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What are your Scouts working on? (Boys & Girls)


Granny_Weatherwax
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Thank you both. I've been panicking slightly. He's in the middle of his badge--this is the first one he's done on his own. I kept reminding/nagging him to put it in the notebook he has for them and because he's twelve he just never did. I'm going to talk to his Scoutmaster tomorrow and see if he can recreate it.

 

Really, thank you. I'm keeping your advice in a special folder, seriously.

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DS calculated his camping nights this weekend. Our computer crashed and he lost the initial Excel file; four years worth of tracking, down the drain. :( As he entered everything he could remember he realized that he has over 100 nights of camping and, as soon as he completes Cooking MB, he will qualify for the NOA-Camping segment with 3 gold devices. He has 17 nights to go until he has enough for the silver device.

 

His nights are all tent camping; he didn't count anything in a cabin. He wants to check with the Council to see if the nights he will have as a CIT will count as camping. CITs sleep in cabins and not in tents. DS will be a CIT for 12 nights and a camper for 6. He would love to be able to count the 12 cabin nights. He is really unsure about cabin nights, though.

 

Here is the wording from the requirements for the NOA-camping:

 

Camping. A Boy Scout or Varsity Scout may earn the National Outdoor Badge for Camping upon successfully completing the following requirements:

  1. Earn the First Class rank.
     
  2. Earn the Camping merit badge.
     
  3. Earn two of the following three merit badges: Cooking, First Aid, Pioneering.
     
  4. Complete 25 days and nights of camping—including six consecutive days (five nights) of resident camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America—including nights camped as part of requirements 1 through 3 above.

A gold device may be earned for each additional 25 nights of camping. A silver device is earned for each additional 100 nights of camping. The Scout may wear any combination of devices totaling his current number of nights camping.

 

But these are the requirements for the Camping Merit badge (bolding mine):

 

Show experience in camping by doing the following: a. Camp a total of at least 20 days and 20 nights. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. The 20 days and 20 nights must be at a designated Scouting activity or event. You may use a week of long-term camp toward this requirement. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.

 

 

He is thinking no on cabin nights (which is totally fine; he will have more than enough campouts in the next two years that will qualify; Jambo nights alone will boost his total) but I wonder what they do for the counselors who work all summer and stay in cabins. Do six weeks of summer camp not count for anything?? We have an email in to the Council but haven't heard anything yet.

Margaret - I tried to quote and reply but I kept getting kicked out. :glare:

 

There is an application the scout has to fill in and submit. Here's the link: http://www.scouting..../430-509_WB.pdf

 

It's fairly easy to fill in. DS submitted his list of riding miles when he applied for the riding segment.

 

Here's the link to the biggie: The Outdoor Achievement Award

http://www.scouting..../430-041_WB.pdf

 

This is the one DS is going for. The requirements are fairly fierce and time consuming. He hopes to be able to complete it before he ages out. These awards may not be earned by Venturers so he has a little less than two years left to complete the requirements. He has already completed LNT so that is one of the biggies. He has the Backpacking MB left for req. #4.

 

Wilderness First aid has a minimum age req. (16 years). Now that DS is old enough he wants to get that out of the way as soon as possible.

 

I hope he can do it.

Thanks! Ds is not quite there for the adventure or the OAA--he still needs LNT. He has WFA already. He needs 20 more nights of camping for the Silver and that's probably not going to happen. He ages out this fall and isn't going to camp this year. He'll be gone too much for summer seminars at the academies. By searching records he has aquatics, riding, camping and hiking! All neat and tidy in Excel files. Ds only has 8 mbs total to go, so has all the various ones needed for awards. He needs just 3 more backpacking trips or 3 more 14ers climbed----hmmm...

 

Just wanted to say that this is beyond impressive!

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Just a hint--when your ds goes to sew on badges--it's the color "kiwi" that matches the elective badges... He'll also need a very slightly purple-ish grey for Eagle-requireds.

