mrkstvns

Interesting.

There are a huge number of obstacles to creating and running a successful inner city unit, most of which are not even mentioned in that article.

Here in Houston, the local council (SHAC) runs a program called "Scoutreach" that is intended to create and support scouting units in underserved  (mostly low-income) neighborhoods. One of the biggest obstacles they encounter to creating inner city units is getting qualified adults to volunteer. The inner city neighborhoods have a lot more single parents, more parents working shift work, more kids being raised by grandma, more parents who can't pass a background check (arrests, drugs, etc.).

Here, the council supports some units by providing paid leaders. That's an expensive approach when your organization really wants dues-paying families, but I suppose it's necessary if you want to avoid having the organization branded as an elitist group that's not genuinely open to all. 

I'd enjoy hearing about what other councils are doing to get scouting programs into neighborhoods that lack active units.

Have y'all heard about the first ever useful use of social media hashtags? 

It's called the #Trashtag challenge and the idea is simple: go clean up an outdoor space. Post before and after pictures using the hashtag #Trashtag

It ties in perfectly with scouting's emphasis on service projects, the environment, and Leave No Trace. 

Info from Bryan on Scouting:   https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2019/03/12/trashtag-challenge/  

Info from the Washington Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/03/12/will-trashtag-challenge-really-get-bored-teens-offline-cleaning-up-planet/?utm_term=.5a7adc1fb19b 

Just a reminder to scouters who might be thinking of doing a unit service project around this effort:  you also might be able to earn a Hornaday Unit Award, or other conservation awards...

10 hours ago, Buggie said:

Same with the Ouachita Trail in SE Oklahoma heading towards Little Rock. My troop has been there a decade or so ago, and I'd love to see my scouts get more active and try it again. 

I've been looking at that one too!

Also thinking about doing some hiking in the Kisatchie National Forest in Arkansas. I've heard they have some good trails there.

If you ever get into Texas, the Lone Star Trail is nice. It's about 140 miles --- mostly forested, mostly flat with only slight elevation changes. Easy for anyone who has hiked Philmont or any mountainous terrain.  It's (mostly) National Forest land, so backcountry camping is allowed. 

19 hours ago, Treflienne said:

@mrkstvns,  he was referring to the fires of 2018.

Okay....I can see that causing a dip in the numbers.  But I wouldn't have expected it to make the numbers plummet by 34%.  

Philmont plans to be open for treks this summer, so I'm hoping that the numbers of Backpacking merit badges edges back up this year.

I'd hate to think that such a big drop is due only to declining outdoor focus or fewer adult leaders who know how to hike the backcountry.

21 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Talking to someone who was on the national aquatics committee, I was told the Aquatics Supervision courses were created so that units had folks with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to take their units on the water since BSA Lifeguard is more pool/ formal swim area oriented.

Sadly, our local council never offers the Aquatics Supervision courses (heck, they don't even have an Aquatics committee). 

The Aquatics Supervision courses look pretty good. Participants need to get in the water and actually practice recommended response methods. It's practical, relevant, and actually does show a scouter how to supervise aquatic activities. Night and day different from Safe Swim Defense, which is nothing but a worthless panacea that scouters do online as a mere check-off, without ever having to even see a river or lake.

Makes sense.  

That's also in line with the guidelines for Eagle projects: a scout who doesn't spend all of the raised funds for a project is supposed to turn over the excess cash to the beneficiary organization.

1 hour ago, DuctTape said:

If a person willingly provides their information to another private citizen, that citizen is not obligated under HIPAA to keep it confidential. Yes, that is the ethical choice but the private citizen is not legally bound by HIPAA.

Correct.

The HIPAA law imposes duties of confidentiality on health care providers and insurance companies, but if you yourself disclose information to a private citizen, that's your business. If it turns out that they don't safeguard the information, welllllll, that's between you and the untrustworthy person/organization you trusted.

See:  https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/covered-entities/index.html

51 minutes ago, qwazse said:

Plus, Philmont closing. I'm sure some scouts were counting on their high adventure for that badge.

What?!?!  

Is this for real?  When/where was this announced??

The saddest observation I see in the list is that Backpacking is down by a third...

Sad because that should be such a core activity of any unit's program.

