SSScout

Now that I think about it, is there no more "PM" (personal message) function? At all?

When our our area was re-districted (for the fourth time in 6 years), the PTB asked local Scout Units to ask their Scouts for ideas as to a name. The newby tempo district committee took the five or six name nominations (from adult and youth) and chose one and then asked the units for picture ideas for a district "patch". That was pretty much chosen the same way. The Council had some slush fund money to use for the creation of neckers and award patches for commissioners and such, which were passed out at the last District award dinner for the "old" districts. We now have three Districts in a Region where there used to be one BIG District where before that we had 6(!) Districts where we had three where before we had 2 where before we had one... Camporees and Klondikes and such are an adhoc thing. Camporees and Webelos Weekends and such are scheduled months if not years in advance, and it is made known that a sponsoring Troop is needed. Sometimes a small Troop will take on the task and take on a partnership with another small Troop, sometimes a large experienced Troop takes it on. Sometimes a neighboring District will sponsor an event and make it available to the others in our Region. The big Troops in our District are mostly boy-led, and do a neat job of the events, eliciting help and participation from the other Troops and Crews. CADC is a seperate thing. Each District has a cadre of Cub Leaders and a CD that takes care of it. Seems to work. The folks that like doing it are the ones that cultivate the next bunch of CSDC organizers.

For the benefit of folks who are not familiar with this episode, I have been trying to access our history of this sad situation without success. Found this: lots of articles in ChiTrib: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-06-14/news/0706131277_1_scouts-plan-boy-scouts-board-members and http://flyingdingbats.wordpress.com/owasippe/ and http://ooec.org/news-info/

No, your Scoutson doesn't "need to go". He doesn't have to move out and get a job, he doesn't have to complete school, he doesn't have to explore the rest of the world outside the walls of his home, either. You, my scouter friend, DO have to go to camp and watch from a distance as your boy grows his wings longer and stronger. Go for a canoe paddle with him, do the Polar Bear swim with him, but let it be WITH him not FOR him. He'll see his dad as someone to come back to, not run away from. How do you like your coffee?

If the B&G is to be anything more than an excuse to eat, than the Crossover is a very good thing to do. Work things out with the Troop(s) involved. No reason why more than one Troop can't come to accept their boys. The AoL is their "Eagle" after all. They could earn more Elective points (oh, wait.... there are no epoints in Webelos!) but mebbe not.. Ask the local OA chapter to do the ceremony, this can be really impressive if done right. You are correct in thinking that the Cubs will want to get into Boy Scouting when they have run thru the Cub program. Other than as the Senior Scouts of their Pack (teach the younger Cubs how to do things? Demo flag ceremonies, etc.?) they have little to keep them. As for the CChair who doesn't want to "let go", I would ask her if she wants the Webs to stay for HER sake, THEIR sake, or the PACKS sake. There is no "official" reason. Once they are 10 1/2, going into the 6th grade, earned the AoL, they can be on their way and God speed. As Boy Scouts, there is no reason why they can't come back occassionally to visit, if they want and if you invite them. And in a year, after they have a rank or two and some Scout experience under their belts, the Pack can always use some Den Chiefs, right? "doing anything Cub Scout in the Spring" sounds like a mom who wishes her little boy would never get his size 11 hiking boots. They can still do "Cub Scout" stuff.... help out at the CSDC, help corral the Cubs at the next service project, be Den Walker Helpers until they are old enough to qualify as Scout Helpers at the camp. One has to realize , that to KEEP the boys in Scouting, one has to enlarge the corral they are running around in. Good Scouting to you, and thanks for your service to our boys.

is not April FIrst..... I still think the black board and chalk is superior to the Promethean Board in most occasions.

Oh the humanity. When I once tried to take a University of Scouting course, and presented the prerequisites, I was told I did not have them. Subsequent research and desk pounding discovered that (1) In the past, I had been registered (by Pack, Troop, Woodbadge, District) under three different variations of my name and (2) there were four other Scouters with the same first AND last name as myself in the NCACouncil. Took 3 hours with the Council registrar to sort things out. I now counsel folks to ALWAYS use the EXACT same name when they sign up for anything Scouty. Always "John J. Smith" , not "Johnny Smith " or "J. J. Smith" or "Smitty".....

"No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way." =Sir Robert Baden-Powell = (1857 - 1941)

Safety pins. Worked for me until I "grew into it".

