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True, DR, but most officers (regardless of what they say) want to be held to a higher standard. Like everyone said, the young lady will be lucky if she has time for venturing. But, one of my daughter's soccer teammates really wanted to be part of her team even after she got pregnant, so her and her mom tried to make it to every game (as spectators, she missed too much of the season with the baby due right in the middle of it). Then in the winter she was back on the court. Point is: if it's a priority with the youth and her parents, they'll find a way. It then boils down to the office

Also, you don't have to reinvent the wheel.* Look at the school calendar to see if there's an event (e.g., a carnival or open house) where your boys could provide a service. If you're lucky, the contact-person for the event might also be a cub parent. *No pun intended, honest!

Read the book. Show the book. Do the book. If a boy can "Do" confidently the same day after going through the above teaching method, he can usually perform a week after. The trick is to get him to go through those steps with another boy shortly thereafter. (Oh no! There's no place to sign off for teaching each skill to another boy. Double Oh no! It doesn't spell EDGE!! My boys are doomed!!!) We allow ASM's to sign off, but we don't want to see signatures from a boys parents. (Uncle? Well, we're trying to sort that one out!) Even so, when a boy asks us for a sign off, we usua

I don't wear uni pants in the winter. Vintage shorts and thick socks is a lot more practical. I slip them over a pair of longjohns if necessary. Boot grommets can rip pants to shreds. But your modification makes switchbacks ulititarian to the point where I just might think of changing strategy. Where do you keep the lower leg if you take it off?

BSA24 - Your rant about uniforming is a paper tiger. My crew doesn't have a uniform and it has shrunk. Getting a "gangster look" is not going to attract more boys to scouting. How many boys are out there who will say "Finally, they changed their uniform to something I can stand to wear! I think I'll join."? Rather, I think they'll say "Scouts trying to be cool again. How lame." I haven't met anyone who has passed on scouting because of the cultural/religious issues you mention. My impression from where I sit is that there aren't a whole lot of boys who will say "My homosexual uncle

clemlaw If some cartoonist draws a set of cartoons about various faith traditions and knocks on the door of BL and tries to sell them, they might actually be pretty good, and BL might buy them. Not all traditions approve of visual media for presenting their religion. (I'm sure there are some sects of Judaism and Christianity that find cartoon Bible Stories offensive. But, the majority of muslims for example frown on any renderings of their prophet.) That said, an occasional article on a minority religion -- especially one by/about venturers persuing their trust award -- would be useful.

Pack - Not sure if Fr. Foster's quote referred to any OT passages or just some specific Catholic dogma (e.g. Dec 25th the true date of Christ's birth, the doctrine of Hell, or Church opulence as essential to it's veracity). But anyhow ... BP - Misinformed, unscholarly, or otherwise, many MANY folks have found inspiration in Old Testament stories. Most feel their kids are better off for reading them -- even if it may be one a month in a non-religious setting -- even if they believe they are mythic in nature -- even if they stem from a culture or religion completely alien to them. Thus,

I try to be very clear with new adults that a lot of what we do are "troop policies." They are written down in a troop handbook which even I barely take the time to read more than once a year! Some of those are for the convenience of the SM and can be altered at his discretion. Others have to do with the opinion of our district advancement chair. We could ignore his advice, but he's a nice guy -- so when he tells us about "red flags", we make policies to steer boys around them. Those latter policies are what seem to be out of an SM's or committee's hands. They come off as har

BH: I think it's pretty clear, that -- because of recent court decisions -- the city, or the unit it charters, would attract scrutiny that may get in the way of running program. (We might want it to be different, but like you said "that's another quarrel" that, if you form a crew, can be fodder for an ethical controversy.) I'd go for the chamber of commerce alternative that Bevah suggests. You seem to see a need for a Crew and/or Troop in the community. And that 13 - 20 age range naturally has a lot of direct interaction with local businesses anyway.

Here's what amuses me about this thread ... BL does in fact give a lot of ink to stories and legends beyond the Bible Heroes half-page. I learned a lot about other world-views -- including Native Americans -- from reading BL. (I learned a lot more, and far more accurate, info from the writings of Christian missionaries, but that's a different story.) So, what everyone was up-in-arms about is the fact that stories amenable to most Christians, Jews, Muslims, Mormans, and a few other sects routinely get a smidgen of ink! Heaven help us if boys from different religions across the coun

Yep E. that's basically my experience, My VP-Program started an FB group two years ago, and I don't think it has helped communications much. The FB group is basically youth run, so it doesn't consume much of my time, but it would be a nuisance to me if I ran it. In fact, the youth who do run it don't do much with it. I guess they think it's a waste of their time too. It is useful for ... FB users who are part of the group can put a link to it in their status (e.g. "... came from an awesome trip with @Unit 123" ... when you type an @ sign it disappears and a link to the user/gro

It is truly unfortunate when personal grievances "lock in" group policy. Sometimes, you have to settle for turning things part way, not 180 degrees. BTW - The coffee (or herbal tea, whatever) suggestion has nothing to do with duty or responsibility. It has to do with servant leadership, being the bigger man, recognizing your SM as a brother in scouting. Don't worry Gary, I never require my youth to make my "preferred" beverage. I generally brew my sludge on my own time. But the ones who do make it (however watery) get an extra couple of minutes of my time when neither of us are

Ditto that. But, when they do come up with a decent plan, I'm sticking by them. It is nice for the SM to be available for every campout. Parents are more comfortable, and I suppose the boys know how to "work the system" if the same guy with the same sleeping habits is running these weekends! Now that I think of it, T&S, your committee should plan a weekend or two where the SM is required to stay home!