 

I think ds is up to five binders--wait, more than that because of Venture and OA. He has his travelin' binder with current stuff and then 4 or so of completed mb sheets and one binder of blue cards and cool patches that he doesn't want on his patch blankets...

 

I don't have a Boy Scout, but for my Girl Scout's badges, we use invisible thread. The color doesn't matter, then.

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Just wanted to say that this is beyond impressive!

 

 

Thank you very much. I just want to share, though, that every scout can earn these awards. A scout who participates in a year round program from age 10 or 11, attends summer camp and plans his merit badges should be able to complete most of the requirements for 3 of the NOA segments - camping, hiking and aquatics. Riding is actually easier for some boys than Aquatics. The most difficult, and most expensive segment, is Adventure.

 

Now the NOA Medal, that one is impressive. Much more work and pre-planning is needed. The trick is getting the info about the awards to the boys. There is so much focus on Eagle that many of the other awards are dismissed or overlooked.

 

I wish more units, districts and councils would discuss these awards, either through unit presentations, Merit badge university classes, or what have you.

 

Light bulb moment - I am beginning Wood Badge next year and I think I will ask if I can do this for one of my tickets. DS is the first in our district to attempt the NOA (and the Hornaday) and we are educating people as we go along. I think doing presentations at all three levels (unit, district and council) woudl be an awesome ticket. Now I must be patient and wait until the next wood badge class begins.

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Thank you very much. I just want to share, though, that every scout can earn these awards. A scout who participates in a year round program from age 10 or 11, attends summer camp and plans his merit badges should be able to complete most of the requirements for 3 of the NOA segments - camping, hiking and aquatics. Riding is actually easier for some boys than Aquatics. The most difficult, and most expensive segment, is Adventure.

 

Now the NOA Medal, that one is impressive. Much more work and pre-planning is needed. The trick is getting the info about the awards to the boys. There is so much focus on Eagle that many of the other awards are dismissed or overlooked.

 

I wish more units, districts and councils would discuss these awards, either through unit presentations, Merit badge university classes, or what have you.

 

Light bulb moment - I am beginning Wood Badge next year and I think I will ask if I can do this for one of my tickets. DS is the first in our district to attempt the NOA (and the Hornaday) and we are educating people as we go along. I think doing presentations at all three levels (unit, district and council) woudl be an awesome ticket. Now I must be patient and wait until the next wood badge class begins.

 

I am also considering Woodbadge next year (depends on how my job/work schedule shakes out) and will tuck away this idea. [ETA fwiw, my application would be different, in that I primarily work with AHG girls, whose highly motivated members need more of a tracking system than their handbooks can provide.]

 

For you moms of newer scouts, just wanted to share a mb resource I don't think has been mentioned here. If your son likes mb worksheets, you might want to take a look at this site for merit badge "passports."

 

http://members.relia.net/thedane/passports.html

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I am also considering Woodbadge next year (depends on how my job/work schedule shakes out) and will tuck away this idea. [ETA fwiw, my application would be different, in that I primarily work with AHG girls, whose highly motivated members need more of a tracking system than their handbooks can provide.]

 

For you moms of newer scouts, just wanted to share a mb resource I don't think has been mentioned here. If your son likes mb worksheets, you might want to take a look at this site for merit badge "passports."

 

http://members.relia.net/thedane/passports.html

 

What a great resource. Thank you! I'm printing the Aviation one today. That is going to be my sons first MB. One of our leaders is a pilot for Alaska and every other year they do an Aviation day at Alaska Air. The get behind the scenes tours and all kinds of cool hands on stuff. I'm so excited for him.

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I don't have a Boy Scout, but for my Girl Scout's badges, we use invisible thread. The color doesn't matter, then.

 

Where do you find this? Is there a particular type / brand that works best? GS mama here, and the idea of matching thread to every single patch is daunting - they are so many colors!

