advancement lady

I know there are forums on this subject, but I need some thoughts. I have an Eagle and Life scout and unfortunately high school has "gotten in the way"! My freshman has made a group at high school that meets on the same night as scouts. I need to explore some options of how to keep him active. Should we visit other troops that meet on a different night? Should I meet with the Scoutmaster of our current troop? Any advice will really help. He wants to continue in scouting and not only finish Eagle, but also earn his palms. They were camping this weekend and he commented how much

What a horrific tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and his scout family.

I'm glad I found this one ~ I am currently in this situation .... my Life scout started high school and made the school show chior. Unfortunately, they meet every Monday night which is the same night as scouts! We are looking for another troop to join because he wants to make Eagle and work on his palms. He also enjoys camping and is in a Jambo troop. Anyway, I am looking for a troop for my two boys ~ Life and Eagle. I am glad I was able to be prepared for the situations we may run into. (people thinking that we have an alternative motive) Question being ~ Would it be out of lin

If a Merit Badge councilor needs to fill out paperwork, do the safe scouting program etc. ~ then doesn't it have to be a district thing? Our last District updated MB list is from Sept 2011. He hasn't done any updating in a year. Isn't there a computer program for that?

Good Point ~ Our list isn't up to date either. I recently had a scout who was given three names. Two (that we know of ) are no longer councilors and the third hasn't bothered getting back to the scout?!? Those were the councilors who were close to us (town wise) One of our scouts had to go to another council because our council didn't have anyone doing reptile and amphibian that didn't live an hour away from the scout's home.

Thanks folks ..... To clarify I am the one assigned to getting councilors' names etc for our boys. Our SM has never been involved with the councilor aspect, recording of MBs or even the purchasing of scouting equipment or awards. We do have some wonderful councilors and I do not feel our boys are "skating" by. (not that I've seen at least.) We have councilors who meet multiple times with the boys. (our scoutmaster does camping ~ talk about complete .... EX they need to do duty rosters just for him even if they say they've done hundreds, write out menus ...... everything is done again j

I have come across a couple of "power hungry" councilors. How do you deal with them? Do you just send your scouts in a different direction? to another councilor? EX: a Family Life councilor said he wanted to meet with the scout first to pick out his chores and that he should do 7 (5 required) because it would help build his character! a Gardening councilor was not going to accept the sunflowers because they weren't in the same garden as the vegetables. (grow 6 vegetables through harvest ~ grow 6 flowers through harvesting) Has anyone else dealt with these types of scenarios?

I hear you and I get your point. I look at these extra patches, honors, and mementos as just that ...... mementos. If anyone has the luxury to travel they usually bring home some type of souvenir, in the form of a t-shirt, photos, or "dust collector". That is what I want for "my scouts" ~ scouting souvenirs that they can look back on and remember their experiences. A type of trigger, conversation starter ~ whatever you want to call it. If they've earned it I will find it for them. That NYLT patch is universally known. Our local ones are not because our council scouts chose to go back to t

UPDATE: I was able to correct the records of the "transfer" scout. He did indeed have his Tenderfoot section in his book signed and the cards that went with his never recorded merit badges. (I knew that he would) Now, we just need to locate 3 merit badges he lost in the move!!!! Ah ~ to be young! Thanks for the help.

UPDATE: I was able to get the scout his National NYLT patch. Our council had them in stock. I just presented his certificates and patches (copies of course). Now I can't wait to see his face at our Sept COH. Thanks for all the information. It helped.

