meyerc13

My son is so new to his Troop that I haven't figured out yet the complete picture on how they fund the program, so I'll answer in regards to the Pack I've worked with. The Pack serves some of the poorest schools in town, so we only started charging dues last fall and only $12 for the year (on top of the $24 national recharter fee and optional $12 Boys Life). This isn't a significant amount - not even enough to fully cover awards and rank badges, but we felt that people might value Scouting more if they had some money invested in the Pack. Our primary fundraiser was popcorn. As much a

I realize the original post is old, but the way I recommend handling it is similar to blw2. At the beginning of the year. Gather the Den and the parents. Explain that every parent and son team will get the chance to help lead one Adventure. Show them the Leader's Guide, so they know what to expect as far as their level of effort (almost everything is pre-planned, so they don't need to be an expert on a topic). Explain what you are looking for (perhaps help gathering supplies for the Den Meetings, help setting up prior to the meeting, help running games, arranging field trips, bringing sna

I think this is the heart of this debate. If you fill a room full of random Christians (Lutherans, Catholics... whatever) and ask them what they believe, you'll hear a lot of the same things. In fact, I suspect most of them would begin to wonder why their 'religion' is different from the others. If, on the other hand, you take a room full of religious scholars from those same denominations and ask the same sort of question, you'll have a debate about what is different between them. To the scholars, it is as clear as night and day why their interpretation is the correct one, while to the

I struggle with this topic. My Pack serves three economically disadvantaged schools. The sad truth is that, at two of them, so much time is spent on the basics (reading & math) that there isn't enough time for STEM. When Cub Scouts brings in Robotics and Forensics, the kids are at least as excited, if not more, than they are at the prospect of shooting BB Guns and Bow and Arrow (and they are *really* excited about those!). So why do I struggle? Because I too wonder if it belongs in Scouting. Exploring? It would definitely fit there. I know many Scouters who were involved in Expl

One of my instructors at Philmont is a history teacher who once upon a time was a member of a living history Explorer post, re-enacting Civil War battles. What she did back then would no longer be allowed today. I can understand why we wouldn't want the average Scout firing cannons, but a blanket ban prohibits even trained, certified, older Venturers/Explorers from safely doing an activity. I wonder what some of our ancestors would have said if they see how we overprotect our children today. Some of those ancestors, at the same age as our Boy Scouts, likely fought in the Civil War - fi

I'd agree with this based on my experience. Camps are all over the board when it comes to the Archery range. Some are excellent, but some camps do a very poor job of running their archery range. Last summer I attended a Webelos resident camp at a camp that does one session of Webelos and one session of Cubs at the end of their Boy Scout summer camp program. At one point I witnessed all of the range staff out looking for arrows on the range, while some Webelos were back at the firing line waiting for their next turn to shoot. Anyone see the problem with that? Well, I did. When I was a

Thanks for pointing this out. I really like the Incident Review sheets. I was at a Webelos camp last year during a thunderstorm and the camp staff told us to shelter in our tents. Having something like this to show them actual incident data proving this is a bad idea would have helped. As a Pack Trainer and Roundtable Commissioner I intend to use these to train the leaders I serve.

Again, I would argue are we better off now? My son took Cooking Merit Badge at summer camp this year. I asked what he cooked and he is telling me things like Grilled Cheese sandwiches. I asked which meals he cooked, breakfast, lunch, or dinner? He told me they did the cooking during the afternoon slot for his merit badge class. I remember when I took Cooking Merit badge at summer camp in the late mid to late 80's. We cooked our meals instead of going to the dining hall for those meals. I don't remember everything we cooked, but I know for a fact that on family night we cooked an enti

Our camps have Campmasters for weekends in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but I haven't seen them used for Summer Camp. We also have something called "Camp Engineers" (I think that's the name they use), which is for skilled volunteers (Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, etc.). Occasionally I've seen retirees volunteer at summer camp, they generally find a role for them but it may not be a paid position.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I actually agree with Stosh. As a Lutheran and a Scout, I've struggled with religion and Scouting for several years. I was baptized in what would now be an ELCA church (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and confirmed in a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) church. From K-12 I attended Missouri Synod Lutheran Schools. I became an Eagle Scout in the Troop chartered by that LCMS church. I was married by an ELCA pastor, my son was baptized ELCA, my daughter was baptized Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), I almost joined a W

I'd like to say that I'm surprised, but I'm not. In fact, had you attended my Roundtables last year, you probably wouldn't have learned too much in this regard either. However, this coming year will be a different story because I took a week of my summer and went to the Philmont Training Center. There I took the Effective Roundtables course, so now I've been educated on everything I've been doing wrong over the past year, and know what I'm supposed to be doing to do it the right way. If I were you, I'd highly encourage my Roundtable Commissioner to attend that course next summer (along wit

Great stuff so far... some of the posts jogged my memory of what I looked for with my son's search for a Troop: First, I definitely noted if the table was staffed by only Adults, or adults plus boys. One reason I'd like to eliminate some of the basic demographics is so that they Troops don't spend their whole hour answering the same 4-5 questions.. I'd rather they talk about their program, and by taking some of these questions and putting the answers on paper the boys will have more time to visit tables and see for themselves how the Troops are represented. One Troop, when I asked them a

Thanks for posting that. It's really interesting to see the old and the new side by side. It's also very sad. I think if you polled Scouts and Scouters, the vast majority would say the old requirements are the better ones. What's even sadder is counting the number of 'explain' and 'discuss' requirements, not to mention all of the paper shuffling requirements (written plan, duty roster, prepare a list...). I personally love lists, but I don't see how all of these things make you a better camper.

