shortridge

According to Texas Trails Council (http://www.texastrailsbsa.com/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.aspx?orgkey=2998&itemkey=14780), the new neckers are indeed going to be on a rolling basis, but yellow will still be OK for Wolves. So there’s going to be some mismatchery over the next year or so. I did see a local Cub day camp photo with a girl wearing the red necker, so I assume some are available somewhere. It also states new incoming Webelos will all wear tan, leading to a phaseout of the blue uniform for Webs over the next few years.

If you need advice on how to write a letter, you can find that any number of places online. There is no official Scout letter template. Is it a ceremony? A party? It can be either, whatever the Scout wants. I apologized in advance if my questions seemed aggressive. I’m pretty close to walking that back. What you describe sounds like a toxic troop situation, but your language and approach are not helping things. Consider the way you have presented things here; if someone brought these complaints to you in this manner, claiming discrimination and insulting various people you volunteer with,

So I have to ask this. Apologies in advance if it comes across as overly aggressive. Is this your CoH? Or is it your son’s? What does your son want? Why is your son not taking the lead in organizing it, if a CoH is what he wants? What is your motivation in pursuing this and seeking to force the troop to do something? Are you driven by what your son truly wants, or by your own desire to avenge a perceived insult to your child and family by the troop? Why does your son not reach out to his friends and former patrolmates for their addresses and contacts for the invit

Can you tell if this is typical for his cohort or patrol? Perhaps the troop just doesn’t put a huge emphasis on advancement in the first year. And that’s OK. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, nor would I be pushing him. As he matures, conversations with adults will become easier. He’ll also see his fellow Scouts advancing, and that perhaps will spur him to get his stuff together so he’s not left behind. If he’s mastering his skills and having fun in the outdoors with his friends, let him be a Scout for a while!

What’s the source of the rumblings?

If OP had spoken with a counselor - and it seems he did not - the counselor should have known to immediately buck it up to the next level. That’s all a counselor would have to do to “handle” this situation or anything similar. Really simple.

🚢 🚢 🚢 not 🚣 🚣 🚣

It’s not at all pretentious! Be proud of your achievements and accomplishments. As a curious Scout, I had many conversations with leaders asking what their knots represented. If you spark the interest of even one Scout to continue past Cubs so she or he can earn Silver, for example, then that’s a great accomplishment. If you don’t have kids of your own in the program, knots are another way of quickly establishing to the parents in your den that you know what you’re doing and have experience. Congratulations, thanks for volunteering, and welcome to the forums!

How is an ordinary parent supposed to know who the Scout Executive is, let alone what they do? OP did the right thing working through proper channels by telling a camp staff member on the first day. The staffer should have immediately escalated to the camp director, who should have followed the written protocols to handle the situation. Youth-serving professionals in all fields have to deal with these situations all the time.

Welcome to the forums! You need to call, not email, the person on this list (http://www.narragansettbsa.org/about-us/contact-us/staff/66599) identified as the director of camping, and explain the situation, asking what policies are in place for such circumstances. Email him a copy of the court order. Explain calmly that you are upset because of the two conversations you had with the camp’s staff that were not followed up on, and ask what procedures will be put in place for the future. It is your son’s mother’s responsibility to abide by the court order, but it is also the camp’s responsib

This article from the New York Times documents some sharp declines in American youth soccer participation. Some interesting observations and lessons noted in the article that might be applicable to Scouting: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/sports/world-cup/soccer-youth-decline.html

Was this at a certain Scout camp on the Chesapeake that’s really worth your while?

