cchoat

Our council does not put on a Commissioners College, but those of us who are interested travel to outside councils that do host them. We will get together a few commissioners to split driving and hotel costs. I hold a Doctorate in Commissioner Science.

Pale Horse, that's a good catch. What I mean to say is with all the controversies swirling around scouting today, and the increased potential legal issues that could arise due to the policy changes in admission of girls into the program, possible gender discrimination, YPT issues, potential for medical issues involving scouts under one's care, etc.., should scout leaders carry liability insurance?

Congratulations on your choice to seal your membership in the Order. I went thru mine in 1984. Of course, many things have changed since then, but the bonds of Brotherhood are lasting.

With all the discussions about the potential for lawsuits over recent policy changes made by the BSA, do you, as a Scout leader, feel that it may be necessary for either you or your Chartered organization to take out personal liability insurance to protect yourself / itself against lawsuits? Is anyone already doing this?

Sadly, even if you had two deep leadership, with both adults registered leaders, all the BSA procedures followed, and both adults being highly trained emergency doctors, there would still be a potential lawsuit. That is the way of today's society.

I know this is a strange thought, but while I was reading several posts about the admission of girls to the 11-17 age group, and the potential for a rush to be the first "Eagle", I had a funny thought... In today's PC focused environment, with all of the other changes the BSA has made to date, why couldn't a "girl", who gender identifies as a "boy", be permitted to join a scout troop today and begin advancement? Think about it....and expound.

Fully agree, as you could be talking about my chartered organization when you speak of shoehorning in another troop meting. They would not get a good time or night. In my very large sized, very low population density rural district, (at highway speed, 65 miles an hour, it takes about an hour and a half to travel from one end to the other north/south and 45 minutes to an hour east/west) we currently have eight registered units, three of them LDS, who will be gone in 2020. All of them are small and clustered around the two major population areas. We already have to few "leaders" who step

With the departure of the LDS, I see National very quickly moving to do away with the separate but equal plan. What they will do is let it roll out, fail, and announce that its ok to have co-ed units because "that's what the volunteers want. All boy/all girl patrols would work for YPT purposes, but I see them also being "optional" in the future as well. My two cents.

Live long scouter, started as a Cub Scout in 1971, Arrow of Light (a new award back then), Boy Scout in 1973, going on to earn Life Scout and OA before moving to the Explorer program in 1978. Served in various different Audit positions around the world (served 21 years in the Army) from Den Leader to Cubmaster; Committee Member, Assistant Scoutmaster to Scoutmaster; Merit Badge Councilor, member-at-Large, District Roundtable Commissioner, ADC and finally District Commissioner. Wood Badge Troop Guide, T3, Doctorate in Commissioner Sciences, Silver Beaver, DAM, Distinguished Commissione

"Win all you can" is dropped in the new "Wood Badge" syllabus currently being field tested.

Actually, the District Award of Merit is for service at the District level, as opposed to the Unit level. So it really wouldn't be appropriate to recommend the COR unless he is active at that level. And the Scouter's training award has requirements attached to it, that the COR may not have yet completed. We have several awards in my district to recognize leaders at the unit level. The "Spark Plug" award is for those leaders that encourage and set an example of service to scouting to others

As the District Commissioner for a large geographical, but sparsely populated district with only eight registered units, running a roundtable using the BSA guidelines is not feasible. There are not enough people to break out into smaller groups, so we do a combined Roundtable. Our normal roundtable starts with every unit leader present giving a short summary of what their unit did over the past month, followed by the DE putting out information about the council's activities, a short training session based on prior requests or changes in the program and then we throw the floor open to anyone

As a Scoutmaster, two trained and qualified ASM's I have, but what my troop really needs is a Troop Committee. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that really needs to be spread out, to avoid burnout. I need people to do the back office stuff (Advancement Chair, Transportation Chair, Activity Chair, treasurer, etc.) so that we can concentrate on our jobs. A national campaign advertising not only for youth, but for adults is an excellent idea, that can only aid us in recruiting leaders. Training is a problem we can overcome. But without the adult volunteers, all the training in the world

Just added a copy of "Mr. Scoutmaster" staring Clifton Webb to my collection along side "Follow Me Boys"... Next addition will be "Moonlight Kingdom" Not boy scouts, but a good movie that we showed during a staff workup weekend for a Wood Badge course I staffed.

