Jameson76

It is the unique nature of the outdoor program. Seeing Scouts grow and mature as they play and have fun in that environment. Then when they are 16 - 17 and realize the method to the madness, and that they have experienced what not many of their friends may have been involved in. I was raised in a basically suburban area, but we had acreage and with neighbors there was 60 - 90 acres i wandered with friends. Scouting was an extension of that and the fun of going off for the weekend and longer term camps. My goal is to get these guys out and about. Working with the unit seeing the Scouts go from unsure crossover Scouts to tentatively taking leadership roles, to taking full leadership roles is the why. Speaking with parents who can see the benefits and what their boys get from the program. While the advancement is part of it, it is the experiences and learning to work in a group of peers. My son relates that when he was a smart alecky 11 year old having an older scout tell him to stop being such a PITA was huge, as he was being one, it had an impact. Then when he became a leader of the new Scout program realizing that he was not the best participant when he was a new scout, and needed to apologize to his new scout PL The final reward can come when sitting on an EBOR or during an ECOH and hearing the Scouts talk about what was significant and how it affected and shaped them. The Scouting program is not a one and done "season". It is growth as the scouts move from elementary, to middle school, to high school. They learn to be self sufficient, to be responsible, and to own their actions. That's why I drive 4K plus miles annually and camp 30 plus nights each year. Plus 11 year old's setting up a patrol tarp and cooking is better than any Comedy Channel special.

Sadly we have less than 10 months left to disparage them......

JTE is definitely a corporate Lean type site measurement that was brought it. We typically get Gold status, but not sure it's something we focus on, but moving on... In JTE measurement the challenge I have is that Budget for the unit has the same equivalency as Short Term camping. A troop can be a Gold unit and in a year do only 4 short term campouts and going to summer camp. The JTE certainly does hopefully move units to do certain things, but clearly (IMHO) any unit that is "GOLD" should be camping 9 -12 times per year as short term, some of those campouts should be backpacking or hike in, they should be somewhat physically challenging and involve some HA type activity (kayaking, climbing, etc), and some of these should be 2 night activities. Rather than outdoor be only max of 20% (400 points max for #6 and #7, out of 2,000 max for the 11 items) that should be a much much larger component. Have a robust outdoor program or a unit is not "Gold". That simple. This is what can and should differentiate Scouting in the marketplace. On Mondays at school when a 7th grader is talking to friends rather than "I played 2 soccer games on Saturday", maybe a kid is telling how he went "hiking down in some gorge and was sliding on rocks into a pool of water and it was great!". That is what sells the program, not budgets, etc.

On the tour permits my assumption is that the lawyers and risk group determined that by presenting the accepted standards, then the onus of compliance is clearly shifted to the unit. The unit has an issue?? On My!! The local council and National BSA basically have a hands off fallback and refer to GTSS and basic leader training that the issue is clearly on that unit, they had (or should have had) the need detail and should have followed the accepted guidelines. Honestly they were really self declaratory anyway. In our unit we have a checklist to make sure hitting all the high points. The on-line process was way better, I recall having to go to the office to get them stamped. Still have my copy of the National Tour Permit I got when my Explorer Post drove out to Philmont in 85

That is so true...Cubs is really a PARENTS program and Boy Scouts is a BOYS YOUTH program. Remember your customer and serve that customer. Once you burn out the Cub parent, they and the youth are gone forever

That would be the solution, but that sadly that was not the problem. Challenge was not engagement, the real issue BSA wanted to solve was pool of applicants. If your program is for 3rd - 5th graders then you have an X number of potential participants. By adding 2nd grade, then 1st grade, then Kindergarten the organization basically doubled the pool of participants. The issue is retaining members, their (BSA Dallas) solution is to make the pool bigger, not solve or work on retaining members. It is fairly simple, PROGRAM, do FUN stuff. Make it ENGAGING. Look at the merit badges in Boy Scouts. Literally the FIRST requirement is basically hazards and risk mitigation. In no way am I saying we should not be cognizant of that, but there are ways to communicate in a less tedious manner. You can give a brief safety review, then go do stuff, and as you progress work with youth on how to do it in the proper and safe way. I was at one district event, there was literally a 30 minute safety meeting and basically we were camping and it was cold. This type of mindset, fear of risk, hampers many units. What they are doing is not that inherently risky, but they go down the rabbit hole of "safe" programming and it is bland. Also for our unit, that may have been the last district event we went to, better to be out in the world on our own. Fast forward to 2017, need more members....double the pool size and add girls. BSA needs to spend more time understanding retention and promoting OUTDOOR PROGRAM, then if you build it they will come.

We have had numerous current Scouts that basically stopped Cubs during 3rd or 4th grade and then they joined the troop when we crossed over Webelos to Scouts in the spring. The feedback was the boys were just tired of the Cub program, seemed to be the same things over and over. The Boys were ready for the freedom of Boy Scouts, being able to chart their course. In many cases the parents were weary of it also. Much bigger difference between kindergarten and 5th graders and what they can do as compared to the spread of activities for 6th graders to juniors in High School. BSA has, I guess, determined short term gain (more numbers for the councils) is better than long term members.

