HashTagScouts

This is coming after they are putting a ton of work into Camp Pupukea on Oahu. New Cabin Designs Unveiled for Camp Pupukea - Hawaii Parent

Based on your previous posts, you've got ground work to go, as though you are building a brand new troop. Understandable you aren't at the ideal operations yet. Hopefully, the SM is at least using the SM conferences to instill some expectations for these youth as they move towards their next rank. Based on the one experience you've described, probably not what is going on, and that presents challenges of a whole different nature.

When programming is working as it should, this is one element that is correct to evaluate the health of the unit and make SM aware of blind spots. If younger youth are getting pencil-whipped through requirements. and older youth who should be teaching are not, the unit is not healthy.

Especially for Scouts on the younger end, you don't want a BOR to crush their spirit, so making the knots a game just makes it light-hearted. Just encourage them to keep trying later on- "that's OK [Sam], I get my fingers twisted sometimes too. But I'll do this every know and then to challenge myself". Again, the intent of BOR is not re-test and search for reason to not pass them- every BOR I saw as means to evaluate how we were doing as a program for discussion to the SM. Hopefully the SM can work that feedback into discussion with the SPL and PLC- "I think it would be good if next month we find an activity to include in a troop meeting to practice knots".

This is true- however, at least one adult sitting on the BOR should understand the program enough to be able to ask questions constructively to assess the Scout and competency on the requirements. That isn't to penalize that Scout, but is helpful to give constructive feedback to the SM if the Scout was lacking, so that hopefully there can be a course correction before the next rank. For example, Tenderfoot knot requirements: Demonstrate a practical use of the square knot. Demonstrate a practical use of two half-hitches. Demonstrate a practical use of the taut line hitch. I'd have a small rope with me, and ask the Scout if they ever timed themselves to see how fast they could do all of them, one after the other- and then proceed to do it myself with them timing me. "OK, I felt that was not my best- how about you give it a try and see how fast you can do it?" It's pretty clear pretty quick if the kid can't even get through a square knot in less than a minute he hasn't truly gained "mastery".

Hype him up that there are some cool options for patrol patches with that name!

What NY councils are you tracking? Last I heard, Suffolk County Council voted against merger with Theodore Roosevelt Council.

That they would be independent thinkers and learners is hardly socialism or communism.

I'd start by referring her to read the rank requirements, pointing out: 30 days (minimum) required to earn Tenderfoot due to the fitness requirement, 4 weeks (minimum) after earning Tenderfoot to earn Second Class (fitness requirement), 4 weeks (minimum) after earning Second Class to earn First Class (fitness requirement). I appreciate the kids enthusiasm, but it is a marathon and not a sprint. To each unit their own, but I wouldn't accept the youth doing videos for rank requirements. If the youth wanted to come to a troop meeting and ask the SPL if there is time for someone to test him on requirement X if time allows, that is at the SPL discretion.

The last unit I was with had purchased new tents the year before that YP change, and they were intended to be used for three youth - bad choice IMO (3 per tent?), I came in at the tail end of that decision and couldn't understand that logic- also thought they went with too high-brow of a tent model, and within a year two of them were missing poles/had broken poles/had tears in the rain fly. Prior unit did individual, Scout (parent) purchased, tenting and that worked out well. Troop had a few troop owned tents that mainly were used for the first campouts after crossover so the youth transitioning in had a little time to learn the ropes. For the kids who preferred hammocks, they used hammocks. Their tent, they were in charge of bringing it home, airing it out, and keeping it in good repair. Some kids would bring their family 6 man tent to a campout, but the other Scouts would make it known that this was not up to expectation pretty quickly (usually by making that Scout wait it out before helping them to set it up- watching an 11 year old try to set up a 6 man tent by themselves is a sight to behold). Some Scouts would start off with a $30 Walmart one-man tent, some went right for the REI models. My son had a Walmart one, but he saw me taking care of my tent, so with him hitting it with waterproof spray at the start of each year and checking seams that tent held up well for him over the years. That tent only weighed a little over 4 pounds, so wasn't bad for backpacking or regular weekend outings.

Also are not supposed to be tenting youth together that are more than two years apart in age. For mixed age patrols, that just requires a little extra vigilance on how the patrol decides on tentmates, which then means adults having to be hovering over their shoulders for something that years ago we just left them to it.

We had started off with intent to keep units separate, then when numbers fell and recruitment just wasn't bringing in new girls, for practical purposes we had to do everything jointly. The pilot just made sense- especially as we were told from our Field Service Director that National did not want councils to keep letting units re-charter with 3-4 youth year-over-year anymore- that it was survival for us. Too many girls in our pack have brothers, and to lose pairings each year would kill us, and eventually begin to make parents question why they are even registering their kids in our pack when they'll have to move to the town over in 3 years like their BFF's kids had to do.

The "Make Our Program Highly Relevant" presentation was the relevant one to watch (https://nam.scouting.org/presentations/). Angelique spoke in that video on the pilot and what they are reviewing and timing as "fall". The "Opening General Session" Roger Krone" mentioned October on decision specific to this pilot. Not sure where the December was coming from, but the February that Angelique mentions in the FB post is - to me anyway - odd If the pilot is killed for existing units (for forming new units, that would correlate to AoL crossover, which makes sense if continuing the pilot). I still say that with the 174 units that are in pilot, Scouting America is highly unlikely to do away with this option.

General discussion at National Annual Meeting on it. Videos of presentations found here: https://nam.scouting.org/presentations/ No decision on continuing the pilot will be announced until October.