I as Scoutmaster, hold a mandatory "Welcome to scouting" meeting for all new parents when their sons cross over from Webelos, and sit one on one with parents whose sons join during the year. The purpose of this meeting is to explain how a troop is run differently than a Cub Pack, and that as Scoutmaster, I am the official "Air Traffic Control Operator" and that all "Helicopters" are grounded, no exceptions. Parents seem to understand this when presented with context, why we do things this way. I keep parents who wish to stay for the meeting separated from the scouts, and remind them that they

I have been using this very issue as part of my thesis for my Doctorate in Commissioner Sciences. Promoting the “out†in Scouting. Council Camps and Merit Badges. Have we forgot we’re outdoors? Clive S. Choat District Commissioner, Thunderbird District, Calcasieu Area Council DRAFT Copy for Comment Executive Summery This thesis will look at the merit badge process, how it is being applied at council camps, and what we can do to both enhance the merit badge process, and the outdoor camp experience. Some of t

According to my Council Exec, this issue was pushed by the National Volunteer Committee. Never heard of them. Who are they, how are they selected and do they really represent the average volunteer. Those are my questions...

The same went on in my council. My CSE received a blast e-mail from national to all councils AFTER the public announcement (But not before the phone calls from concerned Scouters and the press)

IMOHO, After reading posts here and on other boards, comments on news sites and Facebook, I have noticed that there are several major issues with this upcoming change that have upset many Scouters about allowing girls into the Boy Scouts. 1. Volunteers were not consulted. Yesterday, I was on Facebook commenting on this change when my Council Exec popped up. His comment was that he found out about this change was from a group e-mail sent to all CSE's from national after the press announcement was made. He went on to say that this change was driven by the National Volunteer Committee. Does

While the handwriting for this decision has been on the wall for the longest time, I can't see how they are going to run a "Separate" program for the older girls. It's a truism that we are already short of volunteers to staff existing units, but to add a whole new structure? This will be the rub. I am not against this idea, but in my neck of the woods, Venturing hasn't taken off, in fact, there are no units in my district, and only three that I know of in the council. So the question will be, where will these "Girl" Cub Scouts go when they're ready to cross over in 2019? I just wish that

Tabasco Sauce. If it can make an MRE palatable, it's got to be good. I carry a small bottle on a belt pouch. (Keep a few back up bottles in the trailer, the scouts are always "borrowing" mine.)

I guess it all depends on the size of the council, and the strengths of the individual districts therein. In my neck of the woods, the council is small enough that running individual district activities (camp-o-rees, adult training, cub camping opportunities, etc) are better run by the council, in order to get a critical mass of scouts and scouters to make it happen. The districts here each do roundtables, and EBORs, supply Unit Commissioners and provide direct support for new units.

I have two ASM's, one is a medical doctor, the other a nurse. They attend all activities in the woods. I believe that trumps WFA.

I strongly agree with Cambridgeskip on this one. Unless it is to catch the immediate attention of a scout or Scouts to prevent a Health and Safety issue from occurring, there is no reason for any adult to yell or "bark" at a Scout. Praise in public, critic in private is how issues should be handled. if the ASM had a problem with attendance, then he should have addressed it with the SPL. Instead the ASM made a fool of himself, as he already knew why several Scouts were not at the service project, but ranted anyways. if the SPL volunteered his troop for this project, and it was comple

Putting on my Scoutmaster hat..... I guess I am an old timer... I believe in giving my Scouts a safe place to fail, and grow from it. In our troop, unless the issue is health or safety related, the adult leaders stay out of the way and let the scouts get on with the business of running the troop. They run the meetings, make the annual plans, present the plan to me so that I can pull out the "adult" portion (Driving, deposits etc., in other words, those things that require an adult to handle.) When camping, the adults plan their own menus, camp away from the boys (but close enough to