OaklandAndy

Our District has 4 packs and 3 troops left...barely holding on. We used to have double digits in both before the VID. 

46 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I'm mourning the loss of the International Spirit Award more and more

I didn't realize it was no longer available. I thought it was still an earnable award for all. I know it replaced the International Activity and Youth Exchange Award. 

I thought everyone did the retired adventures anyways? We typically finish the required ones fairly quickly and we let them pick whichever ones that want, retired or not. If there is no loop, we make/give them a creative handmade craft in it's place. 

KIS(S)

"allegedly failed to report financial statements."... An often heard reasoning from  any government.

"The assets of the banned organizations will be confiscated by the Nicaraguan government." I wonder how much will be left if these NGO's clear their name. 

37 minutes ago, HashTagScouts said:

YPT will need to be done every year by every volunteer going forward, it will no longer have a two year expiration. 

Not the worst thing in the world. It's not like it's too difficult to complete. I know it has been suggested to our council that all unregistered parents who attend C/P weekends must have YPT as well. Easy to say, harder to enforce. 

18 minutes ago, scoutldr said:

a group of young adults aged 21-34

I was afraid the time would finally come when I wouldn't be considered a young adult anymore.

1 hour ago, skeptic said:

Common sense continues to take a back seat to paranoia in our society and its linked legal maze.

This is the answer to all these ridiculous changes right here. It's all about CYA with the BSA National nowadays. CYA and vague answers. 

50 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I had a DFS attempt to humiliate me by blaming me for something  that he did at a staff meeting.

My direct supervisor tried doing this to me when I worked at the council and put it right back in her face after I showed her the factual timeline of how things actually played out. That in itself was catalyst for me to look for another career. She was the sweetest, hardest working lady in the whole office and if the office culture turned her into that, I knew that it would happen to me. That's why I left and work for a community college now. 

12 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

there are some very fine and competent SE's and councils that have them are fortunate.

Our SE has a good head on his shoulders, it's more the DE's that continue to drop the ball more than anything. 

I also noticed that "good ol' boy system with the council volunteer positions....they want the title but none of the work. 

56 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Sadly BSA has a history of moving folks around or promoting them.

BSA already has a hard time retaining members/volunteers, let alone employees. Not surprised that it would be easier to displace the problem then get rid of it. I'm sure if it was a liability issue, yeah absolutely they'd be gone. But if they are just running a council into the ground, they'll move them elsewhere like you said. 

You can set up a group Discord. I used that a lot with my summer camp staff when I was a camp director. Easy to manage and supervise. Most youth know and use that app. 

21 hours ago, DuctTape said:

One benefit you have, is that you can "start at zero" to rebuild. I have found this useful in the past: 

 

http://inquiry.net/patrol/green_bar/index.htm

I think a lot of us had this opportunity after covid. 

I found that giving them a purpose helps. From what I've seen from other units, a leader gets trained and then what they learned remains with the card they hold and doesn't go any further. Whenever I have a leader, or trying to encourage a leader, to go to training, I have them use what they learned right away. Whether it's leading a segment with the scouts or even the adult parents. 

We, too, pay for our leaders but that's never going to be enough if I don't tell them how that training will benefit them, the unit, and how they are going to be using it soon after the training is completed. Another thing we do is we sign up and pay for the leaders at the meeting rather than rely on them to do it themselves. This usually eliminates excuses like "I forgot". 

32 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I assume the International Spirit Award? Fantastic! We're doing it as a pack too.

Since it's so easy for me to help scouts with it, I'm helping not just my pack but another pack in town with it. I taught them not any two games but two campfire games, and it turns out that the scout promise and motto is exactly ten words in Swedish 😄

At the next campout, they will get the opportunity to cook reindeer chafing. (Vegetarian, solves both the reindeer meat supply problem this far south and everyone needs to eat problem.)

We're also going to spend more time on BP himself and the worldwide scouting movement at Blue & Gold.

If you're starting in January you already have a plan, no doubt, but I'm happy to help if I can. The other pack wanted to make it more real with a visit from someone who was a scout in a different country, and while I imagine I can't visit your pack maybe I can help make it more real for them in some other way if we put our heads together.

Yes and working on the MOP program and the same time since they share the same international objectives. I appreciate you're assistance! 

11 hours ago, qwazse said:

t is worth noting that one of the consequences of BSA’s shrinking membership — while other countries’ membership grows — is reduced input in WOSM.

Our Pack is actually starting this at the beginning of 2024. I didn't even know about it until I was doing some research on different awards for our scouts. I doubt the councils even know much about it either. I'm hoping we can bring more awareness to it and other units will participate. 

8 hours ago, Ojoman said:

What bothers me more than National raising their fees are all the councils that are tacking on 'service and insurance' fees.

Council insurance went up anywhere between 3%-5% across the country for the upcoming year.  Our council has to pay national something like $65,000 just for recharter, hence our fee going up. Council's are trying to survive too, but it's hard when National raises rates for everyone....scouts, volunteers, mbc, councils, etc. 

56 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

No one? I bet that there are programs brought in by the local police and fire departments and that the PTO has brought in some programs.

Yep, no one. Some superintendents have decided for all schools in a county that no outside organization is allowed. Doesn't matter if it's the fire department, scouts, or any other organization. It's crazy that they would throw away so many resources, but then you have groups like that Satanic After School club trying to get in your school as well. But that's another story. 

6 minutes ago, dk516 said:

ou want at least 2 full Packs for every Troop in existence in order to cross over enough Cubs into Scouts BSA.

Come recharter, there will be on 2 packs and 1 troop left in our rural county. 1 pack has 8, the other 51. 

11 hours ago, satl8 said:

All of the schools around us are very familiar with this law, They adopted the policy to not let anyone in.

Very true. The loophole is if we don't let anyone do anything, then we can say no to everyone, including scouting. 

17 hours ago, Ojoman said:

not be an arrogant and condescending person in communication

This goes for volunteers as well. Sometimes they can be just as bad. 

7 minutes ago, HashTagScouts said:

Turnover is and has been high in my council and neighboring councils for as long as I've been involved as an adult, and I would say that the majority who have come and gone that I have interacted with have been good individuals, they just have come to realize they can make more money and work a less stressful position that isn't requiring them to work on an erratic schedule that often involves nights/weekends.

 

On top of that, higher positions aren't available for DE's like there used to be. After the lawsuit, everyone had to cut positions and "do more with less". Instead of spending 3-4 years as a DE, there are waiting 5-7 years just for a spot to open up to get promoted. 

I had this issue with the parents as well, not so much with our DL's. I had the DL's take all the scouts outside for activities while the parents stayed inside. I sat on the stage and told them we needed to have a heart to heart. After letting them know if we don't get more consistent support/involvement, this would be my last year. 

Apparently that was enough because at the end of the meetings I had 1 new DL, 3 Asst. DL's, and 3 new Comm. Members. 

Had they not stepped up, I would've walked and the Pack would probably folded over time. The whole experience was becoming too stressful and volunteering, even at the cub scout level, is not supposed to be like that. 

Now we're one big happy family...well most of us! 

This is as of Oct '23.