want to advance through the crew.", I wouldn't turn him down. And if most of his activity was through the troop, and he hardly attended crew meetings, it wouldn't count against his advancement the way I read the requirements. (It would make me want to call the SM to try and get an idea of where this

I was a band dork in HS. Did it slow my rank advancement? Maybe. But so did watching Wide World of Sports on the Saturdays I wasn't camping or at band practice! Be very statisfied that he got 1st class in two years. (My #2 son took 3.) Now's the time to stop looking at other boys. Maybe that leap ahead in rank will mean one, maybe two, will get Eagle soon, but in normal circumstances the rest will be dawdling along until a light goes on at age 17.5 (probably later for a couple that will miss the deadline). There's no reason that that one band member couldn't hold a leadershi

Okay guys, let's for the sake of argument, assume that dave's CO only asked his committee to implement the BSA program as best they know how, and maybe make sure the kids offer grace before meals. [if that's not the case, daveinWA, and your attendance rules were handed down from the chartered org, let us know.] Then, we are in the position of helping dave interpret the program as best *we* know how. Let's also assume that dave is one guy, and he doesn't drink the Dr. Jekyll potion to put on his crew committee hat. He wants these two units to work reasonably closely together. He does no

To pressure or not to pressure, that's your wife's call. Once you've told her that you think there's a bigger picture at stake, let her take whatever stance she feels is appropriate. But, encourage her that every once of pressure should come with a pound of praise for the things you both admire in the boy.

Let him move forward, but through a gauntlet. The politics of "with the troop" or "with the crew" are smoke and mirrors to a boy this age. Avoid them. The neat thing about Venturing for a boy is attendance and positions of responsibilities becomes less relevant. The trade-off is that venturing is supposed to "bleed into" the other areas of a youth's life, enabling him/her to better contribute to church group, sports team, or boy scout or girl scout troop. Sometimes the boys jump on the "pluses" to avoid the "minuses". You can't regulate that, but thanks to boards of reviews, you can f

MT - "Ok, everyone knows I'm SM.. But SM is not part of the committee.. I work for you.. You can fire me anytime.. Any time. Really, if you want to fire me now, I'm gone.. Really any time.." Yep, used that one once or twice. (And heard it used as well.) As far as closed meetings. The only that we sanction are an exectutive session between CC, SM, and Treasurer if there's a boy in serious financial straights. At a meeting down the road, the Treasure may note "dispersed $x to help a scouts attend an activity persuant to executive sessions on (dates)." We've kinda gotten around that

We have had this come up on several occasions (one with my dear wife and son's mother). 1. We make it clear that it if the boy expresses a desire to advance we snap to and help him. 2. If the boy is a great kid and could care less about advancement we let him have fun. If he accidently proves he learns something we may make him grab his book and get the SPL's signature. 3. If the boy does not want to contribute to the life of the troop, well he'll probably catch it from the SPL, but we'll tell the parent that we need to team up and help engage the boy -- not for the sake of advancemen

MT I get your commish's attitude, but try giving him my testimony. I was trained for years before I went to RT. Why? Because none of the training was at RT so I never saw the point of one more meeting a month. It took me a long time before I believed you could actually learn stuff at the breakout sessions. Any way if you have to do it on a different night or on a Saturday morning do what you gotta do.

SP Maybe selfish, but true. I've had a number of boys shy away from guard instruction because the responsibility was onerous. A year or two later, they'd join a VFD, or get EMT cert, or even get guard certified at a local pool. When they feel they have it in them to serve our unit in that caqpacity, we plan activities accordingly. We avoid the guilt trip. We simply set the bounds of our program by the certifications of our members.

We do in the USA have a International Scouter's Award. I kinda like the fact that I'm the only person in the Council I serve who has it! Consider the gauntlet thrown. Oh, wait, there's paperwork. Nevermind. I think you'd be surprised the number of scouters who make international connections. They just don't go blowing their horns about it. This year two of my crew members served at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. One sent me a picture with her wearing her venturing t-shirt while she was being hugged by some orphans. It warmed the cockles of my heart. Whenever any o

As far as MB's go, cater to your strengths. Or if there is a counselor camping with you, or in the vicinity of your camp and can come visit every day, give him an hour of instruction time. I think a pioneering camp would be awesome. (Set aside a big rope budget.) If you're near a decent trail system, hiking/orienteering would be fun. There's one trail we hike that passes near a shooting range, and if I were in your position, I'd give them a call to see if they had a certified instructor to give your boys a day of their time. If your older boys have the aquatics skills (or you can get

This sounds like you're going to have a lot of folks taking this course who've seen/done camping with a troop before, so ... My perspective on food. Until woodbadge ... staff have never been able to put together a meal that compared to what was done in any "ad hoc" student patrol I was on. (And even then, our woodbadge patrol went over the top on their night 3 dinner - with plenty of tiramisu for the other patrols.) Your patrols will learn more about possibilities if you they hear about the menu's of the half dozen other patrols in camp. You may want to offer snacks and lunch just

Although it's not quite like partialling a merit badge, if they stay sharp with their skills, they should be able to easily get their certificate when they turn 15. It depends on the instructor. He might sign a note that the boys did everything but the age requirement. This might help a boy who was hoping to lifeguard this summer. It might not.

