qwazse

This is sweet. MyScouting is sending me and my CC mean E-mails saying we're not trained! Even though I can go online and confirm YPT training that was done in September! Council will be back to checking these all manually!

When early scouts stood in formation all the patrols stood in rank, meaning that if there were 8 patrols there would be 8 ranks. The PL's stood in the first file of each rank with the patrol flag. Today everyone stands in single file line behind the SPL and salutes the back of the head of the boy in front. I have never seen the "single file" formation. Our boys, and every other troop I know stands in rank at flags. The venturers always look a little confuzzled, but that's because they don't come off the trail enough to practice parade formation.

My crew does not have an Advancement Chair. (Okay, it would be technically a Regognition chair, but I'm making a point.) Guess how many awards I've given out in 4 years? None zip zero null. Partly that's because the kids tell me it doesn't matter, but partly it's because my committee has yet to pull together and divy up responsibilities. The good news is that my co-advisor and I don't have anyone telling us how to do our job. We don't need fundraisers to pay for medals, etc .... Not sure if that's a zero sum, because although the independence has allowed me to stay productive as an advisor and kids keep coming through the door, I'm missing seeing my presidents dole out some bling. So be it at our COH or at a committee meeting - if we ever have one, I'll lift my mug to the advancement chair.

My apathy towards laser tag and paintball runs pretty high. (I take more pleasure in watching a diminuitive girl in my crew toss a belligerent guy into 3 feet of snow on a night hike.) But, has anybody here who really cares tried to strike the "laser tag" rule from the the G2SS? What would the process of amending it be? I know amendments happen because someone last year changed the age/grade requirements for venturing.

I gave my personal take in the other thread, but the bottom line ... Benchmark, Excersize Daily, See Results That's what we're trying to get into the boys (and often, parents) heads.

Injuries. Sports has a higher rate than scouts. In fact one year a b-ball coach warned some girls to not go on a backpacking trip because he needed their ankles for the game next week. I told them to tell the coach their joints would fare better in 36 hours with me than in 1 hour with him. I do try to make it a "both-and" with the youth, but there are a lot of folks - parents included - who make it an "either-or".

O.K. Kudu, I'm changing my answer to yours. All that being said, I am against laser tag because it is an expensive indoor game in a confined space. And the next time a youth asks me, I'm plagarizing you ... Scouts should to pretend to kill each other as Baden-Powell and the BSA's Bill Hillcourt intended. Like my daughter said at the end of a day backpacking with our crew/troop: "You aren't going to get a conversation about improvised explosive devices sitting around a girl scout campfire."

Thanks for letting the boys inspire you. Something I do, since the boys in our troop all have some sort of Christian affiliation, is keep a New Testament and Psalms handy in my pack. (I just got a waterproof one which mysteriously disappeared -- back to the zip-locks!) In advance of the trip I tell the chaplain's aide to think of a verse or a Psalm he would like to be read on Sunday morning. Before we set out after breaking camp, I encourage the boys to circle up and take time for reflection. One boy reads the verse, maybe there's a song, another says a prayer, we go. It sounds simple, but I think it's quite effective in setting the tone for the rest of the trip. It's enough church for the boys who like church, and it's just different enough from church for the boys who have a hard time sitting still in pews. Plus it helps the aide learn how to be prepared for this sort of thing without having to be wired into a bunch of resources.

gotta run: bless your missus. When your daughter's 14, can she join my crew? Most of my GS don't want to be out of reach of a curling iron. It's been the non-GS that have been willing to throw on the backpack to enjoy the trail. The blame falls squarely on the folks.