That was in fact the bet, that the girls will be a growth opportunity. All the chips for the future were put on G and the wheel was spun. Honestly the ball is still bouncing and we do not know if that bet will pay off. As was noted in the bankruptcy conversations several months back with the exposure on insurance, dwindling numbers, spending at the Summit, and unfunded pension liabilities the BSA needed more members. The registration fee went up significantly in 2017, so that was a lifeline toss. Recruiting more boys to the program has been a challenge. During his listening and speaking tours CSE Sourbaugh admitted as much, in that they were out of ideas, so heck fire, let the girls in. Possibly the program folks need to look at all the stem focus, continuing efforts by many well intentioned councils for more class focus activities (MB universities come to mind), and troops making Boy Scouts just more school and less adventure as possibly reasons for lower numbers. Adding more girls seeking outdoor adventure may nudge the organization back to it's roots, hopefully. The BSA can be great part of a well rounded youth's activities (sports, school, religious, hobbies being some others). There is a lot of outdoor adventure out there, it's where we can differentiate in a crowded marketplace for a youth's time and efforts. Rather than Scout Me In our marketing should be We Go Do Stuff. Let the program sell itself at the local level. Get away from JTE, uniform police, leaders focused on district/council and not youth and laser focus back to Scouting outdoor activities and youth (Cubs, Scouts BSA*, Ventures and Explorers) doing things. * really think changing the flagship program's name to a generic name was a monumentally bad decision...

Can you give humility? That may help some in the WB world.

Have a Boy Scout that joined due to influence of friends, basically to do High Adventure, and he was 15 and about 9 months at the time. Really good youth. He did go to Seabase with a crew, not the one he wanted to , but another we sent. That summer he went to camp, did the new Scout program. While there we talked and I asked what he wanted to get out of Scouting. He advised have fun, go camping, maybe earn Life rank. We looked at the dates and advised he could actually get Eagle, if he committed to the journey through Scouting. He ended up going to our Second summer camp and served as a JASM for the week. Managed to earn some fun merit badges and some Eagle required. Then he did High Adventure this past summer, and went to the second summer camp again as a JASM. Good leadership and a great asset. Now he has completed his 21 merit badges and is beginning work on his Eagle project. Great example to other Boy Scouts in the troop.

Not sure when that went away. When on staff (way back in the old days, before the internet and cell phones, you know the dark ages*) we had stacks of #10 cans painted red and they would be place out in camp for dirt and water. They were placed at each tent. Been back at summer camps with the troop over the last 10 years and we do not seem to have that any longer. There is the stencil for NO FLAMES IN TENTS painted on them. We keep buckets in the troop trailer for the main campfire (or campfires) when camping. If we have a fire at summer camp, which is rare as it's normally like 900 degrees so fire is not a great option, and have them out. *though is was the dark ages the albums and music were the best, still enjoyed by all the Boy Scouts lo these many years later

Have them turn the problem into the plot of "Newsies". Your son needs to find an old press and start their own paper to battle Joseph Pulitzer who owns the concession on the elementary school newspaper

Wide open Sandy plains. Call it Burning Baden and end by igniting a giant campaign hat

We usually concentrate on getting our limit during the elusive "Camp Card Season". Honestly we do neither (popcorn or camp cards) but enjoy issuing tags to hunters, we're busy camping and letting the Boy Scouts go out and do stuff

But but Bechtel is the end all be all to all things Scouting!! All the "Scout Me In" crowd are heading there with the cool kids. The BSA invested 3/4 of a bazillion dollars there to make it the bestest and Scoutiest place on Earth. You gotta get on board with the plan and embrace all that Bechtel is, the Disneyesque Scouting vision. I hear there's a zip line. On a serious note I would agree that a jamboree out west would be good, the wide open spaces for those from the forested east is a refreshing change of pace

Was it the energy crisis that drove this? The oil embargo of 73 would not have been part of the reasoning as the planning was well ahead of this, but there was the general peak of oil production in the US and the concerns for pricing

The BSA did many many strange and odd things in the 70's Berets Improved Scouting program Skill awards BoyPower Manpower (let's get 1/3 of eligible Boys registered even if we have to fake the numbers) Not having to camp to attain Eagle Scout Really ugly Eagle Scout badge Don't try to make sense of it all...many of us are glad we made it through

Meal is included, if you wanted to attend and not eat, that would be fine

What is this "popcorn season" you speak of??

Apparently it did happen. Not saying how, just that it did

Actually the number that attain Eagle Scout is much higher They do the math by saying 50,000 Eagle Scouts this year and 800,000 Scouts are registered this year so 6%. Then next year there are 50,000 Eagles and 800,000 Scouts so again 6% of Scouts. So on every year. X Eagles in a year and Y Scouts, divide and get the percentage. The misrepresentation is that many (hopefully most) Boy Scouts stay in for more than 1 year. The actual percentage needs to be X unique Boy Scouts and Y Boy Scouts earn Eagle Scout so you get % of Scouts that get Eagle

That does seem a bit heavy. Not in a pack but our Troop has a Winter COH for families, friends, etc. We get a meal provided (not exactly catered but you get the picture), cost is $12 per person. $35 an adult does seem a might pricey

Report them? Are there Girl Scout Cookie police? What if they are just wandering by?? What if they are customers?? What if they are members of the family?? Soooo many questions

In our district there is not a face to face meeting to get the district approval. Scout working on the Eagle project, after getting unit approvals, sends the PDF and signatures to the district person. Copying in unit leader, etc. The district reviews and either approves, approves with some small recommended additions, rejects and send back to unit for review. Original signature page is left in a drop box. If there were some challenges with the unit and the process, then a meeting can be scheduled with the unit leader, Boy Scout, etc. In our particular area I would presume no changes to the current general process.

So true as we have all seen with the current state of finances of the BSA. This expense can be seen in notes in the annual reports, increase in the registration fee, talks of bankruptcy (wonder what happened with that??), opening up joining criteria to increase members.