recording participation in TM

[SmokeyBear 10]

Question for you all.

 

Our troop did a Christmas Tree pick up fundraiser that spanded 4 weekends. the boys had money put into thier camperships for hours worked. We worked it out to an hourly $ so that all boys were "compensated" equally no matter what day they worked. The more you hours you worked, the more you earned.

 

The question has been raised for the recording of participation- should it be recorded in troop master and scout books that if you worked 4 weekends you get credit for 4 activities? Or should it be if you worked 4, 2 or even one day, it's just participation in one activity?

 

This becomes an issue when reviewing 2nd class requirement 2A and 1st class requirement 3 where participation in multiple events, along with overnights are needed.

 

Should a boy be able to work 3 weekends at said fundraiser, have two seperate overnights and then be eligable to have the second class signed off? (5 activities)

 

Thoughts?

[t158sm 10]

If there is a definite gap between times of participation, ( more so than a simple break) or if participation involves a separation of days, then we consider this to be a separate activity.

We just look at it the way a business would - each day you work is a separate workday.

[fgoodwin 23]

Forgive me -- this has nothing to do with the question, but I thought I'd mention that there is a Yahoo Group specifically devoted to Troopmaster:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TMTUG/

 

The unofficial user's group for purchasers of TSI's Troopmaster, Packmaster, and other related software for unit automation. Join and participate in the exchange of information on how to better utilize these software products.

 

PS: welcome to the Forums, SmokeyBear!(This message has been edited by fgoodwin)

[SmokeyBear 10]

t159sm- thanks for the response. so if a boy participated 3 days (12/31/2005; 1/7/2006; and 1/15/2006) of the tree pick up and had two separate nights of camping, you would sign off his second class requirement?

 

fgoodwin- thanks for the info- i just registered and actually saw another question from our Adv. Chair. and thanks for the welcome.

 

SmokeyBear--aka Ron T90 CC

[Herms 10]

Smokeybear,

 

I would view these as three seperate participations and would sign.

[Oak Tree 15]

I agree - separate events.

 

Oak Tree

[SmokeyBear 10]

Thanks for the input!

 

sounds like that's what we'll do as well.

 

-T90 CC

[acco40 95]

Participation, for the participation requirement, is an interesting topic wrt TroopMaster. For example: Be active in your troop and patrol for at least 4 months as a First Class Scout (Star rank req #1). We have had numerous discussions on what is active. Let's say you use TM and all of a sudden you see that after four months from when Johnny earned 1st Class he now has Star req #1 completed by TM even though he has not been to one troop meeting, one outing, nor one service event. Why did TM do this? Well, unless Johnny was listed as "inactive" (see the personal data section) the assumption is that he is active.

 

 

[nldscout 18]

As A past SM, I would count this as 1 event. Thats what it is. It is 1 event done on multiple days.

[gwd-scouter 11]

Troopmaster does have that automatic function of counting days and putting in dates when time is up for participation and length in POR. Of course, it is very easy to simply remove the date if the scout has not actually fulfilled the requirements.

[oldsm 10]

Just found this thread, even though it's a little old...

 

My troop distinguishes between "fund raisers" and so-called "scouting outings". For advancement purposes, being "active" means participating in troop/patrol hikes, camping trips, service projects, and the like.

 

However, when the primary objective of an activity is to fund the troop's operation or enable the boys to earn money for summer camp, that doesn't count as an "outing". The entire troop understands that in this case the benefit is the financial reward, which is different from the primary objectives of scouting. Examples: selling popcorn, conducting bottle drives, etc. The one exception: Hike for Scouting when we typically go camping after the "official" hike has been completed.

 

I think this helps the boys understand the difference between desired scouting outcomes and mundane finances.

 

 

[scoutldr 732]

Have to disagree, oldsm. I think that teaching a scout to earn his own keep and pay his own way in society is one of THE most important "scouting outcomes."

 

"A Scout is Thrifty"

[oldsm 10]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, scoutldr.

 

Maybe I didn't express myself clearly, but I agree that it is very important that scouts learn to earn the means to pay their own way in life - certainly in scouting. But I don't think that it out-ranks so many of the other things that scouting tries to achieve. Yes, a scout is thrifty, but that also means that he learns not to waste what he has, to care for personal and community equipment, etc.

 

With a half-dozen fundraisers a year, and without the distinction that I mentioned, a boy conceivably could be considered "active" in his troop without ever attending a single troop or patrol meeting, or without ever going on a camping trip, or learning any of the other skills that are central to scouting.

 

We just turned in summer camp registrations. All of the boys in my troop paid at least some of their camp fees from the fundraisers. A few paid ALL of the summer camp fees and have funds remaining to help pay their way to other scouting events. And they all are active, participating members of their troop.

 

Your mileage may differ.