AKdenldr

It seems to me you need to get out of this drama and pass this old troop on to another District Commissioner.  Reason is, key 3 is not taking your very reasonable advice.  It may be that you are too familiar to them and they need someone else.  It may be that they are crazy and love drama.  Your volunteer time and time away from family is wasted here.

5 parent meetings is beyond crazy.  I can't image how many conversations, emails, and phone calls you have been involved in.    

Hello, I am looking for a scoutmaster minute that had to do with the contribution of others.

It went something like this:  "Today at this court of honor we are recognizing the achievements of the scouts here, you have made significant achievements in ..... but remember you haven't done this alone, just like a piano there are xxx keys, all the people who have helped you along your scouting journey are playing the other keys, the base line, the high notes, the ....."  the Assistant scout masters, the merit badge counselors, the drivers for the camp outs, ..... your parents and family members.  So remember as you meet milestones and goals in your life, look back and see who's been playing the other keys.

Does anyone have this?  I would love to use it (or parts of it) in another setting.   

Oh and this troop doesn't trust their oldest scouts to hike alone together.  No wonder the 17 year old Philmont, Chilkoot hiker scout thinks scouts is boring.  The adults make it so.

Lordy, it's not just my son's troop?

 

The reason everyone remembers cubs as being fun is that we ended every meeting with a game.

 

Boy led does not mean without mentoring or a vision of what the scouting program is supposed to deliver.

 

For years I have tried different efforts to get scouting games or the program guide in the planning.  Wanted one night a month for patrol meetings so we could get something done, but we were shot down.  

 

When we have one night of games everyone loves them....  then it is back to the same boring planning for the next event (or not).  Dodge ball.

 

Yikes, My scout is done with the meetings unless there is something he needs.  (And he needs a bit due to the lack of programming....)

 

This attitude doesn't fit our family values (or scouting values) but after years of the troop meetings wasting his and our time we are allowing it.  He can spend scout nights on those last few merit badges.

 

I'm probably going back to cubs when he eagles out.

 

 

Although a MB counselor can not add requirements As a cooking merit badge counselor I encourage the young scouts to work on their cooking requirements for rank FIRST.  There is no double counting between the rank requirements and the merit badge.  So I have one young scout in my group, but the rest have more than a few campouts under their belts.  If that young scout uses his campouts right now to focus on cooking requirements for the cooking merit badge he will be slowing down his rank advancement.  

 

In addition, I like to limit the number of scouts in a group (8 being a good number for me), so I will tend to want the older scouts to have an opportunity to take those slots first.   (Not uncommon for our troop.)

 

In our troop, sometimes new scout parents get all excited about what they think their new scout is missing out on (merit badges in particular).  I like to encourage the new boys to bond with their patrol and work on scout craft requirements.  Summer camp is a great first time to work on merit badges as a new cross over.

 

If your son really enjoys cooking, look at the T-F rank requirements for that and work towards those items.  Then he should reconnect with the MB counselor.  

 

Enjoy the journey.....

I think there are quite a few things the pack could do.  

1) Do you have a social media policy?  I'll bet custodial parent doesn't want pictures of her tiger in his uniform posted to facebook, anyone's facebook.

2) Explain the 2 deep leadership policy to Tiger mom and how your pack and den events are supervised.

3) Doesn't the medical part a and b form have a space that tells who can take a child from scouting events? In our pack all uniformed adults knew the allergies and medical issues.  Why not this also?

4) Pack events aren't really open to the public.  They are open to those in the pack and their guests.

5) Have a greeter table at the entrance to pack meetings where everyone signs in and gets a name tag. This helps with community building BTW.  Have the scouts all introduce their guests.  ('I'm Tommy and these are my Grandparents from Florida', or "This is my friend from second grade", whatever.)  (Greeter table is a great place to collect checks for dues or day camp also!)

6) Keep the info about Dad's illness limited to those in positions of authority in the pack.

 

Lovely that you all are providing scouting for this boy.  Please help mom feel comfortable with the program. 

yup and Den Chief.  This often is a position that boys go and find themselves.  

File a tour permit for every meeting outside our meeting place, heard this repeatedly at council trainings and DID it for YEARS.  

 

Our troop is under the mistaken impression that 2 adults are required for 2 scouts to sell popcorn in a grocery store (2 hour shift btw)... This is why my scout never sells anymore.

 

Adults on hike need to hike with the patrol, every darn step of the way.

 

I've seen a pack at day camp making everyone go to the bathroom at the same time because little timmy had to go and two adults had to go with him.  Since they only had two adults .... yep, whole pack misses out on the activity.

 

Saw two cubs attending day camp not with their home pack.  They needed two adults to escort them for the week -- grown cousin and auntie.  Let alone that they were grouped in with other packs (who had adult leaders) and that the whole place is crawling with adults all week.

Welcome to scouting and thanks for being a willing volunteer!

 

I took a den from tigers to boy scouts and they are now high school sophomores, most of them active in scouting.  (I still get to work with them on occasion.)

