Sentinel947

Only pro job I'd do is camp director and only once I'm just about done career wise.

As I've started grad school, I don't camp much with the Troop. I need weekends to complete homework since I work and take classes during the week. I'm just not willing to put aside my pretty limited free time to Scouting commitments for other peoples kids anymore. As we all know, the "Hour a week" is substantially more when you factor in the good practices that need to be done outside of meetings. Most of my tasks with the Troop have become corralling/advising adults. I've reached an experience level with the program, where I get easily frustrated because the solutions and steps forward

Hey all, I haven't been as active here over the last year or so, but have done my best to keep up. When I first joined the forum I posted quite a bit for advice, and got some great help from some folks like @Eagledad and @LeCastor. I forgot who it was, but I remember there being a topic a few years ago about when it was time to hang it up. I attempted to search to for it, but couldn't find it. This is mostly me just having a sympathetic group to post to, so feel free to skip over this post if you don't like long stories that don't really lead anywhere. 😂 More or less, the poster at th

Considering 33% of Americans have a 4 year college degree, the first link claiming that only 2% have college literary levels is pretty difficult to imagine. Must be a pretty hard test.

Median income in the US is $56,516 annually. Meaning half of Americans make more, half make less. While 100k doesn't buy what it used to, it's still in the upper averages of pay in the US.

Makes sense, gotta wonder what those folks do to be making 100k.

Just at National? That sounds like alot of employees. Or does that count the Councils, which too me sounds really low (A council CSE should probably make at least 100k in most American cities.) There is a long age-old argument about getting what you pay for. And non-profits do need solid leadership with strong education and work experience, and that doesn't come cheap. There is a balancing act however, where those expensive salaries can bleed resources away from where they are needed.

Speak for yourself old man! 😋 I am excited for some fresh perspective in the BSA, but for the pros in National I think this board as it is currently represents a nice cross section of the BSA's more committed volunteers and former volunteers. There's a tremendous value in that perspective, whether anybody from National chooses to participate or not.

I can tell you that in my rather short career thus far in HR, adult job applicants can have poor choices in references, let alone teenagers...

They sure do. Just as much as those of us who think naming buildings, parks and Boy Scout Councils after national traitors is in poor taste.

Not related to committees or gavels, but honoring former Troop leaders who passed away during their time in the Troop. This is how my Troop honors them.

What do you mean?

@Tahawk I like that quote. I often think that failures of our Scouts are learning opportunities for them. Consistent or repeated failures are often failures by the adults to provide the right support to the youth. There is a point I believe gets lost in the conversation about youth leadership in Scouting. I believe there is a spectrum of youth leadership, and adults need to adapt their own styles to meet youth along that spectrum. What a Scoutmaster must do, and the support they should provide to a brand new troop of 11 year old's is different than in a mature troop that has been func

Sounds like a big endorsement that the people around you think quite highly of you and your efforts. Not to be contrarian, but do take care of yourself. Your family and your personal health should always come before Scouting. If our home lives or health are in shambles, we aren't going to be doing our best for our Scouts.

The south left the union because of the threat of slavery ending. They said it as much in the CSA's founding documents. The Civil War was fought over slavery first and foremost. Economics and states rights all come back to slavery. As for former confederates reintegrating, it simply means they were more useful to the Union being reintegrated than being in prison. Former Nazi scientists were scooped up by the US government at the end of WW2, despite their involvement in Nazi Germanys war crimes. Sometimes after a war, pragmatism overrules idealism.

Why in the United States of America do we have statues and name things after traitors who waged and lost a war against our country?

@Eagle94-A1 maybe this points to my own blind spot. I look at my unit or other units and I see issues with volunteers, because I already have the experience aka "unofficial training" to supplement the BSA official training (required or otherwise.) Perhaps more of the unit issues are on the BSA or a Council leadership than I initially realized. It makes me worry a bit about my impending departure from the my own Troop. As @Eagledad points out, once experience leaves a unit, the BSA resources are not sufficient to replace that lost experience. That makes me worry about my own departure from

The Professionals share a substantial amount of blame for why the BSA as a whole is where it is currently. Respectfully, I have to disagree that volunteers do not have a part of it. Is the official BSA training inadequate? Yes. But I'd wager at least 50% of troops are failing at the basics (Having an outing at least once a month, attending summer camp, youth planning activities and leading the Troop.) At some point, that's on volunteers, many of who should know better. We all know volunteers in other units in our councils who despite taking all the required training and then some, and st

It's upsetting to think about. I think about all the lives that have been changed for the better because of the BSA. I think of all the time invested by countless volunteers. I think about the generosity of philanthropists large and small. The BSA seems well on its way to flushing all of that down the metaphorical toilet. I hope I'm wrong. Scouting would have a hard time regrowing if the BSA were to collapse. There wouldn't be the same base of alumni, it'd be all new orgs, there'd be no resources, no camps. Everything would have to be built by scratch. I doubt any particular non BSA would

No offense, but who is Suzanne Blanchard? How do we know her information is factually correct about the mortgage? What proof does she have to claim Stinnett and Smith, two long time Scouters and volunteers now seek to "destroy" the BSA? Let's be frank, and I likely speak for most, but not all of this forum. The behavior and decisions made by Irving over the last decade has caused volunteers like us to distrust the BSA. Oftentimes, even when decisions are made that I agreed with, the methods in which they were made were not transparent. Membership standard changes, YPT rule changes,

Given the direction the BSA is going in financially, I guess I will never have an opportunity to take my own kids to Philmont. The BSA is well on it's way to squandering the treasures that previous generations have been given to it. What an absolute shame.

And the Cavaliers.

Another book that I found very insightful was Hillbilly Elegy by J.D Vance. Strikes close to home for me, as I live in the area near where Vance grew up.

I've always thought that underdeveloped rural areas face many of the same challenges as impoverished inner city areas. Crime, drugs, poor schools, broken families and few economic opportunities. As others have already said, there are people and leaders of character in every community that are fighting the good fight. You need to find those people and partner with them. That starts with not going about it in a judgmental manner. These people may have different lifestyles and challenges in their lives than you do, but that's not always a reflection on their character and capability.

You may find that Wood Badge helps you focus on what you like about Scouting and the time spent with other dedicated Scouters gives you a shot in the arm. Or it might not. Regardless, it's ok to take a step back. Our involvement in Scouting should ebb and flow as our lives go along.