AdvanceOn

Mark:

I believe in another post you said you go to Heritage Reservation. The two Eagle merit badges they are offering at Trail to Eagle (communication and personal fitness) CANNOT be completed at camp (see your camp leadership guide). They are offering them to help the Scout get started on them only. Any Scout working on them will get a partial.

In the 2003 copy of the boy Scout Requirements (probably in earlier editions too) on page 13 it gives the alternate requirements and how to get them approved.

#6. whe alternate requirements involve physical activity, they must be approved by a physician.

#8. The written requesst must be approved by the council advancement committee, utilizing the expertise of professional persons involved in Scouting for disabled youth.

Hope this information helps.

Until recently swimming has been one of the last (if ever) earned merit badges. Our troop has basically been a non-swimming troop (and yes, they used to sign off the rank swimming requirements just because).

The first Eagle badge NOW is swimming. Our last seems to be Family Life and Personal Fitness. Both of these are actually easy EXCEPT for the paperwork involved. It's like pulling teeth to get the Scouts to keep records!

I don't think BSA allows for on-line registration at this point. The problem is maintaining a secure site, etc. I know that our OA had been trying to do online registrations (not even collecting money) but had to shut it down.

Eamonn:

Your son is in good hands at Camp Twin Echo. I also just dropped my son off, been back only a few minutes and had to check the forum!

I'd like to do some bragging if I may. My husband has been appointed as the 2nd in command (sorry, I'd don't know his official title) for next year's course. And when I arrived my older son who is on staff was beaming because he was promoted to instructor for this course. He had originally been senior guide but there were some youth staff changes.

There are some really great guys on this course, some who have been there for YEARS, others only a few years but are clearly dedicated.

My husband (ASM-Program) and older son (Senior Troop Guide) are at JLTC preparing for the course which will begin on Sunday. I will take my younger son up on Sunday as a participant.

One of the comments my older son made last year after having completed his first year as staff was how much more he gained from JLTC as staff. The training and preparation they go through for months before course is intense. You really can't be a slacker to serve as staff on JLTC. I know he learned a lot as a participant but his eyes were definitely opened as staff.

He is also comparing JLTC staff training to summer camp staff training. He is working at summer camp for the first time this year. His JLTC training has definitely given him a leadership advantage because the summer camp training isn't nearly as indepth. I suggested he thank his adult staff at JLTC for their hard work and dedication.

We really shouldn't take excellent leadership and training for granted. And we shouldn't expect or accept mediocre training and leadership.

We also mix our packs and set up age/rank dens. As far as assigning den chiefes, they'll be assigned to a leader from the natural pack.

As far as Tigers at Day Camp. We do a spring recruitment and encourage Tigers to attend Day Camp. It's not a high turn out, primarily just the younger siblings of other scouts. We include them in the regular day camp activities. They do everything the other dens do. Each den has rank-specific activities that they work on, Tigers are no exception. We also require a parent since that is the Tiger program.

Our requirement for youth staff is at least 14 years old and they have to sign up for Venturing Crew.

Actually Roundtable isn't an option unless I want to wait until September (which I don't).

One idea I'm batting around in my head is doing it sometime during the week of day camp. I just don't know exactly how to work it out since all of us workers will be exhausted at the end of each day. It just seemed like the location would be good.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

I know there have been other discussions about where a beading ceremony should/shouldn't take place but I would like to present a specific and get your feedback.

I am a District Commissioner. My ticket was developed around this position (actually ADC because that's what I was at the time). Now I'm nearing the completion and getting ready to work on my beading ceremony. I know others will do the ceremony but it is up to me where it is held. Any suggestions? We are done with Roundtables for the summer (plus I don't consider it a good venue for a variety of reasons too lengthy to get into here).

I am involved with a troop and certainly want to include them in my ceremony but I don't want it to become a troop function. I am also the program director for our district day camp.

So any suggestions of a good venue for my beading ceremony? All the people who will be presenting the actual program are about an hours drive away so the logistics will have to be handled primarily by me. I am the first district person to get the Wood Badge beads in recent history (if at all) so I really have no one to turn to locally.

Thanks for your insight and input.

I don't think this would be an issue IF the leaders and the scout work together on this process. As Advancement Coordinator for our troop I try to talk to each Scout about the Eagle process. I encourage all our Scouts to keep the committee informed as to their progress, project plans, etc. That way the support and encouragement will be there. If I don't hear from them I contact them. I think the SM should be doing the same thing. It definitely reduces the problems and misunderstandings later in the timetable.

We give the awards out immediately but then do the actual ceremony at the court of honor. For example, a Scout has earned Life. We do a special ceremony for Life. W do this for each rank. We also do any other special presentations (i.e., service project recognition, special training, adult leader recognition, etc.).

The other thing we are trying with our Courts of Honor is to find different places to hold them. Our charter organization isn't the nicest place to old them (it smells of beer and cigarettes). We have held a court of honor at our county courthouse, a local nursing home (did friendly visiting afterwards), a borough park, etc. The most impressive has been the court house.

