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The Eagle project-that last mile on the long, satisfying climb toward Scouting's highest honor-tests a boy's ability to organize a meaningful service project and then lead his peers in its completion. It's all outlined in the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project workbook, available here (link opens PDF) .
What's the next-best thing to visiting Philmont? That's easy: Winning Scouting magazine's Thursday giveaway. Sure, winning the giveaway won't fill you with a lifetime of memories like visiting Philmont would. But, hey, at least this week's winners will be figuratively transported to that hallowed New Mexico site through jaw-dropping pictures and unforgettable stories.
Electricity Merit Badge Faith in Begonias! St. Patrick's Day has arrived. You would think that being on vacation would let you have a little more flexibility, but I'm finding I'm just as over- well-scheduled as usual. We have a St.
Marietta, GA - Team East headed over to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park today to brush up on some history and enjoy the sunshine. Back in 1864, a battle was fought here from June 19 to July 2 and over 5,350 soldiers were killed.
A leading MP has expressed his support for Don't Raise Our Rents!
Last meeting prep for the weekend campout. Went over checklists of what to (and not) have and then headed out to the grocery store. I had the boys split into 3 pairs and each team take care of 2 sections of the menu. it helped to speed things up and kept me from trying to
Here is a really simple camp gadget I saw at a camporee a few years back. It was a simple gadget for scraping the mud off of the bottom of the boots.
The other day I was out and about and I ended up in the check out line at a local store. There was an elderly gentleman in line ahead of me waiting patiently as the check out clerk seemed to be struggling a bit.
After last week's doozy , this week's Name That Council should be a breeze. A cool ocean breeze, perhaps? Good luck! Name That Council rules: Each week I select a council shoulder patch and use Photoshop to remove all text. You guess the name of the council whose members wear the patch.
Sorry for the late post today...busy busy: Thursday I: - talked to ASM about Scouting For Food this weekend (I messed up the dates and he is saving my butt) - sent instructions to Life Scouts to get District Approval for their Eagle Project (1 got it, 1 did not show up) - helped another Life Scout (my…
Today on our Facebook page we posed this phrase for our followers to complete: "I am passionate about Leave No Trace because ___________________." I'm inspired by the responses I've read so far and encouraged. I am a Leave No Trace member for exactly this reason - because I am part of a community of people who are…
Electronics Merit Badge Eighty glorious degrees out! And camping is in the air. Troop heads out today on a Pioneering campout. We are headed to a rustic area of the local National Forest, with just fire rings to keep us company.
Bear Achievement 7 is a fun den meeting. There is some hands on stuff and a police officer visit.
Another great day! Fridays are the day we gear up for the weekend and every weekend always has something Scouting to do. This weekend is no different, we have a campout next weekend but tons to do this one. Friday I: - continued the search for my Scoutmaster Binder, with no success - ate at the Knights…
Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge Rained last night, but not too much. A Scout who was key to our service project today didn't show up...literally the "key" since he had the key to the supply shed where the paint and brushes were stored!
Now that St. Patrick's Day has come and gone, Springtime is around the corner and things are beginning to turn green again...besides the alternative adult beverages that are abound with green dyes and pigmentation. Yesterday, on Scouting Radio, we had a brief discussion about how important the Scouting uniform plays within the program.
Day 39: I drove 212 miles to home yesterday (34mpg in my 22 year old Mazda 323!) just in time to shower and get to a Star scoutmaster conference. This is one of those scouts you need to be careful that you don't short change on attention.
New Recipe for Boy Scouts
I said that I would post about the issues that I had at the Pinewood Derby…sorry, that's just too much negative and this isn't the place for it. It had nothing to do with scouting and to write about it would just be counter-productive.
The Scout Association has just launched a campaign regarding the raising of the rent paid by Scout Groups for the land that their Scout Huts are built upon. Many Group's own their own building, and have done for many years, but the land they are built upon is often owned by their local council (County…
A den leader asked me recently about ideas for gathering activities. I suggested paper bag puppets.
Saturday was fantastic! The wife and I went to our son's Winter Percussion State Finals. It was his last one, he is graduating this spring and has been in Winter Pecussion for 4 years. They were incredible, they played their hearts out and scored a 91+.
