Treflienne

Some things I did with Brownie Girl Scouts, grade 3: Have lots of little squares of fabric (denim from old jeans, pieces of cotton t-shirt, polartec fleece, woven nylon, wool . . . you get the idea, some stuff that is good for camping and some stuff that is bad). Near the beginning of the meeting have scouts dip them in bowls of water, wring them out, and hang them up to dry. At the end of the meeting see which ones are still soggy and which feel almost dry. Have a pile of lots of shoes: hiking boots, cowboy boots, snow/slush boots, flip flops, crocs, sandals, party shoes, et

Remember your history! GSUSA did not borrow their motto from BSA. Both groups, indepedently, borrowed from Baden-Powell's English Boy Scouts.

When I first saw a photo of an Evzio Naloxone auto-injector, at first glance I thought it was an Auvi-Q (epinephrine auto-injector) until I realized that the color and wording are wrong. Both share the same really distinctive shape. Scary, really. If you are having an anaphylactic reaction, you don't want somebody to grab the wrong auto-injector. On the plus side, having a device that talks someone through how to inject it seems like a good thing. According to https://www.businessinsider.com/price-of-naloxone-auto-injector-evzio-2017-2

The relevant section of the GTA is 7.0.4.7 Limited Recourse for Unearned Merit Badges https://www.scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/the-merit-badge-program/#7047 This is all theoretical to me. You'll need to have someone else tell you how to handle the angry parent.

Why be sensitive to appearing too highly militaristic? Let's see . . . a British army officer and war hero writes a book "Aids to Scouting", for soliders, and finds that it has become popular with boys. He had observed the poor quality of army recruits, and seen a need for better training for the ordinary youth of the nation. He thinks that scouting as an outdoor game for boys could help them grow into good citizens, and to that end writes "Scouting for Boys", emphasizing that the boys will be "peace scouts" rather than soldiers. Still, some people thought that Boy Scouts might be t

The "Volunteer Essentials" document seems to be customized by council -- so that different councils have slightly different rules. GSUSA does not seem to be either uniformly more restrictive or uniformly less restrictive than BSA. Based on my memory from a couple of years ago, I few differences that I have noted are: GSUSA is more persnickety about the two-deep rule. They require two UNRELATED registered adults. Cannot be mom and grandma, or mom and aunt, supervising a troop. BSA, on the other hand, does not seem to require the two-deep adults to be unrelated --- this makes

Within the bounds of safety guidelines, Girl Scout troops can do pretty much anything they want to. There are no rank advancement requirments requiring specific activities. The big problem is how to find that group of like-minded girls. The special interest "high-adventure" type groups are better than nothing, but when the girls are scattered over half a state, and the meetings are by conference call, its just not the same as a troop that meets regularly. (Maybe other groups do it differently, but that is what I am aware of in my state.)

@Eagledad has some good advice: https://www.scouter.com/topic/31448-new-unit-what-to-consider-first/?tab=comments#comment-502458

It would be politically inexpedient to introduce one within the next few years. People would complain that the girls are changing the program. Of course, to be able to sew on a button, restitich a seam that has come loose, and hem a pair of pants is really really useful for almost anyone. To take a tuck in a waistband, to replace an elastic or zipper, or to make a costume for a special event -- also handy. I was disappointed that GSUSA doesn't include sewing in its badges the way it used it.

It's not just an issue with Trails End popcorn. Same issue with Girl Scout Cookies. And the candybars that the sports teams sell. Etc. Etc. Etc. It seems like these sorts of fundraisers are teaching the kids to beg. One of the troops in our town has a really great fundraiser. Collecting and disposing of Christmas Trees after Christmas. It seems that no-one else provides this service and it is valued by its customers -- at least every year on the neighborhood email list some neighbor starts asking about who they can contact to haul away their tree. Do y'all have more ideas of

How many joined your Scouts BSA troop? Or at least have visited a meeting since school started this fall?