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Where do you find this? Is there a particular type / brand that works best? GS mama here, and the idea of matching thread to every single patch is daunting - they are so many colors!

 

I just looked at the Joann Fabric website and they carry it. http://www.joann.com/search/_invisible%20thread/

 

I am so glad she posted about this. I am going to pick some up today. DS and I will be working on his uniforms for Jambo this afternoon. We were going to use Badge Magic but I think invisible thread is the better choice.

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The scout can sew it on anyway he wants.

 

One of the older boys showed my son to use a staple to affix it in place, then needle/thread.

 

Remember, he's not just learning how to sew a badge on, he's learning that he's competent. He'll use this skill later to maybe fix a rip in something or make his own piece of equipment.

 

 

Good point...about the learning he's competent. I think I'll teach him how to do both ways so he can do both. Hand-stitching is useful, though I find sewing badges really hard on the fingers because of the thickness.

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Mine is Metrosene and I got it at a quilt store. However, you should be able to get it at any fabric store. Any brand should work. I don't put it in the bobbin, but I know other people do.

 

 

 

Where do you find this? Is there a particular type / brand that works best? GS mama here, and the idea of matching thread to every single patch is daunting - they are so many colors!

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DS had Jambo shakedown this weekend. DS was elected as Patrol Leader for Jambo!!! He had the interim position but was officially voted in today by the members of his patrol. This is a great big step for him and proof that he is maturing and growing with his new home troop.

 

I am so happy for him.

 

:hurray:

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I have no idea what a Jambo shakedown is but it sounds exciting.

 

DS went to his first boy scout campout this weekend. He loved it. Saturday night, they did a handful of scenarios complete with fake blood and an amputee playing the victim of an accidental amputation. DS got picked to teach his patrol CPR. DH said one of the adults told him he was impressed with how well DS conducted the class. He earned his first aid merit badge while there and wants to do the campout again next year. Oh, and he is apparently now the patrol's medic; is that something just his troop does; I can't find mention of it as an actual position. They stayed up until midnight both nights so he was a bit tired.

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I have no idea what a Jambo shakedown is but it sounds exciting.

 

DS went to his first boy scout campout this weekend. He loved it. Saturday night, they did a handful of scenarios complete with fake blood and an amputee playing the victim of an accidental amputation. DS got picked to teach his patrol CPR. DH said one of the adults told him he was impressed with how well DS conducted the class. He earned his first aid merit badge while there and wants to do the campout again next year. Oh, and he is apparently now the patrol's medic; is that something just his troop does; I can't find mention of it as an actual position. They stayed up until midnight both nights so he was a bit tired.

 

 

Give your self three more years and Jambo will be on your radar. National Jamboree occurs every four years and is an opportunity for scouts all over the nation to get together and do scouting activities. This year is a Jambo year; the next Jambo will be in 2017. Jambo had been held at Fort AP Hill for years. This year Jambo has been moved to a permanent home, the Summit, in West Virginia. The Summit joins Sea Base, Northern Tier and Philmont as permanent high adventure camps for boy scouts.

 

Going to Jambo is a fairly big deal. Scouts have to apply through their troop and Council about 18 months in advance. Typically 30,000 scouts attend Jambo. Almost every merit badge is offered as well as many other activities, including extreme rock climbing and whitewater rafting. This year Train and Carly Rae Jepsen are performing.

 

If you think your son will be interested in attending Jambo 2017, begin saving now. The price tag is around $2000.

 

The Jambo shakedown is a meeting held to build troop and patrol solidarity and to make sure all of the boys have the required gear, can pack it into two bags (a duffle and a day pack) and have the proper training. It was a 10 hour day.

 

Regarding Patrol Medic: that must be a troop thing. There is no Medic position. It's a good one and I hope you son has fun.

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Going to Jambo is a fairly big deal. Scouts have to apply through their troop and Council about 18 months in advance. Typically 30,000 scouts attend Jambo. Almost every merit badge is offered as well as many other activities, including extreme rock climbing and whitewater rafting. This year Train and Carly Rae Jepsen are performing.