There's something just wrong about a "paperless" sport requiring a pamphlet.

You just hit the situation that we all hope passes to the crew/classroom/team/church youth group down the road. The way you phrased it, it sounds like you're not the advisor. So first thing is let him/her know you're going to stick by him/her in this situation. Like OGE says, have your advisor talk to the CO because you in a way represent them. They may be of special help if they are a religious institution and the young woman's family is of the same belief. So, get the boundaries from the CO of what you may or may not do in this situation. Then, "discipline in a crew is the resp

Good luck with that application! I think you'll be in as good a position as any to resolve this specific problem. Making the invisible visible is a matter of finding out how data moves from a ship's paper charter to the list of data the web page calls upon to make its map. That means making a few (maybe a lot) of phone calls and getting to know who does what. In the process, you may find out who to put in touch with whom to make things work even better. Sounds like you just got a plank in your platform!

The scouting.org website is frought with data-flow problems. So, when you call, ask if there's a way you can be part of the solution. Your council Venturing Officer's Association could use the leadership, I'm sure. I found it really hard to work with Sitecore (the BSA backbone), thus our "new" council website is painfully lacking. I'm still a successful page deployment away from being able to train our VOA secretary in using it.

They finally purged the database of inactive or "paper only" crews. So now my pin is no longer overshadowed by non-existent units! No new prospects from it. But at least I have a visual representation of where my neighbors are!

After I clicked verify ... The two warnings the YP was not done were for adults who had YP. No warnings from adults who did not have YP. One warning came from when I added a 14y.o. 8th grader. Guess the programmers never got the memo about the new Venturing age requirements sent out last May. Still, better than pens.

I think the thrust of the advice is to keep working with the SM. That's because going "up the chain" to oust them usually has unsatisfactory results for both sides. (Lot's of adult threads around here testify to it.) Let your CC attend to hearding adults towards fundraising, tracking advancement, and recruiting. Definitely keep her on the sidelines when it comes to your issues with the SM. One thing that hasn't been mentioned: coffee. When you have these "discussions", make it the way your SM prefers. When it comes to goals, there's always compromise, but it's palatable if a n

From the posts, I don't think Fox jr. was anti-Venturing. He was just opposed to it being hoisted upon him. Sounds like the new troop gives him options (6 patrols, a venture patrol, and a crew). And, hopefully how those options work out for any given activity (separate or together) are left up to the Troop PL's and Crew officers (e.g. one group invites the other with enough advance time to minimize conflicts). A boy may be happy with the many "slices" of scouting (patrols, crews, OA chapters, etc...) under one roof, but one thing he won't like is to be "pushed around". Once, an ASM su

short: ... but the fact is that many of the boys will be distracted by her presence. ... Sounds like an argument for banning cheerleaders from football games. The Steelers dropped their cheerleading squad a few years before they started winning Superbowls. I've seen: - the nurse (at my childhood scout camp) distract all the older guys in my troop. - young moms be a distraction to male staff in cub camp espcially at the waterfront. - dads (Eagle Scouts, even) knowlingly attempt to distract female guard on duty in the aquatics area. God bless the staff, she sent him packing. -

I'll admit, I'm preaching to myself here ... Two instances where tour permits - especially the drivers info - served us well ... 1. On a trip inside our district there was a serious accident. Arriving at our destination, SM was informed by police, but not which car or whom. (It was that serious, the seargent had a lot to deal with.) Using our copy of the TP, the rest of us could identify that info. We could also quickly mobilize council resources to help us. 2. While plowing, a ranger dented the fender of a boy's parked car. Using the council's copy of the TP, the responsible exec

everyone excepts you for who you are True. We don't accept you. We think you're exceptional!

I know nothing of the GS program except what my co-advisor tells me (she's a gs mom). My daughter was bored by it. (Her leader would have nothing to do with camping.) So we missed out. However, the girls coming into venturing from GS do have impressive organizational skills. When they organize an event for a crew it gets done. Not so for the boys at the same age. Why? Because at 14 or 15 most BS have been PL, maybe one is currently SPL. Mobilizing a patrol of 8 or even a troop of 3 patrols is not the same thing as mobilizing a crew of 24! Oh, and why the outdoor program? Prob