WisconsinMomma

3 hours ago, Tampa Turtle said:

Sadly as I was never a scout I never earned a merit badge.

Yeah, I was never a Scout either.  

On 3/8/2018 at 11:53 AM, qwazse said:

If I could have a do-over, I would ask that  awards would only be acknowledged briefly. (E.g., at a pack meeting, the Denner for the month might report, "Three guys in our den earned bobcat and four made rank. We had fun at the lake. Johnny tipped my canoe. Thank you.") The only ceremony I'd call for is a passing of the neckers for  "move up" day. I'm envious of these scouts:

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2018/03/08/pack-cub-scouts-pass-neckerchief-younger-scouts-advancing-rank/

Thanks for sharing that link.  I like this, as it gives the boys more action and probably makes the neckerchief exchange go faster than individual cross overs.

Hey Scouts and Scouters -- if you have been to an excellent, inspiring merit badge class, tell us all about it!!!  

I have heard good things about UW-Madison's Nuclear Science badge program, but we haven't experienced it yet.  I am sure there are some very good classes out there, let's review them!

The Greenfield, WI Fire department puts on a very good Fire Safety merit badge with a short classroom bit but lots of hands on, supervised fire extinguishing. 

(I know that many Scouters aren't fans of organized classes but this is NOT the place for that discussion.)

Hey Scouts and Scouters -- what was your favorite merit badge and why?   Tell your story here!!   

I've had to do this and it was tough.  In my den, we had a boy who missed just so many meetings, his family had other things going on and he didn't earn rank.   I reached out to his mom and let him know the situation and had given some updates along the way with the missing stuff.  I had to let her know that her son wasn't going to get the rank when all the other boys in the den had finished theirs.  I offered extra time if they wanted to try to make it happen but they declined. 

We just call them up and hand out badges but still it was obvious to this guy that he was not called.   But that is life too. 

All our kids cross over a bridge and we put on their new neckers. 

Are there other cycling MBCs in your area that you could meet with?   If so, it might be nice to meet one to expand your personal network.   I think tracking on GPS is a cool idea for your record keeping even if you don't need it for the badge.  Good luck and have fun!

Thanks so much for everything you are doing to help the families in your Pack. I'll share a few things that might help.

Are you having committee meetings where the den leaders report on how they've been doing?  This is how our Pack generally keeps track of where the boys are at in advancement.  If the den leader says -- they're done with their requirements, great, they're done.  If they say, we've got a few things outstanding, then that''s where they're at.  Our Advancement Chair orders bling based on progress reports from the den leaders.  And recognition is important, so I think a major job for you will be to get reports from the Den Leaders and all the stuff you will need for crossover - rank badges, neckerchiefs, pins, any of that stuff -- based on what the den leaders are telling you.  You should also generally keep track of who has their Bobcat, who is working on it, etc.  I agree that the formal tracking is not critical in cub scouting.  Just make sure that kids are progressing and they are getting their stuff -- belt loops, whatever they need. 

Great that you are helping your den.  Keep at it.  Supporting your den is job #1.

At our monthly committee meeting, we plan the activities for the pack meetings.  We make an annual calendar of pack meetings in summer.  Our pack uses a google mail account and a google drive for our stuff -- mailing list, rosters, forms, whatnot -- and so anyone on committe or the den leaders can go into that Google drive and email people.  So I recently sent out an email to the whole Pack about Pinewood derby car specifications and a few notes about Pinewood Derby night.   Then our CO sent out a sign up for snacks and volunteers for Pinewood Derby night using Sign Up Genius.

Hope that stuff helps.  Do your best, don't sweat the small stuff.  Have fun! 

Building up endurance on the swim team sounds like a great move.   Maybe he can try to gain some weight before camp too? 