 

My older son is going to Jambo for the first time this year, but as a parent, I still feel very clueless about it all. I don't feel there is very good information available about what actually goes on, and how the scouts should schedule their day. His troop has shared very little information about it -- there was talk about a parent's meeting, but as of yet, there is not one scheduled. I have spent a lot of time researching via google, but I still haven't found a lot of info. The official Jamboree website is not very informative, in my humble opinion. So what's a parent to do? I'm wondering if there are any resources or websites you know of. I would like to help my son plan a bit in advance -- I worry about him being overwhelmed on site and just coasting around, wasting the Jamboree opportunity.

 

Oh, and didn't Train and Carly Rae Jepsen step down? Have they changed their minds?

 

 

The Jambo shakedown is a meeting held to build troop and patrol solidarity and to make sure all of the boys have the required gear, can pack it into two bags (a duffle and a day pack) and have the proper training. It was a 10 hour day.
My son did attend the Shakedown, but I don't think he learned a whole lot. He can be a bit air-heady at times, so he probably missed something, but I also don't think there is a whole lotta careful prep with his Troop. He belongs to a large troop, and his regular troop makes up his entire Jambo troop -- 36 guys are going from his Troop alone, and that doesn't even include some of the scouts who are going with a Venture crew instead. I think because there are a lot of very experienced people in our Troop, they forget that there are some kids and parents who are still clueless, and sometimes it's intimidating to ask a whole lot of questions. My husband is the main adult involved in our family (he attends most meetings), but he doesn't know much about what's going on, either.
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My older son is going to Jambo for the first time this year, but as a parent, I still feel very clueless about it all.

 

 

I am mostly clueless too. I found this link: https://summit.scouting.org/en/Jamboree2013/Documents/JamboreeCouncilGuide.pdf

 

Go to the very last page (p. 45)

 

This is the first general schedule I have seen.

 

Hope that helps.

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If you think your son will be interested in attending Jambo 2017, begin saving now. The price tag is around $2000.

 

Regarding Patrol Medic: that must be a troop thing. There is no Medic position. It's a good one and I hope you son has fun.

 

 

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I'm guessing the $2000 doesn't include airfare.

 

I just asked him about Patrol Medic. He's responsible for his patrol's first aid kit. In fact, he brought it home from his campout. It is his responsibility to bring it on outings, making sure it stays stocked (doesn't have to pay for items just letting the leaders know when items are used), and ensuring it gets passed to another patrol member to carry on outings he's not attending.

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My older ds and dh did their OA brotherhood while little guy did his ordeal. Little guy then left a pen in his pocket and put it in the wash, so I've been busy picking off all of their patches (yes, it got on brother's too) ... another ASM's mom likes to sew and will put them back on the new shirts. Little guy needs to meet with two of his counselors to get Camping and Cit. in the World signed off, then when his shirt is ready, he can do his Star conference and board. Older brother has done nothing -- no looking into Eagle projects, no progress on any of the 3 badges he has left. Almost-15 year old boys are so frustrating. He didn't get his paperwork in on time for NYLT, so that doesn't look like it's happening. He could work the last part of the summer at summer camp (after the Philmont trip -- he'll turn 15 on his trek), but he hasn't done the emails, etc. needed to make that happen.

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Ds bridged over last month!

 

 

We're trying to get my younger son crossed over early -- he is really just finishing up his first year of Webelos, but he has most of the Arrow of Light requirements, and if he finishes that, he can cross at 10 1/2, which he will be on May 27. He is the oldest guy in his patrol, and I don't want to delay his entry to boy scouts because he will be "kicked out" in November of his senior year when he turns 18. If we kept him in Webelos another year, he'd basically be short-changed out of a year of boy scouts.

