mashmaster

I used one as well.  I also learned Fortran 77 using punch cards.   How did I get to be so old?

Like this?

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To test it, I mentioned it to my son tonight.  And he said that is interesting but I am not going to go back and count up all my nights.  I said we could do it together and he said no thanks.  I asked him how many nights he thinks he has camped with cubs, troops, ship, crew.    He said "a lot"....  

🙂

That is how it has been for Sea Scouting for a while.  It works out pretty well.

https://www.koat.com/article/los-alamos-boy-scout-dies-in-snowing-accident/35173800

Prayers for his family and friends.  😞 

Agreed, pretty simple process.  You will need to fill out the BSA application again which is a pain.  But your troop will help you with the process

19 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

So this site has a rather convoluted explanation of the award's symbolism that I don't entirely understand, but among other things, it claims 

Not sure how accurate this is, and there is a notable lack of reference material and source information, but it's interesting nonetheless. I have never heard of dark blue council flags before. 

Yeah, Council flags are Blue.  I have seen them.  We have a big parade every year at the captitol so the flags come out.

Some of us call it a Reef Knot 🙂  

I saw this a couple days ago.  Great actions by him.  I looked to see if he was a scout, didn't find anything.  But I did see that he regularly meets with Boy and Girls Scouts.

2 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

When I do these, I assess a small fee to cover the cost of my qualification and materials (instructor certification, curriculum slides, projector, computer, CPR manikins & bags, practice AED, bandages, etc.) that I paid out of pocket to start up the operation.  Still less than half the cost you'd see by council or on the market. 

CPR/AED costs about $110 and WFA costs about $200 in these parts.  I do CPR/AED for $35, WFA for $60 (includes both).

When I offered to do these for council at bare-minimum cost, and the professional training advisor said "No."  The reason given was that they had professional relationships to maintain outside of Scouting, and that undercutting prices for services Scouters get from Red Cross/REI/NOLS/American Heart, etc., etc. would damage those relationships. (I remain skeptical.)  If I did them through council, we had to charge a rate comparable to the market.

I taught these for our council contingents to Philmont a few years ago, taught in council facilities.  Council charged them the $200 per person, folded that into the cost per participant, and gave me my $60 per, which is all I asked...

I will no longer spend my time being a revenue generator for council.  I gladly teach volunteers, and they arrange for facilities and snacks...

Hey, come to Central texas and teach us WFA.  I will smoke a brisket for you 🙂

Welcome to the DAM club 🙂   I had to say it, I have received it as well.  I hope you also got the nice little wood plaque as well.

2 hours ago, acema606 said:

I can only speak to the American Red Cross as that is who I have my instructor certification through.   My employer is an authorized provider with the Red Cross and I teach BBP, First Aid, and CPR for my employer for our employees.  I also teach my Scouts these skills and am a WFA Instructor.  Wilderness First Aid is $23 as far as the Red Cross fee for the course in 2020.  The instructor may have you purchase materials as well, but they can actually be printed from the ARC website by the participants.  There are supplies the instructor may need to get for the course that can't easily be reused like components of a moulage kit or bandages.  I tack a small fee on for each participant to help keep the supplies stocked.  Other providers do charge more to put on the course.  

wow, that is a lot less that we pay.

My condolences to the family and friends

12 hours ago, MikeS72 said:

I like that.  Those do not really need to be pricey options though, depending on the instructor.  I am a Red Cross instructor for First Aid/CPR/AED and Wilderness First Aid, so I know what instructors pay Red Cross for those certification cards, and would wager that in many cases it is nothing close to what they are charging the student. 

The cost for the First Aid/CPR/AED is cheap.  It is the Wilderness First Aid that is expensive.  I'd be interested in knowing how much the WFA cert cards cost.

2 hours ago, Eagledad said:

 

i like that first-aid qualification idea. We did that as a troop. 

