Setonfan

Agree it’s very frustrating the positive YPT message and procedures don’t get out as often as we would like.  They are referenced sometimes in pretty complete form, depending on the news source.  I think the BSA probably puts out the positive message and is very complete in it’s answers, but it’s likely the news outlet chooses not to print it.  Hearing about how effective the BSA is- often way in front of other youth serving organizations, churches, etc. is not the scandalous news they are looking for.  Not terribly fair and balanced.  

This seems puzzling.  Prior to this news story, the LDS leadership seemed to be making significant effort to say the departure was not about ANY social justice type issues, and encouraged youth and families to choose Scouting as a complement to the new program.  This seemed to make sense to me, as there were only two countries in the world that the Church used as their official Scouting program- the USA and Canada.  Canadian Scouting has been welcoming of gays, went co-ed fully for over 20 years.  Seems if the Church had issue with the “changes” or values, they would have kicked out Canada SOMETIME in the past 20 or so years.  Kind of confusing why they didn’t take some action if this was the real underlying issue.  

Carebear, you should call the Chief Scout Executive and tell him your concerns.  

My apology for my earlier snarky e mail, please put it down to a very exhausting, but super time at the Jamboree.  I appreciate honest evaluation and critique, and all events can always be improved, but I was very inspired by the dedication of everyone to produce what by all measures is probably the best World Jamboree in history.  Hopefully, the small glitches will fade and the memories that remain will be significant and inspiring for the Scouts who attended.  

Would love to see some pundits try to execute an event with this many moving parts if they have never been in charge of a 50,000+ person event, largely driven by a volunteer committee composed of people from widely varying cultures.  It was an incredible event in every way, a true game changer for World Scouting.  Never before had there been a camp infrastructure combined with the activity options available at the beautiful Summit property.  Combine that, with the previous jamborees sharing of culture and in the words of every multiple Jamboree staffer and participant I met, this was the best jamboree of any kind ever seen in Scouting.  I visited every base camp, talked to hundreds if not thousands of Scouts and Scouters and I found no one who was hungry or had major problems that weren’t resolved quickly.  And those small problems paled in comparison to the positives.  We got lucky on weather overall, no major incidents, and it was a spectacular display of Scouting friendship.  These kids had their lives changed= as did many of us adults.  The BSA should be proud of the partnership with Scouts Canada, and Association de Scouts Mexico, they delivered a truly epic show.

But, for a few grumpy couch sitters here on Scouter.com, I’m sure the BSA still has totally incompetent leadership, is doomed, made all the wrong decisions, yada, yada, yada.  Thanks for staying home, we had 45,000 people together optimistic about a grand future for the BSA and World Scouting.  

You must have a different take.  I was at the BSA national meeting, and this is really good material for the age group.  The crowd of 2,000 plus Scouters received this very positively, and the "buzz" after the session was very positive. 

According to a national employee in membership, yesterday, the total number of girls in ScoutsBSA crossed over 1,900 troops and 14,000 registered girls.  

Talking to a few folks at National, the numbers are really surprising them.  The new ScoutsBSA girl numbers are growing daily and still gaining at around 800-1000 per week.  There are now over 1600 troops formed.  Interestingly, it is anecdotal at this point, but the reports from the “linked” troops are that they are seeing more new boys of varying ages.  The reports generally go along the lines of families coming together.  And, although also anecdotal, it appears the recruiting and sign ups as mentioned here in a couple of posts of girls is quite different than boys.  The girls absolutely come with their friends and often, the troops grow very quickly, as opposed to boys who tend to join individually.   

It seems they are finding some definite best practices also for the Cub recruiting- many packs had huge success, others did not.  The good news for the BSA is that the successes were everywhere, with no consistency.  Urban, rural, Deep South, west coast, etc.  So, it seems the program really works, but you still have to work for the new families.  Interestingly, some of the Councils who had the most resistance and were most upset about the change have had the best results.  

WM,

First, you should make sure your son knows this is a very significant honor.  The Order of the Arrow, as the honor camping society of the BSA is for those who have been elected by their peers as showing skills, leadership and Scout spirit.  It’s kind of like the BSA version of the National Honor Society.  The experience will likely be very meaningful and he will see and experience it very differently from other Scouting activities- in a very good way.  For many Scouts- myself included, they were ready to drop out and the Order of the Arrow gave them an entirely new perspective and opened their eyes to ways to serve their communities and have a lot of fun and fellowship doing it.  Order of the Arrow in my case gave me the chance to meet Scouts from all over, I became a vice chief and learned a lot about organizing big camp work crews, and got me involved in summer camp staff.  No question, I would have probably left Scouting otherwise and missed out on a lot!  Tell him to be bold and go for it!

This is really puzzling.  I’ve seen a lot of girl troops at events the last two months and have only seen very positive welcoming attitudes.  I talked at length to a troop who now has over 40 girls and has seen the linked boy troop also increase in membership.  50+ all new kids getting Scouting.  They really don’t seem confused or unclear about the program, they have handbooks, they don’t seem to be desperately needing things from “National”.  

