Trabucchi

Can anyone point me to some guidance on how to communicate with my troop to address the recent publication of this program or the others that will likely follow?  While it's easy to share good news, it's honest to share the bad news as well so it can be openly discussed.

Bob

Hi all,

I'm a new scoutmaster. In the troop, I have a boy who got life scout back in 2009. Did his 6 months of active service and his position of responsibility (with some "extra" projects to help him fullfill this) back in 2010. Has all his merit badges for eagle done. But during the last 2.5 years, he's pretty much been an absentee member. Hasn't held a position in those years, and has only been camping with us once in the 2.5 years. Old scoutmaster would occasionally give him a pep talk and he would show up occasionally. But the worst part, is that when he does come back, he volunteers to do things and has a track record of not showing up to deliver. Never apologies, nothing. His reputation is so bad the boys at the PLC meeting bad mouth him and hold him up as an example of what not to be.

Now it's 8 months until his 18th birthday. We heard that he went before the Eagle board and got his project approved. Old and new scoutmaster (me) have asked him to attend a meeting where I want to put him on some kind of reputation rebuilding plan. Local district officials tell me to address the problem now and give him a success path to make Eagle -- which I'm fine with doing. But if he ignores me, what recourse is there? Is requirement #2 my "final scoutmaster approval". Or do I have to sign it as long as he gives the required references? My head is all twisted around with this one.

Seeking sage advice.

Bob

Hi folks,

Looking for a new camping options for our trip to Lake George NY at the end of June. Suggestions? We've stayed before at a campground downtown, but looking for something new and outside of town.

Bob

Sorry to say it, but I think it's a disaster. Of the 5 troops in my city, 4 are hosted by churches (3 of them Catholic) because they see boy scouting as an extension of their own programs/ideals. Now? And I can hardly wait to see the new youth protection guidelines. :^0

BSA is a private organization and their right to keep their policies has been validated by the courts. They should stand firm. I'm sure those who feel strongly enough about it could start their own private leadership program as an alternative.

Sorry to say it, but I think it's a disaster. Of the 5 troops in my city, 4 are hosted by churches (3 of them Catholic) because they see boy scouting as an extension of their own programs/ideals. Now? And I can hardly wait to see the new youth protection guidelines. :^0

BSA is a private organization and their right to keep their policies has been validated by the courts. They should stand firm. I'm sure those who feel strongly enough about it could start their own private leadership program as an alternative.

I work in sales and it seems to me that the troops could do much better with popcorn if they follow the 101's of selling.

So here is a tip: find a counselor for the salesmanship merit badge and offer it to the troop in the summer. In completing the requirements, boys can be guided to develop sales plans that include coming up with sales territories and realizing the importance of being first to hit the street. It also gives them techniques that they can use to make sure they get repeat customers like making sure you attached a thank-you note to each box you deliver and handing out business cards to reassure customers that they will see you at delivery time.

Hi folks,

The boys in our scout troop voted today that they want to go to Alaska in 3 years time (June) from our home base here in Nashua NH. There are two boys who volunteered to be the boy leaders of the trip and they are very enthusiastic. I have been to Alaska so I volunteered to be the adult coordinator.

But Alaska is huge and I need some guidance. Any boy scout camps centrally located? Any previous trip plans anyone can share with me? I'd especially love to hear from troops in Alaska. One of the boy leaders was even suggesting with could campout with a troop from up there if possible.

I'm wide open at this point and in need of some suggestions.

Bob

Hi guys,

Like most things in scouting, there are varying opinions that I think all have valid points depending on the kind of troop you are in. The first year program has worked well for us. We have a dedicated ASM focused on successful transition of the new scout patrol (this has been my job for 3 years). The new scout patrol picks a patrol leader and the troop guide and troop instructor act as the primary educators.

The plan I developed is a simply a structured syllabus for the troop guide and instructor to follow so that they teach the boys topics that COULD help them advance (if they actually learn the material and come back at a later date to demonstrate their knowledge). It also serves to do some of that initial team/patrol building. They get to know each other and a few older boys guide them, tells them how to adjust to the new way of doing things as a patrol.

I don't think having a written transition/education plan is bad or micro managing. When I start a new job, I hope that someone has put themselves in the shoes of the newbie ahead of time and come up with a way to get me working effectively as fast as possible. That is what I think the original poster is looking for.

