Chisos

Ah, I see where you're coming from. We've had a bit of that issue too. What I meant was that if you have "extra" adults around make them sign up for some sort of adult training at camp, so they'll be out of the way. If you keep them busy for a few days, and they see the boys are ok on their own. But that could also work, who ever's the best trained gets to go. If it's a transportation issue, you can take the adults required to get t here. Tell other that want to go, they are welcome, but they're responsible for their own camp fee and transportation. It's a balance...that dad of

Hmmm...good questions. Unless it's a high adventure type of thing we wouldn't limit parents who want to go. If your troop usually pays the camp fees for adults, maybe put a limit on that...make it only for parents who are active the rest of the year. If you're worried about "helicopters," make them sign up for adult training (IOLS or something). If it's really a space/numbers issue, take the registered leaders (SM/ASM's) that you need to get there and back, and then maybe base the rest of who's been active with the troop (driving to other campouts, etc.). Remember starting next sum

Is this for summer camp, or a regular campout?

And we will--if my CO and Pack parents (and eventually Troop parents) want program that includes girls, that's what will be provided. We'll just have to make it work the the youth and adult participation that we get, and how we make it happen in practice may not be exactly how it looks on paper.

Right. But do we really have a "den" for the 1-2 girls per grade that want to participate? There might be two dens on paper but they're going to be doing all the same stuff all the time. We could. But I expect many will be sisters of the boys already in the program. So that doesn't really do much for making it more "accessible". I could see a workable setup where Lions-Bears was coed. Then separate boys and girls dens for Webelos that had both 4th and 5th graders. But that's not the program...

Yes--from how it reads Packs that want to stay boy-only can. What I want to know how to handle is this. We're a one den per grade pack, 4-8 boys per den. We might get 1-2 girls interested at each grade level. How are supposed to implement that?

There is probably a district or council level "Eagle Coordinator" that could best tell you how they do it in your council--you are correct, how the boards are selected is council-dependent.

Agreed with @@Eagle94-A1. There is such a diversity of experience at the Pack level with respect to camping skills that you've just got to start somewhere. When I took BALOO I didn't learn any skills...I already knew how to build a fire, pitch a tent, make a foil dinner, etc. But there were several in my group that did not. The trainers did a good job of identifying those that had some skills and paired us up with those who didn't. What I did get out of it was some good discussion and thinking about the logistics of issues with taking a big group of families on a campout...that was not s

You don't need more activities to fill the time. Have one, maybe two, planned activities for each den. Get the DL's plus a couple of other parents to run them. Spend the rest of the time having fun, playing zombie tag, making smores, etc. We used to plan cub campouts with round-robin activities to take up the whole day. All the dens rotated through "stations" to do stuff. But, it usually went off the rails. Some things took too long, or something didn't get finished, or whatever. Just keep it simple and make it fun. Be sure to think about when it gets dark, relative to when y

Yeah, I'd be kind of bummed if I was on staff and got offered pop tarts! Staff could eat with a troop's adults--we always eat good. Or, make it part of the camporee competition--don't surprise the patrols, tell them they'll be having some "guests" who will be scoring their cooking.

I agree the leadership stuff doesn't come until later--I should have been more clear on that. But, leadership development is not a method for Cub Scouts. I also agree that the teamwork required to field a sports team, and all the support it entails, is similar to what you see with a Scout Troop. So there's a lot of parallels there. I guess the difference I'm trying to get at, is that in Scouts the youth have an opportunity to define their own vision and get others to buy in to it, and make it happen. Maybe I'm off base (no pun intended!) but in sports the vision is pretty much alrea

Depending on how many staff you have, maybe ask the various Troops "host" them for meals?

sst3rd, I'm not trying to doubt what you were told, but until I hear something official I think we'll keep on carryin' on. Did whoever provided this bit of information give a reference or source?

I can see how youth sports develops character...teamwork, focus, setting and achieving goals, respect, overcoming adversity (especially if you team's not that good!) I think where Scouts is different is in the opportunity to develop leadership...there are plenty of opportunities through a Scouting career for a scout to define a vision and lead other to fulfilling it.

Oy. Worrying about rules on something that's supposed to be fun. The rule is this: You can use what's in the box. You don't have to use it all, but you can't add anything to it. Don't let "rules" squelch creativity. I think sometimes the complaints along the lines of "that's not fair" are more about "that works better, and I didn't think about it."

This I think is a good point. We often have a plan on what skill to work on at a troop meeting, but then due do either lack of preparation or communication it devolves into "reading it from the book". It's a problem we've identified and are working on, so hopefully it'll get better. But what it needs is preparation on the part of the scouts if it's going to be "scout-led" instruction. We as leaders often joke about how it's supposed to be "an hour a week" (knowing it's not). I think many boys think that too...Scouts is an "hour a week". We're working on (Effort + Time) = Preparation; Pre

Agreed with this. Just about everything targeted to youth say they "teach leadership" but none do so in the way the BSA does (assuming, of course, the program is being run correctly).

So, we do boy talks, send home flyers, and have a recruitment night. We've done ok with them in the past, so I don't know what happened this year...maybe it was just a bad date choice, who knows. This year's was a flop. In the past we've tried recruiting meeting/activities, and those seem to work better for us. Especially when they involve free food and games. I do think the current model (boy talk/flyers/school night) is outdated. Parents seem to either prefer or need some other (electronic) means of getting information.

They're going to have to put the ball in the parents' court. If mom is ok with her daughter going on a campout with only male adults, that'll be her call. If not, either keep your kid home, or step up and go.

I've seen you saying it too and I agree this is going to be a problem. I expect there will be a YP change that says each scout has to have a leader that is either the same gender, or a parent. (adding a "if a parent goes its ok" exception)

I couldn't find it in IA, thought it might be in the Awards section (like BSA Lifeguard, Snorkeling BSA, stuff like that). In my.scouting.org I can go to Add Training and find it, but only add it to Adult profiles (which of course doesn't make any sense). I guess if it's to be recorded anywhere the registrar will have to do it. It's not a big deal for me, just if one of them wants to go on and to NYLT it is the pre-req. But maybe that's just verified by the Scoutmaster or something.

Are ILST completions recorded somewhere? I couldn't find anywhere to put it in Internet Advancement.

This pretty much sums it up for me, too. But, that being said, if co-ed/integrated/whatever is what the parents at my CO want, that's probably what we'll do. We'll find a way to make it work, and continue to provide a great Scouting experience for the boys (and girls, I suppose).

I've often compared this to the ability to order a pizza online, rather than call it in. Problems are rare to nonexistent if I do it myself.

I'm guessing you're asking for which POR's can you have more than one scout at a time...I'd say, Troop Guide, Den Chief, Instructor. As you said, each patrol has its own PL.