scoutldr

When I took on the job of District Training Chairman, I was handed a box full of stuff ("Training Kit"). It was not in there. Our professional staff advisor to the Training Committee said that it was part of the old CS Basic Training, had been discontinued, and now it's coming back in a revised form, per a phone call he had with someone at National. That's all I know.

I go out of town for the weekend, and I'm back down to 2.5 stars. Sheesh. Was it something I said?

It was announced at our Training Committee meeting last night that the Cub Leader Specific Self-Study program is being resurrected and a revised version will be out this summer. As it was explained, it is designed to be used under the mentorship of the Pack Trainer. Anyone have more details?

I have to smile, because we are encouraging him (her?) by snatching the bait and running with it. Just ignore him and sooner or later he will go away looking for another forum to argue with. His posts are nonsense, and I suspect, the ramblings of someone who is in need of serious pharmaceutical therapy. Take a look at some of his threads and you will see 20-30 responses to something that everyone agrees is obtuse, off-topic and generally worthless to this forum. Squelch if you want, but I think censorship is repugnant. Personally, it scares me that people like that are walking around unheeded, ready to influence our youth. That makes our mission even more critical. If we argue with a fool, what does that say about us?

Adult selection is based on their ability to perform the necessary functions to help the Order fulfill its purpose, and is not for recognition. Selected adult Scouters must be an asset to the Order because of demonstrated abilities, and provide a positive role model for the youth members of the lodge. This is the first time I have read this carefully. So should there not be a distinction between adults who were ELECTED as youths (i.e., "honor society"), and those SELECTED as adults because we need adult supervision and transportation to OA events? I think the critieria should be the same...because that's the impression most people are under. We are all "brothers". (Even the girls)

Will be 3020 this September. I was born in the hospital where OGE used to work and my parents were from where he lives.

That's what Scouting is all about...helping people before they even know they need it! I was about to complain to my cable internet provider.

"and to fetch his evidence from the life of the animals, pointing out that male does not touch male in this way" Every Biologist knows this is false.

This thread was spun from another thread.Also from Mike Walton's site: "Some local Councils have also informed their volunteers INCORRECTLY that "the BSA is no longer issuing out medals and plaques and the only thing they are giving out is the square knot and the certificate". This is UNTRUE, says the BSA's Council Support Division's Director. If your Council has stated something like this, the BSA's Council Support Division would like to know; they have estimated that there is ONE Scouters' Training Award medal in storage for EVERY REGISTERED VOLUNTEER SCOUTER and there are similar stockpiles of those other award medals and plaques. All the Council has to do is pay for it. Some Councils may have you to pay for your own award, which may be "tacky" but it is one way of the Council cutting costs. The address for the BSA's Council Support Division is: Council Support Division, SUM 108 National Office, Boy Scouts of America 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane Irving, Texas 75061-2079"

http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/recogn.htm Sounds like maybe you were wearing the wrong knot anyway. The "Merit Medal" has a blue/gold knot on khaki. The "Heroism Award" (previously "Certificate of Heroism") is red on white. The "Honor Medal" is red on khaki. There's no mention of a "Certificate of Merit" at Mike Walton's website above.

This star thing is giving me a complex. How come Wheeler gets the same amount of stars as some of us veterans, if no one thinks his posts are valuable? And how can one go from 2 1/2 stars to 5 overnight, like some seem to do? Do I need to double my FOS donation, or what?

Volunteers are a precious commodity everywhere, but many Councils are doing just that. You get trained by the time recharter time rolls around or you're out of the program. Period.

If you want to read the official Supreme Court decision, instead of 50 different interpretations of it, see http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/99-699.html By the way, although it was a "majority" decision, it was 5-4, so be sure to read the dissenting opinions as well. To see the other side of the fence, see www.scoutingforall.com Perhaps you will get some more ideas there.

A good reference is "The American Boy's Handybook" by Dan Beard. It was recently reprinted and used ones are available on eBay or Half.com.