Thanks, I love the nature aspect with the twigs and wood. Also, laughed a bit at some of the "gag" awards. We did start giving the blue ribbon (it says "great effort" and is in the cub scout section). We coupled that with homemade "pocket certificates" which we add name, accomplishment and date. It began in summer 2011 when our small troop took three of the four "awards" at summer camp. One was best belly flop ~ didn't tell anyone that he was the only contestant. We also had a scout who works all summer on staff ~ we gave him "most broken bones" because he found a hole during a camp wide

Looking for ideas for unique recognitions for scout achievements. Our troop (me!) started a tradition for our troop. When a scout earns the shotgun shooting merit badge we present them with a shotgun shell slide. The scouts love them. Take a spent shot gun shell and cut (razor blade) a small square towards the top. This covers just about half of the width .... more like a rectangle. The kerchief is thread through the back as a slide. I add their name and when they received the badge (year and location).

mbrown~ The scout you described .... does he have a disability that would give him extra time to become Eagle? Also, we have requested extra time for two of our scouts through concil. If there are certain situations ( one was a military child and one had zero family support) they might grant extra time. I have to disagree with the scouts resigning up for merit badges earned. Our camp classes fill-up quickly and a retake takes the opportunity away from other campers. Is there a place where they can go shooting when they aren't at camp? We had a Star and Life BOR last night. One

GOOD FOR HIM!!! I am glad he was able to conquer. This does show that it is for the BOYS ~ when they are ready, they are ready. Let's not get hung-up on numbers. Everyone is an individual and it needs to come from their desire. We cannot do it for them. I do still feel that the majority of boys need to wait a bit before Eagle.

PS ~ I could be mistaken ..... an article about the first Eagle Scout only mentioned the fact that he had to earn 21 merit badges ..... times have changed in 60 years and so have the requirements.

I have to agree with the "don't rush em". I have sat on many BORs and the maturity level really does pick-up when they hit High School (especially those 16/17 year olds.) I had one scout that only worked on Eagle required merit badges and we asked him to slow down, explore, and learn ~ teach. (13 and could have hit Eagle) He was a bit upset, but he is now 15 has found an interest with one of his merit badges, volunteers like nobody's business and his Eagle project starts next week! He now has formed relationships with the other scouts and actually LAUGHS with the scouts. Aren't we trying

This does look interesting ..... how or where do they get a mentor? There are quite a few scouts in our troop which are no longer interested in working on merit badges (15 & 16 year old Eagles). Has anyone tried this yet?

I have not yet fixed his records ~ I asked him to bring all of his information to Monday's meeting and I will make copies then. Glad to hear that this is not an isolated case (!?!?) and that fixing the records is doable.

One of my two sons acheived Eagle this past June. The second is Life, so ...... Great article. Thanks for sharing.

My son bridge to a troop that had 10 scouts ..... with the 10 that crossed over it doubled the troop! Two things were the key (in my mind) 1. One of the boy scouts was a "den chief" and attended cub scout meetings ~ this gave the cubs a familiar face (he mostly worked with the second year webelos) 2. During Webelo visitation the scouts worked with the cubs, so the adults could ask questions Hope this helps

I have three scouts in a Venture crew (two sons ~ 14, 16 and one daughter ~ 18). Our crew is small 8 members and we just lost three to an away college. Anyway, my point is this ...... our crew has got to recruit to survive, so we are planning to do recruitment in fall. Is it possible that what you experienced was a recruitment from a particular crew? My 14 year old did not experience any recruitment at summer camp this year.

The records are not recorded at our COUNCIL office. The scout's father was the advancement person from his second troop, so the records I received are from his dad! If you look at the dates ....... it seems that about one week of his scouting career was never recorded. (I think this was the time he was in transition from Illinois to Arizona) So, what I am hearing is this ~ first try to manually add them on the internet advancement sheet. If that doesn't work fill out a form and submit it to our council. Does this sound right? He is working hard on his scouting and I would hate for th

One is Tenderfoot (he is First Class) Three are the Historical Merit Badges. The scout keeps great records, so I am confident that he has his blue cards and I know he has his book!!!!

I have a scout who left our troop to live with his dad in another state. (about 18 months) Upon his return, his father sent me a copy of his advancement records. 4 dates are missing. QUESTION: Has anyone needed to correct (add to) a scout's records? How did you do it?

Was just looking at photos from 2010 Jamboree ~ Every unit had a different cap on. ~ Great way to spot who's yours in such a large group of scouts all dressed alike!