Sentinel947

I'm probably being hyperbolic on how many times articles get posted here about stolen trailers, at least if you believe the search function. 🤣 I don't think they are getting rid of the trailer that quickly. I'm not an expert on trailers, but I think most have a title and a VIN. Who's buying a trailer without a title/VIN? It's clearly stolen if the seller doesn't have those. Meanwhile "lightly used" Coleman stoves are going on Ebay for about $30 a pop. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-2-burner-Coleman-Stove-Model-424-Dual-Fuel-Lightly-Used-w-Instructions/143335674661?hash=item215f78d325:g:

Are you arguing that troop trailers are not stolen, given that there are articles monthly here indicating otherwise? Yes, tools are higher margin and better for thieves, but Scout trailers are typically lightly defended and can be profitable to sell the contents.

Pawn shop, ebay. Remember, their overhead is free. If they sell sleeping bags and tents for $10 each, they've made a profit. As for the trailer..... I'm not so sure.

Agreed. If a youth prioritizes Scouting or not, I'm glad they are involved at whatever level they want to be. We're a broad enough program to accommodate all involvement levels.

I'm heading over on Saturday! Very excited!

Such a shame such a project even needs to be conceived of and carried out.

Thanks for fighting the good fight this summer! Glad you and your fellow staff are hanging in there!

My council conducted NYLT (5 courses, 50 participants per course, 2 of the five courses were co-ed). We didn't have separate facilities for males and females, so there were assigned times for each demographic, male, female/ youth, adult to shower separately. Renovations of existing facilities would come before wholesale rebuild of facilities.

Agreed. I think it depends how we define "big brotherly." Baden Powell has a similar quote that I think is easier to understand. “To get a hold on boys you must be their friend.” The YPT rules have definitely made communications between adults and youth restricted. We cannot communicate or interact with our Scouts like they do their peers in the troop or school. The YPT rules have made it impossible for adults to have "private" relationship with a Scout that nobody else is aware of, and that's a necessary safeguard. As @DuctTape said, "in the spirit of." I believe very strongly that

Like @qwazse said, please no powerpoints. If you feel like they are necessary keep them minimal. My opinion is it's best to have your Scouts be the facilitators, or team up with a more experienced troop for your first time through it. Focus on the games and activities, and have the "lecture" portions be more of a group discussion facilitated by the Scout lecturer. In my Troop, we turn ILST into a weekend patrol method outing. The patrols play patrol games and have competitions. They also go through the ILST activities by patrol. We do ILST every other year, and have our SPL and ASPL

When I wrote my comment about rushing to print the first thing I thought of was the Covington Catholic situation from earlier this year. Here's how to find the original article. The article is a "retro podcast". It was reposted on June 13th. Clicking the link that I drew an arrow to takes you to the next page. Which I have also screens shotted and has the date from May 9th 2018. I also don't have a subscription to the Post, so I can't read the whole article, and I'm too busy at the moment to listen to the podcast ( and too cheap thrifty to buy access.) I hope readers of the Post saw the ar

That's an ad hominem attack. Unless you think that the typical journalist is a specialist of all knowledge or never make mistakes. I'd expect most forum members here to be more knowledgeable about Scouting than the average Journalist. Good on the post for writing about Scouts, but details matter. If a journalist makes a claim and get it wrong, it does cast some doubt on the quality of their journalism. Especially in today's mad scramble to be first to publish, issue retractions or corrections later... maybe. I don't have time to listen to the whole podcast right now while at work, but th

This isn't something you are going to get answered from a web forum. You'll want to engage your District Executive and a Unit Commissioner if you have one. I'm not sure what you were told when you took on your role as Committee Chair, but here is the job description from the BSA. https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Troop_Committee_Chair. While not a BSA publication, it cites the Troop Committee Guidebook, which is an official publication of the BSA. My own thoughts: I'm a big proponent of Scouts being in charge and leading themselves. Still, the role of adults is to establish wha

Absolutely agree @David CO that the accused is an Eagle Scout should not be a condition for receiving a lighter sentence. I doubt anybody on this forum would disagree with us. I won't say that the law should judge him more harshly for the crime because he's an Eagle, but I certainly view him more harshly because of it. Certainly if your follow up post detailing his emails are correct, I can't see how the judge came to the conclusion to be lenient. As @SSScout said, there are figures in society we hold up as role models for others, and Scouts, Eagle Scouts and Scout leaders are typically

Great article! Baden Powell would be proud!

