rlculver415

Like Laurie, I am a stay-at-home mother - and have been for a LONG time! I am at the point where I can begin reviewing my options for possible employment. Also like her, I've done a major amount of volunteering. (Husband thinks I'm addicted to it! ) I've worked with children and youth in various capacities for over 25 years, and totally enjoyed myself. I don't ever expect that to change.

I also tend to agree with the others. I do not credit a boy for any pre-scouting experience, but if, for example, a boy is enrolled in band and then begins work on the Music MB I will credit that.

Our SM encourages the boys to be alert for meetings that may fill requirements for merit badges, and those who are will invariably get a blue card and have the requirement(s) signed off before they leave. There are no time limits for completion of MBs other than that they must be done before the scout's 18th birthday.

Our troop also encourages the boys to keep activity tracking sheets, a form the leadership hands out every so often. That way they have a written record of what they've done when they are ready to begin working of MBs that require them to do something over a period of time. Good for them and easy for the counselor.

What I will object to is a boy who calls me for the first session only after doing all the work so I can review his work and sign him off. I think this is just a "rubber stamp", and I refuse to do it. MB counselors are supposed to be qualified in their area(s) and boys cheat themselves of valuable insight & experience by trying to bypass the counselor sessions.

I am currently looking at my son's Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook. On page 2, under limitations, it states that a project may not be performed for a business or be of a commercial nature. I should think that is his bird house kits are being sold, or are even for some commercial enterprise, it would nullify the lad's project.

Length of hours to complete the project, level of difficulty, who does the work are not really an issue. (Although within our troop committee, we suggest it be at least a total of 50 man-hours.) Demonstration of leadership is.

My main questions would be: who benefits from the project, and how did he demonstrate leadership during this project?

First Eagle-required badges earned: Swimming and first-aid.

Last (usually even after Eagle-project paperwork is finished): Personal Management and Personal Fitness. It's all about the length of time required to complete and the record-keeping involved. Family Life is one of the last, too.

If a boy doesn't quite finish his Eagle work on time, it's because these two are stuck as partials.

Electives first earned: Usually any of the "critter studies". Maybe it's because our Merit Badge Madness precedes summer camp, which doesn't offer handicraft badges. Maybe it's because we're in such a rural area in Florida.

To be succinct - one calendar year, to maintain continuity for the den. Also, the den chief award requires working with a den for a year, among other things.

My husband tells a story of when his troop built a fire on concrete under the local high school bleachers, and the consequent explosion. Fortunately, nobody was injured then either. They had a lot of cleaning up to do though. That was about 33 years ago.

You got the first 3. The other two are woodwind and double-reed (a specialized woodwind group). I, also, am a counselor for this badge.

Try the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, pp. 9-15, entitled "Responsibilities of the District Advancement and Recognition Committee". Page 9 lists the responsibilities of the District Advancement Committee. One can easily extrapolate what the duties of the Chair are from that.

In your original post, you were speaking of patrol activities - not troop activities. COH are not patrol activities. By definition, those involve the patrol only, doing their own activity by themselves. A COH is indeed a troop activity, but with many characteristics of a meeting. In my mind, it IS a troop meeting albeit a special one. Therefore, it does not qualify as a patrol activity.

Eagle Courts of Honor are even more special, and have no real aspects of a troop meeting. Neither are they patrol activities.

While I agree with all the above, Courts of Honor should NOT be considered a patrol activity - even if each patrol does give a presentation, skit, or whatever. Courts of Honor involve the entire troop, Scouters, families of Scouts, the charter organization &/or its representative, and perhaps other invited guests.

Well, shucks, I guess I do live in a backwater town. Banks are open on Sunday?! Down here they're all closed, even the lobby and drive-thru. Most are closed on Saturday, too. Golly!

As a person of Native American descent, I'd like to go on record for my family: We have much to be thankful for. The gifts of life, love and family are enormously precious. We also have enough material goods for comfort.

Two pet peeves (out of many, probably): Sweeping generalizations about any ethnic group, and equating Native Americans as a whole with the plains/southwestern tribal cultures. It is not a single culture, but many cultures that are native to the Americas. I apologize in advance if my touchiness has offended anyone.

