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AVTech

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Posts posted by AVTech

  1. I was never happy with the CyberChip curriculum. Something that is required for 2 Ranks and as a requirement for several Merit Badges should be something that can be taught in a Ptrol or Troop setting. My work environment requires a much higher than normal knowledge base in cyber security, so I am eager to see what BSA comes up with as a replacement program. I have tended to share some of my working knowledge as additional information during a session that we had used as preparation for new Scouts to earn their CyberChip right after crossover from Cubs.

  2. On 7/2/2019 at 1:08 PM, SteveMM said:

    I was just looking at the requirements for Cooking.  Did they recently add the below line?  I don't remember it when my son took the merit badge.  I'm pretty sure they definitely doubled up, using these merit badge requirements for advancement.  Given this statement, I retract my suggestion of Cooking as a good first year merit badge, unless the Scout has some interest in cooking in general.

    The meals prepared for Cooking merit badge requirements 4, 5, and 6 will count only toward fulfilling those requirements and will not count toward rank advancement or other merit badges. Meals prepared for rank advancement or other merit badges may not count toward the Cooking merit badge. You must not repeat any menus for meals actually prepared or cooked in requirements 4, 5, and 6.

    Double-dipping on cooking has never been allowed. Separate cooking for Rank, then for Cooking and Camping Merit Badges. I agree that Cooking is a bad Merit Badge to take at camp, especially if your Scout's Troop has a good in-house MBC for it, along with a few experienced Scouts who are great camp cooks.

     

  3. At our camp, the Medical Staff hold ALL medications for ALL Scouts. Prescriptions MUST be in their original containers. OTC medications MUST be in their original sealed packaging. All medications MUST match what is on the BSA Health Record. If the Scout uses an asthma inhaler or any number of self-injectible meds (EpiPen, Insulin, etc.), they can carry one, and a second must be turned in to the Medical Staff. Adults may hold their own medications, but they must be stored safely (locked in footlocker, for instance). For other trips, an adult is designated to hold and dispense all medications. 

    As for "contraband" items, I have found over the years that very few Scouts can keep said item to themselves, and someone will turn them in- the usual offense is phone posession. I have been a Scout leader in many capacities for a long time, and I have never had occasion to search a Scout's footlocker at camp, or even to enter a Scout tent unless there was a medical emergency. That has happened exactly once, and I had another adult and the Scout's tent-mate with me, and most of the Troop standing around outside the open flaps. 

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  4. As someone who was not elected to the Order as a youth, I have to say that much of what I witnessed at my Ordeal (this past August), was lost on a good number of the youth assembled there. That also goes for some of the Elangomats who thought little of having conversations with many of the Ordeal candidates, despite the rules that had been clearly spelled out for all of us. I am going to hazard a guess that other than showing up for their Brotherhood weekend, most of them will seldom feel any sense of obligation to the Order (pun intended). For me, the weekend was amazing, and was capped off by a Bald Eagle circling the amphitheater where we had our closing ceremony.

    As a Scoutmaster, I have always taken my responsibility as gatekeeper to the few things that I am allowed to control seriously. I can counsel against a Scout starting 12 Merit Badges at a time, but I can't stop them. I can (and have) removed a Patrol Leader from office, after multiple SMCs didn't alter his behavior towards his Patrol (it was at their request, after the consulted with the SPL on multiple occasions). The Order is supposed to be an honor society, comprised of Scouts who live and breathe the Oath and Law. If a Scout who otherwise qualifies for membership based on Rank and camping nights doesn't have the strength of character and the maturity to understand the Obligation of the Order, I will have that conversation with him (or her), and if necessary, with the angry parents. 

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  5. 1 hour ago, qwazse said:

    It is funny how procedures that are couched in "protect the scout from failure" actually are to "spare some adults grief."

    Not arguing that point at all. But at the very least, the DAC asks for the paperwork to be dropped off, and doesn't schedule a pre-review review. Most Eagle candidates around here are old enough to drive, so it is on them, not mom and dad.

  6. We use Excel spreadsheets to track partials for things that Troopmaster, Scoutbook, etc aren't good at.  For example: the multiple rides in Cycling Merit Badge Req. 7Ab and 7Bc. The Scouts have no place to track these rides. We keep them on a Google Drive for ready access, but as the MBC for that badge, it is most helpful for me, so I can "nudge" the Scouts that are close to finishing up.

  7. 3 minutes ago, 69RoadRunner said:

    "BSA - it's not just cookies and crafts."

    Nobody tell my wife and daughter that joke, please. I want to live.

    In my daughter's case, this isn't a joke. She desperately wants an outdoor program, but the moms in our upper-middle class town just don't do "that sort of thing". So I am stepping up to give her the same opportunities as her now Eagle Scout brother has had. 

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  8. As the person that apparently has created so much controversy... My wife is my kids' stepmother, if that makes a difference... The other points I would like to make are 1. We will most likely NOT be the only 2 adults in the room, especially since our calendar and that of the boys' troop are pretty much running in parallel and 2. The reality of the situation is that the work is always done by those who show up. It is now November 18, which gives us 90 days to launch, provided we get 5 applications. I am also going to insist on maternal participation to build a team of fully-trained female leaders so I can step aside at some point, and see where I can be of he most help in my town/district going forward.

  9. As far as I know, if this person, if they are 18-21, would still be eligible for OA as a youth if they are registered as a Unit College Reserve member of a Troop. They would need to have the requisite number of camping nights. I would ask your local Lodge, just to be sure, since they would likely not be able to be elected by the active members of the Troop. Interesting question...

  10. Participation is already a requirement for the lower ranks, and holding a POR for the upper ranks would by necessity require participation. This seems, to me anyway, either a way to increase participation in program that the Scouts aren't thrilled with, or a way for a SM to minimize the time he spends working with his Scouts. In either case, it is adding to the requirements for rank advancement, and a de facto denial of a SM conference. Both are putting roadblocks in place that ought not be there.

     

     

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  11. Sorry to disagree with you on this Q.

    This SM is adding a hurdle. I am all for respecting people's time, and just as an aside I do NOT live in the same town as the Troop. I am 2 towns away, which adds some time to every appointment I make. In my mind, it is part of the servant leadership that I happily give to the Scouts in the Troop. It is much the same as your story about walking to the SM's house on a Saturday. If it works out that a Scout and I can sit in a campsite and have a chat, cool. But to insist that it can ONLY be done there is just wrong. This SM needs to ask his ASMs to help out if his schedule is that tight. 

  12. Since our SPL runs the Troop meetings, I always have time to meet with Scouts before, during or after every meeting. I am also more than happy to go to their home or have them come to mine whenever is mutually convenient. My job is to make sure that Scouts who want to advance, have every opportunity to do so, without adding a single roadblock to the process. 

    In my opinion, this Scoutmaster is adding hoops to jump through. Is attendance at camping trips an issue Troop-wide? If so, the answer is to figure out why, not force attendance by tying advancement to it.

     

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