Eagle94-A1

Interesting night. Where to begin. I admit I see the issues some of the leaders are complaining about: lack of skills. My thought process is to get the Scouts to teach the skills themselves or using the skills on camp outs vs. skill review nights or verification check offs before SMC or BORs. So I came up with an idea: Intra-Patrol Olympics. Yes the youth need to say yes or no to it, but the Olympics would A) learn/refresh/ review skills B) competition would rrevive patrol spirit and teamwork in the new patrols, and C) give the adults a chance to see what the Scouts really know and fee

Regarding the scouting out a trail in advance, MEA CULPA, as well as a few other leaders as well. I was taught, not only in Scouts but also with another youth organization I worked for, that you not only want to use the maps, but you want someone who has been on the trail or river before. When I was in Canada, we had local Scouts serving as guides. When I did the river expedition for my job, the trainers had all done that stretch of the river before. Yep we planned it and created extraction points, etc. when things DID hit the fan, it was nice to know that the trainers new EXACTLY where they

"There not ready for that." is the excuse I'm told. My plan B is to focus on which ever patrol I'm assigned to or my son's patrol, or both. There may be a lot of patrol camp outs being planned. Sad thing is this, my middle Son's Webelos Den is performing better than some of the patrols.

Some troops still use the Service Patrol and Program Patrol. Service Patrol is responsible for set up and cleanup of the meetings. Program Patrol is responsible for running program including getting needed equipment and instructors.

Maybe I'm the "troublemaker." They do a leader's meeting when I have to do BORs. Then this leaders' meeting at camp when 1 leader is scouting out a new trail for the AT folks since we cannot do the original trail due to lack of permits, and I'm with the Cub Scouts in Cub World. Am I paranoid, or am I paranoid enough? Seriously though. this statement says it all IMHO "lack of common vision and unified leadership."

Well the advancement situation I've discussed in the other thread has lead to some "challenges." That, something our older scouts commented on, and our schedule for the next four months has caused the troop's adults to take two steps back. Yep they had a meeting last nite while I was campign with Cubs Scouts, and one of the leaders doign the AT was not there,. Older Scouts. Our older Scouts are not happy with being split up but understand. They like that they will have a prep trip away from the rest of the troop, and time on the AT. This weekend, they could not compete since they didn

Prior to me joining, he had 1 ASM who doubled as CM, and whose job severely restricted when the troop could camp. and a 2nd ASM who was also the IH, so he was limited as to when he could camp. When i joined the troop he got another dad in as ASM, but can only come every other week due to the custody situation, and myself as a MC. Over the past year, we got me switched over to ASM, plus 3 more ASMs and an MC. 1 ASM never had Boy Scout experience, but a lot of outdoor KSAs. He's developing nicely. One ASM just crossed over from Webelos in Dec., and has no prior Boy Scout experience. He frea

Nuff said.

Forgot to add, I really think this debacle is another sign that the SM needs to step back and let others do more of the work. I know we have an ASM in charge of advancement now, and I'm working on the paperwork side of things. His health concerns all of us. He has his good days, and his bad ones. But I think Scouting is taking more out of him. Problem is he's a Scouting Addict. When he was in the hospital last year, he was upset he was missing a meeting. Wife tells me that will be me in 30+ years.

Some additional info. 1) No, mom is not a registered leader. Mom is a drop off and pick up, and even then sometime it's grandma that is doing the dropping off and picking up. I don't think I even saw her at the Court of Honor. 2) Because of the reorganization in the troop, I didn't want to take away any of the new youth leaders from their new patrols to deal with this problem that the adults caused 3) One of the ideas I wrote in the original post came from his TG. Yep, son wanted to "revoke his rank," especially since he couldn't remember who signed off on the requirements until th

So, as I've posted in another thread, we have an issue with a Scout completing a BOR for two ranks that were signed off by mom. Mom's initials were not discovered until after both the SMC and BOR were done, when the ASM who was just assigned to do the advancement record keeping was updating the records. What are some ideas to make sure this Scout actually does what mom signed off for so he can actually earn the rank? Some additional info. 1) Troop is in the process of preventing this in the future. Specifically YOUTH will be signing off on the S-T-2-1 ranks, records reviewed and ve

That's the funny thing. The TG was essentially appointed by adults, and had a good performance in front of us. Since the new Scouts have always been dictated to by parents, teachers, coaches, den leaders, ad nauseum, when the TG started telling them what to do, they did it unquestionably. And when it came time for elections, they voted him PL without opposition. THE KIDS THESE DAYS HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES! (Caps for emphasis, OK maybe a little bit of raising my hands and screaming in frustration at today's youth. ) Problems were not discovered until NSP members start

Gotta agree with Stosh's comment about boys never making decisions. I see it all the time, even with the college age, and in a few cases graduate school age, kids. IF you do decide to use New Scout Patrols, NSPs, make sure you do not have a "dictator" as a Troop Guide. I think ne of the reasons why the NSP in my troop is so far behind is that they had a "dictator" first as TG, then as PL when they elected him. Instead of building consensus, working as a team, etc he arbitarily came up with menus, duty rosters, assigned shopping, etc. He never let them work it out. The when my son becomes