Definitely get the committee trained, and make sure each has a copy of the guidebook. I'm assuming that Cubs has a similar book to the troops'. CubsRgr8's suggestion is a good one. During the training, ask if voting is generally a good method for conducting Pack business, and about proxy opinions and proxy votes. That way the whole group will hear the answer. In my recent troop committee training session, the facilitator specifically mentioned that proxy votes and opinions should not be allowed. If an issue matters that much to a committee member, that member ought to make it to the meeting. Otherwise, absence is absence: no presence, no voice and no vote.

By the above, I'm assuming that your troop has appointed a Chaplain's Aide. Where is the Chaplain? That is a troop committee position, rather that a troop position. The Chaplain and the Chaplain's Aide both promote the religious emblems, and other forms of doing one's duty to God. Please don't look down on your failure to promote these things, rather encourage the proper leaders to fulfill their responsibilities.

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's input. I've gotten quite a bit of training this fall and have a better handle on what's what. Also, I asked the UC this question and the answer was as I'd expected all along. SMs and SAs do not vote in committee, they are not committee members. Actually, SAs don't really need to be at committee meetings at all. The SM is the liason between PLC and troop committee.

Last week at our TC meeting, our CC apparently forgot which meeting he was leading. He began the meeting with only himself present as a committee member and the SM and several SAs in attendance. When I arrived (five minutes late unfortunately), he was about to take a vote on something. I had to remind him that we lacked the requisite minimum to conduct the meeting. He seemed surprised and did a quick head-check, then went into conversation mode. Advancement arrived shortly thereafter and the meeting resumed. (I have no idea where the rest of the committee were.) The funny thing is - he kept calling for a vote on every item (not his usual style). Now I confess to having a rather wicked sense of humor (as does my good friend, Advancement). If Advancement made the motion, I'd second and the item passed. If Fundraising (me) made the motion, Advancement seconded and the item passed. We let the CC go on like this for a while before I mentioned that if two out of three motioned and seconded it, there was no way the issue wasn't going to pass. After that, he went back to the usual consensus.

One other thing -

Repeated enforced restraining of bladder and bowel functions can have an unhealthy effect on a person's physical well-being, least of which is an increased incidence of bladder infections. Another wee weapon to add to your arsenal of arguments...(pun intended)

Just curious - how big is the facility the troop meets in? (as in capacity) Usually the size of a meeting place will determine attendance, even if enrollment is much higher. A larger meeting place will increase attendance as much as any program improvements.

Definitely encourage patrol activities and meetings outside of the troop setting. (This is something we are also working on.) With a group as large as yours these gatherings become even more imperative since in a patrol bonding is stronger than among the entire troop. Maybe the PLC would be willing to promote patrol activities for a while, with participating patrols reporting in the meeting what they did. Perhaps instead of the usual monthly campout, once or twice a patrol outing could be planned with the SM's approval.

Another suggestion for the PLC - overplan the meetings. Make plans for more than the troop has time to accomplish. Yes, it hurts a bit to let an idea go, but if plans tend to "break" there will always be a back-up something to do. Overplanning isn't really a waste of effort. I've found many times in many situations that it's a lifesaver (or at least an attention-keeper!)

My 2 cents...

Actually, there is a course a parent can take along with their scout. The adult program is called Mentor, and has requirements and workbook, etc. I got mine when my son was working on his religious emblem. The nominated award is a different thing entirely.

Some churches may require church membership, others will not. For the boy in question, have the parents and son talk to the pastor of the church they most like. He may indeed be willing to do this. Also, if your CO is a church that pastor is most likely williing to counsel this project.

OK, I'll be different ---

We don't count service to our CO toward rank advancement. The reason why is that it is a thank-you for all they do for us - and they do a lot! They even built us a Scout Hut.

The exception (isn't there always ONE?) is when one of the boys' Eagle project benefitted his church, which is our CO. We counted service hours on the project.

Perhaps if the CO was an uninvolved organization...but I'm not sure if that isn't really situational ethics...

God does not make anyone homosexual! That is like saying God kills people in natural disasters, or that God makes people sin. While these are often commonly held ideas, they are lies from the pit of Hell. God made people and all creation perfect, and people fouled things up by choosing to sin. And yes, sin is a choice - we humans choose to do things our way instead of God's way, putting ourselves above God in our own consideration. This is the essence of sin. When sin became humanity's choice, the earth and all creation within it was skewed. Death and decay became reality, sinfulness became a lifestyle, odd things like homosexual animals now exist.