For Scouts BSA only the Key 3 can update the Troop's info. I assume that for a Pack it is similarly the Key 3 (COR, CC, CM) If you are one of the Key 3, then log into my.scouting.org. Go to Menu --> Legacy Web Tools --> Beascout. This should let you edit the pin. The changes will not show up immediately, but will appear by the next day. If I remember right, one of the things you need to set is the option that makes the pin visible.

How much do you lock down your browser? With lots of add blocking and javascript disabled I see those same colored rectangles on beascout. (Not sure exactly which one is blocking the relevant info.) Try a different, less locked down, browser. Or try the Tor browser.

Great. And is there a place on a BSA website where I could find this? And yes we are encouraging all new scout families to have a parent sign up for some position in the troop (committee member or . . . )

Resurrecting an old thread to ask a related question . . . Our troop would like to invite a couple of prospective scouts on an outing. (They've attended one troop meeting this week, but not yet made up their minds whether to join.) Outing would be an easy bike ride -- a few miles on a suburban bike trail (rail trail) to the ice cream shop and back. It seems like a good way for a prospective scout, accompanied by a parent, to get acquainted with the scouts in the troop. (And most kids in our town own bikes and know how to ride them.) But . . . our committee chair is not sure tha

Our girls troop went to summer camp, and absolutely loved it, and it did not surprise me one bit. Remember, BSA scouts, especially the girls, are self-selecting. Some are, some aren't. BSA is a good organization for the kids that are. Some kids may find a better fit in a different youth-serving organization.

I like the sign-offs in their handbooks -- not only can they see what they have completed, it also puts the record keeping responsibility on the scout. I'd also like to keep personal electronic devices from intruding too much on outings. Sign offs in scout handbooks don't require getting out someones cell phone. I have seen that not everyone has the same opinion I have.

Sounds good. Common sense would say to compare the scouts on the end-of-2019 recharter with the scouts on the 1 February 2019 initial charter, and we can go with that, even though that is not how the Journey to Excellence scorecard actually says to calculate it. (If I read it correctly, JTE wants a comparison of Dec 31, 2018 with Dec 31, 2017, which seems odd.)

I was looking over the JTE scorecard as my troop was thinking about plans for the coming year. It puzzles me as to how to apply "retention" to a brand-new all-girl troop with a charter year ending in December. The percentage retention is to be calculated as Percentage is thus (0-0)/0 If dividing by zero is bad, then dividing zero by zero is even worse! Does this mean that this is one less category available in which new troops can earn points? We already have enough points for bronze, but might not have enough categories (objectives).

Sounds a lot like a girl scout type of project, with its focus on civic action. https://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/girl-scouts-and-civic-engagement.html https://www.girlscouts.org/girlagenda

Do you mean Men's Large? (as opposed to Youth Large.)

Ok, we have wandered way off topic . . . But from my adult and female point of view, it seems like giving one's patrol a joke name might go along with treating the patrol idea as a joke. Of course, I've never been an 11-year-old boy, nor are there any such in my troop. For the girls at least I'd like to see a certain amount of pride in their patrols -- and along with that goes choosing a good name.

Keep in mind that enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn, combined with a willingness to work hard and put in ample time, can go a long way. These are no substitute for experience, but for any CC, there was a first time when they took the job without prior experience. Who would do the CC job if you don't? If there is not another obvious candidate, that can increase the other scouter's and troop families' willingness to put up with your learning on the job. Mind you, I am not a CC. I did jump into a role with my daughter's new troop for which I have the training but not the e

Great news that your daughter has a troop. Last thing I remember you saying on the subject was "Don't ask". Now for the pressing question: Did she convince her patrol mates to be the Artemis Patrol and use that great patrol patch she designed? or did they talk her into something else? ( It seems to me that the incoming girls have a great opportunity to raise the standard on patrol names and patches. ) Keep in mind that as CC, being one of the key three, you will be in a position to positively influence the new troop. Having a brother troop, you will have experienced scouters

I think that the original question was "How long should a Troop hold on to the troop's third of the blue card, after the scout has completed the merit badge?" Until the scout ages out of scouting?