I am sure HRH would be invited and given the full VIP treatment!  Very good news for Scouts UK.  

If you didn’t see it, available online, a fantastic story on ScoutsBSA and the opening up to young women.  Nice to see major national news coverage in addition to the huge amount of local publicity.  

Many Councils have had very successful partnerships with traditional troops working with dedicated special needs troops.  If the Council doesn't have a special needs committee, that's a good place to start.  Several troops in a district I used to be in put on a special needs camporee twice a year and finding volunteers was actually pretty easy, they usually had a waiting list of volunteer troops to work on this.  It was a really emotionally rewarding time. 

Eagledad,

Not sure if you are in Arlington VA or Texas, and if you are in Texas, you might be in the Longhorn Council- don't know about them, but I can attest that the Circle Ten Scout Executive in Dallas can tie a fast one handed bowline and could probably take on any Scout skill challenge!  I've found many of them are Scouts first and professionals second.

On our CSE, if you go on facebook and google Chief Scout Executive, you will find a video with about 25,000 views where he recently was challenged by a Scout to start fire with flint and steel.  Does a decent job.  Not jumping out of helicopters, but it is demonstrating Execs have some Scout skills- as they should if they are Eagle Scouts.

I think National, even with all the pressure from those wanting to give prior credit has maintained consistency that while an extension has been granted, ALL requirements must be met as a registered Scout.  I’m pleased to see that, as these young women will be congratulated as true Eagles and there won’t be the criticism that they cut corners in any way.  I am actually pretty impressed that with all the media and social pressure the other way that they’ve toed the line.  Just my .02.  

Thin mints. 

Best of luck, Robert!  One thing you might consider is having the prospective Scouts that you know of, write down a list of 4 or 5 of their friends.  You can then invite them directly to an open house.  Seeing friends who are interested is a big draw for that age group.  Setting up a campsite has been effective for a lot of troops.  One that I participated in, we set up on a Saturday at a local park, invited as many as possible and did some dutch oven cooking, eggs in a paper bag, etc. Also made sure to have pictures and displays of the most adventurous things the troop had done- or plans to do in the coming year.

If the school will let you in, a talk with students with props (backpack, stove, etc.) and emphasizing how Scouts do adventure activities, but also care for the environment (leave no trace camping), allows you to talk about activities leading to awards.  At the open house, that's a good place to share with parents how STEM activities and merit badges enhance learning objectives in a complimentary way with what they learn in school.  Lastly, it's good if parents understand how the patrol method and Scout Oath and Law fosters character development, community service and teaches how to be not only a good leader, but good follower. 

On the dreaming list, also consider Swamp Base in Louisiana- gets awesome reviews, and the Council operated Seabase in Galveston, TX. 

Glad to see the requirements are essentially the same.  Haven't seen or heard of any initiatives to reduce the program expectations, which seemed to be a pretty big concern last year.  Nice seeing the books live, they really look better than the pictures.  The graphics inside are really well done and the gold leaf on the covers has a nice mixture of very traditional old school with a modern feel.  Just my opinion.

There have been women Scout Executives for a long time (although out of 250+ Councils, a relatively small number), but recently, a number of women have moved up in the organization.  Wendy Shaw was promoted to National and  runs the Membership and Program groups.  Sharon Moulds mentioned above is in her 3rd council as SE and was also an area director with national.  And there is now a woman on the BSA top leadership cabinet for the first time in history.  Saw a list of Scout Executives hired in the last 4 years and it's a very good picture of diversity.  Many more Hispanic and African-American's in these roles.  Good to see the BSA looking more like our Nation's demographics. 

Amen.  A Scout is courteous.  78,000 girls joined Cub Scouting in just a few weeks this fall.  In a couple of weeks, it’s likely there will be a lot of troops starting, from what I’ve heard (one council alone has almost 90 troops ready to start with trained leadership, older Venture girls taking key positions, etc.).  Guess National found a few out there that actually wanted the program.  You are right, Matt, online forums often bring out the worst (and I’ve watched this one for a long time before joining), however, the personal attacks and just constant negativity would certainly fail to inspire any new leader.  I’ve not recommended any new leaders to check this one out from fear they will become discouraged with so much negativity.  Some complaining is just fine, but really, if most would just act like Scouts, this could be a place of support and encouragement for all.  Just my .02.  

Philmont has some great neighbors.  Treks will have access to some new property and I’ve heard they will have plenty of capacity.  Hopefully some good snow will come this year!

Inspiring post, Firestone.  Thank you.

There will be some impact as the fire burned in the central country part of Philmont.  However, there is a lot of land to reroute treks, and some neighbors who have incredible land have given access rights, so crews can see some new sights.  The staff members I've talked to say the experience will be delivered, exactly as it always has been, with some learning about how fires regenerate ponderosa forests.