My two older boys (ages 13 and 11)  have worked on their swim merit badges in local pools, not the lake at camp.  Both worked in individual lessons with a swim coach who is also a BSA merit badge counselor, then they took a MB class offered at another local pool.  They spent probably 3 months working on swimming to build stroke technique, efficiency and endurance.  My oldest is very thin and we got him a wetsuit and prescription goggles (very inexpensive on Amazon) to help him, he was freezing even in an indoor pool that has colder temps for competitive swimming.  Oldest passed the MB,  middle son is incomplete and needs to finish up work on diving. 

While their swimming has improved greatly, their coach said they should do Emergency Preparedness in lieu of Lifesaving (or probably wait until they are bigger and stronger for Lifesaving -- 400 yards is no joke). 

At camp last year, my crossed over Arrow of Light class all took swimming merit badge except for my kid, who didn't want to do it at camp.  From what I heard, it was a very long week with a lot of work on swimming but they all got the badge.  The summer camp was overall lenient with badge giving, so I don't know exactly how well they did or how much they covered.

Hope your son has a great time at camp and success with his efforts. 

23 hours ago, gblotter said:

You have grasped the situation well. And you mirror my thoughts on this. It is a fine line. Support the boy, but still require genuine efforts from him so that whatever outcome has meaning in the end.

I think that perhaps this is a situation where you can effectively use praise whenever you catch this boy doing something right.   Perhaps the boy would be encouraged by a kind word here or there and a show of appreciation for his participation and later,  contributions to the Troop.   Sometimes I feel like praise and thanks are under-employed tools that could be very effective if used more often. 

We had an initial discussion about girls in Cubs at our committee meeting last night.  The initial reaction was positive.  Our CO chair said that they likely have no objections to a girls' program.  Then two of the moms complained about some of the things they dislike about the existing girl scout program, and one of the moms immediately said she prefers the Cubs program for her daughters if it's available to them.   It sounds like we will have an open door for girls and their parents to get involved in Cub Scouting starting in the next school year.  It will be interesting to see how many come into Cub Scouts.  

We will probably need some recruiting plans for boys and girls and I wonder if we should have separate recruiting tables for each gender?  Not sure.  If we can get a few adults and girls committed early they can help lead the way. 

Hi Darlene,

The troop my sons are in is quasi- boy led.  They say it's boy led, but it's not 100%.   The outings chair takes a survey and then the adults plan the calendar. I am hoping to influence the annual planning process through the committee.  

It can be so frustrating as a parent to feel like you are shut out of getting information.  I feel that the adult leaders should answer your questions, but at the same time, they are trying to teach the boys to take care of themselves and handle their own stuff.  Still, parents are a big help, especially for the younger guys.

Hang in there, it should get better over time.  Try to volunteer for something or go to the committee meetings (or read their minutes) to learn as much as you can. 

It is interesting that families are leaving Girl Scouts for Boy Scouts and if that's a natural result it's not too bad.  One little sister told me at blue and gold that she joined girl scouts,and I asked her what she's done in girl scouts and she said -- sell cookies!!!

I feel that GS is all cookie, cookie, cookie.  if I were a girl mom I would try to get away from it too. 

Hi NateMom, I'm sorry that your Pinewood Derby experience was disappointing.  I'd suggest you talk to your child's den leader and possibly go to the next committee meeting to discuss your concerns. You may want to join the PWD volunteers next year and work on suggesting some improvements.  Good luck!

Our PWD team does minor car repairs if cars don't function well, but it's on the spot and imperfect.  The cars get placed on take out trays after weigh-in and check in and they are minimally handled throughout the event. 

I don't have any connection to this seller, except I found their store today and ordered some frames for two of our retiring leaders.

This Etsy store has some nice appreciation gift items.  I ordered two custom frames and think they will turn out great!  Just a resource if you are interested:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FireflyCustom/items?ref=l2-shopheader-name&section_id=21332934

 Good suggestions.  I think the largest item is a Klondike sled that might not be that precious to the troop, but I'm not sure.  I've never seen any of the stuff.  Maybe the district has some connections for storage, too. 

Unfortunately, we're not allowed to have a shed on CO property.  

