PinkPajamas

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

this might be helpful.

7 hours ago, qwazse said:

 

I think we would all like to hear about the girl's troop who's having a rough start but the boys and venturers around them are stopping by to encourage them to keep trying ... perhaps with an offer of dutch oven cobbler and a game of cards.

Not quite a cobbler and card game but definitely scouts being awesome to other scouts ☺️

22 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

I have a question: Your basically claiming that girls and boy are the same. There is one scout leader on this forum who is claiming her girls mop up the boys in their activities. How do you take that?

Our Weblos girl den is amazing and lead by our most experienced Scouter. I mentioned them, and only them,  because people seemed ::shocked:: a new troop could being doing well so early on. 

Our Bear girl den, lead by an inexperienced scouter....they struggle a lot....and both the scouts and leader rely heavily on the more experienced Bear boy den for help. 

I’d bet dollars to donuts a girl joining BSA instead of GSUSA is several standard deviations from average.

19 hours ago, cocomax said:

The camporee was set up so that the adults running the events could give the ribbons to anyone they wanted to for any reason they wanted. 

I assumed this post was an accurate reflection of the scoring rules.

I don't think its fair to say people cheated, if the rules were "give this ribbon to whoever you want for whatever reason you want". There are all kinds of conscious and unconscious biases that come in to play but that's not cheating. Under those rules handing a ribbon to a new patrol because you're excited they're there and trying is valid even if their performance is sub-par. 

Is this a common camporee scoring system? Is this how this particular camporee has been judged in the past? because it's terrible.... and sad if it took girls winning for people to realize it.

I would definitely encourage the boys to write a letter complaining about a scoring system that lacked measurable goals and Harry Potter style "100 points for Gryffindore!"  so my pet team wins. Have them suggest a better scoring system and vote with their feet if changes aren't made by the next camporee. 

29 minutes ago, SSF said:

Keep talking like that and you'll be invited to be a judge at this camporee next year

Hard pass. Their scoring "system" sounds like a clustermess.  

Have you asked him what compromise would make him comfortable enough to go? 

11 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

*whispers*

Co-Ed Dens are the norm in the field. 

You're not suppose to say that part out loud, it will bring on the end times or something.

Our Weblos girl den wipes the floor with the boys den, granted its a small number of kids, but its not like BSA was the only place to learn scouting skills. (We do not have any type of den competitions this is purely from observing them at Pack meetings and Camp outs). 

These girls have a choice the boys do not. They could do the non-uniformed social club with traveling, amusement parks, crafts and cookie booths but they are choosing patrols, uniforms, and camping. 

So a patrol winning at a camporee isn't surprising.

Are there any rules against modifying a hat? .....like cutting a hole to pull a ponytail through? 

My stepson's pack in Michigan in was $25-35 a person. I believe the scout's fee was covered but I could be wrong. It was catered at a banquet hall. 

Our pack is having theirs today, it's a potluck, so people can adjust the cost to fit their budget. The pack covered the cost of renting a pavilion at a local park. 

I asked those same questions. We have a group page for our SU and they deleted my post. 

I also had to sit through a meeting where we were warned not to give members of the BSA our program materials. Why they thought that would be a problem I have no clue. 

45 minutes ago, Sablanck said:

My Eagle scout son and I were walking out of the local big box home repair store and stopped to buy some cookies.  As we were purchasing my son asked the girls if any of them were going to give up selling cookies and join Boy Scouts.  He has no issues with girls in scouting but I think the mom's there were not happy with the way he asked his question.  

I’m the leader of my daughters brownie troop and our Service Unit sent out an email with cookie sales info and in it was a bullet point “report any Boy Scouts at your cookie booth”. 

Their constant negativity  towards the BSA program in SU meetings and Council events is a large part of why my dual registered scout will only be participating in cub scouts next year.

12 hours ago, qwazse said:

Even if you get him a book, I'm sure your CM would like a picture of him with your scouts as a bookmark!

I knew the wise Owls (Foxes,Buffalos,Beavers...) would have a better idea. I have a photograph of his daughter and my daughter in their Bobcat paint that I know he likes, a framed copy would make a more personal token gift. 

Our Cubmaster has completed his wood badge requirements and has his beading ceremony next month. Is it appropriate to give a small gift from my scout to celebrate his achievement?

He enjoys history and historical places so I was thinking of hunting him down an old cub scout book or book of old camp photos.

Hello!

I'm new to the BSA, my daughter is currently a Bear and next year my twin boys will be Lions....so I've got (hopefully) two decades of scouting ahead. I have the time and resources this year to attend our council's aquatics training weekend(s) and living in SWFL with access to year round water activities make this training particularly useful. My dilemma is which type of training do I do first, lifeguarding or aquatics supervisor (rescue and paddle craft). Both require frequent recertification. Our Weblos den leader is currently trained in both, so there isn't an immediate need for either training.

Mostly looking for advice on what other people found to be the most useful training.

Thanks!