CA_Scouter

As others have advised, start small and work your way through the program. We started with designing menus that reduce waste and leftovers. We make smaller campfires now, we do a lot of cold breakfasts so there is no cleanup, etc. We really work the 'dispose of waste properly' angle because we do a lot of backpacking anyway. One exercise we did was to take a cheap frisbee, drill holes in it to use as a strainer for dishwater, so we can pack out the leftover 'nibbles'. We brought in a rep from the local LNT org, she did a great job and engaged the scouts in various techniques and such

DaddyO As originator of this thread, I can tell you that you are completely wrong in your assessment of the situation. Not even close. The DAC is a fine person and is not trying to belittle nor bully anyone. I was frustrated with the inconsistancy of the wording on how our council required the letters, nothing more. I have since learned from others on this forum that the Council has discretion when requiring letters so I've learned well from this post. Forgive me, but what you are teaching your kid, by example, is that its ok to make blanket assumptions on a whole group of good

Did I see a proud Momma in one of those pictures? Nice job.

"...never had an opportunity to know any of the district procedures until it was his son." Ouch. Ummm, I knew at least ONE district procedure in my term as SM. Maybe even 2. No way on three though.

Ya, Jet, see my first post. Everything you said I covered.. and surely you can tell that most of my rant was tongue-in-cheek. ( or foot in mouth, you choose ;-) ). Nolesrule... correct, the wording was ambiguous at best, that's what frosted me. If you are going to require these things at least make it perfectly clear... Ya Beav.. same comment as for Jet... I'm more than willing to help out, its just the ambiguity that set me off... we tried very hard to get everything together beforehand so we wouldn't have to ask him to expedite... I think it will all work out... I've done my

Ya. Beav.. don't make stuff up eh? I didn't say he can't read nor fill out da app correctly, I only indicated our experience with da DAC. Cut and pasted from the Eagle Scout Application: REQUIREMENT 2. Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life. List the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf. It does not state that the candidate is required to provide the letters. There is not even a mention of 'letter' in the statement. Son met the requirement, he entered

FrankJ - I actually DID consider his dentist, but I didn't want to appear to be going 'over the top' with this... ;-) LisaBob - my son didn't need any encouragement from me to be annoyed. I haven't seen him roll his eyes this much since the last time I asked him to comb his hair! Taking deep breaths and counting to ten... one....two....

Son fills out his Eagle Application/Packet and contacts the District Advancment chair to submit. We have a situation where my daughter is moving out of state in June, so I want to get this processed so she can be in attendance at COH. District Advancement Chair will not accept the Eagle application without the letters of recommendation. Council says a minimum of 3. Aaargh. So he rushes to get the letters of recommendation, gets 4, ( myself the SM, personal friend Colonel in the Air Force, personal friend CIO of a high tech company and from our pastor )then meets with District Adva

EXCEPTION when NO_DATA_FOUND then raise BOY_ARE_WE_IN_TROUBLE when TOO_MANY_ROWS then raise THATS_BETTER_NOW

COBOL is not geeky, its LEGACY. I still support one COBOL site. ;-) Back on subject kinda... I refer to the troop youth as SCOUTS, not boys. In my own small way I think that subtley raises the level of expectation... .. that and 'no sticks!' $.02

We had a problem with one of our new crossover kids at Camporee this last weekend. Kid was hitting the bathroom a lot and asked yet again but his buddy said no, he was tired of taking him so please get someone else. New kid grabbed his buddy, buddy pushed him off, ASM broke it up, end of incident. New kid is very upset that the buddy pushed him back, does not address the fact that he initiated the contact. Later in the evening, new kid has a fit about not wanting to spend the night, he has to go home... he tells us that 'I've had a very emotional day and I'm emotionally exhausted a

OGE is spot on. No siblings unless family camp. The 'no women' idea is ridiculous. Perhaps it might be acceptable to your 'gentleman' if the woman wore a burka. Just a thought. ;-)

Who wants pie?

Beav - woah - I'm honored to have been spun! ;-) The skills we teach in the lower ranks are geared towards leadership, outdoor skills, first aid, etc. but now its time for the ELSP. Now they have to go BUILD something! WHAT in the lower rank skills prepares them for project management, construction, etc.? To clarify, I'm not saying a Life Scout is 'not capable of' or 'at a loss of how' to do the project, its just that he needs guidance and direction from persons who DO have the experience to teach him. To expect a teenager to do this all on his own without involvement from

Doing an Eagle project is a learning experience. The scout must to be taught and/or advised on how to do things. You do your best to promote initiative and independent thinking with the scout but sometimes they just don't know how to 'do stuff'. C'mon, they are a teenager and have little life experience and/or experience in project management upon which to rely. Debatable if the comments on the work schedule is overstepping - one point to be made is that is your job as an advisor and the other is that he should have been forced to manage the 'mess' so to speak. I sometimes have a

Yikes! Bad stuff. If it was just a friendly drink then off to bed, I wouldn't make a stink ( yea yea I know but this is my opinion ). In this case though, this was clearly overboard, so something must be said. I think you were correct to not say anything at the time as they wouldn't listen to you anyway, but now its time to follow up privately with those adults and voice your concerns. Expect resistance. If you don't get satisfaction then you'll have to choose as to whether to inform others on the committee or move on to another troop. You might approach it by 'innocently' co

Discipline is how you train a scout to avoid behavior that would lead to punishment. You have a committee that handles that? This is of course a loaded question. It seems to me that the SM may be trying to instill into your scouts the values of the Scout Oath and Law and he is running counter to your committee who is focused on punishment. If the scouts are running roughshod over the SM, then that's largely the parent's fault, not his. The Committee also burdens some of the reponsibility because they are charged with supporting the SM and the program but I sense the Committe

Woah Kudu! Would it help if we keep the participants 300 feet apart? ;-)

I've seen two posters on this thread alone that have received inappropriate pm's from this guy. I received one myself, it was quite rude. I think its time for him to go away. Moderators, please take note!

OK, then, would singing Kum-ba-ya be considered corporal punishment?

Its considered 'idiotic'. Those who can't lead, punish. Those who can, encourage.

I vote: Backpacking First Aid Swimming Pioneering Cooking

Ideas from our district Klondike: Spaghetti Tie - Similar to fire building but you also have to boil water, cook the spaghetti so its flexible enough to tie into a knot around a stick. Eliminates the 'build the base of the fire 13 inches high to burn thru the 14 inch high string' part... Blind Tent - One scout gives instructions to blindfolded scouts to put the tent up. Hot Rock - a 3 foot diameter piece of plywood with three ropes attached. Place a semi-round rock in the middle and the scouts must hold the ropes, balance the rock and negotiate thru an obstacle course. No o

I'm there. Meeting is usually tonight but we had a trip to the Rotary Club observatory scheduled for tonight that got moved to tomorrow night due to the weather... except I'm out of town tomorrow on business, which means no scout meeting this week for me. I'm depressed. That means all work an no play for CA_Scouter this week. Boohoo.....

Wow GWD, I think we are leading parallel lives/troops! Time frame is about the same, adult to boy led, all the issues with the scouts... there is a LOT of similarity in my situation. I come to the forum here to listen and learn and sometimes contribute. There was a time I would not post because I knew I'd get slammed by several people who were not friendly, courteous, kind or helpful. Thankfully those persons seem to have gone away for now. Its so interesting to see the differences and similarites of scouting across the nation and to compare stories. I too, love this s