tcherven

I recently became a member of a sub-committee, and at our first meeting, there was a lot of discussion, but not any direction. I interrupted the discussions, and started applying skills I learned from Wood Badge. It helped the group really define exactly what we wanted to accomplish, and how we were going to get there. I'm currently a committee member, but there are changes coming. I'm going to be the Leadership Training and Development coordinator. I'm planning to impart some of the Wood Badge knowledge I received to the PLC and other scout (and adult) leaders. I found Wood

#13 Religious Emblems Award Silver knot on Purple background with purple border.

Congratulations. Have you been given the Wood Badge warning? Somewhere along the way, they forgot to give me mine, and I''m finding myself creating vision and goal statements. Well, it does come in handy. Especially when you''re in a big project and no one else thought of it. Wait a minute. Ummm, never mind - forget the warning. Just remember the congratulations. Tom C C-44-06 Fox(This message has been edited by tcherven)

This would make a great Scoutmaster Minute. Wonderful story. Excuse me a second, I need to get a tissue.

Using your logic, that would make me TigerTenderfootdad. Congratulations. It''s always fun to share successes of our sons and daughters. All the best.

I knew I came to the right place. My Wood Badge patrol mates had some things for me to think about, as does everyone here. When I look back to my cubmaster days, I was starting to feel burned out in my fourth year. I think now that it was because our parent volunteer base was small, and I picked up the missing pieces. I was the den leader, cubmaster, popcorn kernal, advancement chair, webmaster, and the push behind the committee chair. Not the case with this troop or pack. (The troop and affiliated pack - new for us - is at our church. The old pack was at a school). There i

Well, it''s nice to know I''ve been doing some things right. The first group of people I approached for feedback was my Wood Badge patrol. I''ve already received emails from most of them - 2 of them were in Troop leadership positions when we went through the course. The situation is actually quite simple: The current Scoutmaster has been in the position for 3 years, and is now in the process of starting a new business. That''s a venture that takes a lot of effort and time. He feels he cannot contribute to the troop as he should, and so has stepped down. The previous Scoutmaster,

I''ve been with my older son''s troop for 6 months as a committee member, 4 as secretary. Today, I had the committee chair approach me and ask if I wanted to be the Scoutmaster. The fact that I''ve been through Wood Badge influenced him in that decision. He thinks I would be an asset to the troop, especially since I did not come from the affiliated pack. He figures it puts me outside any cliques that have developed. The troop is moving to Boy Lead, but he wants someone who can really help it along. I''ve also become the Tiger Den Leader for my younger son, but I do have a c

This was mentioned in one of the previous posts, but needs to be brought out again. Perhaps there is too much going on, and too many stimuli for this boy. Maybe den meetings for him would be better if it was only his den in the room. Pack meetings - that''s a tougher nut. Again, the key here would be to keep things moving, and switching the focus every few minutes.

You certainly do have an insteresting situation. The advice offered here has always been good, well thought out, and in most cases, appropriate. Here's a slightly different approach, that might encourage some dialog between you and the cubmaster. As you plan your den meeting, invite the cubmaster to lead one of the activities. You could even give him a choice of which activity to lead. When you approach him, let him know the goal of the meeting, the goal of the activity, and how it will ultimately help the boys in their scouting journey. (It wouldn't hurt to let him know

I don't know if I can count that high. I, too, am fortunate to be within 2 blocks of a great public library - and I visit it about once every 10 days. I read on my lunch hour (which has extended over an hour on occasion). Depending on the book, I'll finish between 3 and 5 days - some shorter, some longer. I also try and find time at home to read as well. I have been known to have 3 books "in progress" at the same time. I read most genre. My favorites being Science Fiction and Historical Fiction, but mysteries, romance, and other types have been found in my hands. In the las

I would like to echo what some of the others have said. My old pack and 2 others created a "Pinewood Derby Cooperative". My pack had the equipment, but had never tried to get our timer to work. One of the other leaders had his pack buy the software and got it to work for us. Something like this is a good idea - you can pool resources, and each pack can add something. Create a "Pinewood Derby" kit. Include flags, decorations, and the other stuff to make it fun. Another option that several packs in our area do, is to hire someone else to come in and run their pinewood derby. That

"Bring a smile, good attitude, willingness to learn and creativity. Gonzo1 SR-59 " And just as important, be ready to make new friends with scouters from all over your area. You'll also have the opportunity to learn more about other's ideas. Oh - and be prepared to have fun. And if you don't become a FOX, you'll still learn a lot. Tom C Fox C-44-06 (This message has been edited by tcherven)