Does anyone know where I can get position descriptions online for Boy Scout leader positions (SM, ASM, CC, etc.). I have found a link for Cub Scout leaders but have not found one at the Boy Scout or Venturing levels (or district positions, for that matter).

I have some of the resources in hard copy but was really hoping to find the online resources to make it easier for me to put my packets together.

Thanks for your help.

dsteele:

You're ABSOLUTELY correct. If HIPAA applied to BSA you would have been inundated with frantic memoes, major forms changes, etc., etc.

I still stand by my original post that we need to honor confidentiality and do our best to protect the privacy of our scouts and leaders. The medical forms still should be treated with care and not be left available for anybody and everyone to look at.

BSA does NOT fall under HIPAA regs. Thank goodness. I have to deal with enough HIPAA at work. I really didn't want it in my volunteer stuff too.

Councils, Districts, and units still should be taking steps to keep the information confidential and protected. That's always been the case.

What are your specific concerns?

Thanks for the links.

There have been numerous postings here regarding selecting and retaining quality leaders. I've read through them and have copied some of the information for my resource materials. I also have put this site as one of my links as a good resource.

What I haven't seen are links to good leadership sites -- BSA or otherwise.

One of my Wood Badge ticket items is to develop resources for unit leaders on selecting and retaining quality leaders. I will be posting this information on our district website as well as having hard copies available at Roundtables and upon request.

Is there a leadership site that you have found very helpful in your Scouting? Are there publications that you have especially liked?

Thanks for your assistance.

Our troop historically took the month of August off. The problem with that is not all families take their vacations in August. We have now gone to year round meetings.

The boys also enjoy the summer meetings more because they are outside. Our troop building is cramped and is in the middle of town so there is not a good outdoor area. In the summer months we meet at the VFW and can work on a lot more outdoor skills.

Below are two recipes that I have found online. I have not made either one so cannot vouch for there "workability."

------------------

Goop (Make your own Slime)

1 Part Liquid starch

2 Part Elmer's Glue

Food Coloring (opt.)

Mix and enjoy. It's supposed to be like slime.

Flubber

Solution A:

1 1/2 C. Warm Water

2 c. Elmers Glue

Food Coloring

Solution B:

4 tsp. Borax1

1/3 C. Warm water

Mix solution A in one bowl, mix solution B in another bowl. Dissolve both well. Then just pour solution A into solution B, DO NOT MIX OR STIR! Just lift out flubber. It's neater than "Gak" or "slime". And it also a safe chemical reaction for the kids to see. I used a glass bowl for solution B so the kids could see the flubber form in the bowl. It just becomes a big "cloud" of rubbery stuff. Store in baggies. If you half the recipe, you only need to half the solution A and it will work the same.

I got this information from Meritbadge.com. I know their source is BSA. I'm going to try to find the source straight from BSA but wanted to get this in now. I feel really uncomfortable with Scouts doing other Scouts BORs. I don't think it's appropriate or allowed but I can't say that with 100% certainty at this point.

"After a Scout has completed all requirements. . . This board of review is made up of at least three and not more than six members of the troop committee. One member serves as chairman, usually the committee member responsible for advancement. Unit leaders, assistant unit leaders, relatives, or guardians may not serve as members of a Scout's board of review."

I know it doesn't say that scouts can't be on a BOR but it does specifically say committee members.

Here's my two-cents worth --

It isn't the most optimal to have a toddler at meetings but the fact is it happens all the time. It's the only way families can participate in scouting. Your situation isn't that unusual.

Do you take plenty of things for your 3 year old to do? It really isn't up to the den leaders to provide activities and supplies for him. It's great that he feels like he is part of the den but he's not. Maybe you could find out what the activity is in advance and have similar activities/supplies for your 3 year old.

You should NOT send your Tiger son to meetings alone. It is very specific that a parent or adult partner needs to be there. Is there anyone else who could take the adult partner role for you? - it has to be someone over 18. It doesn't sound like it from your post but thought I'd ask.

Sounds like you might want to talk with the den leader about your situation and try to work something out. Even though the Cubmaster said it would be okay this leader may have different beliefs. And I would bet that the CM didn't even talk to the DL about your situation.

Wood Badge was pretty good. The staff were well prepared but I think the best training I have attended in the Scout world was Trainer Development Conference.

Now, my list of worst trainings is pretty long but I won't go there!

I 'm with those of you who feel we should go by the book. Unfortunately I haven't seen much "going by the book" from Council on down. With the exception of Wood Badge and maybe Trainer Development, I haven't seen a single training that actually followed the syllabus.

Can I add another pet peeve? Our trainings are done totally by the seat of our pants. There have been no meetings to prepare and practice. I am the only person doing the trainings who has even attended Trainer Development Conference (formerly Train the Trainer). How many of you who are doing trainings have been trained as a trainer?

The three times that I've been involved in the training we've put the cubmaster and committee chair trainigs together and the den leader/tiger leader training together. This is done primarily because we haven't had enough people to train. Last training we had 5 den leaders, 2 cubmasters, and one committee chair.

I'm a licensed social worker. I do tobacco cessation phone coaching for a "living." I decided I wanted a job that offers me flexibility to do my Scouter duties (which have expanded significantly over the past two years).