swilliams

Thank you all. We have our COH tonight, but will put the advice to work next Tuesday!

I've worked with youth for ages: besides scouting, as a substitute teacher and a cross-country/track coach. Maybe it's just me getting old (Get off my lawn!), but the last two new batches of scouts seem to have more behavior issues than before. We've had issues with scouts not listening to the older scouts, talking back to them, refusing to do as asked, etc. At one point last year they vandalized a school bathroom and almost got us kicked out. Nothing permanent, but spitting on the mirrors, unrolling all the toilet paper, etc. It's gotten to the point where our older scouts are beginning

Not a summer camp, but maybe relevant. My daughter and I just got back from a short backpacking trip on the AT. We met some scouts from Troop 3 in Easton, PA. Four scouts, two leaders. When we did a similar trip last year around 4th of July, we had come across a group of Jewish "scouts" (not Boy Scouts, but some similar program) - 37 of them!! I've noticed more people out and about in the woods ever since Covid, so I think interest in the outdoors is UP, but it's not necessarily translating over to Scouting. On a complete side note: hiking around Crater Lake near Walpack, NJ (s

Thanks again for your help when my son was working on this. (And for the nickname Bugleson, lol.) He was a trombone player who was able to get many of the notes on trumpet right away. It did take Bugleson six months to do this MB. The high G took a LOT of practice, as did the low C. His MBC asked him to play an actual bugle (but didn't require it), so we ended up purchasing a used trumpet for practice, then borrowing a bugle for a couple weeks to finish up. We met with the MBC a total of three times before he was satisfied and signed off. I made Bugleson play 'To the Colors' at a c

I like this solution. As a side note, our troop has several ASPL positions: logistics (planning for camping trips), advancement, service and program (take over for SPL when unavailable and support SPL with weekly meetings).

That last part would probably be a rather large savings, as so many organizations require background checks now. For myself, I've been background checked three times in the past two years - USATF, as a substitute teacher, and for a real estate license.

I think this is how he will try to proceed. He doesn’t share his parent’s inclination to fight this kind of thing, and I can’t blame him. He just wants to get it done and see his work translated into a finished series of trails. (Un-ironically, the ‘just get it done’ is what made him not want to use the Advisor in the first place.) As of an hour ago, our former committee chair has asked to become an Eagle Advisor for the Troop, so that if our District is dead-set on forcing scouts down this road, at least they have a choice in Advisors.

He will be 17 in just over a month. I just spoke to someone who is still on our Troop Committee, but is also on the list of Eagle Coaches who can be assigned by the district. He reiterated that my son MUST work with the Unit Eagle Advisor, and told me that my son's proposal would most likely be rejected by the District if it didn't come from the Advisor. I am beyond angry. What are we teaching scouts with this? My solution might just be to have him join a Troop in the next town over, which is in a different District that does not require this. I may decide to fight it later, bu

Maybe I'm not being clear enough. He knows he has to have the proposal approved by the designated district or council person. He has no issue with that. But in order to get it to that person for their approval, the district is saying he has to use an Eagle Coach and have the Coach turn the proposal over to the district. This is in direct conflict with what GTA says. This Eagle Coach (who is also a MB counselor) made my son take 24 months to complete his Personal Fitness MB because he kept delaying their last meeting. By the time this person finally found the time to meet, my son ha

It's not who we are handing it in to... it's who can do the handing in. National says the scout can do it. Our District says he can't.

Of note, none of the other Districts in our Council list this as a requirement.

That requires us to go to our unit Eagle Advisor. I know this may seem silly to you, but this is a major issue for both of us. I don't want to post details here, where the Eagle Advisor can't refute what I say, in case it becomes clear who I am talking about.

Our District is requiring the Eagle Coach to submit the proposal for approval. Yet GTA says a scout is not required to use a Coach. In fact, GTA says the District or Council will designate a coach after the proposal is submitted.