Im in Northern Star Council, which is headquartered in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The council includes 21 counties across central Minnesota (to the South Dakota Border) and includes four counties in western Wisconsin. There are over 113,000 scouts in the council. There are eight camp properties owned by the council. Fred C Anderson Scout Camp 260 acres Cub Scout day camp: 14 sessions, about 50 scouts per session 700 scouts total Phillippo Scout Reservation 450 acres Cub Scout resident camp (Camp Akela): 10 sessions, about 223 scouts per session 2230 total Additiona

and tents. You can't forget tents. BSA regulations require that all tents be marked with "No Flames in Tents". And don't forget the 53 who tell everyone to switch to the new compact flourescents because the use less energy. Which will cause another 27 to chime in that the compact bulbs contain hazardous materials and can't be thrown in the trash, so the energy being saved is negated by the necessity of hazardous waste disposal.

Check out our troop website: www.mytroop626.com The software and hosting is free; the unit needs to register the domain name. Here's the link to the scouting page of the company that provides the software and hosting: http://decisiondesign.com/decisiondesign/scouts.asp Enjoy.

This is an interesting discussion. When I read LongHaul's post, both my sons fit, as well as one of my nephews. (My nephew dropped out of High School, and later earned his GED - finished the GED test in less than 1/2 the time considered normal and scored 100%.) I'm fortunate that my school district has Gifted/Talented services, thought at most schools, it is one hour one day a week. In addition to having the Gifted/Talented services, however, the district also has a Gifted/Talented School. This is a public school and I don't need to pay anything extra for my older son to go to it.

I have heard (from the voyageur camp near Grand Portage, MN) that the trappers used to sing as a way to paddle in rhythm, with each other, and in general.

Here is a great website resource. I have used them for both pack and troop sites. The software and hosting are free, yes FREE. (No - I do not work for them - I think they have a great product.) The unit is responsible for creating and registering a domain name. As far as course content: I would discuss policies about names, addresses, locations, etc. I would also discuss appropriate content, having the unit decide on their vision for the website i.e. what purpose to they want the website to serve. OK - here's the link I promised: http://decisiondesign.com/decisiondesig

I don't have a full ceremony, but I can let you know what we did. When I was the cubmaster for the pack, I first acknowledged the Webelos I and "graduated" them to Webelos II. I then had them change seats to where the Webelos II used to sit. I then called the bears and had them line up. The new Webelos II then changed their neckerchiefs. The graduating Bears (now Webelos I) then sat in the spot where the Webelos I sit. Next came the graduating Wolves and finally the Tigers. Each group had the year ahead of them change the neckerchief. I have also had parents remove n

First - welcome to the forums. This is a fantastic place to share ideas. Second - If your troop can pay for all your upcoming scoutmaster's tuition - do it. My pack paid my entire tuition as it would have been a bit difficult for me to do so at the time. So - when I was writing my ticket, I made sure that the majority of the ticket items supported the pack. I also know in our area that scholarships were also available to those wanting to attend. Another option would be for the troop to cover a portion of the cost for each person. Maybe you could cover more (or all) of the

I just finished being on a staff for the first time. I was part of a BALOO and OWLS course. (I had been asked to be on staff for the same course last fall, but was unavailable) I'm not sure what made the weekend so great - it had to be a combination of everything: being outside, camping, fellowship, and being with like-minded people who have similar values. The course participants were a great group of people - some of them were downright hilarious. We had placed them into three groups, and each group seemed to get along very well with each other. And the groups did the requisite po

Well - since the Owls haven't chimed in yet, I used to be a FOX, and a Good Old FOX too, But now I've finished FOXing and I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble, and I can FOX no more! So I'm going to work my ticket if I can! Back to Gilwell, Happy Land, I'm going to work my ticket if I can!

Well, as a FOX, I know I need to wait for the Bobwhites and the Eagles. This thread sure didn't move much from Friday.

This sounds like it will be a lot of fun. Being in Minnesota, it would be a little far for our troop to travel. We have something similar coming up in June, 2007. The Ripley Rendezvous is expected to draw over 12,000 scouts from a five state area - MN, SD, ND, IA, WI. I think it's a great idea to gather scouts from many different areas - the Regional get togethers are more realistic than a National or International jamboree for most of the boys. Thanks for posting - I hope you have a good time.