T2Eagle

Other than the requirements for a specific rank or for reporting in the Eagle paperwork we don't keep record of any individual scout's service hours, nor do we have any expectation that an individual scout would keep such a record. What does a district do if a scout arrives at their EBOR without a number or with a small number? What number would they consider small?

That's the way it's supposed to work.. I hope he serves another unit.

The other thread was mistitled. Instead of "Scouting Would Be So Much Better Without The Parents" it should read "Scouting Would Be So Much Better Without The Adults" I doubt many of his fellow scouts have any trouble seeing their troopmate as "Eagle Material."

We do planning during a December cabin weekend. We plan through the following February. Several of the more "experienced" of my fellow scouters almost needed a defibrillator the first time I told the scouts they were starting with a clean slate and just because we had "always" done something didn't mean we had to do it again or in the same way. That said, there are several campouts that always make it onto the calendar: we put on a joint weekend with our affiliated Cub Pack every year, we almost always have a Tenderfoot weekend in late April early May to get our newest scouts into the groove of patrol based tent camping, summer camp dates are adult dependent and we pick them more than a year in advance, and there is a parish member and supporter of the troop who invites us for a weekend at his farm every year. Even though we do seem to always include these trips I make the scouts vote them up or down so just they know it really is up to them. I ended up at University of Scouting class about Annual Program Planning where the instructor said he as SM sat down each year and put all the District and Council events plus all the traditional trips their troop took on the calendar and then let his scouts decide on maybe one trip a year. We had a vigorouos discussion about how that fit into a boy-led model; I wasn't really interested in trying to change his mind, but I thought the other participants could use a second opinion. Regrettably we are not very good at planning themes and weekly meeting topics that far ahead; for the most part we use the PLC to plan the meetings for the next month.

That's too bad for the boys in Bismark. Peregrinator posted another link in the Gates thread showing that the Bishop of Fargo is OK allowing the continuing of his Parishes' relationships. http://www.inforum.com/news/3809853-fargo-diocese-thanks-boy-scouts-stating-faith-based-organizations-can-pick-leaders Local option.

That's really unusual to require. Neither mine nor any other RC unit I've known would require it, nor do any of the schools I've been involved with.

I've told every kid I talked to about it that I was homesick too -- everyone is to some extent or another, but that needn't stop you from having fun while you're here.

Was your SM Frank Zappa?

Have you seen this thread? scouting-would-be-so-much-better-without-the-parents

You know that once a year when the news shows y'all driving y'all's pickups into each other for no apparent reason, snow (and it's close cousin ice) is the actual reason.

My scouts play many variations of flashlight tag, german spotlight, etc. Dark snowy woods are a blast!!

-10F, 10 inches of snow between lunch and dinner (two different trips). We always kind of hope for one or the other. I'd quibble with one or two small things in the posts but mostly good advice so far. The key is proper equipment and training, training, training before you go. One thing I have learned that I don't think has been mentioned is doing a pack check --- you need to see everyone's sleeping gear and clothing before you go, scouts and parents will ignore things like properly rated bags, sufficient boots, and no cotton clothing. The difference between a winter camp and other times is that improper equipment is a safety issue that you the adult have to be responsible for rather than just a hard learned lesson the scout is responsible for.

Sadly, I find that our troops don't reflect the ethnic make up of our towns. From Jamboree to summer camp to council and district events, to anyplace you want to name it appears to me that BSA is not reflective of the ethnic diversity that makes up America. BSA in fact disproportionately serves white youth. We all know that BSA does not include a proportionate number of black inner city youth, but no one serves those youth proportionately; that BSA cannot do better than the rest of our society there is unfortunate but not unexpected. My bigger concern is that BSA does not look even as diverse as our local middle class high schools --- not in the number of Asian-Americans, not, as Mashmaster noted, in the number of Indian-Americans, and not in the number of middle class African-Americans. I think at least part of this is our reliance on Churches as CORs, but I think there is more to it. For some reason those families and those boys do not see either the value and/or the welcome in scouting that we want them to. I don't know the answer, but I think the problem is us not them.

Good for your son, ridiculous on the part of the adult.

Why not Camping or Cooking? One idea might be to talk about a recent campout from one of the age groups, especially Cubs, then give all the details necessary for another Pack to tackle it. If no Packs have camped recently, which is probably true in my area, find a good place for them to camp and lay out a turn-key program for how they could pull the campout off. For Boy Scouts how about a round up of where Troops went last month. Some of the best discussions I've had with my scouts come from when one of them will see the cover of Boys' Life and say "why can't we do that?" The answer of course is we can if you're wiling to do the work. We've never managed the biggest trips we've seen, but we've pushed our program to do smaller versions of them.

That's fascinating, do their hold the same dismal view of their IT as many of us on the outside hold?

Since no one else mentioned it, I am posting the link for the National Catholic Committee on Scouting Response. http://www.nccs-bsa.org/pdf/letters/NCCS%20Statement-150727.pdf We Catholics seem to be OK with it. “The resolution also affirms the chartered organization’s right to select its unit leaders based on its religious principles, rejects any interference with that right, and provides that local Scout councils will not interfere with chartered organizations’ rights in this regard. It is not entirely clear how these rights will be squared with previous policy changes the Boy Scouts have made, or how they will work in practice, but it appears that the resolution respects the needs of Catholic chartered organizations in the right to choose leaders whose character and conduct are consistent with those of Catholic teaching." To me the most important part of the statement is in the concluding paragraph: “If you are like us, you joined Scouting to make a difference in the lives of others. Our youth don’t want to leave Scouting. Catholic Scouters like you are still very much needed. Let’s continue this important journey together and pray for the future of Scouting! Thank you for all you do to promote Scouting as Catholic youth ministry!â€

The memo is a bit long on assertions and short on legal analysis to back them up. Both the Catholic Church and the Mormon Church appear to be OK with the BSA legal position; if they're not worried then no one else should be.

Scouter99, For your Private Group do you have to monitor or, heaven forfend, "moderate" the posts your parents make? The last thing I want is either political messages or cat videos showing up in the troop feed.

The new name seems pretty lame. Couldn't they come up with something that had something to do with where they are?

Lepzid, Did the unit receive any information or communication. The language you use indicates a letter addressed to the applicant not the unit. Packsaddle, BSA uses a third part carrier or carriers. If someone in your unit gets hurt, contact your council office and they will send you the first of several mounds of paperwork to fill out. A very simplified explanation is that their insurance is usually secondary so they will cover what your own health care does not.

There should be a name on the bottom of the letter, either contact that person and ask for clarification or figure where that person reports on the food chain and ask them. The language you quoted is pretty harsh. I've never had an app turned down in my unit, but no one else here has ever mentioned language that strong when discussing other denials.

I do appreciate this forum and would ;ike to add my thanks to the moderators, I believe they do an excellent job.

I've found "bail and shop for a better venue" to be pretty solid advice an awful lot of the time, frankly especially when it comes to clients and bosses. When dealing with human beings the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior; you can and usually should try to work things out, but understand that often that's not really going to work very well, that's not to imply that either side is a bad person, but most people are pretty stuck in their ways. There are other companies to work for, other clients to get, other MBCs that will better help you achieve your goals.

The 12th point of the Scout Law: A scout is Reverent ... a scout respects the BELIEFS of others.