Congratulations to General KoreaScouter for reaching 5 star rank already! I can only dream .... As a Safety and Health Professional, we believe there are no such thing as "accidents". There are only "unsafe acts" or "unsafe conditions". There is also no such thing as "safe". There are only varying degrees of "unsafe". As Scouters, our duty is to ensure planning is in place to anticipate, identify and take steps to minimize risk. The military calls this "Operational Risk Management" (ORM). It is a well known fact that more soldiers, sailors and airmen fall victim to what we call "DNBI" or "disease and non-battle injuries", than they do to actual combat injuries. Prevention of DNBI through proper planning and training is a "force multiplier". We in scouting can think of this as a "fun multiplier".

Those pubs you list could all be put in .pdf format (not editable), on a single CD and reproduced locally for about 50 cents a copy, and mailed to each unit for another 50 cents. It's no more difficult to ensure you have the latest edition of an electronic version than it is hard copy.

You're not going to win this one. Blisters can be a powerful teaching tool.

Nope, not a commemorative, just the latest in a series. The council has issued 5 design changes in the CSP since the R/W strips went out in the 70's. In this latest change, the design remained the same, just a new color scheme. An improvement, in my opinion. We also have commemoratives over the years, such as for 9/11, Camp fundraising, "Silver Beaver Association", etc. We've never had an Eagle CSP, but I'm working on that.

"Our practice is to give the cloth badges to the Scout the night they earn them. For Scout, that is the night that they tell me they have comleted the Youth Protection requirement. For all other ranks (except Eagle), it's the night of the BOR. We give cards & parent's pins at the COH. " Many Councils (mine, for one) will not sell rank badges without a signed advancement report being turned in. Therefore, "instant recognition" is difficult, if not impossible. The excuse given is that too many Units were stockpiling badges, and the paperwork never got turned in, resulting in many disappointed would-be Eagles.

Camp Chickahominy...Colonial Virginia Council, Newport News, VA I know it's been sold to developers, but can't verify why.

My council just issued a new CSP. It has nothing on the back. Retail is 5 bucks. I have no idea what their source is, or what the cost is to the council.

FOG, some of those you mentioned are hats of the past. My understanding is that you can wear older uniforms, if serviceable, but cannot mix and match parts.

To be absolutely correct, one can wear the cub scout pin device on the religious square knot. If you then earn the BS version, you add the boy scout pin device to the knot. As an adult, I wear 4 service stars, yellow, green, red and blue. You were given wrong advice. As I recall, the only things that are troop option are neckerchiefs. (Used to be also choice of cap, but I don't think there are different official options any more.) If the troop has "elected" to not require scout pants, that's wrong, too.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

All people are "created equal". Where you go from there is up to you. In our city, we have "magnet" schools and kids who are labeled "gifted". They know who they are and refer to themselves as gifted, and the other kids also have figured out that they are "not gifted", since they don't get on a bus at noon and go across town to the special programs at the magnet school. I find this fundamentally offensive, especially in a public school system. I believe that all public schools should provide the same opportunities to all students. If the parents want additional special programs for their "gifted" progeny, they should foot the bill. When they get to the "real world", they will have to interact with people of all types and abilities, not just their own, elite gifted peers. Their success in the world will be based on what they produce, and the value that society has placed on that product. It will not be based on their self esteem, labels, or IQ.

They can do whatever they will be allowed to get away with. According to dsteele, Councils are "autonomous" and if the Executive Boards want to do it, they can. Of course, if the volunteer leaders, trainers and Chartered Organizations disagree, it's a free country and they can vote with their feet. It will be very interesting, indeed. What infuriated me was that the decision was made without even talking to the Council Training Chairman or his committee (the district trainers who have to make it happen.) Not a good way to get buy-in from the stakeholders. I still think it's quite a coincidence that so many councils have decided that this a good idea all at the same time, and National claims they know nothing about it.