 

Oh, my husband is so looking forward to him crossing and having both boys in scouts, rather than one in cubs and one in scouts -- too many logistics to deal with! It will be nice to have them in the same program again. So we need to go ahead and finish up those Readyman requirements.

 

Just wondering, how did your pack (anyone) handle the mouth-to-mouth and CPR instructions for Webelos? Our book said to not practice Heimlich on a real person, and I'm assuming they don't have to do "real" mouth to mouth, either. Or not? What does it mean to show you know how to treat such things?

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We had a relative of one of the boys in the den volunteer to give a Red Cross course that fulfilled the Readyman Req'ts. They used a CPR manikin. For Heimleich they viewed a video, then practiced what they could live. Another possibility is asking your Boy Scout Troop's First Aid Counselor where you could borrow training equipment from..probably your local fire dept or ambulance company.

 

Thanks for your input here. I don't think our older son had an experience anything like that in Webelos, and indeed, not in boy scouts, either. Not even when he earned the First Aid merit badge, I don't think. I need to ask him. He earned it at camp, and our experience is that they are a little lax at camp. Seems like First Aid is pretty important and corners shouldn't be cut.

 

Our troop doesn't 'kick out' graduating seniors or college students. They turn in to Ass't Scoutmasters and do what they have the time and inclination for. Our pack has crossed 'old for grade' boys after a year in Webelos, as it was clearly in their best interest. Most of them knew boys in the troop anyway from their baseball teams so had a good receiving friendship base.

 

That is good to know. I wonder if our troop does that, too. I've just read all the official requirements for activities outside the Troop, and it always says that they have to be under 18. I guess if they are an assistant scoutmaster then the age wouldn't matter. That is heartening. I know in our Troop a lot of the guys stop being active after they get their Eagle, which is unfortunate (and many get their Eagles by 15). I am hoping that my guys want to continue until they graduate.

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My older ds and dh did their OA brotherhood while little guy did his ordeal. Little guy then left a pen in his pocket and put it in the wash, so I've been busy picking off all of their patches (yes, it got on brother's too) ... another ASM's mom likes to sew and will put them back on the new shirts. Little guy needs to meet with two of his counselors to get Camping and Cit. in the World signed off, then when his shirt is ready, he can do his Star conference and board. Older brother has done nothing -- no looking into Eagle projects, no progress on any of the 3 badges he has left. Almost-15 year old boys are so frustrating. He didn't get his paperwork in on time for NYLT, so that doesn't look like it's happening. He could work the last part of the summer at summer camp (after the Philmont trip -- he'll turn 15 on his trek), but he hasn't done the emails, etc. needed to make that happen.

 

 

My almost 16 year old is frustrating too - continually dragging his feet about his Eagle requirements. The past few months have been a bit better - the dragging has been interspersed with short conversations about how/when to get his last 3 done as well as who to choose for his Eagle advisor. There is hope! I think I finally got through to him about how busy he'll be as an 11th grader and does he really want to do another merit badge (Cooking) if he doesn't get everything done by the end of this year? If he focuses, he can get his last 3 badges done at camp and do his Eagle project in August.

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That is good to know. I wonder if our troop does that, too. I've just read all the official requirements for activities outside the Troop, and it always says that they have to be under 18. I guess if they are an assistant scoutmaster then the age wouldn't matter. That is heartening. I know in our Troop a lot of the guys stop being active after they get their Eagle, which is unfortunate (and many get their Eagles by 15). I am hoping that my guys want to continue until they graduate.

 

In response to the bolded part (mine) - age does matter. As an Asst. Scoutmaster, he will no longer be able to work toward advancement (i.e. merit badges, awards, etc). He will also be required to take the required adult training sessions, esp. Youth Protection. He will become an adult and will need to act as such (not saying anything about your son specifically, but 18 yos in general). This means he will not be allowed to be alone with a scout, even if that scout is his best friend, brother, cousin, whatever. He will be required to follow two deep leadership principles, sleep in his own tent, and not be in the restrooms with the other boys.