 

I agree that 3/4's of the cub scout experience is in the den.  A lot of the tiger year is really about making and keeping friends in a small group.  If you are not intending for your son to change schools next year, these friendships are very valuable to your son's development.  If the den is working for your son, work on improving that experience.   You started that by getting trained.  Enroll your other parents into volunteering in the den, and perhaps for the pack tasks.  Make your den the strongest in the pack! Continue to use your district and council resources, training for you and events for your den.  Encourage the other leaders to get trained.

 

In most packs the pack leadership turns over every 3 years, if not more often than that -- and some newly recruited volunteers might be disinterested, or not have the skills.  Our cubmaster was always kinda a figurehead, and the den leaders were the actual leaders of the pack.  

 

I would move packs immediately if I saw adults bullying the boys, or not following the BSA rules.  Disorganization and weak leaders at the top....well, that can be endured (deep breath).  

 

Our pack always had a lot of issues with paperwork, that's not the main issue.  Ask a lot of questions about the pack schedule. 

 

Remember to enjoy your tigers.  Watch for those smiles....  

I suspect it is related to the FSLA change in this way:  many Hr advisors to the non-profit sector are recommending that all titles, job duties, and payroll procedures be reviewed at this point and time.  A full HR audit, so to say.  

 

A District Executive is really executive of nothing (no full time direct reports to supervise, no budgetary authority of any magnitude, for example.)  Program Associate (or District Associate in this case) makes more sense.

The GSA used to publish a subscription based magazine called 'The American Girl' latter named "American Girl".  (No relation to the "American Girl" currently published.)  

 

Much like BL of today it focused on interesting "I want to do that" and "You can do it" stuff with a bit of common culture (lip gloss, etc) thrown in.  Much like the video game articles in BL.

 

Really who ever is publishing BL for the BSA should make a proposal.

 

If that's the purpose for which the Scouts attended the meeting, that's great.  And around here, Scouts (Boy and Girl) generally attend public meetings for MB purposes in uniform.  (That's probably bending the rules, but I think it has a benefit because the presiding officer seeing Scouts in uniform will almost always give them some recognition, and if there is an opportunity the Scouts will be greeted by members of the public body seeking to curry favor with present and future voters wishing to extend the hand of fellowship to the youth of their community.)

 

If they are instead there to advocate a particular position, that's great too, and it is part of being a good citizen - but not in uniform.

 

Well based on the scout's sound bite, I think he was working on Citz in Com.

'Do the following:

a. Attend a meeting of your city, town, or county council or school board; OR attend a municipal, county, or state court session. b. Choose one of the issues discussed at the meeting where a difference of opinions was expressed, and explain to your counselor why you agree with one opinion more than you do another one.'   or Communications:

'Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor.'

 

 In our community scouts get a lot of attention (lead the pledge usually) in uniform.  I might be less jaded, I think the uniform gives the elective officials an opportunity to engage with a youth, without being the 'stranger' all the kids have been taught to fear.  

 

But yes, we all understand your point about politic-ing in uniform. 

Don't take any $ from the Webelo families.  Tell them to recruit a couple more boys to form a nice group.  4th grade boys are really good at recruiting. Leadership (even shared rotating leadership) should come from within that set of 12 parents, or someone they recruit from outside the organization.  Take the money and applications at that point.   I'd love to come lead Webelos again...

 

Everyone in the entire pack has to lead -- weither on the committee, as a special event organizer, or as a den leader / assistant den leader.  

After the meeting, Boy Scout Mark Nitkiewicz told the Ann Arbor News it was his first public meeting.

"It was very interesting, there were a lot of good points," Nitkiewicz said. "I thought everybody had some fair points."

Good Citz in Comm public meeting.  I'm sure I'll the scouts I counsel on this badge would have been interested and attentive.

I agree with all the advice here.  Except a den of 12 tigers is too big.  You need 3 dens.  Boys do not feel necessary to the club in a large group.  (For Tigers this is their first 'club'.)  Full participation will suffer.  

Part of the advantage of scouts is working on social skills in small group settings.  You don't get that in a room full of 24 people (plus younger siblings.)

 

If some families drop out and dens are as small as 5 that is a-okay and very good.  (My eldest's tiger den was 5 and they all bridged into boy scouts together.)

 

I always capped my dens at 8 because that was what I could handle with the mix of boys I had.  I kept a waiting list of boys who wanted on.   

 

One resource we provided in our pack was an every so often (roughtly monthly) den leader lunch where we talked through planning for the dens.  This mostly was mentoring the younger leaders.

 

Your growth is a good problem to have.

Scouts and troops need extended time with each other away from distractions of normal life (that's why a week of camp is worth more than a year of meetings.)

 

If camps were closed it would put too much pressure on troops to provide their own week long camp type experience.  Smaller troops would dwindle.

It is a hard transition.  I asked all my crossing Webelos to go to summer camp and try boy scouts for a year.  We called it the super glue agreement.  Perhaps something like this will work for your son.

 

Is your son in a patrol with the other guys that he crossed over with?  Can he plan some activities for the patrol?  Perhaps even locate a STEM type merit badge that the rest of the patrol would be interested in (and merit badge counselor.)