I'm the ASM of the new scout program in our troop. A few years ago (for one of my WoodBadge ticket items) I started to build this very thing out based upon some materials I found on the Internet. It has changed over the years and last year was the first time I had the older boys deliver ALL the sessions (some where great, some not so great). I dovetailed this into a merit badge by offering the public speaking merit badge in November and having the scouts that participate do a session as their final 8-10 minute speech.

Despite presenting all this material, many of the new scouts have the same transitional problem: They might see or some even might learn the material, but left up to them to "initiate" the signoff process by asking, they often assume like cub scouts that the leaders are somehow taking care of this. They soon figure out it is different.

i'm not sure how to attach a document here, so if you want a copy, send me an email and I''l gladly set you up.

Bob

Hi folks,

Our troop runs a TLT training each year for the boys that need training for their positions. One topic that seems to brush by all the scouts every year is the need for a patrols to consider having patrol meetings/activities outside the normal troop meetings. Anyone know of any games/activities that demonstrate the value of working in smaller groups (patrol) vs larger (troop) to demonstrate the value of the patrol method?

Bob

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I had no idea there was so much anti-popcorn sentiment out there.

We haven't used any incentives in the past (other than the lame cub-scout focused incentives that come with the popcorn program). And these don't really work. And I'm not sure how these will work either, but we want to try.

There is a core group of kids seem to do all the fundraising that benefits both themselves and the troop. The others just sit around with their parents handing out money for every trip but ignoring the fact that the troop is almost broke. Somehow I feel like there needs to be some benefit for the hard work of the core group....but isn't this a fact of life in any organization?

Bob

We are trying to come up with a new incentive program this year to motivate our boy scout troop to sell popcorn. Anyone have any sure fire prizes/motivators? For both individual and patrols?

We've toyed with ideas including:

- Best patrol gets the use of our best chuck box for a year

- Best patrol gets special trip where adults cook for them

- "Get out of a latrine duty FREE" card.

Any and all ideas appreciated!

Bob

We are trying to come up with a new incentive program this year to motivate our boy scout troop to sell popcorn. Anyone have any sure fire prizes/motivators? For both individual and patrols?

We've toyed with ideas including:

- Best patrol gets the use of our best chuck box for a year

- Best patrol gets special trip where adults cook for them

- "Get out of a latrine duty FREE" card.

Any and all ideas appreciated!

Bob

When I became pack committee chair a few years ago (I'm Cubmaster now) the first thing I did was invest in Packmaster .Net. The reasons:

1. Consistent communications - email blasts to stale email lists meant that new parents often missed out on the happenings. Now everyone uses the totally current list (we send out packgrams this way too)

2. Advancements - den leaders are responsible for entering into the DB. The advancement person just prints are report a week before the pack meeting and heads to store. No more chasing people around for awards and advancement person doesn't listen to complaints.

3. Rechartering - with a current DB, one person can recharter in an hour and knows at a glance who is in each den and who has dropped out. You don't pay for extra scouts (we have 55 boys).

4. Event attendance - part of quality unit is knowing how much scout participation you have. Packmaster allows each den leader to enter event attendance info for their dens.

I'm a huge fan of packmaster and talk it up when I can to others.

Bob Trabucchi

Cubmaster of Pack 253, Nashua NH

Oy!

I find these stories all too common and disturbing. All these rules are detailed in even the most basic training materials and even in the scout handbooks.

This summer I met a guy from NJ at family adventure camp in NH. He told me the CM of his Pack promotes kids to the next rank as soon as they earn their previous badge of rank. Example: Your in second grade and earn your Wolf badge. That same meeting, you become a bear scout. He argued the point with the CM and the guy just ignored him.

What's the biggest problem in scouting today? Inconsistent program delivery is killing us!

Bob

Hi Dan,

Your ideas are just as good as mine: you have to do whatever works for your pack. I like the door prize idea.

The key here that I forgot to mention is getting the den leaders involved. I have them all arrive 15 minutes early now, so they are there ready to greet and control their dens (this means I have to arrive about 1/2 hour early). When they arrive, each checks a "mailbox" I setup for them, in which they find a packet of materials they will need to support me that night. It typically includes a pad of paper, pencils, a bag of beads, and all the materials their den will need to do the activity that night. When I begin verbally giving out beads, the den leaders actually hand them out to their dens while I continue the meeting. When the activity begins, each den leader takes his/her group off to a corner and do the craft in peace.

