swilliams

It's funny to see this topic front-and-center again because, coincidentally, Bugler apparently is a top choice of Position of Responsibility for our scouts this semester. Four of them gave speeches telling why they should be chosen. In a very funny twist, the kid who gave the most convincing speech does not play a brass instrument. He very cleverly dodged anything specific, and several of us thought he actually plays the bugle. 😂 After that meeting, one of the others showed up to the holiday party with his trumpet in tow. They're really duking it out for a position that usually goes unfilled. SPL will be making his choices after the new year. We shall see.

Thanks everyone. In addition to the above advice, I picked up copies of the SPL handbook and the PL handbook and plan on looking through them before handing them over. One thing I have going for me is that I've been a track and cross-country coach for a few years now. (Some of the scouts I've coached previously, and one caused my eyes to wet a little when he told me he was hoping I would be the next SM and it was a wish granted. This kid...) Hopefully some of that experience transfers. It's at least similar in that I can't run for them - only encourage them when it gets hard and celebrate the wins and milestones with them. I'm signing up for Wood Badge, but that doesn't start until April 4th. Now I have to focus on prodding younger son to decide whether he's going to complete the MBs he needs to rank up, or whether he's done. He's my lazy one. Smart as a whip, but so hard to get him to do anything. I think he wants to make Eagle like his older brother, but when push comes to shove he's reluctant to put in the work. Same thing with deciding whether he'll retake the SAT after doing some test prep, or not. I'd be delighted had I gotten his score, but he's not thrilled with the score, and I know he's capable of more. In many ways, dealing with scouts who aren't family is easier. 😂

I truly understand that they need to make the decisions. (The very first thing I've done is to arrange a day of training for the scouts who will have leadership roles so that they understand what their responsibilities are and will have the information needed to be independent of the adults.) But the incoming SPL has indicated that he needs help. This is helpful. How do they figure it out, I guess is my question at this point. I can, and will, let the SPL know the scouts need to self-select (for lack of a better term), but how does he begin? The mechanics of it? Ask them to form up during the next Troop meeting? Email them? A lot do group-chat, but not all have phones. Do they figure it out over the course of a few weeks as they naturally form groups? Am I being too impatient in wanting to sort out the Patrols soon, so that we start off with these new expectations in place? One of my biggest fears (outside of the sheer terror of being a SM in the first place) is that things stay the same because that's how the last SM did it. For example, I'd to see the scouts cooking in patrols on our next campout, which is January 31st, instead of cooking as a Troop.

So... I'm taking over the SM position for our Troop. I feel like we're not horrible at the patrol method, but that we have a fair way to go. I'm completing training as fast as I can, and reading as much as I have time for, but there are a few things that are popping up and this group of Scouters is one of the best resources I've found - either for answers or pointing to where answers can be found - so here I am with my questions. We've experienced a lot of growth this year in our Troop, with scouts joining throughout the year. As a result, our Patrols are kind of a mish-mash, with some scouts not being formally added to a patrol or even knowing if they're in a Patrol. We have five who are not yet Scout rank, but two of the five only need to whip and fuse the rope, do their Child Protection, and SM conference, so even among them, there isn't a clear indication that they should be, or want to be, in a Patrol together. Previously our Patrols have been done by grade, but not sure that's the best answer. The current SPL inherited the Patrols the way they're set up now, so he doesn't have a lot of insight. I've not yet met with the incoming SPL. We need to elect our incoming Patrol Leaders, but will need to set the Patrols first. Any guidance from you for me to pass along would be SO very appreciated.

I can't speak to this case, specifically, but it seems the answer is yes. Unfortunately the legal system moves slower than snail's pace. I have an open ethics complaint that I filed in June of 2022 that is still not fully decided. It is nearing the end, though. The final agency must decide whether to adopt the findings of the judge in their session later this month. My complaint was combined with two others, but relatively straight-forward, and it still took 2.5 years. It took nearly a year for the judge to decide whether to grant a request for summary decision.

Part of my son's project, completed this past June, is probably already in ruins. He built a bocce ball court, and in the process of excavating had to put in a rain garden. New Jersey has had drought conditions for a few months now, and because this is at a pool - which is now closed - he couldn't get anyone to give him access initially. Once someone finally agree to come open up, he realized the water had been shut off for the season. Bye-bye to the $360 worth of plantings. Our Troop has talked about making a list of projects completed by our Eagle Scouts, and trying to maintain some of them, but it hasn't gone beyond talk at this point. However, it looks like our next Scoutmaster will be... me.