Plastic, wood, cardboard, all these "pretend" knives really beg the point. A knife is a knife. The boy should learn the proper, safe handling of a real knife and the respect any tool deserves. Start with small, paring knife, demonstrate the safety circle, the passing , the carving with it. Remind them that this is the way workers treat the tool in foundries and garages. This is not a toy, you can be hurt by it. Treat it in a grown up way. Whittlin ' Chip is a "permission", gained after the Cub has demonstrated he knows how to treat the blade with respect and care. This grants "permission" to carry and use a pocket knife, with the parents OK, at a Cub Scout Activity. It does NOT give permission to take the knife to school, or to your buddy's house or anywhere else. Serious Business. A bar of Ivory makes a good transition and graduation project. I have seen some really credible cars and animals and things come out of an Ivory bar. When I teach Whittlin' Chip, I have a bag of small folding pocket knives I loan out for practice and soap carving. AND... you can bet that one of the best Boy Scout recruiting show is a Den Chief (or other Scout) doing the W/C demo for your Den! Your Cubs should see their adults dealing with blades in the same manner, at all times. The first time YOU fail to pass the knife correctly, or cut toward you rather than away, or not close the blade with an open palm, you better believe your Cub is going to tell you about it! There are lots of good W/C curricula on line. If you PM me, I can email you ours.

No, I don't know him "personally". I have known many home schoolers, and there are many different reasons why they and we chose to go that route. The MB programs lend themselves very easily to a school subject, as I noted before. We are , after all, only making suppositions about this particular situation. The parents (who are in charge of the "home school") decide the how and when and why of the childs tutalege. Maybe they used the MBs maybe not. But if their Scout decided to go the whole route, hey, let's get on that band wagon and use it to our advantage. Does the boy take music lessons? Play the trumpet? There's a MB for that. Is there a community actors company nearby? There's a MB for that. Does the local community college have some non-credit classes in, oh, I don't know, pottery, ceramics, sketching, auto mechanics, there's a MB for that. The home schooler uses the community as an extended classroom. Nothing is outside the realm of a lesson to be learned. As the HSer gets on in years and can exhibit some advanced knowledge, it is not unusual for the community college to allow the older high schooler to take the entry level courses, with or without scholastic credit. Does the parent "control his every breath"? No more or less than the other average parent, except that the HSer is much more connected to the parents and the rest of his family . They tend to know where their kid is and what he is doing moreso than many other parents. They assign and correct and praise and critique and guide more than the other average parent, who demonstrably leave alot of their kid's upbringing to others: nanny, teachers, soccercoach, SCOUTLEADERS...... So if the kid... ANY kid... decides to pursue the goal of earning each and every MB, I say more power to him. If he does less than the posted requirements and is passed on, I say that is not our look out. Maybe someone there knows about that , but we can only guess and , maybe, if we meet this Scout , we can get him into a conversation about the subject important to us. "Hey, I got that Aviation MB a long time ago! Did you have any trouble with the VFR guides?" and see what he does....

Folks, calm down......You're not hearing me.... This Merit Badge Maven WAS in school. The MBs were no doubt his curriculum. Depending on his personal family situation, (the parents arrange the tutorage, either they teach and assign or some other arrangement) a home schooler may be under the aegis of a "central academy" that gives justification and accreditation for his learning. This "academy" awards a state approved diploma. With very few exceptions, every MB can be given some academic credit. Name me a MB, I'll give you some academic credit for it. Scoutson went to Philmont and Seabase, wrote essays about his experiences (english, geography, natural history). Smallboat Sailing at Summer Camp? Used that for pieces of phys ed and physics.(force and simple machines, bouyancy, ) , Orienteering (magnetism, maps and geography, geometry), Physical Fitness (ditto), . True, Scoutson did not pursue all the MBs, but rest assured, them he earned , we used 'em for his schooling. He is now pursuing a certificate at the local Community College AND working AND paying his own tuition doing it. Many of his professors (i've met some of them) comment on how mature he behaves compared to some of his "normal" schooled colleagues of similar age.. A hundred MBs in 3 years? I might have spaced'em out a bit more, but , hey, it is possible. Did the parents become the MBCs? Maybe, but the allowing of THAT is not in question. Who would 've allowed that? Will the Scout remember much of the MB stuff? Do you remember much of your seventh grade history? Oh sure, I do remember and use alot of my Scout stuff and Scoutson has made note of that as we tie things on the cartop, or work around the house, or deal with an otherwise disagreeable neighbor. Maybe, just maybe..... this scout will claim some skill he learned at 14 , later on in life when needed.