Energy Merit Badge Up and at it early today. Have to get 90% of our troop to Mass at 10:30. But first, McDonalds. We have a troop tradition of always stopping at McDonalds on the way home from a Scouting event.
We all headed to Endview Plantation on Friday evening for a weekend of camping. We had several new Scouts with us, as well as some of the more experienced Scouts. Most of the weekend was taken up with cooking, a great service project clearing an area for use as a Confederate reenactors corral, since Endview…
Unlike the Jamboree experience, which yielded a count down to the event (which everyone seemed to love), putting together a great Troop, heading out to the East Coast for tours and a fantastic week of the greatest single Scouting event I have been to, and memories for a life time.
A while back I borrowed an album of old postcards from my Uncle He has some postcards of the area where I (and he used to) live, as I wanted to copy them. Amongst these I found a postcard that I'd actually found for him many years ago.
I thought that this was really cool…I have been a fan of Jason's since he did a show with Jerry, but I was looking back at some of his old posts…check his site for any other backpacking tips Gear Talk with Jason Klass: My DIY Pulk Project: Part 1
Day 40: lots of scouting paperwork today. Went through packets of information from summer camp, Seabase, and training. I did talk with a local scouter in a troop just getting interested in backpacking, but with very little experience. I might get to visit with their PLC soon and share some of our adventures and help…
New Recipe for Boy Scouts
Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education (SOLE) is a grassroots non-profit which facilitates custom-tailored experiential education programming for individuals and groups in the Inland Northwest and beyond! We strive to empower our participants to become active learners and responsible stewards of their community and its environment.
The main responsibility of the Pack Trainer is to ensure that the adults involved in the Pack are trained for their positions and are aware of supplemental training opportunities.
A somewhat regular show talking about tie-dye shirts, gardening, being nice to volunteers, Scout Sunday, Blue and Golds and some future show changes. Links: Get A Blue Suit- http://bit.ly/htmh11 Top 10 Cheap Recruiting Tips- http://bit.ly/cFtjj0 BSA 2010 National Youth Forum – Marsha Williams, "Understanding Boy Culture" - http://bit.ly/gGP45w Cub Scout Parent Orientation- http://bit.ly/gGP45w Webelos To Scout Transition…
Sunday should be a day of rest...and today it was, from Scouting. Sunday was my son's 18th Birthday. He's been in Scouting since Tiger Scouts. It was something I wanted him to like (as an Eagle Scout) and it turned into something he loved.
The Reading Merit Badge was introduced to the Boy Scouts of America advancement program in 1925. Boys already had plenty of reading material at that time, including books about fictional Boy Scouts named Tom Slade, Roy Bakely, and Pee-Wee Harris.
In this Podcast: Levels of Competence, Scouts and power tools Links in this Podcast: Guide to Safe Scouting Podcast Music null
Pollyanna, Aaron, and Lilliebeth Halling with their parents. Lilliebeth and Pollyanna Halling were jealous. Why did their brother, Aaron, get to go on all of these fun Boy Scout outings when they couldn't? That disappointment quickly turned to enthusiasm, though, when the triplets turned 16.
Haven't posted in a few days but that doesn't mean wasn't Scouting – in fact was too busy Scouting to post in detail. This weekend our Troop was camping at Camp Nobebosco. It was an amazing trip. Day 39: Arrived at camp. We were the most remote campsite available which meant several trips back and
Engineering Merit Badge Why is the first day back from vacation always so...interesting? I allowed myself very little online time while I was off. Tons of email, tweets and 100's of 100 Days of Scouting entries to get caught up on.
Bear Paw's sugar bush is steaming with activity as Scouts help collect maple sap from Camp Bear Paw's sugar maple trees during the "Maple Syrup Days," activity offered through the Bay-Lakes Council. Maple Syrup Days is a hands on experience intended for Boy Scouts and Adult Leaders which will require application of sixth grade science…
Levels of Competence, Scouts and power tools Scoutmaster Podcast 60 Links in this Podcast Guide to Safe Scouting You can participate in the podcast by calling (484) 734-0002 and recording a voicemail message . Tell me your favorite scouting joke! Keep in touch READ the Scoutmaster Blog - LISTEN to the Scoutmaster Podcast on iTunes SUBSCRIBE to…
Wayne's week has been another busy one inducting DC's, celebrating adult achievements, a full Board Meeting and joining the Muslim Scout Active Support Unit for one of their training courses which was very much a family affair…
? semi-officially put my hat in for position on District Web Committee; ? uploaded the pictures from the Nobebosco Campout ? worked on the reservations for April campout; Not bad for a Monday after camping.