And yes, at the first meeting, I pass out the cloth bags and as an activity, the kids decorate/personlize them with fabic markers. Once they are done with them, they hand them on their belts or keep them in their pockets. As they collect beads, they keep them in their bags, which they have to remember each week. I would suggest not running the program all year, but do it in 2 half year segments. As prizes last year, I made hiking sticks for 1-5 place and plexiglass neckerchief slides for the 5-10th place finishers. They loved them.

Bob

Dan,

Luckily, I was able to recruit two asst. cubmasters and this 3-person team works together to bring our pack meetings together. First thing we did to change the meetings was to refocus the meetings on being for the scouts, not the parents. This means adding games, transitional songs, den sharing times, and actually having a written meeting agenda that we follow to prevent the meeting from never ending. I've included a sample agenda from last year. It also means communicating more with parents before the meeting so they don't need to pack meeting anymore as a meeting for them -- get them to come to a montly PARENTS meeting.

I also introduced a bead reward system to reward the kids who always show up on time, are sitting when the meeting begins (easy if you have a gathering activity going on) and wear a complete uniform. I also handed out beads at pack events for those who attended. At the first pack meeting I ran, each boy got a 4"X5" cloth bag that I called a "medicine bag". They decorated the bags as an activity at the first meeting. Like native american boys, the medicine bags would be used to collect special items of significance to them: namely beads that I handed out at each meeting for positive behavior. They were responsible for keeping track of their bags for 4 months. At the June crossover, I handed out special awards to those who turned in their bags and who had the most beads. Important: I didn't pass out the beads during the meeting. The den leaders each carry a bag of beads and as I announce who gets what, they pass them out while I continue the show!

Good luck and remember....be prepared!

Bob

Pack 253 April Pack Sample Meeting Agenda

6:30 p.m. Meeting Setup (Den 1) setup seating, flag stand, flags etc.

6:35 p.m. Gathering Activity Recyclable / Non-recyclable Quiz

6:45 p.m. All Scouts/Den leaders seated and awarded for on-time attendance

6:46 p.m. Mr. Bob's Pack Event Bead Awards (den leaders passout beads)

6:48 p.m. Flag Ceremony (Den 1)

6:50 p.m. Opening Ceremony (Den 1)

6:54 p.m. Thank Opening Den with Stamp of Approval or Seal of Approval

6:55 p.m. Optional Individual Den Sharing Time

- Den 8

7:00 p.m. MC (Mr. Bob) Introduces Activity period

7:02 p.m. Fun Activity period -- Advancement Clothespins

7:10 p.m. Announcement closes the Activity period (warning: 2 minute to play in the period)

7:11 p.m. Run on Advancement Time Gag

7:12 p.m. Advancement Ceremony (Janet and Tina)

7:21 p.m. Invited Boy Scouts teach show-us-your-chicken song

7:22 p.m. MC (Mr. Bob) Introduces Game period

7:24 p.m. Game period -- Balloon Stampede

7:47 p.m. Song introduces Announcements

7:48 p.m. Announcements

- USS Salem

- Good Turn

7:55 p.m. Cubmaster Minute

7:56 p.m. Closing Ceremony (Den 2)

8:00 p.m. Meeting Cleanup (Den 2)

Hi all,

I became cubmaster of our 45 scout pack last March, and the 1st thing I did was the reorganize our pack meetings so that they were more of a show vs a meeting. I now include a "build something cool" period and a game period during each meeting and the boys and parents have reacted very positively to the changes.

For example, at our last pack meeting in Pack meeting in June, the boys built small rockets out of old film canisters(using alka seltzer for propellant) and then the game was to take them outside an launch them at a target area.

Now September is comng an I'm looking for some similar cool ideas from those of you with more experience. Any past or present cubmasters who care to share an idea for a pack meeting with me that was a really over-the-top and memorable? I've toured the standard web sites and have a few ideas, but being that this is the first meeting of the new year and we are bound to have new scouts there, I want to go above the norm if I can.

Bob Trabucchi

Cubmaster Pack 253 Nashua NH