You could mentor him in making those arrangements.  At this age even a sleepover is great fun for a patrol.

 

Boy scouts is individual paced rather than group paced like cubs so focusing on the fun is a good idea.  

I think the leader's guide suggests this especially in terms of a personal fitness plan.

1/2 of 1% is the yield.  So for $10,000 in Amazon Smile sales your troop would receive $ 50.  

 

Here's an interesting article:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brady-josephson/why-amazon-is-smiling-and_b_4360405.html

 

I'm sure there are other reward programs (Kroger in our community) that would have a higher payback for your time and energy in promoting their business and getting your families to enroll.

 

OTOH  buy local and get 'good will' in your community.  It probably is worth more....Definately more than $ 50.

I agree with Beavah. But the troop does sound unusually chaotic. You might assist at home by helping son be organized.

 

At our house our son copies all blue cards before he hands them to anyone (even adults lose stuff).  He also copies the rank pages periodically (in case that handbook gets lost).  Periodically we throw those copies out.

 

Do have your son fill out the camping and service logs in the back of his book.  Plus find another place (composition note book?) to track all scouting meeting and events: date, activity, miles, what scout did (cooked desert etc...), guest speaker etc.  This is also a great place to keep notes (plant identification or campout menus).    As my scout is 5 years in, some of those details would have been helpful.  Notebook would be a good place also to put a few photos of fun scouting adventures with his buds, just tape them in -- nothing fancy.

 

Our former scoutmaster did this on Sunday nights with his son:  You can help your son by sitting with him an hour a week and reading the handbook or practicing something in the handbook.  Latter you can assist with the merit badges in the same way.  Many boys will not read the book.  Let him direct what to work on.  Think mentor, not teacher.  

My guess is that this troop has spent a lot of time boring everyone with announcements and threats in the past about deadlines.  No one pays attention because it is like all the popcorn sales announcements in the fall.

 

  I'll bet you have organizational skills and a talent with that stuff.  If you choose to do it next year: Enlist a friend, and implement some of the changes recommended above, I think you would enjoy your volunteer task more.  I personally would not spend the winter making announcements, talking about how terrible it was before, talking about how unappreciated and disrespected you as a volunteer were, and talking about how to do it differently.  I would just do it (perhaps let the SM in on the plan).  Quietly and firmly.  The "Czars of the Paperwork" have spoken  (friend remember?).

 

But with the private goal that you every scout who wants to go, to go to camp, messed up parents or not.  Because after all, it really isn't about the adults.

 

Thanks for your service.

Hands on, announcements at the end.  Put them on a piece of paper people can take home.  You know, like they do at church?

 

Professionals (and their lackeys) at a table where you can visit them if you wish.  (YES great idea)

 

If I am not the popcorn kernel, don't bother me with 15 minutes of announcements over each of the next three months.

 

I do love the recommendation of getting discussion ideas from scouters.  Bring in an expert for some of them.  

 

I quit going to my RT -- glad someone else has the duty, so I don't know if they have changed much.  

Our representative comes back making the same boring announcements I remember from RT, so I'll bet not.

Round here a Saturday camp would not work.  Alaskans are out of town in the summer.

 

During the school year our cub scouts are over scheduled.  I don't see how you would get consistent attendance.

 

Our cub camp runs Tuesday* through Friday.  It is a cub scout resident camp but is a close enough drive and offers the day time programming to day campers.

After our first year of resident cub camp the den leader came back with such stories of 8 2nd grade boys in a cabin at resident camp (in the midnight sun) that our Pack developed the 'tradition' of not sleeping over until WEBS.

(The open hours sugar shack was one of the big problems.  Other pack 'traditions'  limited the boy's purchasing.)

 

* As a den leader I would provide a play date day (join my family and my boys) for kids who needed care on the Monday.

 

(I do think spring break and Christmas break are great times for additional council and district offerings for both cubs and scouts,   But nothing happening during those times...)

Krampus asked, "Does the retailer offer protection of the transaction?" 

 

yes.  But treasurers from troops should do their own research.

I work for a small non profit.  Our credit card processor takes bank account information also.  The donations from checking or savings have MINIMAL banking fees (25 cents per transaction).  Whereas cc is 2.75 - 3.25 % depending.

They provide a secure (they host) processing page where supporters can enter their own (or we do it for them) information.  Our website links to that site.  Once those payment types are setup for a supporter, they are available in the future for additional charges.  The main thing about that webpage is that we can setup the codes for the different funds and events and get terrific reports.  Deposits are made quickly and directly into our checking account, which minimizes administration greatly.  I imagine that there are many processing companies out there that provide the same services so it will be worth your while to investigate what is available.

 

I agree with the issue on security, compliance requirements are increasing for even the small organizations.  Here we only process from directly connected computers (no wifi), and have secure processes for any paper authorizations. 

 

OTOH, the troop uses checks and cash, and squares for popcorn.  I hope the volunteer treasurer treats my checks with care.....