Tracy explains the rules of Minimum Impact Match San Francisco, CA. Leave No Trace offers three different Grants that award opportunities for organizations or individuals to receive FREE educational materials. Leave No Trace also offers a fourth grant, in the form of a scholarship, that provides partial course tuition towards a 5 day Master Educator…
Many campers consider the frisbee an indispensable piece of gear for camp. How do you use your frisbee to improve camp life?
Today started off great and then took a turn for the worse...so just the laundry list for this post: - finally found my Scoutmaster Binder. It was in our meeting place all along...well meaning parents would find it, put it in a place and email me, I would go there and it would be gone as…
This week's YouTube Tuesday video comes from the Circle Ten Council of the B.S.A. It features Boy Scout Denzel Long. He talks about how the Boy Scouts have helped him raise his life to a whole new level. I liked the video, and I think you will also.
Chattahoochee National Forest, GA - Yesterday Team East enjoyed some time off and connected with hikers along the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) near Springer Mountain in Georgia. Standing at 3,820 feet above sea level Springer Mountain is the southern terminus of the footpath that extends 2,181 miles north and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Last Night at our Troop meeting we talked about leadership, among other things. I shared with the Scouts some questions that they need to ask themselves in the context of leadership. Now, these questions come from a book called Serve to Lead , by James Strock.
Tonight is Cub Scout Pack 68′s Blue and Gold Banquet. It will be the first one I have attended in five years. Not because I did not want to attend any, but because there have not been any Webelos Scouts to crossover.
Day 41: Boards of Review, Patrol Meetings, and Troop Committee meeting. We had eight scouts complete boards of review this evening, mostly Tenderfoot and Second Class. The new scout patrol had a meeting. I went through the Joining requirements with one of them and he got it all except the square knot and scout badge.
Jack Pape, a 17-year-old Boy Scout from Omaha, Neb. The voting's over, and the results are in. The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation announced today that Jack Pape , a high school junior from Omaha, Neb., has won its American Spirit Award.
Entrepreneurship Merit Badge What a weird day! Everything I touched was a 10 minute job...which can be exhausting when there are a lot of them. I have Wood Badge coming up this weekend, and should be doing more to get ready.
A light Scouting day relative to usual...
A light Scouting day relative to usual...
Specialist national support groups are not new in Scouting, the first can be traced back to pre 1948 but today, the Muslim Scout Active Support Unit are leading the way in supporting the development of Scouting within their community and across many others. So how do they do it...
#84-Order of The Arrow Tonight, we interview, Kevin Montano, Life Scout, about the Order of The Arrow. Tonight's show sponsored by ClassB.com Join the forum discussion on this post Share with Others:
Day 42: I'll tell ya, I'm really enjoying these new scout conferences! My favorite question is - "So, what do you think you'll be doing this summer in Boy Scouts?" I love the oversized, still-creased, half-untucked, patchless uniform shirt. I love hearing the debates about what patrol name is best - Scorpions vs.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation will present its American Spirit Award to Jack Pape, a 17-year-old Boy Scout from Omaha, Nebraska. Pape, a junior in high school, will be recognized for his heroic efforts in 2008 and 2009 during a variety of ceremonies Friday, March 25.
Badges and awards are results; but Scoutmaster's know it's more important to recognize effort. In his book Shine Psychiatrist Ned Hallowell concludes that acknowledgment of effort provides vital encouragement, motivation and inspires greater confidence, but also promotes moral behavior; "When a person feels recognized and connected to the larger group, she knows viscerally, not just…
For you Scouts getting ready to start this badge, it is important to really understand your counselor's expectations before you start.
In this show we talk about Servant leadership and ask the questions that make every leader successful! We answer a Listener email and talk about forming Patrols and the examples we set as Scoutmasters! Thanks for listening. This show is sponsored by Badge Magic .