I agree, keep the requirements to a minimum, or a troop may end up eating crow when they have to bend the requirements in order to find anybody to take on a POR. ILST and NYLT are a great start to expose your Scouts to some leadership concepts, spread the seeds of a servant leadership culture and model the patrol method. NYLT has been the source of some of my most cherished Scouting experiences as a youth and adult. However: Leadership development of youth (or adults!) doesn't start or end with the BSA's formalized courses. The training from a senior youth to a junior one, or the m

Thanks! If he didn't have his leader, it would have been considerably more challenging. My staff member or I would have had to sit with him the entire session, which would take us away from other kids. Whether he was safe or not at the range was definitely a decision I had to make. Thankfully I had a wonderful RSO/Shooting Sports Director to help with that. The first session his Scout leader came with him, introduced himself and explained the Scouts limitations. Unfortunately, the Scout, his family and Troop hadn't talked to the council about alternative or disability adjusted requirements

I was a Rifle Instructor at a Council camp. We had a scout who was autistic. He had a leader from his troop that came with him and helped him shoot. He didn't get the badge because his accuracy wasn't enough to complete the badge, but his leader and I made sure he had fun and the other Scouts were safe.

I've noticed that with my NYLT staff. I can think of a few staff members that love staffing NYLT because it's the leadership challenge they don't get in their adult run units back home. This hurts me. They're great Scouts, strong leaders that could greatly impact a troop, but they aren't allowed to spread their wings in their troops. I'd kill (hyperbolically) to have these guys/gals in my troop. I wish I could say Wood Badge is the answer, but I know plenty of Wood Badge graduates and even staff that don't "get it." I also wish there were easy answers.

@MattR you've confused two figures. Lao Tzu is the founder of Taoism. He's famous for having written Tae Te Ching. I'd argue a Scout has much to gain about leadership and life by studying Lao Tzu. Sun Tzu was the general who wrote The Art of War. The Art of War has a few "updated" versions where the translations to English are simplified, and famous examples throughout history are inserted to illustrate the principle outlined by Sun Tzu. The copy I have of The Art of War actually cites Robert Baden Powell two or three times. There are actually some great nuggets about leadership througho

Congratulations Brian! It's been great to hear from you throughout your Scouting journey!

This question is tough, because it's multifaceted. As far as the Scoutmasters conduct, I've seen a variety of these situations, so I'll refrain from commenting without more direct knowledge. Scoutmaster transitions are always hard, especially on older Scouts. I've been through 3 changeovers within my own unit in the last 15 years. Some of my NYLT staff have approached me for advice on new Scoutmasters they are having trouble with back in their home units. Managing these transitions is typically sloppy and the Scouts suffer for it. The culture is going to change, sometimes subtlety and so

I went to High School in a public suburban high school in the midwest. Graduated in 2012. Never in school, band, soccer or Scouts did I have my locker, gym bag, trunk, tote or vehicle searched. Granted, I never gave the authorities reasonable suspicion. In school we may have had our lockers searched if a drug dog had a scent on a locker, but otherwise our stuff was left alone. My own two cents as a troop leader, unless I think a situation/scout is dangerous to me/others/self.(IE weapons/drugs) I'm going to request access to their stuff with them and a second adult present. Some Scout not

"I thought not, it's not a story the helicopter parents would tell you. It's an @Eagle94-A1 legend." 😋

Phones die really quick at Philmont. Combination of weak signal, changes in temperature, and roaming. If one of your Scouts can't get off his phone, by about day 2, he won't have that problem anymore.