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HelpfulTracks

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Everything posted by HelpfulTracks

  1. HelpfulTracks
    Neat story....sort of. I met GBB at the 1981 NSJ. One of my troop mates grabbed me to go see Green Bar Bill, I recognized the name but was not fully aware of who he was. Apparently, neither was my troop mate because when i asked he replied he wrote our handbook. So we grabbed a couple of newly minted handbooks and went off the get them signed. We waited patiently as he talked to some other folks and signed autographs. Once we had them signed we ran off to do fun Scouting things. It was not until much later that I realized who GBB REALLY was and his significanc
  2. HelpfulTracks
    Sort of the Seinfeld of threads. A thread with a topic about no topic. One question. Who is playing Kramer?
  3. HelpfulTracks
    Actually, no Crew members cannot count work done unless they were currently registered as Scout. So those young women cannot transfer that effort (with a few very specific exceptions). Once they are allowed to join a Troop any work done in one organziation counts toward the other, with the exception of Eagle/Summit projects. To the contrary, I support her viewpoint of allowing girls in Scouting and have done so for a while now. I DO NOT support her tactics. Rather than work with Scouters that agreed with her she has called out BSA as discriminatory. Rather than join Venturing and
  4. HelpfulTracks
    Touché, I missed the photo of her as an unofficial Cub. I know the question of citizenship is rhetorical, but to my understanding she was born here in the Good ol' US of A.
  5. HelpfulTracks
    They absolutely have a choice. If you do not have the requisite number of girls or leaders, you do not start a unit. That is true for both boys and girls, and a crew. If people are telling you they do not have a choice it because they do not understand or they are making excuses.
  6. HelpfulTracks
    Don't get me started there. There are so many things wrong with G2SS in that regard. But that is a topic for a different thread.
  7. HelpfulTracks
    I am not a fan of giving too much credit. Certainly not to the level I have seen people expect. We do not count completion of requirements in Scouting to count in Venturing or vice versa (unless the youth was in both units at the time.) I am much more comfortable giving credit for very specific requirements and then only with some level of validation.
  8. HelpfulTracks
    I sincerely hope not. I have watched both genders (particularly boys) change how they act around each other. I have even seen differences when adult females are on campouts. I firmly believe that giving both genders space from each other is the best way for them to grow and learn. As my son astutely points out, virtually every other activity they have is coed. Other than sports, Scouts is the one place it is just the guys. He has no problem interacting with the girls, he does so with Crew and multiple other organizations. He also says it is nice to have the option to do something org
  9. HelpfulTracks
    That makes my head hurt 😞
  10. HelpfulTracks
    I will preface this by saying I am not advocating, nor am okay with many of the "short-cuts" that I am seeing advocated for Miss Ireland. However, it appears that some are certainly advocating, or at least okay with, that approach. So, if some feel strongly about "cutting some red tape" then why not put our own BSA Ventures at the head of that list? Would it not make more sense to give THAT break to some enterprising 16 or 17 year Venturer, who has earned, or near earning, her Summit Award? I have never seen any reference to Miss Ireland being in a Crew, nor have I seen her in p
  11. HelpfulTracks
    Hmmmm - how to respond to this? In various unit, district and council positions I have seen a wide range of adult to boy led units. What does the "best units" mean? I guess that is in the eye of the beholder. Part of how I judge the best units is by the level of boy-led they actually are. Boy-led units, on average, tend to be less organized and less efficient than adult led in many cases. However, the top handful of our best units are very boy-led. They have been doing for so long and so well that it is their culture, and those units rock along like well oiled machines with virtually
  12. HelpfulTracks
    No doubt there have been and still are. I am disagreeing with you that the driving force behind the policy change is units ignoring BSA policy. As I said, I have heard the drum beat for policy change for several years from unit leaders that did follow BSA policy. They have made long and consistent arguments and won converts, like myself, over to their way of thinking. Had those people simply gone about breaking the rules to force a change and would almost certainly still be on the side that wished to keep girls out.
  13. HelpfulTracks
    posted to wrong thread
  14. HelpfulTracks
    I don't agree with you on that one. I have been hearing Scouters talk about bringing girls into Scouting for for several years now. To date I have yet to see a single Troop bring girls in. So I see no evidence that Troops skirting the rules, like Miss Ireland's, are what is driving the policy change, in fact right the opposite.