Just a suggestion: don't judge a woodbadger by how pompous he/she may be to you. Judge by how much the boys love him/her. Since WB doesn't fit all categories, and we have testimony that it doesn't fit many of them in most councils, we can conclude "not cult." Although the lack of real wood was a bit of a disappointment. GR: I gotta say "all the stuffed animals and irrelevant crap" compensated for the fact I had no time to get a pumpkin for this weekend. Crow ornaments were all over the porch. Not sure if they'll be allowed on the tree in December though. Although my experience was largely positive, I'm glad I waited a few years to take the course. It gave me a backdrop to adjust expectations. BD: The prisoner's dilema is intended to strip down to "bare bones" the shame that could be induced in society -- cult or otherwise. I had studied game theory as a hobby years before, so it wasn't as emotionally charged for me. However, it did give me pause. Regarding stealing totems, our SM actually made it clear in not so many words that he would frown upon it. I can see how that one behavior would sour me on the course ... Lesson to WB'ers: how you comport yourselves while on staff or as a student will help a scouter answer the question "Will I really want to volunteer with these folks for the next __ years?" Do your best to make that answer be affirmative. On the other hand, I now have five goals and a deadline to complete them. Being a guy who kinda "goes with the flow", it's nice to have some concrete benchmarks. Also, when I do make goals, they tend to be a little "high minded" so it was nice to have someone help me hone them down to things that could be achieved in my position as Crew Advisor in the next 18 months.

Because our boys and girls will have opportunity soon enough to hurl photon's and other more substantial projectiles at determined enemies, there's no need to hasten the process. In the meantime, they can use their hands to tag an opponent and capture their flag. Baden Powell's point was that THOSE were the skills (getting close to your opponent, learning his movements, his thoughts) a boy should be learning. So, we focus on making sure the kids can handle arms day in and day out -- targeting, cleaning, building ... because we think and understanding of the mechanics of the thing is what better builds character. Let the church youth group take the kids to laser tag. We don't need to be all things to all people.

I swear by Suunto's brands. The needle settles FAST. That means one less thing to wait around for and a little less stress as you read the fine print. The magnifying glass is a good suggestion. Alternatively, you might want to consider a military/surveyors' compass. It has a magnifying glass for reading the bearing on the opposite end of the housing while sighting your target through a crosshair. The only problem is you need to carry a protractor to get your bearing off the map.

Gern, you didn't say "science", "politics", or "fantasy football", ergo your bias was revealed. I guess my selection of alternatives revails my biases, but oh well ...

But to charge adults dues on top of the BSA registration, and their personal time and money spent, just seems downright greedy to me. The dues for adults are a couple bucks over registration+unit insurance. My understanding is that it covers some of the SM's discretionary costs. (E.g. a kid can't afford a fee and we don't want to make it a line-item, or one ASM is truly cash strapped and we have to cover his fee for a year, or some bone-head up an earns himself an award we have to pay for, whatever.) The treasurer's reports look rock-solid and well audited, so we don't worry about the extra fee. We all know there are plenty of troops that don't charge it, complainers are welcome to go there. Moreover if the college boys really need to save for dates at the coffee shop, they can always be primary with the crew at registration+insurance. Fact is, I have a couple dual-registered under-21 ASM's who are primary with the troop, but I don't have any who are primary with the crew. So I guess we'll remain "downright greedy" as long as the only grievances are from guys in chat rooms. !)

Meeting space. Make sure your CO is aware that things might be a little noisy when you meet.

Short: All right, color me really confused! An 11-year-old boy is only 11 for one year. He is only allowed to go on three campouts during that year. How do you turn three into six? Your not confused, you just need statistical consultant ... 11th birthday in June: camps thrice before December. Happy New year: camps thrice before June. 12 birthday: the govener's off camps forever. Kinda tough on those January babies, huh? Be it 3 or six, that doesn't put the limit on the potential number of 1st class recipients. You could have 24 camping nights, with 4 different groups of 11 y/o's cooking on each. Seems like a lot to work around the letter of the law, but if you had 24 kids all wanting and working to knock of FC, wouldn't you bend over backwards to give them the opportunity? Besides, you might want to encourage a little one-upsmanship. By night 18 I bet you'd be eating pretty good!

The one a boy showed me weighed about the same as 4 AA's, I think. Problem was wear and tear on the connectors, etc...

MT: I know the chart. Problem is it works best rotated 90 degress! You can't really think of it as "who takes orders from whom". You're partners tasked with different objectives. So all of the "SM do this" or "SM do that" amounts to so much hot air. If your 18 - 20 year olds want to be part of that, they are some sick puppies. The chart does convey (to a degree) who can remove whom from office. But, even that's a tedious process and again, not something I think the 18 - 20 y.o.'s want to be part of. dg98: I encourage all of my venturers who are part of a troop to consider serving as ASM's when they turn 18. It's a little more financial hardship for them (troop dues tend to be more than crew dues), but I know the SM appreciates their company -- even if it boils down to a few meetings and a campout throughout the year! Oh, and congratulate the boy for me. I'm sure he'll be proud to know you're bragging about him on the internet.