Older son managed 31 merit badges will all but two being on physical blue cards. (He just made Eagle in July of this year.) There's something so satisfying about seeing all those cards lined up in his binder. He keeps them in baseball card page protectors, along with his signed rank cards. Most common way our Troop handles "blue cards" now is by connecting the Scout and the MB Counselor on Scoutbook. Everything is completed digitally, but a "blue card" can be printed if so desired. I'm a bit OCD, so I actually purchased blue paper to print them on. 😂 On that note, I'm now a MB Counselor for 5 badges and have a Zoom call set up with a Scout for Thursday. I do miss meeting in person, but reluctantly realize this is the way things work now.

I'm such a skeptic. This, sadly, sounds like another lawyer trying to cash in with more promises that may not end up matching reality.

This is one of the "lightbulb" moments that come from this forum that make it so helpful. At our Court of Honor last night, the plea went out again to the new parents to step up and help. This is probably the third or fourth time it has been said. That simple statement above will help redefine how we ask for help and what we're asking for help with.

I'll come back and read the rest of the thread later, but wanted to comment quickly on this video. For the first half of the video, we see the boys doing the action (kayaking, biking, rock climbing, ziplining), and the girls standing on the beach at sunset, eating marshmallows, and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. It gets slightly better later on, but if the message with the name change is about meeting the needs of all youth, they need to start being more careful about their visual messaging. This female would greatly prefer the kayaking and ATVs to a walk across a bridge in the city.

Add to that burnout the difficulty of finding adults who are still involved who don't treat the scouting like it's their absolute last priority. My younger son is done. He indicated he wasn't really interested in scouts about 18 months ago, but seeing what his brother has gone through in that same time period (and experiencing some of it himself) he doesn't feel like any fun or value he's still getting out of it are worth the aggravation. Key examples: merit badge counselors who take weeks to respond, then can't find time to meet the scout once they finally answer, scoutmasters and assistant scoutmasters who haven't provided scouts a solid base or training but expect scouts to be able to lead the troop by themselves because 'scouting is youth led', and scout executives - no details needed. Our Troop has grown, which is fantastic. With that said, a few of the new scouts are there to make Eagle only. They (and their parents) are already eyeballing the 20 nights of camping for the Camping Merit Badge as the maximum rather than the minimum. They want to know how much time it will take for their scout to reach 'X' rank. The adults are not interested in volunteering to help run the Troop. This may have always been the case, but it makes it appear as though the entire outdoor part of scouting isn't appealing to a lot of people anymore.

Didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so you get an upvote instead.

Better/finished picture of the rain garden and bocce court behind it.

Interesting. Filling out the application today and having it signed tomorrow anyway, but very good to know. For those who were following son's project woes in the other thread... here are a couple photos. He had some problems with drainage of the court after the beneficiary changed the location, and there was a 3-4' diameter mud puddle. (The first location would have had the drainage trenches leading directly to a ditch.) So he got to fundraise a little more and add a rain garden to the project. Behind the rain garden is the other scout project (gaga pit) that was referenced before. This has been quite the journey. Four and a half days to his 18th birthday!!! Not the position we ever thought we'd be in.

If a scout is finished with all requirements and is filling out the Eagle Rank Application, but finds out that his Committee Chair is out of the country, and the scout will turn 18 within days of the CC's expected to return to the US, is there anyone else who can sign the application in the CC's absence? Does the scout need to wait for the CC? What happens if there are flight delays, or something else unforeseen happens?

I filled out my application and turned it in to Council April 12th. Heard nothing back, so I called and left a message asking about my status on May 3rd. Got an email on May 7th saying I needed to turn in another adult application, along with the consent form, as this is a separate position. That seems nonsensical and redundant, but sadly used to this with scouts. I filled out another application and sent it to our committee chair to sign (having received no instructions to the contrary), then she forwarded it to Council. We (CC and I) then got a passive-aggressive email back saying, “M, I communicated directly with S because merit badge counselors are not a unit position and the application is not signed by the chartered org rep.“ Then I got a separate email telling me I needed to turn in another application. I foresee nothing but headache here. Convince me otherwise. Or confirm and I can tell her forget it with no qualms, lol.

On the name change... because removing the word 'shooting' makes it much safer. (Yes, that's sarcasm.) 'Range and Target Activities' sounds much less troublesome, if you're the type to be troubled by shooting, but if that's what they were after I think it's a mistake. It's not only okay to let kids know something is dangerous, but going into it with that in mind helps reinforce the seriousness of handling not only firearms, but any instrument that sends a deadly object flying at great speeds.