Everyone has said what I would. But this one line says it best IMHO: "I have never seen an adult-managed solution surpass a scout managed solution." underlining bold and larger font are for emphasis. As you can read in other theads, my troop is adult lead, and it has problems. So much so that we are completely reorganizing the troop on Monday. IMHO 99.99999% of those problems are the result of adult interference, and I will put myself in the problem category too. While I may not agree 100% with what is going on regarding the changes, I do believe it's a big step in the right direct

Yes, it's not what I wanted, youth signing off on S-T-2-1 with no reservation, nor what several of the other adults wanted, adults only signing off. But is a definate step int he right direction. I can understand why training the youth would be important. I remember the first time I was given the authority to sign off on advancement, and IT BLEW MY MIND! (emphasis). I asked my SPL for some help, and got it. But it wasn't a big deal with the troop because Scouts routinely signed off on stuff. Plus one leader doesn't want a repeat of his days in Scouting, when the authority to sign off was abu

Actually 1 SMC and BOR can be done for Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. That's because there are no longer time requirements between S-T-2-1 as they were prior to 1989. As for SMCs, the SMis not retesting them, but having a conversation about goals, experiences, etc. Agree, PLs are NOT doing their job IMHO. Currently only adults are authorized to sign off on rank. That will be changing shortly. I pushed for the PLS to have that authority, and with some compromise, it's going to happen in the next month. Compromise is that the Scout signing off has to show competen

WELL another reason appeared tonite to give me another reason why the PLC and a few other Scouts should be able to sign off on the S-T-2-1 requirements instead of adults: we had a Scout who had a BOR for Second and First Class last week, who had his mom sign off on requirements, and not one of the adult leaders. SM glanced over to see signatures, had a conference, and passed him along to the BOR. Was able to pass the 2 BORs. It was only after the BOR when the SM went to update the troop records was it caught that mom was signing off. Took about 20 minutes of asking adults, asking the Scout 2

Agree about the Scouts; I bet their will be some discussion about that tomorrow when they get together. But what I really hope is that the adults learn their #1. I have hope because we did have a meeting, and change to a more Scout led troop is in progress. Regarding shopping. Way I was taught way back when was when you come up with a shopping list, you put down an estimate of the price next to the item to get a more accurate cost Now those who have actually shopped for food can do a pretty good estimate of the prices. Unfortunately we do have some Scouts who haven't: mom or grand

Well it's going to be an interesting meeting tomorrow. As you know, 2 weeks ago, the NSP was having issues getting a menu, shopping list, and duty roster done in the allotted time. So an ASM jumped in and came up with a menu, shopping list, and duty roster for the camp out for them. No one looked at the stuff until tonite when the APL was suppose to call and tell folks how much to bring. APL calls my son panicking because the shopping list had no prices on it, just a list of items. Since the adult took charge, everyone in the patrol assumed he also put prices on the shopping list. Things

Understatement. SM is actually blaming me for "betraying" the troop, since I let my son decide to go elsewhere. I tried to help, I encouraged the Webelos to visit them, I BEGGED THE TROOP TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE PACK WITH DEN CHIEFS AND INVITES TO CAMP OUTS! (caps for emphasis, OK maybe showing a little frustration). The one I really feel sorry for is the pack's CM. CM and SM are best buddies, going way back. CM sees and knows the issues with the troop, and the Webelos son has seen some of the differences between the ways the CO's troop and the troop I'm in does things and acts. CM is

We got a reporter in the pack's leadership

And that is why this particular troop has lost more new Scouts(7) than they have gained (2 and one transferred in from out of council) in the past 3 years. I recruited 3 for them, against my better judgment, and they quit in under 3 months. In the past 3 years, they have only been able to keep 1 Scout from the feeder pack; and for the past 2 years NONE (emphasis) of the cubs joined them.

This is the troop I've discussed previously that is slowly falling apart.. This is the SM whom I've helped to train, but is ignoring that training.. This is the SM who ignored his long time UC, former SM, District Training Chair ( who was an ASM in the troop and Advisor for the Crew), myself on multiple occasions (including a 3+ hour conversation around a fire because all his adults left early and he needed a 2nd adult to continue camping) , an experienced ASM who was with the troop 3 months before his son quit ( and son was so discouraged he would not consider looking for a new troop), his f

I admit, with the exception of the 3 mile trek earlier this month, it's been 19 years since i last did serious backpacking. Yes I did old school stuff 2 weeks ago, but seeing some of the latest greatest meals, and the instant coffee, well I've seen the light. While I know there will be no way I'll be an ultralight camper ( gear is way outta my price range) I am willing to cut back on weight. I saw the light. I'm not carrying my French press backpacking, and then having to carry out the used grounds. I don't want to have to worry about KP water. So I'm looking at some of those backpacking meals