For several years now, our District has been holding a 'Meet the Boy Scout Troops' night, inviting Troops to setup a table to pitch their Troop, and inviting Webelos and their leaders to come and visit the Troops' tables. The goal is to increase our crossover rate from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. As my son and I visited Troops, I tended to focus my questions on the practical (day, time place, etc.) , while his questions were generally more to do with the Program and culture of the Troop. We have that same event coming up this fall, and I'd like to get the Troops to supply some answers

First off, welcome to the forum! 60-70 kids, wow! I wish you luck. The Pack I was Cubmaster for was half that size and it kept me busy. As a Roundtable Commissioner, my first duty is to invite you to attend Roundtable. There you should find local Cubmasters and other Cub Scout leaders who are there to share ideas and learn from each other. One great resource which surprisingly few Cubmasters know about is the Pack Meeting Plans: http://www.scouting.org/Home/CubScouts/Leaders/CubmasterResources/PackMeetingPlans.aspx These give you a theme, games, songs, and lots of useful mate

We have something called Bay Jammer in our Council: http://www.baylakesbsa.org/event/2016-bay-jammer/1893192 I know it is open to all types of venturing-age BSA units (Sea Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Exploring) plus Girl Scouts. I'm not sure if Civil Air Patrol and/or other non-BSA/GSUSA Scouting units would be invited/welcomed or not, that would be a good question for the event organizers.

This is not universal. Our Cub Scout Resident camp requires a 4:1 ratio of Cubs to adults, and for our Pack most parents attend, but we always have 1-2 boys who are there without a parent or other adult. The only exception is new Tiger Cubs who are starting 1st grade in the fall - they *must* be there with their 'adult partner."

I'm glad you like my idea. I know how I, as a Commissioner, would handle this situation, but part of me is nervous making the suggestion because I know that some Scouters are very opinionated about uniforms. I'd like to think that all Commissioners would be able to approach a uniform inspection in a friendly manner, but I know that isn't likely the case. You may want to speak to your Unit Commissioner and/or District Commissioner first, and outline what you are trying to do, and stress that you want this to be a friendly competition between the boys and adults, and you don't want any of the

The United States is pretty big, and while I've traveled thousands and thousands of miles I've only seen less than 1/3 of it. Most of my experience with Scout camps is from Wisconsin, but we have a lot of them. I'm sure camps in other parts of the country are very different (less forests, less lakes, etc.). Most of the camps in Wisconsin are as you describe, a lake, surrounded by forested land. Campsites are cut out of the forest, as are small 'program' areas. Most camps have Archery, BB Guns, Nature areas, Scoutcraft areas, trails... Boy Scout camps will also add things like ATV and M

The Latin Scot - you might be able to use this as an opportunity to educate the entire Pack about wearing the uniform correctly. Contact your Unit Commissioner and ask if he can do a Uniform Inspection for your Pack. Hopefully your Unit Commissioner understands that (From the Commissioner Fieldbook): He is supposed to do it in a "friendly [...] manner" It is supposed to be "a high-morale event" It is supposed to help "develop unit pride" Explain to the UC that you know that some of your leaders have issues with their uniform, and you'd like to use some gentle ribbing to educate them, but

I can't wait to see a picture, that flag sounds awesome! You've already mentioned den flags at the Arrow of Light level (and why not start the Scouting Adventure when they start Webelos?), but unfortunately other than that den flags aren't really a part of the new advancement system (and with the intensity of the new advancement requirements, most den meetings are fully given over toward working through the Adventures required for advancement). However, it makes a great project to do in those first few weeks of the school year, before your Pack holds its Fall Recruitment night. That's a gre

As a Cub Scout leader - I've found that 6-8 boys makes for a healthy den. I've had dens with 3-4 boys, but when one boy stops coming because of soccer and another moves out of town, now you've lost half the group. If you recruit another 2-3 boys, the new boys outnumber the original crew, and you are starting from scratch in building a group identity. Maybe one of the original boys doesn't like the dynamics of the new group, and he leaves and now you are down to 3-4 again... another stops coming because of basketball... and the vicious cycle continues. I've had dens with 10-12 boys,

Excellent post SSScout! While you'll get many opinions and pieces of useful advice on these forums, ultimately the conversation should be happening within the unit. Pose the question to the boys - Does a Chaplain's Aide need to modify how he prays to suit the needs of the unit? Why or why not? Let them hash it out and you'll come up with a much better answer than anything you'd find here - because it will be the answer best suited to your unit.

Welcome! It sounds like your Pack is lucky to have you volunteer for this role. It also sounds like your mom is worthy of the Silver Beaver (with 30 years in as a leader, I'm surprised she was never selected before!!). I would suggest also nominating her for the District Award of Merit. We had one Scouter receive both this year - they are handled by separate committees, and neither knew the other was approving him. Scouting needs more families like yours. I'm looking forward to more discussion down in the Cub Scouting section of the forum, so I'll see you there.

Why should this cost the BSA a thing? I've pointed this out before, but the BSA is horrible, absolutely horrible, at taking advantage of the skills that Scouters bring. I work in IT for a company at the top of the Fortune 500. I know several other Eagle Scouts in my department, which is only one small part of our IT operation. I know people in marketing, training, and almost every other career who are Scouters. Yet almost no part of the BSA takes advantage of the skills that these volunteers bring. It isn't happening at the national level, virtually never at the Council level, only occas