 

Many, many boys struggle for the first few months when they become Asst. Scoutmasters. They still feel like 'one of the boys' and don't really think about the changes in their position.

 

If he wants to remain active in scouting, Venturing is a great option. Youth (both boys and girls) can be Venturers until age 21. These groups do things Troops cannot do.

 

Please, do not think I am discouraging your son from remaining with his troop once he ages out. I just want to let you know that there will be changes in his role.

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They brought in cpr mannequins. You do want to have a good feel for how hard you have to press and how awkward it is to form a seal.

 

Ds is going camping tonight...first trip without a parent present. Feeling kinda nervous as he's a severe asthmatic and it's a heavy pollen day, but he's just 15 minutes away, so I need to chill out and pray that his troop leaders will call if something pops up. He goes from fine to in the ER pretty quickly. This having a kid grow up stuff is hard!!!

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My Cub Scout son (8) will be receiving his Wolf at our pack meeting next week. He will also get the weather & citizenship belt loops and the family travel pin. These will join his Kickball, Hiking, Basketball, Physical Fitness, Family Travel, Music, Video Games, and Pet Care belt loops.

 

He has been a cub scout since the beginning of February and has been going gang busters ever since. Dh is so excited to finally have a scout! He has been involved with the scouting organization through our church for the last ten years. Dh is currently scoutmaster. Let's hope that enthusiasm continues, right?

 

Amber in SJ

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Geezle and his 13 fellow new scouts all earned their Scout rank at the spring CoH last night. There were still some scoutmaster conferences going on during the opening, but they all got them done. Trinqueta will be getting her first Journey and 5 badges at the SU's bridging ceremony. We'll have 8 Juniors next year so we'll be able to do a lot more just as Juniors without combining with the Brownies.

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My DD bridged over yesterday afternoon and is now a Junior. She's going to do that in our new local troop which is now up to 23 girls!!!

 

DS got all his badges from lone scouting and his Wolf badge at his ceremony last night. He also got his conservation good turn, his Earth Day project, his academics and sports, his Leave No Trace, and his wildlife conservation badges. He got his gold arrow, a silver arrow, 5 belt loops and 5 pins and his letter C. He did pet care, collecting, hiking, golf, and reading and writing. We're now working on art, astronomy, citizenship, communicating, geology, and good manners. DS wants 30 by the end of summer so that will be how we spend the summer of 2013 I guess. lol

 

I have a maniacal amount of sewing to do. And we decided that the focus of our den this summer will be on Nova and the new fitness stuff. So I thought we were going to do monthly meetings but we're doing twice monthly over the summer. And the new GS troop is chomping at the bit so we'll have stuff scheduled there too. I'm trying to organize a pool party for our club kickoff in June.

 

And I want to explore Messengers of Peace with a couple of DS' den mates or maybe even the pack. So I'm looking for any ideas there. Has anyone here done that one?

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Geezle and his 13 fellow new scouts all earned their Scout rank at the spring CoH last night. There were still some scoutmaster conferences going on during the opening, but they all got them done. Trinqueta will be getting her first Journey and 5 badges at the SU's bridging ceremony. We'll have 8 Juniors next year so we'll be able to do a lot more just as Juniors without combining with the Brownies.

 

So far, I have 7 juniors for next year. And I think they are going to be my favorites. They are young enough to be enthusiastic about stuff (especially when you let them chose!) but old enough that you don't have to worry about them darting into the road (Hello necessary parent volunteer ratios.)

 

Any ideas what your Juniors are going to be doing?

 

And anyone else out there doing a GS troop that does a lot of SWAPs? I tossed that out as a possibility to my girls and they went nuts for it. So we're going to start at least one meeting a month doing a cool SWAP. From the Daisies to the Cadettes, the girls loved that idea. And I like it too because Hello Pinterst! I look good for about 15 minutes worth of browsing. lol

 

DD gave a little SWAP to the troop she's leaving yesterday and she made one for everybody. I found it on Pint. We are going on our first (and last) troop overnight next week to a zoo. So we did a little SWAP that was a teddy bear wrapped in a blanket tucked into a little bag for anyone who gets a little scared. Super, super cute and easy enough that DD whipped it out for 24 girls with 1-2 hours worth of work. She worked hard on cutting the material for the blanket nicely.