On 2/6/2019 at 9:12 AM, Eagle94-A1 said:

The two separate Aquatic Supervision Courses, Swimming and Water Rescue and Paddle Craft Safety , are not professional certifications. They are step above Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat. They are designed to give Scouters the skills for beach front swimming activities and conducting boating activities, specifically canoeing, kayaking, or both depending upon the course. That includes rescues. Again if memory serves, the two Aquatic Supervision courses are using some of the Waterfront Aquatics Manager Supervisor material, but as it relates to BSA. AND IT IS NOT CONSIDERED A PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION ( caps for emphasis, not shouting.

I might be mistaken about this, but my understanding is that the two Aquatic Supervision Courses are aimed at adult scouters only while the BSA Lifeguard is appropriate for either adults or youth age 15 or older.

Just now, Hawkwin said:

 I can see where a parent might be hesitant to turn over their medical information to another adult just for attending a camp out.

It's sometimes even worse.

I was at a Merit Badge College event where the organizers requested A&B medical forms.

For a 3-hour, classroom event.

The overreach can be utterly stupid...

I was reading an article about Scouting for Food...
http://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2019/mar/10/scouting-food-nets-more-10000-pounds-goods-samaritan-center/769227/ 

The last line of that story jumped out at me:
"He said someone also gave away a $100 bill Saturday, adding the amount of cash received in total was "pretty substantial," though he did not have an exact count."

If your scouts are participating in a Scouting for Food activity, and someone hands them a "pretty substantial" donation, who gets to keep the money?  Is it a donation to the scout unit, or a donation to the local food bank?  

What do you think?

30 minutes ago, qwazse said:

There's gotta be a way to bring bugling into the 21st century to make the badge worth shooting for. By that, I mean troops need to learn how to use bugle calls, say on ringtone apps, to the point that one of the scouts really learns how to do it on a horn.

I don't know that ringtones are gonna do the trick, but I agree that the badge is a tough one.  What I think makes it outdated is that it requires LOTS of completely irrelevant calls that nobody has ever heard (aside from scouts trying to earn Bugling merit badge).

Let's face it. The only bugle calls that most scouts (and scouters) pay any attention to are Taps and Revellie.  (Maybe To the Colors also, but I don't think I've ever heard that at a scout camp).

Each year, "Scouting" magazine publishes a list showing the number of each merit badge earned in the previous year. The 2018 list is available here:

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2019/02/11/2018-merit-badge-rankings-a-deep-dive-into-the-official-numbers-from-1-to-137/

As usual, all the top positions are Eagle-required. 

I always find the bottom 10 to be the most interesting.  This year, American Business managed to tie perennial last-place Bugling as the least-earned merit badge in scouting.  A mere 551 merit badges earned nationwide...

Observations?  Comments?

We do a Shooting Sports weekend too. Our NRA-certified instructor covers safety rules within about 30 minutes and does another 15 minutes while out on the range showing the boys how to operate the specific bolt-action .22 rifle provided by the council at camp. The boys are then closely supervised by NRA-certified RSOs with the instructor acting as coach. The boys get MUCH more time out on the range than they spend in lecture.

2 3-hour sessions. 

Wow. 

Just Wow.

I'm not even a kid and I'm bored just contemplating it...

2 3-hour long sessions....YIKES, that sure is a LOT of adult hot air!

4 minutes ago, JoeBob said:

Our troop requires two 3 hour long sessions that take the place of the regular meetings prior to going on the Shooting Sports weekend.  If a scout doesn't pay attention and/or fails the written test, we don't let them near a loaded firearm.  The basics of gun safety are best taught in a tightly controlled environment where a boy's attention isn't distracted by "Enough about safety; when are we gonna shoot!?"

Fair enough.  (And a point well taken.)

I also think there's value in spending FAR more time DOING things than talking about things.  How you gonna keep the boy interested in scouting when you promise him a Shooting Sports weekend but it turns out he has to sit in a boring classroom for longer than he gets to be outside with a rifle in his hands??  "We been gyped!  They should call it a Shooting the Bull weekend."

3 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

)

I couldn't have said it better!

34 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

WOW!  That sounds awesome.   It wouldn't fly now, but amazing.

Maybe not the way Eagle94-A1 described it, but a ridiculously awesome adventure could still be done *IF* you have a motivated ship with committed scouts and scouters.

