malraux

13 minutes ago, nolesrule said:

I wasn't around when things got started, because we were living in another state in Feb 2019. My understanding is that our district decided to funnel all interested girls into a single "super troop", and the expectation was that it would eventually split into other units throughout the district. If that was indeed the plan, it didn't work very well, as our district only has 2 girl troops, with the second one being started by a single family that split off from that original troop, with no one else following.

I don't know about a supertroop being the right way, but I do think that scouting is better done with a larger unit than several smaller ones. We are probably better off with the goal of forming quality unit instead of a quantity of units.

50 minutes ago, PACAN said:

I believe the Key 3 can add some of any missing training in myscouting through the Training Manager

Yes, key 3, Unit commissioners, some district folks, have access to the training manager. You can easily add courses like IOLS S11. to people's training records rather than trying to get it submitted to council. If your ASMs took IOLS out of council, it's unlikely that it would get entered into the electronic record. You should add those courses if you have access to the training manager. The only limitation is that you cannot add training for yourself.

The classroom training is just watching the online videos in a classroom.

SM/ASM also requires IOLS and hazardous weather (if hazardous weather isn't part of the job specific online training).

8 minutes ago, Umi said:

Do we just find local facilities equivalent to federal buildings? It will be hard to make such comparison.

Is this for Cit in the Nation, 2c? It's worth pointing out that Cit in the Nation requirement 2 has the structure of of pick two out of four requirements, so you can do the others. Also, a US embassy or consulate would qualify as would potentially US military bases (though that's tougher). I would also potentially consider a virtual visit to be acceptable within these constraints, but ask your merit badge counselor.

42 minutes ago, yknot said:

I went from hating the idea of this badge and being very dismissive of it to thinking it has a valid place for a variety of reasons. 

I have some opinions on the rollout of the merit badgem mostly because my council has continued to do a poor job of getting MBC approved and getting opportunities to do the badge. But the badge itself seems to be a very good implementation of that sort of thing.

5 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Definitely high numbers...

Our unit is strong.  We have 60+ youth on the roster.  At recharter, we have dropped approximately 10 due to aging out, attrition, and transfer.  We expect to see those added back through Crossovers and recruiting during the year.

Agree with @1980Scouter.  Even a "rolling" one or two year average would be more indicative of reality and would flatten out the highs and lows.               

I dunno that average tells you more than peak year to year, because the numbers stay basically static except when they go up in the fall and back down in march.

3 minutes ago, 1980Scouter said:

Would these not be the highest numbers or close to it for the year? 

It takes into account new scouts over the summer and fall. After rechartering the more accurate numbers will be available hopefully. 

Yes, these are likely the highest numbers. A fair number of cubs will drop off with recharter. I'm not sure how to define "most accurate" in this context, and that comparing like to like is most meaningful.

1 minute ago, Scouterlockport said:

Sadly none of this matters until recharting is done in march. I hope they show the numbers then too... can this be broken up by councils too?

I don’t feel like going down the rabbit hole of when numbers are most accurate, just that this is a year on year, Dec to Dec numbers. 

yes you can break up the data by a huge host of criteria. 

2 minutes ago, ALongWalk said:

That Cub growth is good to see. 

It'll take a few years for the cub growth to really impact the troop numbers, but hopefully the worst of the storm is passed.

3 minutes ago, curious_scouter said:

Are these national numbers @malraux?

Yes, that is for all councils.

FWIW, membership numbers are now accessible to district committee and commissioners.

Lone Scouts would seem to be the short term answer.

Im in a similar situation to some extent. Small troop and pretty good quality but recruitment is hard. We are having pretty good success at meetings with being largely scout run. At our annual planning meeting the scouts largely came up with the yearly plan and are largely implementing that plan. 
 

my big issue is getting new youth into the program. I can’t get webelos to come visit or even respond to inquiries about how we can work together.

1 hour ago, yknot said:

You're missing my point. You're arguing with me about what an Ak47 is or isn't. I'm talking about transparency -- there is no reason not to include what type of rifle was involved. I also noted what the connotations for the AK47 are in the press, which really aren't debatable. It doesn't matter what you or I think or if it's number one used or number ten, it is still one of the preferred firearms that have been involved in high profile cases. I'm noting that its presence at a scouting event will likely be news to the general public, and even more so if it becomes clear that it wasn't an aberrance. And maybe I'm wrong, no one will care. But if this story gets much more pickup by national media, we will find out what the public reactions will be. Most members of the general public do not think of scouts or youth marksmen as utilizing or having access to AK47s. Even among shooting families, you can go all the way to the Olympics in  youth marksmanship and never encounter one. They are not used. I've had any number of parents emphatically clarifying that their youth use different weapons for their competitions and practices.  

