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mashmaster

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Everything posted by mashmaster

  1. Makes it really difficult for Sea Scouts and Venturing, we are always struggling to find a female leader.
  2. Well that is just idiotic since they are different. As pointed out they have different members but probably a change made by those in "Tan" that don't understand Sea Scouts.
  3. Agreed, it is truly youth led. Have adults in the back listen is great. I might even say, maybe a mix of older youth and adults for the board. I just think having "adults" be the board, doesn't enforce to the scouts that it is youth led. So IDK, I just like having the youth more involved at all levels.
  4. Yeah, but we don't have to shovel snow. And I can sail year round, so I just roll with it.
  5. So in Sea Scouts it is a Bridge of Review performed by the scouts. We have an adult in the room but the scouts are much harder in their questions that Adults. We commonly have to tell them they aren't there to re-test the scout. But the scout is usually much more responsive to the other scouts and rolls with the questions than I have seen in troop situations where they feel they are being grilled by the adults. A lot of times it is perspective about who the scout is talking to. For Quarterdeck it is Adults like it is for Eagle and the scouts are much more nervous. And this is the e
  6. I wish we had Fall colors. we don't get them in Central Texas
  7. I have been a leader for Venturing and Sea Scouts for 5 years now. I know that the age is older and the are more mature. But co-ed makes our group stronger.
  8. The coolest scouter I met around this topic was at Powderhorn. He exclusively did roll your own adventures and they were amazing. Speaking of which, Texas Powderhorn is coming next month and there are still a few spots open. I am on staff again and it really is the best Powderhorn course around IMHO. DM me if you have any questions.
  9. For our Sea Scouts and Venture Scouts we do mostly roll your own summer adventures. $300-$400 is a bargain that you get with scout camps. Having roll your own it is scout run, designed, and led. Not focused on merit badges but on the adventure. Having a need and requirement for lots of adults to run a variety of merit badges is a huge ordeal. I love our roll you own adventures, but they are best with older youth. For instance this year our venture crew decided they wanted to do a live aboard sail in Florida. We connected with units there and the scouts with the leaders their coordinat
  10. I will note that while I am a Skipper for a Sea Scout Ship which are the same older age that you are referring to for your son. We don't ban phones from them but it has happened more than once that phone end up at the bottom of a river, lake, or sea. It is a really hard call for the scout to make to mom and dad "Mom........ ummm my phone is at the bottom of the Buffalo river...." and as leaders we get grief from mom and dad about them losing their phone.
  11. It is still normal for me. I am nervous about every trip, meeting, and activity. That is a good thing IMHO, you are thinking about the kids. If we get to the point where we can do it blindfolded, that is where something will go wrong.
  12. Today, I found out that one of my scouts attempted suicide last night. Thankfully unsuccessful and hopefully going to get the help he needs. I was one of the first people the parents called, so hard to grasp. But glad I was their for his younger sister tonight to help take her mind off of it.
  13. The Crew my son is in is still thriving, and another two crews in our area have been around a long time and are still thriving. None of them have any commisioners or professionals servicing them.
  14. I know of multiple Ships that have been around for decades. A stand alone program can survive just like a Troop can survive. Any unit survives by the ABC method "Always Be Cruiting!" The units change what they do based on the youth in the program not the adults. The youth define what the unit does and I have seen our ship evolve over the 5 years I have been there based on the youth. I have have seen Crews live and die because they followed or didn't follow the ABC's . There needs to be an evolving continued stream of youth going through their unit.
  15. I am a Skipper, and we didn't stop doing. We adapted to follow Covid guidlines. We certainly did less that previous years but we continued to meet and do. We are smaller so when we meet in a park for our meetings vs. a troop we have 10 kids in camping chairs. They don't have as much of a need to play physical games. Happy to discuss more about what we did if it is helpful.
  16. I think if Venturing folds in with a troop, all of our Crew members would quit scouting. My Ship members too. The youth in our Crew and Ship joined to get away from the Troops. Troops work well for many scouts but for many Crews and Ships are the option that works best for them. My son is an example of this. He was done with Scouting at 14 and he tried a couple of Troops. They all didn't work for him. He joined a Ship and Crew which allowed him to thrive. He completed his Eagle with the Ship, went to World Jamboree, Philmont Summer and Winter, Sea Base, and several roll your ow
  17. I did notice very much that many units just stopped and refused to adapt during the pandemic. Our Ship was able to adapt and grow over the last year. We did lots of things different from the past and we try to be open with the youth and parents for creative solutions. All units are as strong as the amount of volunteers they have. We are constantly in the situation of having to get enough adults to go camping and sailing. It is a heavy burden on a few people, that I fear will stop being able to help out. We have had to cancel events because of not enough adults. That hurts the youth
  18. The Pack made it 10 years, but from what I saw. The group I was with built a fabulous program and it thrived. The next group maintained, then the following group didn't adapt and change, they just stopped doing and being engaged. So the end was written before Covid. I think Covid accelerated it.
  19. I found out tonight that the pack that we started when my son was a Wolf folded at the end of the year. So much time and effort, started with 10 scouts, quickly rose to 80+ scouts, stayed active and thriving until the parents and scouts from that 80 moved on. I saw the righting on the wall, but it makes me so bummed. Somewhere there is a really nice trailer and pinewood derby track that the scouts worked hard to raise money for. A school of 800 youth are now unserved by cub scouts.
  20. I think the real problem is middle school aged children..... Both male and female lose their minds during this period of life. My program is high school and up but for my younger scouts that are 14ish, I do have to coach them sometimes on what is appropriate and what isn't but usually that gets handled by the older scouts that set them straight. I think this is why middle schools exists as separate entities from elementary and high schools. God bless all the middle school teachers and staff.
  21. As a leader for a co-ed program, I have not seen any of this behavior. They work together very well and bring out the best of each other. Each scout has unique skill set. I see it work really well in Sea Scout Ships and Venturing Crews.
  22. When I was a Scoutmaster, I always did the conferences for Star, Life, Eagle. For the lower ranks I would delegate them to the ASMs. Just worked best that way so I could spend a good amount of time with the older youth. When I had newer ASMs, they would sit with me during conferences. It helped with the training of the future Scoutmasters as well. So I think it is ideal.
  23. Yeah, it isn't faint for the heart. This is the black diamond route that is at this mountain bike site. I will never ride it and it is 1/4 mile from the fire station 🙂
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