T78Scoutmaster

I concur with BrentAllen. We started a troop one year ago (Nov 07) with 7 and now have 17. It was a lot easier with 7, but has been more rewarding with the larger group because we've had no choice but to force the boys to use the patrol method.

It's exciting to see the Scouts get more involved in the planning. They are very adventurous. We have a wilderness survival campout in Dec, a snow campout in Feb, and they voted to go to Boundary Waters next Aug.

Enjoy the ride.

We are a new troop (Nov 07) and were not planning on conducting OA elections this year until we had two boys complete First Class in May and also met the camping requirements. We didn't know who to contact for OA elections so we ended up asking the summer camp OA rep to conduct the elections for us.

The OA rep showed the video and explained the process. Two boys abstained from voting. Voting was conducted by having the boys bow their heads, close their eyes, and raise/not raised their hands after each name. After voting only one of the two eligible Scouts was elected. Both boys are 12 y/o and competent in camping and Scoutcraft. One is slightly more obnoxious (gregarious?) than the other and he is the one not elected.

After getting home from summer camp, one of my Scouts mentioned he had asked one of the Scouts who abstained from voting why he did so. He replied that he didn't want to choose between the two candidates. This leads me to believe there might have been some confusion with other boys as well. If they felt they were choosing between the two candidates rather than validating each boy separately for OA membership, then the election results make more sense.

I wrote the camp OA rep to explain my concerns. Here is his response: "Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done this year. the election is complete and the other boy is already called out. The only thing we can do is try to make them understand better at next years election."

Is there really nothing that can be done at this point? It seems like a travesty of justice if one boy was passed over because of a simple misunderstanding by those voting.

Beavah,

Another technique would be:

Training. Our committee learned a lot about acceptable questions for BORs by attending the University of Scouting course. We're helping our BORs by writing up sample questions for each rank that members can pull from.

Of course you can always wait and post your concern at the Scouter Network for views from both sides of the discussion. You may not get concensus, but you'll certainly get a lot of strong opinions. ;-)

I guess I'm a little sensitive to EBOR questions because I was asked a question in my EBOR eons ago that I thought I answered well. When called back in the gentleman who asked the question said I was wrong about my answer and did it in a way that shook me to my core. The board still approved me as Eagle Scout. I've carried the gentleman's answer with me over 30 years later. I realized several years after the EBOR that the gentleman was right, but at the time I was traumatized.

Along a corollary theme, what would you say if your boss or someone else in authority asked who you were going to vote for this year? And that it was tied to a promotion or raise? I know it's slightly out of context given that Scouts must understand citizenship and our jobs may not have that requirement.

I think our EBOR of the young man handled it well because they did not critique his particular answer; we discussed privately that he had put some thought into his answer. If any adult had critiqued his answer or had the answer sway his decision, then I would have supported the young man in an appeal.

Religion, politics, and family are always dangerous topics, but it is refreshing to know the Scouting program is building Scouts who are able to handle tough questions and answer with confidence.

Thanks again for all the great responses.

Bob White,

Yes, I would.

Thanks

Great replies, thank you! Beavah hit it on the head when he mentioned they are discussing it at school; the Eagle candidate brought that up as part of his answer. I feel better knowing this is an acceptable question to ask.

I participated in my first Eagle Board of Review and it went about like I expected with one exception. The last question posed to our first Eagle candidate, because he was close to turning 18 y/o, was who would he vote for in the November general election and why?

I was a little shocked that someone would ask a political question. The young man answered the question easily and supported his choice, but I was still a bit taken aback.

Is this typical?

I just started a new troop in Nov 07 with 7 boys, all but one 11-13 y/o. We have been blessed because we started with an Eagle Scout (17), who was willing to give back to the young guys. We also have a very gung-ho committee of adults, who have had no previous experience with Scouting. Six months later we have 15 scouts, 8 committee members, 3 ASMs, and me. We are ready to make a second patrol. I am a little shocked at our growth and would like some guidance on how to really get my PLC working together to plan their events. Particularly, what kinds of things do I need to train them on, encourage them in to prepare the troop for summer camp?

I am really trying to get to a boy-led troop. The SPL, ASPL, PL, and APL are trying but they are leading in a vacuum since they haven't seen boy-leadership demonstrated before. How can I help them?

I remember my time as SPL, but that was over 30 years ago. This is my first time back in Scouting since 1978.

Thanks,

T78Scoutmaster

I just started a new troop in Nov 07 with 7 boys, all but one 11-13 y/o. We have been blessed because we started with an Eagle Scout (17), who was willing to give back to the young guys. We also have a very gung-ho committee of adults, who have had no previous experience with Scouting. Six months later we have 15 scouts, 8 committee members, 3 ASMs, and me. We are ready to make a second patrol. I am a little shocked at our growth and would like some guidance on how to really get my PLC working together to plan their events. Particularly, what kinds of things do I need to train them on, encourage them in to prepare the troop for summer camp?

I am really trying to get to a boy-led troop. The SPL, ASPL, PL, and APL are trying but they are leading in a vacuum since they haven't seen boy-leadership demonstrated before. How can I help them?

I remember my time as SPL, but that was over 30 years ago. This is my first time back in Scouting since 1978.

Thanks,

T78Scoutmaster