Krampus

I try to nip this problem in the bud buy suggesting leadership positions that meet the boy's leadership style. He takes notes during the SMC and as part of the next steps he looks at various positions, of which several I recommend that will fit his abilities. My own scout is not an SPL type, but he's a helluva instructor. Best we've ever had. Not the kid that will lead a troop but can lead a group of new scouts on a 5 mile orienteering course no problem. Situational leadership. Good ideas. Two SPLs ago the guy ran on the platform that meetings would be fun. They were mostly games

My guys got tired of seeing some guys get credit for no work while they busted their hump; or watching some guy take a 4 year break between Life and Eagle, then come back and expect to get signed off on verything (POR and active level not met in those years), so they decided to take action. The adults were on the sidelines. In fact, the SM at the time tried to stop them until he was reminded it was Boy Scouts. Control freaks go both ways.

But this is not paperwork really, is it? And let's be real, this does not take more than 30 mins to put together. It documents how the meeting will be run. It allows the PL to have a document to point to and share with his APL in case he's sick and cannot make the meeting. It forces them to think through how something will be taught. The process of thinking through such activities helps them handle all other aspects of Scouting. Are we really so adverse to planning a meeting that we want to allow the boys to wing it? What about all the planning and documentation you need to do for the MBs

\They can change nearly anything anytime they want. They don't want to. They want a way to measure if Tommy is doing his job. The policy gives them the quantitative way to do that. The Scribe takes attendance at PLC, the Patrol Scribes take patrol attendance all other times, and the boys manage the process. the adults rarely get involved. Maybe in some troops. In ours the boys know the expectation and manage to it. PLs will notice when someone is not attending and call them to remind them. Any scout who does not make the 50% (few in number) always have the alternate litmus test for "acti

Exactly what the SPL said to a degree. This exercise is to find out HOW to make that (turn paperwork in to adventure) happen.

@@David CO, if you read the thread you'd see here just how dishonest the CC and others were being. They have a meeting without @@Renax127? They don't take him aside and have a talk as to why he is not being made SM? If that's honest I'd hate to see your definition of dishonest.

They need to register for the new position (fill out a new application), then you can make the change. I don't think changing someone from "troop committee" to "scoutmaster"bean be done online until after recharter. I may be wrong but I've never seen this done.

See the GTA section I noted. That has been in the GTA for a while now. Don't recall when it was put in but it has been a few years at least. @@Stosh, in my area I think most of the kids are brainwashed to think being elected/appointed equals credit. When the boys decided to change that, who was I to stand in their way. I checked to see if the policy was legal, cited the sources and let them have at it. I think this is also how the system is supposed to work.

With the cost of cloud computing these days it is surprising any company insists on building systems like they did in 1998. It used to be Amazon was not very good about if a disaster happened to systems they hosted. They used to say, "Oh, problem? We will see what we can do but if we can't fix it, then too bad." In the last few years even they realize offering disaster recovery for data is what customer wants. See Minecraft example. BSA's approach to online systems is archaic at best. Their applications are antiquated and the systems on which they sit are s-l-o-w. Back ups? To paraphrase B

@@David CO, his comments seem to indicate he wanted the role to change things. Not given the chance, and the dishonesty with which the situation was handled (and their position on boy-led/PM), led him to make the decision. Doubt he would have stuck around given all this and his comments about the adult leaders. He was trying to help, they didn't want his vision so the went another direction.

@@qwazse, good points. A few things to note: The SPL runs PLC to make assignments and flesh out the calendar. The "homework" is to have the PLs and their patrol get together and put the meat on the bones, or plan out the meetings in detail. To his credit, the SPL is thinking on changing that process and forcing the patrols to have a "break out" session and not leave PLC until the meeting plans are done...at least in draft. Forms are posted online but the expectation is that the PLs download, print and use paper. The pdf files are to make it easier and more accessible to use the planning a

Nope, in north Texas. Krampus is known in the German parts of the state by those of German decent. The Krampus parade (or Krampus Night) is usually the first Saturday in December or on St. Nikolaus Day. If you ever are in Europe during that time head to Bavaria or Tirol in Austria. You will see the parade. Tons of fun.

Bring to mind this old Far Side strip. Should add a fifth panel about Scouters not drinking coffee.

Exactly! We were experiencing the same issue. Having put in these changes (defining level of expected activity, holding PORs responsible for actual outcomes vis-a-vie participation) has helped to make the older scouts (10th-12th) more active. It has also avoided the unpleasant discussions after the fact that a scout was not getting credit for his POR. As SM we review each leader's status monthly (6 month election cycle) so they know each month if they need to kick it up a notch or not.

Love this. Sharing an email from my SPL who, believe it or not, asked me to "get ideas" from other adults about how to motivate scouts. Hope his request is clear. He wants troop meetings to be fun and to make it worth the boys' time to attend. Poor planning recently has lead to some confusion at meetings. He knows that poor planning can lead to boring meetings and a drop in attendance, hence his note. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions will be sent back to him for consideration. Thanks!

@@Renax127 do you know about beascout.org? You can put in your zip and it will give you all units around you Google Maps style.

@@JoeBob, know it well. Cousin does with the Black Horse Shootists.

@@fred johnson first defining what active means at the unit level is not a waste of time or extra road block. It's actually called out in the GTA. As for PORs, my unit has each leader write up what they will accomplish as leaders. Something measurable. If they aren't active how can they get credit for leadership? There's a difference between doing something with your POR (i.e. Showing up) and just getting elected/appointed. In my scenario it was the Scouts who felt he didn't deserve Eagle. The adults watched as the Scouts took action. That's how the system is supposed to work...and i

Our PLC addressed this a few years back when one guy made Eagle but had done nothing but pay dues every year since making Life (4 years earlier). They asked me to do the homework and report back to the PLC. I checked GTA to see what they defined as "active". Next, went to other units to see what they defined as active. My report? Guidelines for active participation from the GTA Section 4.2.3.1 Review of 7-10 troops and their participation requirements for camping, service projects, meetings and COHs. Their ruling? All Scouts must attend a minimum of 50% of the camp outs, service project

LOL....when you see these Krampus clubs doing their parade with St. Nikolaus every year (yeah, THAT St. Nick) it is pretty amazing. Very little kids are scared but they get over it...they know it is show. But you're right, I have seen kids get more scared being forced to sit in Santa's lap for a photo op then I ever saw kids getting scared at Krampus. Believe it or not, there are two units in southern Bavaria that are part of a Krampus club. They do this every year. These costumes are amazingly complex. The masks are all done by hand, in wood, and hand-painted. Still have mine....gets used

I'm just waiting for someone to take issue with @@JoeBob and his picture. I mean, shades and a cowboy hat? C'mon, what's not to hate there. @@SeattlePioneer, check out the video here and groove on some cultural enlightenment.

I don't disagree that there can be data tracked that is not necessary. If you have good information management skills you can fix that fast. In my area 3/4 of the parents work for IT companies so we were able to cut out the useless stuff pretty fast. I will say that we have had to use our back ups several times over the years and it resulted in at least 5-6 scouts staying in scouting and 2-3 guys making Eagle when they might not have. If done incorrectly, this can very well be the case. But our unit has found that the money spent on such systems saves us LOADS of time; time wh

@@00Eagle, wouldn't these advocacy organizations fall under "Community Action Group—Nongovernmental"?

Again with the picture. Some of you guys need to get out more.

The judge had all that BEFORE the last two policy changes, and yet? What makes you think this will be any different?