ScoutMaster Musings

Even More Historic Merit Badges

Wed, 17 March 2010 14:57 CST

Do you recall the post at Scouting Magazine that got everyone excited about the Historic Merit Badge program? Carpentry, Signaling, Tracking, and Pathfinding merit badges are being resurrected for 2010 only as a part of the centennial celebration - a great idea!

It's been a little more than two months since that post. In that time, the actual merit badge patches have become available at scout shops, scouts have become excited about participating and lost that enthusiasm, and I've yet to find anything official about the program. In our council, applications for merit badge counselors for those badges are not being accepted yet.

Today Scouting Magazine has posted an update, basically saying "any day now!" Sorry, but my skeptic side is showing today. See the post at Scouting magazine.

But, hey, I guess those badges are even more historic now than they were two months ago! There ya go.

Scout On

Spring has Sprung

Thu, 11 March 2010 8:28 CST

Wahoo! We're going camping tomorrow!

There's still almost a foot of snow in most places, but the continual rain and above freezing temps the past few days have melted to grass in some places. That's spring as far as I'm concerned.

And, just now, I heard my first thunderclap of the year - at 8:30am on March 11 - that's got to be a record! That certainly means SPRING has arrived. Keep in mind, this is Minnesota, and March has historically been our snowiest month of the year. So, maybe I'm pushing things a bit - less than 3 weeks ago we had our Klondike Derby.

The scouts planned this campout to be GeoCaching and it will be the first outing for some of our newly crossed-over scouts. Should be a soggy, wonderful time.

Scout On

Does Eagle Matter?

Thu, 4 March 2010 12:16 CST

A couple guys at Baylor are getting almost $1,000,000 to find out. In two years, we'll hear if Scouting makes a difference in mens' lives and if Eagle Scout rank matters or not. Sounds like a fun job!

Read More

Scout On

Life EDGE Requirement

Thu, 4 March 2010 12:01 CST

I've been thinking about it, and I have a concern with this new requirement #6 for Life rank:

While a Star Scout, use the EDGE method to teach a younger Scout the skills from ONE of the following six choices, so that he is prepared to pass those requirements to his unit leader's satisfaction.

I love the idea of having higher-ranked scouts teaching lower ones and of using EDGE as a standard method of teaching. The interaction of scouts and the extra opportunity for younger advancement is great.

One of the listed skills that can be taught, for example, is Second Class #1-a:

Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean.

So, the Star Scout gets a compass and a map and a Tenderfoot scout that has not yet learned this skill. He then explains the skill to be taught, demonstrates the skill, guides the Tenderfoot through the skill, and finally ensures the Tenderfoot is enabled to perform the skill all on his own.

Throughout this teaching, the scoutmaster should be watching that the EDGE method is being used. When the teaching is complete, the Tenderfoot would then demonstrate the skill to the scoutmaster to show he has learned it well enough.

Here's my concern ...
The scoutmaster should sign off on the Tenderfoot's advancement requirement since it was done to his satisfaction. Then, the scoutmaster signs off on the Life requirement, unless EDGE was not used or the Tenderfoot did not learn the skill.

This seems to push the "Learn It, Show It, Forget It" problem we're working to get past. In this scenario, the Tenderfoot may have seen a map and compass for the first time, parroted what the Star scout did, and got it signed off. In a day, or an hour, he may not remember how to orient a map.

The adults and Star, Life, and Eagle scouts in our troop teach skills to lower-ranked scouts. They often use EDGE. They sign off on T-2-1 scout skill requirements. But, they don't teach a skill and sign off at the same time. If a scout wants a 'demonstrate' advancement requirement signed off, instructing has been done earlier. The scout walks up, demonstrates, gets the sign off.

This new Life requirement seems to promote the teaching and signing off at the same time, which I've found to lessen retention. I'm still trying to work out the best way to handle this new requirement without adding to it, nor weakening the skill level of the scouts.

The best way I've come up with is interpreting "so that he is prepared to pass those requirements". Since it doesn't say "so that he passes those requirements", the scoutmaster might observe that the teaching was done and it appears that the Tenderfoot knows the skill good enough to get it signed off. But, he may not sign off right then, waiting for the Tenderfoot to demonstrate the skill at a later time. Letting the Tenderfoot know this is just a training time for him rather than a sign-off time might set expectations correctly.

Any constructive suggestions out there?

Scout On

High Adventure Training

Fri, 26 February 2010 9:26 CST

Philmont and Northern Tier require Wilderness First Aid certification in each crew. The American Red Cross has offered a course for this certification for a few years, developed by an ARC chapter in North Carolina. This spring, an entirely new, national ARC course titled Wilderness and Remote First Aid takes its place.

This new course has been developed in cooperation with the BSA and is based on our Wilderness First Aid Curriculum and Doctrine Guidelines - I bet you didn't know we had that, huh?

There's a flyer about the course Here.

It's 16 hours, like the previous course, but it should be less expensive, have more hands-on, and use consistent ARC materials. A few key differences about this new training:

certification is 2 years instead of 3
Current Adult CPR certification is a prerequisite
Altitude Illnesses are included

This training is not JUST for Philmont and Northern Tier - every troop and pack should have people prepared to handle emergencies wherever they are. If it will take more than 20-30 minutes for an ambulance to reach you, these skills can be life-saving.

I'm really looking forward to presenting this new training to help keep Scouting safe!

Scout On