Certainly to me, having a larger caliber semi-auto rifle loaded and unsecured at a BSA owned rifle range to me says something has gone wrong. Sure, its an accident, but that's the sort of thing where whatever happened clearly does not comport with the official rules for BSA ranges. If we can't examine what went wrong and figure out how to prevent it in the future, then I'll agree with the position that we need to drop shooting sports. But declaring this an accident and thus we don't need to look any further is not a reasonable position.

5 minutes ago, Mrjeff said:

Ok, let's keep guessing.  Why was someone down range when the range was hot; was the range hot;  what does "unsupervised" mean; why didn't someone or anyone shout "cease fire";  were there any coaches there; was there a range master there; was there a designated RSO;  were the participants Boy Scouts, Venture Scouts or Explorers; who, when, and how was the rifle loaded; were safety blocks available and in use;  did the RSO have any additional responsibilities?  Just looking at these details, any of which COULD have prevented this tragedy, clearly demonstrates that due to the imperfections of the human, mistakes and ACCIDENTAL discharges are a possibility.  Safety is one thing but supervising, managing or instructing at any event involving firearms, at any level, is something on an entirely different level.

Running a shooting range absent an RSO and in violation of BSA policy reflects choices beyond just accidental. We agree to follow the GTSS as leaders.

Freak accidents happen, as when apparently healthy trees fall onto tents unexpectedly. But bending or breaking the standard BSA rules on firearms is different. We have those rules for a reason.

4 minutes ago, qwazse said:

I don’t see anything particularly surprising about an AK-47.

Any firearm left loaded is problematic.

My concern would be that the shooting sports rules for Scouts BSA are supposed to be limited to .22 bolt actions, as I understand them. And magazines removed from weapons when not in use. They don't mention what the rifle in question was chambered in, but even if it were chambered for a 22lr, its still not bolt action. That said, I'm not sure I trust news media reporting of court documents.

By rule, no. In practice, especially for small units, the lines can get blurry.

3 minutes ago, yknot said:

It's not that complicated. Obtaining permissions from institutions and individuals is generally no more complicated than writing a letter or nowadays having an email record. If it's stock photography with a usage fee it can generally be replaced with something similar that is free or recreated.  

It’s not complicated except in scale and cost. I’m sure all the individuals who contributed don’t care about how the photos are done but if the bsa is changing the distribution method and price it might require a new release. Shutterstock will almost certainly have some fee, so changing things up with new pictures will just take time. 10 to 15 issues to address with each book times 100+ books is a pain. 

3 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Again volunteers do the photos for BSA, with BSA having the rights.

 

Checking the books I have on hand, a fair number are done by the volunteers, but also credit government agencies, Shutterstock, and various colleges and individuals. Some of those could have complicated rights issues depending on the negotiated release.

Just now, mrjohns2 said:

Yes! Like an Apple Music subscription. All you can eat for $200/year. I assume it would have to be substantial like $200+

some price per youth in your troop would make sense. $10 per youth or something. Each youth can check out up to 3 titles at a time, etc. The current electronic options for merit badges suck.

I wish the MBP were rolled into scoutbook. Even if it were something like a subscription at the troop level to have them in a reasonable check out/in format, it would be better. The paper ones made sense back in the day, but everything is moving electronic now.

Unit Commissioners are assigned from the district and in theory every unit should have a commissioner. The job involves helping out and being there to offer advice, so yes every unit probably "needs" one. 

Now, that role should be advice instead of lead as they are not part of the unit. They shouldn't sit in for the CC.

All that said, as I recall your previous comments, you probably need a UC to address some leadership issues, though the UC might not be doing it in the best way.

1 minute ago, 5thGenTexan said:

Where I am going with this is...  If we can, and I believe we can, put together enough adults who are MBC to have MB opportunities for the week.  What stops us from find a new pretty place in the United States to travel to.  Find a group camp site.  Cook our own meals.  Plan our own activities.  Use our own stuff.

I was not impressed with the summer camp we went to and I dont think our Boy Troop was over impressed with the camp they went to.  Why spend big bucks if we can do better on our own?

last summer my unit did that. Just rented a cool camp ground site for a week and went and did their own thing. Its a fine plan if you want to take on the extra work to make it happen.

11 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said:

Is there any reason why Scout Summer Camp has to be at a BSA Camp with a program?

Seems like everyone heads to a $300 - $400 a week camp and I am not sure why.  Convenience?

Its a lot easier to plan summer camp by picking the nearby camp, knowing that there's merit badge programs, meal plans, climbing equipment, atv equipment, paid lifeguards, etc. whereas planning an independent event requires a lot of volunteer work.