Not sure why voting on the committee is such an issue. Our perspective is the committee approves the troops program, which means they work for the SM+ASM's. Our CC comes and says "what do you need?" SM+ASM's say "X Y Z", the MC's come to a consensus on how to best make it happen. Not much to vote about! ASM's have a lot of lattitude as to where they can serve (including Jambo troops, which I don't think are available to MC's).

Of the many things those two words "Eagle Scout" signify, certainly foremost (above religious preference, leadership skill, etc ...) is adeptness with paperwork at an early age. Clearly an HR excec dreads the day when someone arrives who can better dot the i's and cross the t's. Soon enough that new hire will start gunning for their position. Thus, the move in corporate circles to strike those two words from consideration amounts to little more than a feeble attempt at job security.

Allowing "open" and "restricted" CO's does little more than codify what CO's can do in the first place! And I don't think it really helps parents joining a unit. Some CO's might not know they are "restricted" until someone whose beliefs don't represent their own steps to the fore. There could be lots of reasons for this. I know a Jewish adult leader whose troop is under a Catholic CO b/c his reformed rabbi is towing the line about the homosexuality issue. This causes extensive "hoop jumping" on everyone's part. (CO insists the troop find a mass for the Catholic boys if they are out on a Sunday -- what to do with the non-Catholics/non-Christians -- etc...) But, working it out at least helps avoid the press. (HEADLINE NEWS: MOST FOLKS IN NATION WORKING TOGETHER IN SPITE OF RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES ... really doubt it would get past the editor's desk.) So, I think it is better for each unit to communicate up front to parents what is the general leaning of the CO.

Okay guys, spare us the Bob bashing. He's "winning" with the boys I know. They love him. (And, yes, they know he used a stunt double. He told them straight up when they asked.) Anyway, it sounds like I won't have to hold a "crew officers briefing" anymore. If that's chapter 1 of ILSC, I make 'em read it and move on from there. Honestly there is nothing in the old VLSC that I would not hesitate to use for PL training. So, I have no problem with making the overlap explicit. So Kodiak's still going to be around? Good! Cause I still want to trek! Hey can somebody figure out how to deliver WB21 on a trek?

It takes a unique individual to obdain the silver. I know of one recipient in our entire area, and he is turly a unique individual. Still looking for that youth in my crew or troop who's ready to take on four "eagle caliber" conservation projects.

Whatever has happened, I hope you are not discouraged to the point that you write yourselves out of the picture. If your troop is large and active and you like the newly appointed SM, he/she will need your support. It is great to have ASM's in the depth chart. It's great to be one and take turns helping the boys organize activities. Instead of mapping out five activities, each of you offer to coordinate one. As a crew advisor, I rely on our troop ASM's a lot. One lead a contingent to Philmont when neither I or the Troop SM was able to go. When you're not needed for something, throw a line in the water and see if the fish stopped biting. Or, check if the back of your eyelids are the changing color. Keep trained, attend district roundtables, communicate, communicate, communicate. P.S. - Enjoy this weekend!

Although I am strident about it not being a requirement for boys, the trainer's EDGE is not a bad tool for adults to have in the arsenal. If you have a boy who is having a hard time getting his message across to the patrol, pulling him aside and saying "Hey, I know you're having a hard time getting Scout B to tie lashings well enough for you to have a working trebuchet by the end of the week. Let me tell you a way to make sure you've covered everything that needs to be covered to help someone learn ..." Also, a subtle point that my woodbadge instructor brought out, the steps don't necessarily procede in that order. Furthermore, the steps are more circular than linear, as sailingpj described. So, yes, I get MT's point that we all could be reminded of how to prepare before we speak! But, I still want to convert you all to #1-ers, because 1) one could say the same for nearly any form of pedagogy, and 2) it does not explicitly include reference (in the Tenderfoot's context, the Handbook). In other words, someone could use EDGE on you, and you'd still come away as MT put it with no advice on how to look it up to figure out what the teacher was trying to teach.