TC Does anyone write proposals this way professionally? I'm sure some professions do, but more likely proposals give general proposals and count on the competence of the folks implementing to proposal to figure out the details. Yes, we do. From architects, to gardeners, to doctors, to football teams. Ever since the first recessions that shut down our mills, folks with deep pockets want to know technical details before committing to anything. We haven't been able to create booms (like the costal housing markets) where people seem to have been willing to float twice the real value of a

Been there, done that. With our oldest, we followed-up his COH in with his HS grad party. Made for a long day, but tremendous fun. We told our youngest that if he earns his bird early, we'll have two parties for him. As for going back to cubs, YOU ARE A SAINT! I couldn't handle it again.

They may actually not die in the process of rescuing. What's that worth to you? They may also read fine print better. Who knows how much that will result in future savings?

BS, I completely forgot about the MB requirement. I'll remind my SM of that one. (He's a real congenial fellow, but not the public speaking type. I had no clue his first COH as SM was his first time in front of a crowd! Anyway, he's pretty determined that the boys get their first speaking engagements before they graduate from the troop.) dl - and I think that is your "in". Register as a Communications MBC, then offer your services as a coach to any boys who want to fulfill the requirement as part of the badge. This will give you the opportunity to share you vision with a "captive aud

MIB - you're spot-on with the cookin. The challenge is to make sure you have diverse patrols. Get info on students' outdoor experience when they sign up so you can assign well. That's what our district did when I took this way-back-when, and we had a fun patrol. I think we learned as much from each other as we did from the staff. I credit the staff in that course to the start of my geocaching odessey. (The guy just mentioned it obliquely in the orienteering demo, and I was hooked.) Look for youth staff (maybe the O/A lodge chief or local camp directors know a scout or ven

Frank, I think we're the victims of a "project development" town. Half the folks around here make their dimes cranking out 100 page proposals. When I showed my son and some of his buddies my project workbook (3 pages typed doublespace, with a hand drawn sketch on the front) he just shook his head in disgust.

COH's are sacred to the troop. If the committee has decided that the boys should have a lot of lattitude in planning, and the boys agree, then the committee's job is done. If an adult comes to this kind of committee and says "you need to step in, these boys are doing slip-shod work", the adult can expect to be ignored. If the SPL comes to the committee and says "we want to make the COH a little more special" then the committee may be compelled to respond. They may appoint an adult who is skilled in probing the boys to figure out what to tweak, but this type of committee will probab

For those of you whose older scouts (esp. PL's and Troop Guides) do not sign off on trail to first class, I'd like to know why? Honestly, I've had more problems training adults on this than boys. (Adults invariably fall for the "I did this at camp last summer when I earned __ MB" line, where boys will ask "Can you show me that skill now?" as we trained them to do.)

rr - Like I said earlier, I've been watching because I'm in a similar situation, but with an older age range. For what it's worth, I think Seabase is worth every sacrifice that an adult leader could make. I first took my crew with my oldest when he was 14. I had snorkeled Louee Key before, but doing it from a sailboat and hitting Sombrero reef the next day and swimming to the beach at Bahia Honda at the end of the week was over the top. But I understand the financial back-against-the-wall. I would simply put this in the boys hands. Explain that CC xx would like you to add a

My pleasant surprise with troop backpacking experiences is that the younger scouts were good for the extra miles (up to 6 or 8) if the terrain is not particularly severe. So a hiking aree with loops that allow you to fit in more distance might be a good start. Your MBC will probably have some good suggestions for where you live.

The boys are entirely responsible for opening meetings, announcements, and closing meetings. Adults must request permission from SPL to give an announcement. Scouts name their own patrols, come up with their own yell, make their own flag. Sit as patrols. PL's and First Class Plus sign off on T2FC reqs. Outside of summer camp. We have a hard time getting our boys to "work" as patrols. They like doing the "ad hoc" thing. They like camping and cooking as a troop. Regardless, they do all of the shopping, cooking, and clean-up. (Actually our SM has a bit of a servant heart, so he'

Thanks for volunteering. The fact that you're an accomplished scout and still sticking around your senior year speaks loads. If you wanted to be sarcastic, you could suggest the dads apply to be Girl Scout Leaders. I recommend that you not be sarcastic. Ask for a scoutmaster conference. Explain your vision for the upcoming year. Explain why it's important for the boys to "skill-up" to the point that some serious backpacking gets done. Some things to suggest ... An "old farts" patrol. A patrol cook-off. Dad's vs. the boys. Pan polishing contests. Site inspections.