"Because it is there." And "because I can".

Catapults. Minecraft.... Go to youtube and ask for "Trebuchet" and "Onager".and "ballista" Make a SMALLER version... set up wooden blocks, knock'em down. Do this OUTSIDE, in a big enough field.

"Sufficient lead time".... I ordered some special patches from a local embroidery shop, emailed them the design on a monday morning, recieved the recept an hour later, received the hundred patches in the us mail Friday later from a shop in Hong Kong.

It rained the last day. The last night. The morning of departure. Camp staffs were instructed to help the troops pack everything away in the pods, wet or dry, get'em in, as they had been packed originally. We were told the Jamboree had a "contractor" whose job was to take all the gear and refurbish/clean/repair anything and everything. If you bought it from BSA, and it was damaged when you opened it, return it and ask for a refund. There were occassions of tents being damaged by the Scout and the Scout being charged the price of the tent. Maybe that Scout took that tent home? I don't know... Alot of the hard gear (cook kits, stoves, etc.) were to be kept to make up the high adventure bases on Summit site. Tents, dining flys, they were to be "treated" and sold, that's what I heard when we asked about that. Send it back and get a refund.

Oh it's not so unbelievable. Takes some planning, some denial of other activities (tv, video games, dance lessons, ) and some effort at finding the proper MBC and time limits ("be the Troop Bugler for three months")..Home schoolers are like that. Chemistry MB is a middle school curriculum. Astronomy is a two week science curriculum. American Heritage is History lined up! If Scoutson had been more attentive to things, and mom and dad had been more pushy , he could have earned the Citizenship in the Nation in a week instead of two months...... I hope he finds (and deserves) the scholarship to the school of his choice. OR, invents the alternative to the internet.

Thank you. This will get passed on.....

????? What happened to the posting about the Miner Tent???? I came back here to referernce it and it's GONE!! It mentioned an american company that makes canvas historically accurate tents, what happened to that entry? I like the brit company (excuse me, Scottish company) and their products, but What Happened To the Other Entry????

"The million questions"... I assume they are from the Cub Parents. Here's where your dedication kicks in. If you don't know the answer, or don't want to make a "Command Decision", you can do one of three things (actually, you can do either of these even if you DO know the answer) :\ One) "I don't know. I'll find out and get right back to you." Two) " I don't know. What do you think? Maybe we can work together on that. Call me when you have an idea." or Three) "Hey, good question. I bet Jeff and Mary would like to work with you on that. Let's go talk to them.... Hey Jeff!"

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. " = Frederick Douglas=

Ha! It's the old "I didn't think adults talk to each other " thing, eh? Had the same surprise with my daughter when she was about 14.....

What is that old saying? .... You can lead a Cub to the museum, but you can't make him learn? No, that's not it.... Anyway, as I have learned in my subteaching and Cub Scouting, the best you can do is give them the opportunity. Sometimes, SOMETIMES, you hit the right docent or guide, and they make it fun and the kids come away saying "cool" and humming the song, so to speak. It will stick with some, slide off of some, make some think, make some go ho-hum. That's the luck of the draw. As to the boy whose dad is a "let boys be boys", I have sometimes had to get RIGHT DOWN IN THE BOY'S FACE and tell him how things will be. Then they listen. Later, the dad comes and says, "I don't know what you did, but he was different after that meeting"....

Must be related to that well known society commentator, Anna Notherting, who got her reporters training from the editorializing writer, Stella Lottaschist.

You can expect that any Eagle Application Review Person at Council will look at the overall report, see monies and "stuff" being bought and/or donated and ask " how was this done?" Things are tightening up all over. Check with your local District and Council Eagle BoR folks about the specifics they might want. I would suggest an addendum reporting that Johnny Scout handled no money, that discounts from merchants were negotiated for the project beneficiary's benefit, and that the beneficiary collected and handled all the "stuff". You can (truthfully) mention that Johnnny Scout helped in the discount negotiations, but that the beneficiary supplied the matrerials for the project to proceed. True? I know that Scoutson worked with his beneficiary (he would not have called them that, but never mind) and never bought or collected any materials. He just made sure the ben'ry obtained the supplies needed. This was reported in the Eagle Project book, hence, no fundraising form needed.