bpaul

Wow. Congratulations on your enthusiastic view of your adventures as a WDL.

There are a lot of great comments in this forum about when to camp, how often, etc., as well as lots of great ideas for day trips. With the number of boys you have, you will have the boy who loves camping, some that are still trying to figure things out, and then you have those darn parents , who really control when and if their son gets to go and how often.

My son "grew up" in a Pack (and WD) that did not do tent camping. So I took my son to the 3-4 times a year "Cub-n-Ones" sponsored by our Council and my son loved it. Would I have gone more often? That is iffy. I am a single parent and if I couldn't go, then my son couldn't go. I know things are a little different for the Webelos, but remember, some parents aren't ready to let go, necessarily.

Something else you might need to consider - camping gear. Are the parents willing to shell out for camping gear so their son can go just a couple of times (remember, they are looking at the $$ spent with the possibility that their son will drop out to try something different)? Consider coordinating with a local troop to borrow their tents, lanterns, cooking equipment, etc. so that all the parents have to provide is a sleeping bag (if those can't be borrowed either). There are always work arounds, but get the parents involved at the beginning and get them to help with the planning, that way you know how far to go!!!

Take the boys camping a couple of times to "prepare" them for when they go camping with a troop for the AOL requirement. Keep the activities fun! Search out something unusual - our pack would go to the Houston Space Center and overnight there or sleep on board an aircraft carrier... How exciting is that for a young boy?

Now that my son is in BS, he loves to go camping and we go almost every month.

We had a pack borrow one of our Troop's chuck boxes so that they could get that BS camping experience before coming out on the "real" BS caming trip.

Feed them in small doses, the boys will love it, as well as the parents and neither will get burned out.

Most importantly, get the training, repeat the training (with different trainers, if possible) and keep the enthusiasm. Build relationships (Roundtable is a great tool for this) with the Scout troops in your locale so that the boys (and parents) know what their options are (not every troop is suited for every boy, nor is every boy suited for every troop).

Best of luck!!!

When I read the original post, the first thing that popped into my head was a concern by the adult leadership that when seeing "skilled labor" there was a concern for how the project would really be completed and the Scout might not be able to adequately express his leadership capabilities.

I only make this observation, because I have been on projects where the "professional/skilled labor" tried to take over the task just to get the project done, rather than await the direction of the Scout leading the project.

Is it possible that this was really the concern of the adult leadership and they were trying to ensure that the prospective Eagle Scout had something in his write-up to cover that possibility?

All,

I am looking for some resources for regular Court of Honor (CoH) scripts - not for an Eagle CoH. If all of you sitting around this virtual campfire could share some of your ideas or resources, I would greatly appreciate it. I seem to be able to find lots of ideas for the Eagle CoH, but not a regular CoH.

Our Scouts are young but are really wanting to do this CoH on their own, and I would love to help them out with resources and/or ideas, so they can make it their own (not just use the script the adults in the troop have done for them previously). And yes, before the question is even asked, we are finally making the transition from adult-led to boy-led and I am excited to help these guys take the reins and run, so to speak!

Thank you all for all your wonderful support.

Mdsummer,

I am like everyone else, I would love to know the outcome of this saga, as it seems to have gone on much longer than any of the experienced Scouters have expected it to.

However, my interest, at this point, is in regards to your son. Obviously, life continues, but how is he doing? How well is he handling this situation? Is he still involved in Scouting? I would be interested to know if he is using his experiences with the process to help mentor other Scouts who are getting ready to work on their Eagle projects.

Thank you for keeping us posted on your son and his situation (all of it, not just the decision from National).

John-in-KC,

I have a question for you with regards to your statement "It also means you've assigned him a Counselor and written in the contact data on the back side"

Can you please clarify that statement? Why is the SM assigning a counselor? I thought it was up to the boy to acquire the counselor of his choosing (of course as long as they are a recognized MB counselor by the council).