  15. HelpfulTracks
    We do not charge for our SM/ASM Specific. Even though it is completely online now we still offer it, because of the value of face-to-face, Q&A and networking. We do charge for IOLS. Because there are real cost involved. However, we budget carefully and always have a few dollars left over that we put towards SM/ASM specific so we can continue ot offer it free of charge. We have also included SM/ASM specific in larger training events like University of Scouting, which does have a fee to cover real cost. So in essence if someone is taking SM/ASM Specific at that event they paying.
  16. HelpfulTracks
    I heard similar conversations. Some people seem to be upset that they will be FORCED to have coed units because there will not be enough leaders, enough meeting space, enough money etc. etc. etc. My reply is simple. If you do not heave leaders, space or money then don't start a unit for girls. And I am told that is not an option, because we have people beating down our door for girls to join. Okay, then you have leaders and money. Do just like you would starting a boy unit, parents need to volunteer, they need to pony up and help fund raise. And if there is not enough space they
  17. HelpfulTracks
    That sounds both reasonable and in accordance with the exception rules. Adults made a decision to fold a unit, adults created irregularities. Both for a Scout that was previously registered and was pursuing an award he was eligible for. The exception was tightly time limited and the youth previously registered in time to complete them. The exception rules are broad but pretty clear that Miss Ireland would not fall into the category to legitimately be awarded and exception.
  18. HelpfulTracks
    TO continue where you left off. When a time extension is requested, the Scout should continue working on the requirements as processing occurs. In most cases, for a request to be considered the following five tests must be met. 1. The member joined or rejoined—or became active again after a period of inactivity*—in time to complete all requirements before turning 18. Miss Ireland would not qualify under the first test alone.
  19. HelpfulTracks
    Not convenient, Just the ones I have seen and heard of. But if you can point some actual exceptions that have been granted and that don't fall under those categories, then by all means, please do.
  20. HelpfulTracks
    First, by it very nature this is unlike any exception ever given to a boy. Second, I have seen exceptions for disabilities, and for time lost for extreme medical conditions. I have heard for exceptions for time lost for kids coming from very abusive homes and extreme poverty, i.e. homeless. Are you seriously comparing those exceptions to Miss Ireland's situation?!?
  21. HelpfulTracks
    A & B would be the exceptions I was referring too. And if that is an exception that BSA is willing to make, I would rather them just do away with the age requirement altogether. Why make an exception for her an not everyone with a great story.
  22. HelpfulTracks
    Maybe a better analogy is citizenship. You see my bother over here, he has applied for citizenship. He met the eligibility requirements, but I didn't. But, I still went everywhere he did and we worked together at XYZ company. He passed all the interviews and test and I took them too, because the local department bent the rules. Oh, by the way, I went off to Canada and became an official Canuck. So you should make me a citizen here also. Makes perfect sense.
  23. HelpfulTracks
    Yes, she is unique. Every situation, every person is unique. The requirements are not, they are standard. So we change the standard just for her, because she is unique. So now everyone that is unique has a precedent to work from. What about the poor girl from Iowa, who lives in a community of Troops that followed the rules? Lesson learned, follow the rules, and you have good character. Don't follow the rules and you get what you want, and a Eagle Scout to put on your resume. But little else. I think we fail them both in that circumstance. Maybe more importantly, you are telling
  24. HelpfulTracks
    Okay, since I have been involved deeply in branding in my professional life I feel the urge to chime in here. BSA has a very strong brand, both nationally and world wide. Brand equity, value, recognition, recall and a whole slew of other metrics are strengths for BSA. If BSA did not have a strong brand do you think GSUSA would have spent so much effort and money after the last policy announcement? BSA is certainly using it's brand to their advantage in bringing girls into Scouting. If Trail Life had made the same announcement instead of BSA I don't think you would have heard a word f
  25. HelpfulTracks
    I firmly believe those Scouts that are left to their own devices (and time frame), enjoy and value Scouting more. My son didn't get into Scouting immediately after Cubs. When he did he spent almost a year at Scout, mostly due to sports and trying to find a Troop that did the things he liked. He then shot up to First Class with the minimum time in TF & 2nd Class. He spent almost a year as First Class. He got Life 6 months after Star. He has been Life for about 9 months and has only a vague idea of what he wants to do as an Eagle project. He has almost 2 years left, so he is in no rush.
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