Preliminary mtg for MB?

[Vicki]

So, just out of curiosity, how many of you MB counselors actually get the chance to set up a preliminary meeting? I don't mean with scouts from your troop - it's pretty easy there, when they get the card, they ask you, you sit down with them for a couple of minutes and, poof, preliminary meeting.

 

No, I'm talking about when the scout gets your name from the MB counselor list on the internet, calls and already has most, if not all, of the work done. I counsel Communications and Personal Management. The last scout that did this with PM I was able to sign off on because his 13 week expense and income log was SO detailed I was sure it must have been contemporaneous. His SM issued the card a week before our meeting. I warned him the timing might raise a question at his Eagle Board.

 

But it's getting old and puts me in an awkward spot. Especially since I won't sign the line that says we had a preliminary meeting if we haven't. OTOH, I don't want to not meet with a scout simply because he has all the work done prior to his first call but I don't want to make him come back for a second meeting simply for the sake of having a second meeting. These are merit badges that come along later in a scout's career, for goodness' sake! Shouldn't they know better? The most recent one will turn 18 on August 17th, surely he's been around this bend before (and stop calling me Shirley:

[scoutldr]

I councsel swimming, among others. I recently got a call from a Mom (not the scout) whose son is on a swim team. She wanted me to come out to the pool and "just watch him swim and then sign off the badge". I politely declined.

[jr56]

Am I missing something? Where is the line on the blue card to sign for a preliminary meeting?

I know the policy calls for one, but if a scout has done the requirements before meeting with me, I go ahead and review what he has done.

[oldsm]

I think part of what is missing is the opportunity for the MBC to share his knowledge/insights/love of the subject with the Scout. The purpose of the initial meeting is so that the MBC can explain HOW he wants the scout to do the WHAT (requirements). There is a lot of leeway here. I think that the unstated intent of merit badges is to expose young people to activities that they otherwise might never have any knowledge of, and possibly help the find an interest that might someday develop into a career or serious avocation.

 

Many requirements says DISCUSS {insert topic) with your counselor. Reviewing a previously written report isn't discussing. And a good meaty discussion of a topic isn't going to happen in a "come observe and sign" setting.

 

I refuse to counsel MB if the scout (not a parent) won't contact me beforehand.

 

On the other hand, if a scout conntacts me, meets with me, and explains how he has already done certain requirements in conjunction with school, work, hobbies, etc., and can furnish evidence of having done so, I almost always accept those "prior achievements".

 

Incidentally, swimming MB requires explanation and discussion 2a, 10a, 10b, and 10d. In the example scoutlder cited, the parent clearly was hoping to bypass the requirements. I'm with scoutldr on this one.

[SueM]

Just for discussion...MB's done at Summer Camp (especially these Eagle badges requiring record keeping) allow for some requirements to be done prior to the boys starting the merit badges.

[Vicki]

Oldsm >I think part of what is missing is the opportunity for the MBC to share his knowledge/insights/love of the subject with the Scout.>

 

Exactly! Thank you so much for putting your finger on my issue. Part of what I love so much about counseling MB's is finding out what a scout knows going in so that I can point him in other directions for the rest of the work. When they have the badge done already, the fun is almost gone. I also love when they come back with things I would never have considered, teaching me something new. When they do it by the numbers (meritbadge.com worksheets), that just doesn't happen and the spark is a lot harder to ignite.

 

Ah, well. I know it isn't about me or getting my yaya's out (for those of us who matured in a different era:

[oldsm]

The trick to getting the word out to SMs is to communicate with them. I know: easier said than done.

 

I don't know your area, but in my district, we have about 40 or so troops. Most of the counseling seems to be with MBCs who are in close proximity to a scout's home or troop - most won't want to drive more than 15 or 20 minutes, which limits the number of units I'm likely to "draw" from.

 

It's a simple matter to get on the phone with the SMs of the various troops and have a pleasant chat with them. I find that they are usually in complete agreement and are glad that I've taken the time to call.

 

As an alternative, you can also reach a good portion of the SMs (or at least representatives of their troops) at monthly roundtables. Even if you're not an SM, SA, CC, etc., but "just" an MBC, I would think that the fact that you would show up and be willing to state your case might impress a lot of people with your concern for their scouts' experience.

[Vicki]

oldsm, thanks for your thoughts. I'm in the Greater St. Louis Area Council, which is pretty densely packed, so it's not really practical to try to call the SM's. It's not that far from district to district, either. I've counseled scouts from four different districts at this point. I have no idea how many troops are in our district, much less our neighbors, but it's big numbers.

 

Having served on NYLT staff and being on the district training staff (and attending RTs regularly as an ASM, previously Advancement Chair and prior to that Treasurer), I could certainly get something in the Advancement Report that's distributed at our district's RT and perhaps get something in the equivalent report in neighboring districts.

 

Thanks for the thought,

Vicki

[John-in-KC]

I'm old school.

 

The MB counselors of my youth wanted to meet at the start of the process, explain requirements, and offer encouragement.

 

I know that when my son went out-of-Troop for MBs (family life and personal fitness especially come to mind), he went and visited with the Counselor before the clock was wound.

 

I like that idea. To me, it feels like the Adult Association Method in practice.

[Lynda J]

I may be a hard nose but unless a scout contacts me before he starts working on the badge I won't sign off. I won't sign off on a badge that is complete when he calls me. This does not mean that I don't accept things he has done before he started the badge. But I want to go over the book with him. I give him a worksheet and come sites for which ever badge it is. I counsel all the nature related badges plus Auto Mechanics, Home Repair and Painting. But we need to sit down and talk before everything is done and I need to approve what was done before.