Check out this story of a ship that did a 3-week cruise to Alaska...

https://boyslife.org/video-audio/148626/its-all-hands-on-deck-for-a-sea-scout-cruise-to-alaska/ 

10 minutes ago, FireStone said:

I discovered my career because of the BSA. And it has nothing to do with the outdoors.

The BSA has been in the business of offering exposure to a wide variety of topics for a long time now. STEM is just the latest addition. It's certainly not "idiotic".

Agree with what you say....BUT I also agree with carebear3895...

Science and technology are a real part of today's world, and no kid growing up can "Be Prepared" without knowing how to deal with it. BSA's inclusion of merit badges in STEM fields is great --- it lets the boys who want to explore those fields do so.  The Nova/Supernova awards are great too --- they help foster awareness of STEM and might also help a boy discover something he wants to pursue as a career.

BUT I agree with carebear3895 because he is referring to "STEM Scouts", which is not a purely optional award within the normal BSA program (where the focus is still on outdoors). STEM Scouts is an entirely different beast in which kids never have to get out in the woods. STEM Scouts is a type of unit (like a pack, a troop, or a ship).  They don't have to camp. They don't have to hike. They don't even have to learn about Environmental Science. It's indoors. It's academic.  Instead of field green uniforms, they have lab coats. Instead of fun, they get extra science classes....YECH!   

10 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

2. National BSA is making the same stupid mistake GSUSA is doing by focusing on STEM as opposed to the outdoors. The whole concept of "STEM Scouts" is idiotic. That's not why you join Scouting. 

You are too kind and gentle on National BSA.

Even though I support STEM initiatives in this day and age, scouting's value is still in its core outdoor program. That's what kids (and the public at large) expect.

Nova is okay as a purely optional program for those scouts (or parents) who want to do it, but the outdoors is the crux of scouting.

Turning STEM into the entire focus of a BSA unit is indeed "idiotic". STEM Scouts really doesn't belong in BSA. 

Maybe BSA and GSUSA could settle their legal differences with a fair trade: we'll give them all the namby-pamby indoor boys (and their helicopter parents) who can't deal with camping, and in return we'll take as many of those outdoor-loving girls as they can manage to bore senseless with STEM, sewing and cookies.

3 hours ago, mashmaster said:

When you go to BTSR there is a night in the middle of the week reserved to go to the Observatory, you need to provide transportation but worth it vs. spending another night just for it.  The camp basically doesn't do much that night since they know a lot of people go tot the oservatory.  It is pretty awesome.  Buy your tickets to the star party early.

Hmmm.  That could be a problem for our troop since we typically have 40+ scouts going to summer camp so we charter a bus to get them to/from camp.  We wouldn't be able to transport scouts anywhere during the middle of the week. 

21 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

Did you know it has bee around for over 100 years?

No.  For some reason, I thought it was a brain-child of the 60s or 70s era.

I take it you are involved with a ship...

I came across an excellent web site called 50 Miler that is about 50-percent scout focused and 50-percent general backpacking focused (which, of course, is also relevant to scouts).

Many of the blog posts are recent and all (even the "oldies") are of excellent quality --- relevant and accurate.

The site isn't about BSA's 50 Miler award, but with it's focus on long distance backpacking treks, it is completely relevant to any scouter thinking about the 50 Miler award...

Link:  https://50miler.com/ 

Ahhh, lunch!  The most boring meal of a typical backpacking day.

If you're like me, lunch on a backpacking trip is typically a total non-event. All morning long, you've been munching on GORP or some other trail mix with maybe a Nature Valley granola bar along the way....then comes the lunch stop, and what's there to eat?  More of the same GORP or granola bars!

Nobody wants to stop long for lunch, so cooking is out, and nobody is going to pack loaves of bread and cold cuts, so a little creativity can go a long way.

How about some faux pizza?  Awesome!

INGREDIENTS

• Flour tortillas
• Tomato paste (tubes work best for backpacking)
• Pepperoni slices
• Manchego cheese

DIRECTIONS
Squeeze some tomato paste on a tortilla. Smear it around. Add a few slices of manchego cheese and a few slices of pepperoni. Wrap it, eat it, make another.

If you can't find tubes of tomato paste in your local grocery store, you can order them from Kroger: https://ship.kroger.com/p/070796400100/cento-all-natural-tomato-paste