My dream is for a statewide Outdoor School program like Oregon’s. So cool. https://democratherald.com/news/local/education/life-lessons-outdoor-school-opportunities-expand-with-funding/article_f922931c-3853-51aa-88c1-b7ac112ca55e.html

He can bring stakes and rope if desired; the OA team will advise him specifically on what can be brought on the Ordeal itself. Typically his pack will be left at a secured location, so he won’t get into “trouble” for bringing extra items to the weekend. It’s a fairly simple process and candidates have been rained on before; don’t sweat it too much. Candidates generally have 12 months from the time of election to complete the Ordeal. In my lodge, there are opportunities in June, August and April; if other obligations prevent a candidate from attending any of those (like prescheduled family

You are absolutely correct, sir. What I meant to say and should have said more plainly is that no one is entitled to a CoH paid for and sponsored by the unit. I conflated the terms in my head. My general point was more to the attitude and approach of the OP. “My son deserves this” sounds awfully demanding and off-putting to many people. If @malraux‘s timeline is correct, then I would re-emphasize that the former Scout should be fighting this fight for himself. He’s an adult and can communicate with other adults. That might also get a better and more prompt reply from others at higher leve

I’m still curious as to why you think there might be discrimination at play here.

Again: Your son is not being denied anything. A CoH is optional. Your unit is choosing to not organize one for your son. They cannot deny it. Nor is it likely that the council will get involved. National will probably not respond, either. This is a unit matter. Again: What is your goal here? Do you want to have a COH that is meaningful to honor and recognize your son’s accomplishments? Or do you want to punish someone for what you see as an unfair decision? I’m getting more the latter vibes from your comments. I agree. This needs explaining if you want better insight from these fo

The CoH is completely optional and at the unit’s discretion. There are definitely some details missing here. If the SM is refusing to do it, what do you hope to accomplish by trying to get Council to force him? That’s could create a major fight and lead to bad blood and the severing of relationships. Why did your son take nine months to initiate contact? Was he not going to troop meetings during that time? If you do choose to push this forward, I would strongly encourage you to reconsider your attitude that your son “deserves” the CoH. That will definitely turn off many peopl

I’m just going to hone in on this and go off-topic for a second. Councils in my experience could generally do a much better job of marketing camps as retreat, meeting, training and conference centers to the general public and businesses. The outdoor atmosphere could be a significant attraction for CEOs looking to do unconventional teambuilding or away-from-the-office strategic planning and brainstorming. And camp program offerings would be a wonderful way to reward employees with a day or two out of the office - go canoeing or kayaking, try your hand at climbing, shoot archery, go fishing, etc

Make it personal to the Scout - get a flag and take it on a tour. Fly it over their favorite summer camp, at the state park where he had his first campout, over the lake they learned to canoe on (that one will be trickier), etc.

That’s what I’m trying to figure out. We’re being told to look to JTE to help set our goals, but have no guidance on what the new JTE standards will be. I hope it’ll be a phased-in approach. I agree that JTE seems like a paperwork-pushing exercise in numbers manipulation. But I still like to know what’s being expected or asked of me.

I’m working with a district that has had some membership challenges in the past. I’m trying to look ahead to our goals for 2019 and anticipate the impact of the Scouts BSA changes on the district JTE standards. Adding girls will effectively double the TAY numbers. It’s clear that we can’t double TAY and meet the current JTE percentage goals; we’re having trouble meeting it now as is. We just won’t have many troops and packs in the first year to serve the girls’ Scouts BSA population; it will be a gradual, growing process to develop that unit infrastructure. Our field service staff ha

As someone who works in public relations, transparency is a double-edged sword for an organization or institution. It’s *always* the preferred method to build trust and confidence, especially when you have a volunteer-based movement. We want our trusted institutions to be as open as possible. However, there are times when openness has to be balanced against the greater goals. Under certain circumstances, it could hurt the organization by creating certain storylines that focus too much on the negative aspects of a situation and overwhelm the story we’re trying to tell. National alread

There’s “family friendly,” and there’s “this is nuts.” Unfortunately, it sounds like they’ve laid the ground work and established precedent for this kind of disruptive behavior, and that your unit leadership is OK with it. That’s hard to overcome.

So this is an 11 or 12-year-old? What reasoning does he give for not being able to spend the night in his own tent? More to my way of thinking, what do his fellow Scouts say about this? They’ve got to notice. Anyone in my day who couldn’t do a night in their own tent and needed to physically sleep with a parent would have gotten made fun of to no end, thus solving the problem pretty quickly. Either the Scout’s behavior would change or he would leave the troop.