Does it matter whether the counselor is one from the scout's home unit, another unit, or maybe through one of the council's sponsored programs, such as a Merit Badge University, Winter Camp, or an event that is done in coordination with local organizations such as the local model railroad association, for the railroading MB, or with some CPAs for the Personal Management MB, etc?

Does that imply that the SM can say to a boy, "Sorry, but I will not approve you using that particular method/counselor, you must use MB counselor Mr. X instead?"

I most definitely don't mean this to be argumentative, but I just want clarification. I could see this spiraling out of control if a SM decided to go that route, or steer boys towards or away from particular events.

As a side note, my troop currently has very young Scouter leadership right now, and our SM will read the SM handbook and say "Well, the handbook says "it is up to the SM for **fill in the blank.**" And I can see our SM using that to say something like "Sorry Johnny Scout, but I won't approve you taking that MB through that particular avenue, I want you to take it with a local counselor instead."

Thank you for taking the time to educate those of us who are still trying to learn how to do things the right way.

Ok,

In reading some of the posts, I have seen the reference to having an Eagle rank revoked. I have never heard of that. Can you please give some examples of how and when that type of action would take place?

Thank everyone for educating this very inexperienced Scouter!!!!

Ok, I'll bite...

So when you folks cite something as a myth, can you please provide information on what the "real deal" is?

Speaking as an inexperienced Scouter, I would greatly appreciate not only knowing what the myths are, but what the real source/guidance/way to do business is.

For example, all I have ever been told (with the exception of the below example) is that once you cut the four corners off the Totin Chip, then the Scout loses it, and must reaccomplish the training to re-instill safe knife handling practices before being allowed to carry a knife again. The exception: I was told that in our council it was a "one strike, your out" policy and the card was to be ripped in half, deeming it null. When I asked where the Council policy letter was on that I got the blank stare, but was told "that is the new policy." BTW, no-one else I talked to knew about this.

Also, since we are on the topic of myths, can someone cofirm or dispel the following information? When the Webelos camp with a Scout troop (as part of their requirement for the Arrow of Light) they can only camp for one night and that camping for more than one night at a time is violation of BSA policy.

Thank all of you for the insight you provide to us relatively new folks!

All,

I just received an email saying that the SCUBA merit badge has gone into print!

Here is the link I have to the MB.

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/749811021/0d84313a877dc3012d2b200490e3d236

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have any idea which MBs will be removed from the active list due to the introduction of the three new MBs?

Thank you for the ideas about activities for keeping the skills fresh.

Now to add to the question, how do you do some of these activities when you only have 6-8 boys involved in the troop?

Most are 2C or lower, with one Life and two (new) 1C scouts? Our SM is new and the SPL is young. How can we have an exciting meeting, where the boys are learning/honing their skills? What kinds of activities can we do on a camping trip where the boys could use their knots and lashes, or what can we do other than to go on a hike and identify things (animals or plants)?

I admit, I don't have the imagination for the fun activities I see suggested or how to incorporate them, especially for a small troop. But any thoughts or suggestions would be great - so that it can be passed to the PLC for their consideration. (Yes, even though we are small and inexperienced, we try to ensure the troop is a boy-led troop).

Thank you everyone for any input you can provide!

I recently went through the Ordeal with my son and had to fill out that information as well. In my experience, some parents went with their son, as they were either going through the Ordeal or were working as staff (in some capacity) during the weekend. Other Scouts, depending on the troop they belonged to, were brought up to the Ordeal weekend by someone in their troop leadership - no parents allowed (that particular troop's way of doing business)for the initial registration and susequent events. The parents were more than welcome at the closing ceremonies on Saturday night. So in my experience, the "guardian" is to answer "what adult do we need to go to if there is an issue with this particular Scout?" The issue could be medical, emotional, or anything else that would require someone who knows something about the Scout to assist. Anyway that was my experience with the Ordeal paperwork as well as the experience from the weekend itself. Hope this helps!