Another complication. My son was trying to fill out page 9 of the Eagle Scout Workbook, where it asks for the contact name, address, phone and email for the Council Service Center. He pulled up our Council website, and under the Eagle Project section it says: Proposals will be accepted from Eagle Coaches ONLY. Scouts should NOT submit their own proposals. WORKBOOKS MUST NOT BE PROTECTED BY PASSWORD OR IN ANY OTHER MANNER. Proposals are distributed to the District Committee for review in the order they are received. The review process may take a few weeks. The District Committee will ret

Update: Our Eagle Advisor didn't take kindly to BugleSon presenting on his own, but fortunately our Unit Commissioner and another leader from Council were at this particular Committee meeting, and they verified that it is a Scout's decision to work with an Advisor/Coach - or not. Our Unit Commissioner has offered to coach my son through the remainder of the project; elp that BugleSon will happily accept, so that is another positive. BugleSon's proposal was approved, but he still needs to present it to our ScoutMaster, who was not at the meeting.

BugleSon (so named by a forum member here), will welcome help and guidance from whomever Council assigns him. Our unit ‘Eagle Advisor’ has positioned himself in such a way that most adults and scouts in the Troop think they must go to him first, before even thinking about a project, which has resulted in a certain young man dragging his feet even more than usual, and even muttering ‘I’ll just quit.’ I didn’t want to tell him he wasn’t required to do something only to turn out to be wrong, so thanks for helping to verify that he is within his rights to present the proposal on his own

Ah, pancakes. AKA "scram-cakes" in our troop, thanks to one trip where the scout doing the planning and cooking didn't bring any butter or cooking oil to use before pouring the batter into a not-so-seasoned pan. We avoid using any grease/fat left over from cooking meats, as a few of our scouts' families are vegetarian.

Resurrecting this old thread because I had a very similar question. Our unit has an "Eagle Advisor". For reasons I won't get into, my son does not want to work with this person. So... GTA says "It is true a Scout need not accept the assistance of the service project coach. Regardless, it is considered best for the council or district to designate one for every scout who submits a project proposal for approval." To me, this says that if a scout doesn't want the help of the Coach provided by council, then he certainly doesn't need to work with someone from the unit, either. Would you a

Our Troop pays for the adults as well, but after this latest recharter we're discussing no longer doing so. With the rising costs, and our dwindling number of scouts, we can't afford it. In the past we had 5 SM/ASM's and 8 Committee members, with 70 scouts. Now we're down to 30 scouts, but only dropped one ASM and one Committee member. Money coming in from our fundraiser is way down, and we don't want the Troop to become more about trying to raise money than scouting. Not sure what we'll end up doing. Also, we have three special-needs scouts and a parent always come with them on the few

I am not. I've been looking for other opportunities for our scouts that don't involve me trying to draw my own maps, haha, so thank you for those links.

Last year I spent a ridiculous amount of time making an orienteering map, then spent about $130 on a starter pack of control flags, race cards, and card punches. It was a HUGE success. The scouts loved being sent off into the woods alone. The race/contest aspect was secondary. I did have parents stationed at a few of the controls, we had water/Gatorade at one, and I was in roughly the center of the course with a full first-aid kit. The scouts have asked to do it again, so I'm working on a second map. The best part is that it takes a LOT of mapping in the field, so I have an excuse

Four and a half months without checking in, and was hoping for some positive news. I guess the news from the District Court hearings isn't negative, so there is that. Didn't realize insurers could be likely to receive a stay and could drag this out another year. 😒 Our Council, and therefore some of the adults in our Troop, are pushing for Jamboree, but we have a contingent going to Philmont this year, we're already signed up for our regular summer camp, and with the $1,100+ price tag, it doesn't look like there are more than one or two scouts interested in going.

So what happens next? I know that's a very broad question, lol. If the judge's opinion isn't 100% approval or denial of the plan, what needs to happen, and which entity needs to take the steps needed, to get to the end of the bankruptcy process and begin to settle with CSA victims? Apologies, but I've been sort of following this off-and-on for the last half year.

By “mixed claims” do you mean claims where it’s not clear that the abuse happened within the context of scouting? The Church and the scouting program were so intertwined, it would not be surprising if that were the case.

This one has the rubber-tipped poles. We’ve had tents in the past that use the little pin inserted into the pole, as well as the sleeves ( which I hated, as the segments of pole always separated trying to get them through the sleeves). We sold all of the tents but one this weekend. The one that’s left over probably didn’t sell because I had priced a little higher, but it’s a Eureka Mountain Pass XT. Nice tent. Four-person, though, so more for family than Boy Scout. We’ll probably donate to Veterans.