Show number 80 is out and ready for your ear buds. In this show we discuss the questions we posted in the Serve to Lead entry. Join me as we open up the questions and talk about how they make every leader a success.
It is Scout Tuesday, that means Troop Meeting!!! The Scout Laundry List: - worked on some new ideas for pre-campout meeting to present to PLC - talked with Outdoor Chair about this weekend's Campout, we have 129 signed up - Troop Meeting: - talked with Adult Quartermaster about the youth quartermasters and his plan to have them do much…
Badges and awards are results; but Scouters understand the importance of recognizing effort. In his book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People Psychiatrist Ned Hallowell concludes that acknowledgment of effort provides vital encouragement, motivation and inspires greater confidence, but also promotes moral behavior; “When a person feels recognized and connected…
New to Scouting? Not really sure what the Order of the Arrow is all about? Listen to the latest episode of The Leaders Campfire podcast (#84). Chris and Steve interview Kevin, a Life Scout who is very active in the Order of the Arrow.
A few weeks ago I used the "Make a Difference to One" Scoutmaster's Minute with my Scouts. Recently those words I read are coming back to me as I think about the situation in Japan. The headlines about Japan may be fading but the amount of people in need certainly is not. According to reports,
Click to view slideshow. When assistant Scoutmaster Matt Testerman heard that in 2009 his troop visited West Point, he formed a plan. You see, Testerman is a graduate of a different service academy, Annapolis, the U.S. Naval Academy. And in the spirit of the Army-Navy rivarly, he wanted to take the guys of Troop 336…
Monday – nada lada stuff going on, move along, nothing to see here. Tuesday – attended the Tiger meeting with the Cubmaster, squared the leaders up on their required training. Braced for snowstorm of the year. Had a great chat with Jerry , who gave me some advice on how to deal with a couple of hot-spots in…
Environmental Science Merit Badge Pinch me! I still can't believe I'm finally getting to go to Wood Badge! S7-598-11-1... Posts keep floating by about "remembering one more thing..." so I'm starting to feel incredibly under-prepared. I'm sticking to the list given.
You can now show your support and assist our Scouting friends in Japan.
OK, so for today's post, not just a catch up of the last 2 days. On an upcoming episode of True North, I am going to talk about what I like to call, the "Cubmaster Team"… As you know, I am a Scoutmaster for Troop 1363.
Today I continue reviewing a book called A Scout Leader's Guide to Youth Leadership Training: Working the Patrol Method. Get a copy and join in the discussion!
Good morning Hump Day! It was an easy Scouting day as work got in the way :) - worked on the Website and added a Troop Physical page - researched some times for the Troop Swim and pass it along to the responsible party - sent out an email to the Troop Committe about a former Adult Leader who…
The weather forecast did not give the impression that this month's troop activity would be much of a winter outing. The temperature had been above freezing for most of the week. A lot of the snow cover had already melted before we left for camp on the evening of Friday, March 18.
Day 43: Have you every heard a parent say, "But, they're too young to plan and lead all that"? Last night, I spent 90 minutes at a swimming pool watching nine scouts pass their BSA swim test, rescue each other with arms, legs, and ropes, tie bowline knots, and work as teams to swim out…
A few weeks ago, the Allohak District held their annual pinewood derby sponsored by Pack 311 and Darby Community Church. ClassB was fortunate enough to be invited to judge the design competition. It was a beautiful day and things got off to a great start as the sponsoring pack served up a hot breakfast of…
That bridge, those birds, and the boat. I hope those three clues were enough for you to correctly guess last week's Name That Council . Several of you spotted the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and chose the San Francisco Bay Area Council as your guess.
Kennesaw, GA - While many colleges and universities across the country are focused on the NCAA Men's and Women's Championship games (a.k.a. March Madness), the students at Clayton State University and Kennesaw State University devoted a few hours of their day this week to learn more about Leave No Trace.
Family Life Merit Badge Wood Badge. OK, the song has been running through my head all day. I'm pretty excited, and can't wait to get there. Getting on the road at 6AM? Did that for 14 years, and guess I can do it again tomorrow.