For anyone who uses Troopmaster: when viewing a scout's advancement, and you click on "Palms", the participation requirement shows up with a notation about # and the year 2024, and it lists 90 days participation. Does this mean the requirement to wait 90 days after earning Eagle before being awarded Palms is back in place? Or is this just Troopmaster weirdness? This is my son's record. He has 30 completed MBs (one not entered yet, so 29 "officially"), so with instapalms he would have had at least a bronze.

Combined with the requirement now that all adults who attend scout events have to be registered... yeah that's great!! Our Troop wants and needs parents to be involved but can't afford it, and if you ask for them to volunteer then turn around and tell them they have to pay for it, that's not going to go over well. At all. We're in a position with the Crew already where only ONE of the five consistently involved adults has a kid in the program, and that kid graduates this year. I suspect the decision will be made to fold the crew.

My boys like the old-ish uniforms. Not the old canvas pants and cotton shirts, and not the stuff they started offering when the branding switched - where the shirt just says 'BSA'. The shirt is some sort of synthetic or synthetic blend, as are the pants, but there isn't any lycra or spandex in them. Two gripes are that the pants are ill-fitting (but that has always been the case, regardless of version) and they tear/wear a little too easily. When everything changed the last time, I scooped up two shirts and a pair of pants. I did end up having to buy a second pair of pants off eBay. Don't know if we'll need one of the two shirts. I might be willing to part with a shirt that says "Boy Scouts of America" above the pocket if anyone is interested. 😂

Take baby steps wherever you can. I'm not Scoutmaster, nor even an Assistant Scoutmaster. Our SM, like yours, expects the SPL to lead the entire Troop, and the scout who was doing so just quit last Tuesday. It's too much to expect one scout to rein in 30-35 younger ones. Very, very few of our older scouts will come to the weekly meetings anymore because it's "babysitting" (with all scouts in one big, unruly group). So here's an example of a baby step. I create and run an orienteering event every year. I didn't even ask permission, I just did it and invited whomever wanted to come. It's become one of the scouts favorite outings, and we're heading out tomorrow for this year's course. Because of the older scouts' lack of participation, I only have two coming tomorrow, but I have 18 younger scouts who will attend. A full half of them are the cross-over scouts from merely one week ago. I've reached out to a handful of scouts who RSVP'd 'yes' and asked them to be leaders, heading out with groups of 3-4 scouts. A couple that I reached out to are 12-13, and one is still only Tenderfoot, but I'm hoping they'll gain something from being asked to lead: 1) a sense of pride that I think they can do the job, 2) confidence from having done the job, and 3) a greater sense of what the older scouts have been putting up with. 🤣 I'm also leading a backpacking trip on the AT, for the older scouts. This I did run by the SM, and got him to agree that due to the number of miles we're hiking (roughly 15 from Friday evening to Sunday morning) it would be a bit much for the newer scouts. His view was that as long as he didn't have to do any of the planning or go on the trip, he was fine if I did. With a second registered adult, of course.

Isn't Raccoon Ridge the best spot? When it's just my daughter and I we stealth camp in a little grassy spot just south of where the ridge opens up to the views. I use AllTrails, plus I have paper maps of the AT from Swatara Gap in PA all the way through the Berkshires. That link is very cool, though. Going to take a closer look at it after dinner.

Thank you! That's sort of why I was asking. Our older scouts want to do an AT backpacking trip in two weeks. Delaware Water Gap to at least Camp NoBeBoSco but more likely to Crater Lake. 3.6 miles Friday evening to the Backpacker campsite. 9.1 the second day. 2.0 Sunday morning. Worried that might be too much for our Webelos who are crossing over tonight and have never backpacked. Younger son suggested making it "high adventure" and limiting it to scouts 14 and older. I'm a little surprised younger son wants to go. My boys went to Philmont last summer. The scouts narrowly voted to do one of the hardest treks available: ended up being just over 100 miles, summiting both Tooth of Time and Baldy. Little time for program. Then the scouts who had voted for this one backed out of the trip, lol. When he came home, son said he was never backpacking again. Looks like he has the bug, though.

Hmmmm..... Orienteering this year will be in two weeks. Now you've got me thinking. Speaking of, I need to stop messing around and go finish the new/revised map. This will be the third year, and we've done two different courses. I think too soon to bring back the course from year before last. Anyway, the ribbons do look kind of neat, but they definitely remind me of my dad's military uniform. As a female who wasn't involved in scouting until my boys joined, and who wasn't an official uniformed leader until a few years ago, I have no knots. I did receive a same-sized patch that has a stylized "WM" on it that stands for our old District and was an award for service. It is sitting with the certificate and my running trophies. All two of them, lol.

Along these same lines, is backpacking considered high adventure? Or can it be? If it's not high adventure in and of itself, are there added components that would place it in that category?