That statement was made in the first article posted by eisely in "Atheist to be expelled from BSA" thread. One of the members who sat on the Eagle board commended Lambert for his honesty in confessing.

My son, a Life Scout, also picked up on who the Scoutmaster is. (I tried very hard not to influence his opinion on this - just read the thread.) His opinion was that perhaps the SM needs to be investigated concerning her trustworthiness also. Surely, as his mother, she was well aware of his atheism and continued to pass him on Scout Spirit anyway. Listening to my son, I was reminded of how clear-cut younger youth view things like rules and requirements. (he is almost 14) We may argue philosophies and ideologies, but to him Lambert broke the rules - all of them - by living a lie. His solution? 1) Remove Lambert's registration - now done; 2) Remove Lambert's Eagle - dishonestly acquired because the preceding ranks were dishonestly acquired; 3) Investigate the SM with a view to removal from registration and maybe the District rep also for letting the atheism confession slide. A harsh judgment perhaps, but not unusual among his peers. As posted elsewhere, I have strong feelings regarding dishonesty in any form. No wonder he caught it, I taught it. I do find atheism disturbing since I am an active theist, but not threatening. It makes me so sad to think of Lambert's ultimate future. A character so badly flawed that he easily lives a lie, however, is reprehensible. I would not want him teaching my son, or even have him in my employ. It would be a grand thing if Lambert had a life-altering experience that forced him to look beyond and above himself.

Looking at the previous paragraph, I wonder how well young Lambert would have fared if he had been reviewed by a panel of Star and Life Scouts? Not from his own troop, that is, but those outside it. Down here, my son's judgments would have passed - much harsher than what the SE there did.

Perhaps I am ignorant, but I thought uniform referred to apparel not training.

I teach Sunday School teachers how to teach. One of the main points of this training is to adapt the lesson to the needs of the learners. Naturally, this doesn't mean change the facts or the basic program - just the presentation so that the targeted learners not only absorb the information but apply it to their daily lives. Eagle74's plan is a marvellous example.

As with Sunday School classes, troops are each individual entities. The best one can do for one's troop is to adapt the training sessions to fit the needs of the Scouts. How do most of your boys mainly learn - by seeing, hearing or doing? Adjust the presentation to their learning preferences. Do have frequent breaks, or mobile activities. If the games are now over-used, use new games. Bookstores, libraries, church youth ministries all have books on team-building exercises, for example. If the basic material is getting trite, use a new approach or add sparks of interest. Historical events and sporting events, to name a couple would be good sources for this. Bugle344, does your church have a Bible-study series on servant leadership that you can use? And can you use it without pressing your religious views on the boys?

The big no-no's are changing any facts, the program or the order of the presentation. In other words, add to what is already there. Don't be nervous about adapting training to fit your troop: 1) It really isn't difficult to do, and 2) Anything you do to add interest and fun is going to be greatly appreciated. Your caring is seen more clearly than any other part of what's going on, even if no-one mentions it.

Most teaching situations have three basic components: a hook, which is an attention-grabbing exercise - with youth make this something that gets them actively involved; a look, which is the body of the session's information with the added sparks that make the program most adapted to your troop; and finally make sure the session took, which is often activity-oriented also - like case studies, role plays, practice scenarios, etc. Each of these components can be adapted to fit the learners' needs. While most adults can be content with passive exercises even if they are not passive by nature, youth will not, so be sure to mix active exercises with the brain work. Active does not necessarily means running about, but does include the total involvement of the youth.

I hope this is of some help to you. Trust me, you can present a JLT that will interest and involve the older boys as well as the younger.

Back when, Husband used to camp with a hammock when he was a Scout. (He's the one who told me about it) He says it's better than any tent. Naturally, look for one that has mosquito netting and a fly. Sometimes it comes all in one piece - like my hubby's did, but all I've seen has the fly separate (which I personally prefer). The hennessey website is real good - they even offer info on the competition's hammocks, as well as how to set up camp.

You are quite correct - and I was being lazy. The correct designation is Advancement Coordinator, an officially recognized titled job of (at least) one member of the troop committee. It's just so much easier to say "chair".

Actually, according to the source I cited previously the advancement chair maintains the list of MB couselors. Hopefully, he/she gives a printed copy to the SM whenever it is updated - at least annually. Often, in our troop, the advancement chair is present only during BORs and COHs. (Not including TC meetings, which usually don't include the boys.)