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Reviving the part of the thread about sewing patches on to uniforms.

 

Use the color of thread of the garment, not the patch. Catch the threads of the back of the patch of the outline stitching, so thread will show on the back of the shirt fabric or sash fabric, not the front of the patch. Machine sewing is best for patches that are not changed out, like the council strip, and I taught my sons and some of my troop to use a sewing machine,or needle and thread if they preferred.

 

To Seranade: JUNIOR Assistant Scoutmaster is an appointed job, for 16-17 year olds, who have done it all, but still are Scout age,and want to earn more advancement. Untrained 18+ year olds cannot be Assistant Scoutmasters any more, they have to get all the training done, first, so BSA created an adult leader designation called College Reserve for boys who want to maintain active membership with a unit, but have not gotten trained yet. BSA is pretty stringent about training. Everyone active over 18 must have Youth Protection Training, at the very least. 18 year old and 17 year old buddies cannot tent together. Well, they're not supposed to.

 

Younger son is completing his Eagle project workbook write-up. We have a district advancement chairman who is very controlling, taking away much creativity from the boys, reducing the process to a series of checklists that he produced. My son's project is bigger than some, and he is less capable than some, so it is an interesting process. We are a very small troop, so his leadership is only spread over a few, which is kind of interesting, too.

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I have no idea how you would only catch the back of the patch on a sewing machine???

 

DS and I made a deal. I would sew patches onto his shirt (he's worried about ruining his shirt), and he'll sew badges to his sash. I'm going to show him how to use both the machine and hand-stitching.

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Any ideas what your Juniors are going to be doing?

 

We've got 7 badges picked out for next year (Jewelry, Product Design, Detective, Playing with the Past, Music, Customer Insight and Girl Scout Ways) and the journey with Power of One, Power of a Team and Power of Community. We'll go camping a couple of times and do two community service project. One will be our annual Christmas caroling and one will be outdoors (we hope).

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In response to the bolded part (mine) - age does matter. As an Asst. Scoutmaster, he will no longer be able to work toward advancement (i.e. merit badges, awards, etc). He will also be required to take the required adult training sessions, esp. Youth Protection. He will become an adult and will need to act as such (not saying anything about your son specifically, but 18 yos in general). This means he will not be allowed to be alone with a scout, even if that scout is his best friend, brother, cousin, whatever. He will be required to follow two deep leadership principles, sleep in his own tent, and not be in the restrooms with the other boys.

 

Many, many boys struggle for the first few months when they become Asst. Scoutmasters. They still feel like 'one of the boys' and don't really think about the changes in their position.

 

If he wants to remain active in scouting, Venturing is a great option. Youth (both boys and girls) can be Venturers until age 21. These groups do things Troops cannot do.

 

Please, do not think I am discouraging your son from remaining with his troop once he ages out. I just want to let you know that there will be changes in his role.

 

Thanks for your input. Both of my boys are a long ways from aging out, it's just that my younger son will turn 18 in November of his senior year. It does sound that the kids then are, in fact, sorta kicked out, unless they become some type of asst. scoutmaster. Which is kind of unfortunate, IMO. The rules you outlined above are tough, and I think many boys would have difficulties with them. Seems to me like the BSA should work something out for boys who turn 18 before they graduate. And what about all the boys who were held back in school in order to mature? They would age out even earlier. It just doesn't make sense to me. What other kid organization kicks members out before they graduate?

 

But, it's too far in the future for me to worry about now. Maybe my boys won't even want to be involved anymore at that point.