Whilst the Big Society is the good-feeling political buzzword of the moment. Yet some councils seem to be lacking the will to live up to this ideal and are planning to use rent increases to cover the cuts that are being applied to their budgets – and this impacts directly on Scout Group, with some massive…
Troop meeting night: Presented 4 Totin' Chips, 4 Fire Safety merit badges and had 5 Scoutmaster conferences for Scout rank. One's already got a good Eagle project picked out Tried to feel them out as to who would want to go for Patrol Leader at next election. Some interesting responses.
In 1997, Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 spent a weekend at Eagle Cave in Wisconsin. The boys had a great time exploring every nook and cranny within the cave, as you saw in the first video. Saturday evening, the staff invited everyone to the dining hall.
I was listening to a podcast the other day, it was pretty political in nature, but the guest on the show said something that I thought was pretty interesting. Now, I am not going to get into politics here. This is NOT a political Blog.
This makes a great snack for any space themed meeting. We used it when ZM's den worked on Bear Elective 1 - Space. It can be a little messy, so we went outside.
It is the Thursday before the campout....busy busy busy. Tuesday at the Troop Meeting I introduced a new aspect to the Mini-PLC meeting. As with most of my plans, ideas, thoughts; they are just suggestions to the SPL and his PLC.
We asked Darcy, our February Bigfoot Challenge winner, to tell us how she got involved with Leave No Trace, and what it means to her. This is what she had to say... I was born and raised in Sparks, Nevada.
You can keep your Scouting life organized with this offering from official licensee, It Takes Two®. The Boy Scouts Pocket Planner is a convenient two-year calendar and appointment book that is the size of a standard cheque book. It's perfect for keeping track of important meetings and events on the go.
Day 44: Two scoutmaster conferences and 2 hours reviewing a robust Eagle Service Project workbook. Also lots of emails arranging participants in the seven Red Cross Wilderness & Remote First Aid sessions I'm presenting over the next 4 months. I might need to add another in June for the "Oops, I didn't realize we needed that…
Farm Mechanics Merit Badge Today I am at Wood Badge--Day 1!
Today's Scouting:...
The core value for Cub Scouts for the month of April is Faith. According to the program helps, faith is "Having inner strength and confidence based on our trust in God."
Day 46: Three weeks until your taxes are due. Remember to consider the miles driven for scouting as a tax deduction. Your Friends of Scouting contribution and other expenses you had for Scouting may also be deductible. My Exped Synmat 7 DLX sleeping pad arrived!
Since crossing over to Boy Scouts pretty much my only function with the Pack is electronically. I still maintain the Pack Website, calendar and photo gallery. I don't mind one bit as most requests I can usually handle in minutes and 90% of them by phone if needed. Yesterday I got an email about a
by Bryce Davis, Assistant Scoutmaster Troop 664 We're on the Big Screen... Well – for a few seconds, anyway. Our new advertisement was delivered to the nice folks at Mt. Hood Theatre in downtown Gresham today. Manager Brenda says it will be dropped into the tray tonight.
Day 44 – Even though I blog and podcast about Scouting, I am by no means an expert…I just know what works for me and like to write, blog, tweet and broadcast about it. With that said, I frequently ask for advice from other fountains of Scouting.
Fingerprinting Merit Badge Today I am still at Wood Badge--Day 2!
If you are reading this.. well then you have properly been directed to the new home of The SMMBlog. I moved the domain to wordpress for various reasons, but the bottom line is it is working. Much of the "old stuff" is moved, but please be patient while I play with themes and widgets and…
This is a traditional Native American game. The scoring systems seem to vary from one reference to another, so the system below is a simplified system which scouts should be able to follow.
The Old Sandwich Road Race (OSRR), part of which takes place on America's oldest road-Old Sandwich Road in Plymouth-recently announced that scouts from the Boy Scouts of America's Old Colony Council will be manning the water stations for the half marathon and Entergy 10k on Sunday, June 5.
I have been asked, on more than one occasion, to talk about what Scouting was like when I was young. ...Thats sounds like that I am really old; ancient. Looking back, I guess that I am old. Back in April, 1970, almost 41 years ago, I was lucky enough to win a contest, sponsored by…
