Scoutmaster Podcast 150 – A Scout is Recognized

Comments

1. Frank Maynard says:

   December 22, 2012 at 12:40 pm

   Another resource for starting a unit from scratch is the booklet explaining the William D. Boyce New Unit Organizer award, available here:

   http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/04-515.pdf

   It goes into detail on the twelve steps from identifying the prospect to selecting leadership and presenting the charter, and delineates responsibilities of the organizer, district professionals, commissioners, district training team and new unit leadership.

   You should plan to work closely with your district Key 3 (chairman, commissioner and professional partner), as they will have the resources needed to make it happen.

   And if you follow the plan, you just might end up wearing a spiffy multicolored knot as well!

   • Clarke Green says:

     December 22, 2012 at 12:57 pm

     Thanks Frank!
2. Alex Adkins says:

   December 20, 2012 at 9:45 am

   With regards to impartiality on debatable questions:
   My opinion is that while impartiality should be part of our approach, it may not always be a suitable reaction to a boy who is asking us where we stand as an adult. In my experience boys have been very keen on learning what and why their adult leaders think about major events and many of them, regardless of age, will reach out for our position.
   Again, in my opinion, I think we do the boys an extraordinary service if we engage their questions and give them insight into who we are and how we make decisions as men and women. Is there a line there with regards to proselytizing on our views? Should an adult be aware of the difference between explaining and convincing? Absolutely. And maybe this is what BP’s spirit of an older brother is all about. Rather than leveraging our age to sell an idea to a young man, we are responding to them as we would a peer. We can respect a young man by finding him worthy of an honest answer to the question he had the courage to ask.

   • Clarke Green says:

     December 20, 2012 at 11:23 am

     Thanks for those thoughts, Alex, I think that’s an excellent way to approach this.
     I think we are doing our best when we become a neutral sounding board and show our Scouts how to take the moral imperatives of the Scout oath and law into an ethical action or conclusion.
     A lot of times this conversation starts with a Scout asking ‘What do you think of this?’. I choose to turn that question around and ask them what they think and then see if we can get to the bottom of why they think what they think. Is it a reflection of the oath and law? Can it stand up to questioning? Is it based on thinking things through or did you just inherit an opinion you heard?
     In the context of recent events a Scout may ask me what I think about gun control, if I endorse a particular political point of view, or if I think people go to heaven when they die. I wouldn’t answer a specific question like that simply because I don’t feel it is my place to influence my Scouts to form a particular political or religious point of view – there are legitimately different answers to those questions so they are (to my mind at least) ‘debatable’.
     I think that these are issues for a Scouts parents and religious leaders to define and Scout leaders should help Scouts use the Scout oath and law to reach their own conclusions rather than sharing their own personal conclusions on debatable questions. My personal politics or spiritual beliefs could very well be at odds with a Scout’s parents or religious leaders. I don’t want to undermine them, I want to cooperate with them.
     You’ve hit on the spirit of an older brother – an influence and example, yes, but one that encourages the younger to find their way rather than demanding they follow theirs.
3. Larry Geiger says:

   December 19, 2012 at 5:46 pm

   Each Court of Honor has food. These are the times when the adults in the Troop get together to socialize. We have a pot-luck dinner once a year and dessert after the other COHs. Eagle COHs have a simple reception (or not so simple) and we have a family campout once a year and an adult Christmas Party at my house. Since 1991 when I started Troop 709 on Merritt Island, I’ve never had a problem having enough volunteers.

   I know the Scout’s parents by name and sometimes their grandparents and aunts and uncles. I know their brothers and sisters by name and greet each one personally. Basically my CC and I know most all of the families and we feel comfortable together.

   Courts of Honor are when the Troop gathers as a family. As Scoutmaster I always felt that the Troop is for the benefit of families and parents. They are the ones seeking to develop character and citizenship in their young men. That kind of thing can be over done and become too complicated. I always try to keep it a simple as possible. I love the fellowship within the Troop and amongst its families.

   This Friday I am going to one of my Eagle Scout’s wedding. He is the fifth and last child (second in order of birth) in his family to get married. He is over thirty and we haven’t been in Scouting together for 13 or 14 years. There will be other Scouts there and parents of other Scouts. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s sort of like a continuation of all of those COHs that we shared all those years ago, but really formal this time

   Scoutmasters and Committee Chairs, make friends with your Scout’s families. Get to know them. Greet them as they come into your COHs. Establish fellowship times to get together and get to know each other. Gather together and enjoy the accomplishments of your sons together.
4. Tom Gillard SM T-402 says:

   December 17, 2012 at 4:19 pm

   Our advancement chairman went to the scout shop and purchased “replacement” rank metal awards. Since the medals are the temporary rank symbol we award these at the end of the meeting in which the board of review was held. Then when we have our tri-yearly Court of Honor, we award the cloth patch and all the merit badges.
   For the merit badges, they get their portion of the blue card. If our Scout shop was closer, it might be easier to award these at the time of completion.
   And, our Eagle Courts of Honor are turned over to the parents of the new Eagle Scout. We have run the full gambit of parties, too. There always seems to be a group of moms that get together and help the new Eagle mom pull it off, though. No one has rebelled, yet, so I stay out of it and show up when told.

   I have seen some really crazy, but still respectful, Courts of Honor. That is because let the Scout do them. We do have a pretty common theme as to the flow, but when someone that is working on his communications MB comes along, he sometimes thinks he needs to re-invent the wheel. I have been complemented on how bad things went, too. This from adults that are visiting and see the chaos and understand that it was the boys and not the adults that are running the program. It is fun to watch them most of the time !

   Thanks,

   • Clarke Green says:

     December 17, 2012 at 4:27 pm

     There are so many ways to get things right, Thanks Tom!