 

Our Troop does have an affiliated Venture Crew, which I have mixed feelings about, LOL. When the Venture Crew was started up a year or two ago, many boys (and some leaders) put their attention to the Crew instead of scouts, really depleting the ranks of older scouts available to mentor the younger ones. We were having SPLs who were 13 and 14 years old, and who were often not mature enough to handle that roll.

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Those 18yo boys CAN be members of committee though, and sit in on BoRs. They can't be ASMs until 21yo.

 

On this I believe you are incorrect. Every document I have states that Asst. Scoutmasters must be 18 or over. I cannot find anything with the 21 years old requirement. The adult application even states that Assistant Scoutmasters must be over the age of 18.

 

Our district and council has many, many 18-20 year old ASMs. DS's current troop has 2. The old troop had 5 or 6, depending upon the season.

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Okay merit badge .org says this:

 

 

An Assistant Scoutmaster is an adult leader age 18 or over who assist the Scoutmaster in delivering the troop program.

 

 

But, mb.org is not a National site. Perhaps Council is wrong---hm....

 

Maybe they are not 'wrong' but stress their preference in a way that discourages 18-20 year old ASMs. I am curious to know what your council does with the 18-21 year olds who want to remain active with the Troop and not go into Venturing.

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Just wondering, how did your pack (anyone) handle the mouth-to-mouth and CPR instructions for Webelos? Our book said to not practice Heimlich on a real person, and I'm assuming they don't have to do "real" mouth to mouth, either. Or not? What does it mean to show you know how to treat such things?

 

My next door neighbor is an EMT. He did all of he first aid/CPR with our boys. He brought the manikin to do CPR. Our boys loved it.

 

You could call your local fire department and see if one of their EMT's would do this for you. They could a least point you to someone. CPR, even done correctly has the potential to hurt someone (broken ribs, etc.) so you only want to ot on a love person hen they need it.

 

 

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We're going to put out flags for our troop fundraiser. We sell flag subscriptions and put out the flags at the crack of dawn on Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Hope it doesn't rain, because we can't put wet flags back in the storage unit!

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We're going to put out flags for our troop fundraiser. We sell flag subscriptions and put out the flags at the crack of dawn on Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Hope it doesn't rain, because we can't put wet flags back in the storage unit!

 

 

What is a flag subscription, Chi??

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We charge people $25 to put a large flag on their lawn on Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. We set them up by 8am and take them down before dark. Since we've got 400 customers, it's a big effort. The boys get $5 for each subscription they sell and $2 to set up and take down a flag. It's our major troop fundraiser for the year. The trick is that you can't sell subscriptions willy-nilly or they're impossible to service. We have established routes and even then, our troop didn't do the best job of organizing. There's a GSA senior troop that focused on one large neighborhood so they have as many flags as we do, but they're all concentrated in one subdivision which works much better.

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We charge people $25 to put a large flag on their lawn on Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. We set them up by 8am and take them down before dark. Since we've got 400 customers, it's a big effort. The boys get $5 for each subscription they sell and $2 to set up and take down a flag. It's our major troop fundraiser for the year. The trick is that you can't sell subscriptions willy-nilly or they're impossible to service. We have established routes and even then, our troop didn't do the best job of organizing. There's a GSA senior troop that focused on one large neighborhood so they have as many flags as we do, but they're all concentrated in one subdivision which works much better.

 

 

That is so cool!! Want to make a trip up north!??! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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We charge people $25 to put a large flag on their lawn on Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. We set them up by 8am and take them down before dark. Since we've got 400 customers, it's a big effort. The boys get $5 for each subscription they sell and $2 to set up and take down a flag. It's our major troop fundraiser for the year. The trick is that you can't sell subscriptions willy-nilly or they're impossible to service. We have established routes and even then, our troop didn't do the best job of organizing. There's a GSA senior troop that focused on one large neighborhood so they have as many flags as we do, but they're all concentrated in one subdivision which works much better.

 

Great idea!

What size are the flags you put out?

 

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