Our Troop has generally had stuff stored in the Scoutmaster's garage.  Prior to that, it was spread among various homes, but that can be logistically challenging?   Our incoming SM does not have space for the Troop's stuff and our CO does not offer space.  We rent a spot for our Troop Trailer at a storage facility that is apparently reasonable.  Maybe we would purchase another trailer just for storage.  It seems storage facilities are expensive.  Any suggestions?  How does your Troop mange its stuff?? 

Thanks!

On 1/17/2018 at 9:20 PM, ItsBrian said:

My apologizes.

Anyway, I personally don’t believe you can “make” someone outdoorsy. Either they are scared of bugs or they’re not. Either they are scared of sleeping in a tent or they’re not. Either they can survive outside without flushing toilets or they can not.

Honestly depends on how they were raised and experiences.

I think that people can and do change,  but not always.  

On 1/17/2018 at 3:01 PM, RememberSchiff said:

How do we get indoor parents enthused about an outdoor program? Specifically that they understand our Outdoor Method and appreciate the outdoors even if they do not want to experience it themselves.

I don't have a complete answer, but I like it when families come to a cub scout family weekend hosted by Council.   It is a weekend of easy, supported camping.  Venturing camp staff will meet you at your group site and offer to help you if you need help setting up.  Meals are all in the dining hall, but the kids run around outside all weekend and it's great.

Our Pack weekend campouts are also good.  It's a cabin camping weekend with dining hall food and outdoor activities planned by the den leaders, and a  lot of advancement stuff related to the outdoors.  Parents can come along, or if they don't come, they can have their kids in a supervised outdoor overnight activity. 

50 minutes ago, David CO said:

No, it is not. The massacres are rare. The near misses occur more often than you might think.

Got data? 

I am more concerned about traffic crashes, high adventure safety / basic safety, and sex abuse prevention because I expect the odds of all of those to be greater.

45 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

Yes.  I was thinking of our Blue and Gold banquet and if a disgruntled/deranged parent would come in shooting.  Would we and our scouts and scout leaders know what to do.  Probably not.  It’s sad that it should be considered but I believe schools have this training and so should Scouts and their leaders.

Our Blue and Gold dinner is in the basement of a city building, and the upstairs neighbor is the police department.       

You gotta remember that this stuff is very rare though.  

Our Pack is currently :

 AOL - male, 
Webelos - male,
Bear - female,
Wolf - male
Tiger - male
Lions - our female CC leads the Lions

Our CC is a female that is the daughter of a Montana forest ranger, very experienced in the outdoors

Our COR is a non camper mom

Our Assistant CM is a male military recruiter Tiger dad, he will be CM in the 2019 school year and could have been CM this year but was concerned about deployment.  I'm filling in a year while he gets more familiar with Scouting. 

Den leader burnout is a thing.  I honestly think it is a thankless and taken for granted job, and last year I made a point to give PayDay candy bars, service star pins (and flowers to the ladies who are mostly non-uniformed) to all the  den leaders, committee members and volunteers from our Pack at a Pack meeting to show some appreciation.  Hopefully little boosts like that keep people going a bit.  I know I wished for more appreciation when I was a DL and so did my husband.  I was lucky that the parents in my den were very good but sometimes parents can be unhelpful or unappreciative and that's rough on a den leader.   Behavior and absenteeism can also wear down den leaders pretty quick.

40 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

And one other big factor is the average Webelos leader is the burned out mom who has no outdoor camping experience. Is anybody surprised by the 49% crossover number?

Barry

Hey, way to blame moms for BSA's numbers.   100% of my scouts crossed over,  only 4 of 6 are still in scouts one year later.  One left for sports, the other for disinterest.   

In some families the crossover seems to be about the parents -- and especially -- families and boys who choose sports over Scouting, and parents who think Boy Scouting is uncool for their children's social status. 

It seems that the flag is half staff so much more in recent years than before.  It is very sad. 

@AVTech  tell me more about the website.  I will google it.  We use Scoutlander and its OK, definitely not great.