For our Ship and Crew we have the youth get Red Cross First Aid certified and encourage them to get Wilderness First Aid certified as well.  The problem is that those are pricey options

1 hour ago, Jameson76 said:

Maybe they have learned to give the expected answers, please the questioner.  I typically get they feel first aid, the shooting sports, climbing, and camping as important.

Who knows.  I certainly expected different answers but I have been in around 20 EBOR for scouts in multiple districts so I don't think it is coaching from a single source.    I expected to hear first aid like the answers that you have gotten but got different ones.

27 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

IMHO it would also be a good time to rethink "Eagle required" merit badges - subject areas, number, difficulty...

I don't think we are ready for opening that can of worms.   It seems to me that there is a decent mix now for the required merit badges.  I can't say that I can think of any MB that must be there that isn't and ones that exist that shouldn't be there.  There are ones that the scouts may not like but they cover and reinforce part of the scout law and oath.  

When I ask scouts at their EBOR what merit badges they think are the most important ones it surprises me when they say Personal Management or the Citizenship MB's.  But this answer happens a lot.  I never get the answer of Swimming or Camping.

2 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

Through unofficial channels.

 

Yeah I heard that as well.  Unsure if it means they are revisiting the requirements or if it will exist.

6 minutes ago, yknot said:

Things have changed dramatically since 2012. Why? Sandy Hook. That shooting quickly and forever changed school security and surveillance measures. Other incidents since then have contributed but the environment is completely different now and forever will be.

Sadly, at my daughter's school two years ago, there were rapes in areas of the stairwell that were out of camera view.  We can't rely on security cameras.

The reason I used to tell people in YPT training was that a 12 year old is a horrible witness.  Always have another adult at least in ear shot of a conversation with a single scout.  YPT protects both the youth and the adult.

I will call our district advancement chair to confirm.  

Our scout (my Son) has already started the project and has the signatures in the old workbook.  Until directed, I will have him continue in his old workbook.

Now, if the project of the century ever gets completed it will be a 2021 miracle.....  He wants to get it done before he needs another classroom merit badge.

For Scouts that are mid-project, they continue with the old workbook.  Is that correct?

For the months from March - June our ship did Zoom meetings and lost scouts.

For the months from June - September our Ship sailed every week in single handed boats and stayed stable.  The scout that stuck around grew stronger and had to pick up leadership as a team to work together for the positions that were vacated.

For the last months from October - now : we have managed to pick up a scout a month to the ship. They told us they like the fact that we are still doing things.

Our numbers are small potatoes but for us it is a good thing.  I hope y'all can continue scouting to keep your units solid and healthy.

3 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

@walk in the woods,

Awesome reference, thanks...

Overall about one third females...

You'd think BSA might use that as a more "realistic" goal.

Interesting that the numbers get closer as the scouts are older in that chart.  I don't know much about UK scouting.  Are there competing programs at the younger ages?

1 minute ago, Owls_are_cool said:

Current JTE is a good start, but could use refinement as others noted. What is the process to update the JTE nationally?

You would need to start by getting your Council Executive on board to complain to National.  There is a group of people at National that look at it every year and decide on changes.  If you know the person at National that is in charge of the program for the part of scouting you practice, you could email them.  I know the Sea Scouting and Venturing person.  We have talked in person and on Zoom, and agreed to disagree on some issues and agree on others.  Change is slow at BSA.

1 hour ago, TAHAWK said:

JTE "metrics" fail to  give any points for actualluy using the Patrol Method - not a decision or any leadershipo by Scouts is required.  Morteover, it does not give points for election of Scout leaders, so the adult-run troop method is AOK with "JTE."

It does not necessarily require a single actual outdoor activity, defining indoor activities as "camping" in the official Q&A.    So no poutdoor program whatsoever is AOK with "JTE."

Wretched at best.

 

JTE is just dumb.  It doesn't measure the scouting program, it measures the part of scouting that the Scoutmasters hate.