Advancement

Years ago there was some question as to whether one of my Scouts who was a candidate for Eagle had satisfied the ‘active’ requirement. He had not attended many meetings or outings in the last six months. He was a high school senior and a wrestler. We set up a meeting with him, his father and his wrestling coach. At that meeting the Scout enumerated the things he had accomplished as a leader in his Troop and his wrestling coach spoke of how much the team relied on his leadership as a team captain....

The 2011 Guide to Advancement has been released: The Guide to Advancement is the official source for administering advancement in all Boy Scouts of America programs: Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, Venturing, and Sea Scouts. It replaces the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures and Advancement and Recognition Policies and Procedures, which are no longer valid. I will do my best to revise former posts at ScoutmasterCG.com to alert readers to the changes in the new Advancement Guide....

Here are three reasons Scouts don’t advance, and some simple ways to recognize and resolve them. REASON ONE They don’t want to “do requirements”. WHAT’S HAPPENING When Scouts don’t advance it may be we’re preoccupied with a list of stuff Scouts need to do (the requirements). If we have an active program of camping Scouts meet requirements as a result; not because they are ‘doing requirements’. Scouts don’t want to ‘do requirements’, they want to go camping....

Judith Bruner was the love of my life in second grade. Miss Bruner was a young, idealistic new teacher who played guitar. In 1968 she taught me how to play chess. I will never forget her for it. I was on our high school chess team and played a great deal during those years. Now I play chess when I get the chance; not so often anymore. A chess set goes on most of our camping trips and has filled many a rainy afternoon....

Scout leader training tends to focus on the practical and, I fear, often misses the big picture. Most of the questions and comments I receive are about action oriented, practical matters. More often than not problems arise because people have missed the big picture rather than their lack of knowledge of some procedural process. What is the big picture, the grand unified theory of Scouting? I have been working on theories but I still haven’t arrived at a conclusion....

When a rank requirement says ‘active’ what does it mean? How do we determine what constitutes an active scout? Here’s the policy – A Scout will be considered “active” in his unit if he is: Registered in his unit (registration fees are current) Not dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons. Engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Informed of unit activities through Scoutmaster conference or personal contact, etc....

Here’s an excerpt from Ask Andy’s December 10th column. Hi Andy: My question has to do with BSA national policies and why so many troops seem to stray… For example, my son recently “failed” his Scoutmaster conference for First Class… His Scoutmaster will quiz the Scouts on all requirements up to the rank being sought. I know of a troop where Scouts are required to present to their Scoutmaster the completed merit badge worksheets for all Eagle-required merit badges, for his final approval, even if the Scouts have signed blue cards from their Merit Badge Counselors....

One of the more ingenious ideas in Socuting is recognition through the advancement program. Humankind has always had some way of marking achievement through decorations of one kind or another; it seems to be a fundamental impulse. Cub Scouts have no pretense when it comes to badges. They pursue them arduously and uncompromisingly because they want to festoon their blue shirt with as many possible. They will wrap themselves with belt loops, fill their hats with pins, and if there’s no room left on their shirt they’ll add a vest full of gaudy patches and the gaudier the better....

A reader asks about the pace of Scout advancement: “Our troop seems to think we should hold off the scouts until they are older (ie end of Junior Year) to do their Eagle Projects and try to control the pace of advancement in the troop because they want the scouts to be more “mature” and stick around to lead the younger guys. I see some value in this, however, if a scout is motivated and fulfills the requirements needed, shouldn’t he be allowed to advance at his own pace?...

This email came from a listener/reader. I answered it in Podcast number 4 as well as in this post; Hi Clarke- I really enjoy your thoughtful blogs and podcasts, and I’m interested to learn about your views on merit badge days. Your podcast item about BP’s view on badge-hunters vs. badge earners was timely as we have been recently been having a debate in our troop about merit badge days. One side says that the primary purpose is to raise money for the hosting troop, and not to ensure quality instruction for the boys, and that they are a shortcut to merit badge completion....

Do we need “Life to Eagle Guides”? We already have a Scout Handbook and an Eagle Project Workbook – any Scout can understand and work their way through the trail to Eagle with these resources alone. Yet every Council and District seems to have ‘resources’ that are often confusing and often contain information that is contradictory to both the letter and spirit of National policy. Visit the National Eagle Scout Association website....

I recently received this question about Scout Spirit via email: I am a new Scoutmaster and I think I have a bit of background on Scouting. However, I have been reading your Eagle posts with some confusion and need some enlightenment. I have a Scout, who is a Life currently, and is 17 years 1 month old. He needs one or two merit badges and his Eagle Project. He is always joking and clowning around....

A Scout’s parents have written me about a Scoutmaster who is making an Eagle Scout Candidate’s life miserable for no good reason.. I’m not going to go into all the particulars here. It’s really all too familiar. A Scoutmaster with a diseased ego browbeating a Scout. The district advancement chairman won’t stand up to the bully. The Scout and his parents have decided to move ahead and appease the Scoutmaster. The real problem is that the Scoutmaster has said some pretty mean things and the Scout is agonizing over them....

A reader asks: I would like to get your thoughts on how you evaluate Scout Spirit. Is it standard practice for a scoutmaster to ask a scout to write out what the scout’s interpretation of Scout Spirit is? Each rank in Scouting requires that a scout “Demonstrate scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.” Evaluating this is usually the simplest part of a Scoutmaster’s conference (that’s where I usually check the requirement)....

Here’s an exchange from Ask Andy about forms and Scouts. Hi Andy, I’m a relatively new Assistant Scoutmaster. I’ve been instructed that Scouts seeking ranks beyond First Class, in this troop, are required to complete a “Scoutmaster Conference Worksheet” before their actual conversation with the Scoutmaster, which they then submit for their board of review. (I’ve attached the worksheet for your reference—it was created by the previous Scoutmaster.) I’ve just read that pedantic, soul-sucking, cheerless form....

Open the Eagle Scout Project Workbook (opens PDF file) and you will find about 2 1/2 half pages of instructions about conducting the project written in less than 1000 words (966 to be exact). Google the words “Eagle Scout Project” and you’ll get about 1.4 million references. Avoid Eagle Scout problems by reading only the 966 words in the workbook. If you think this is adequate advice stop reading now and move on....

CA Scouter comments on last minute Eagles: It would be interesting to hear your reflections on Scouts putting off Eagle til they’re 17.5 years old and then trying to get their project and missing merit badges done in the small amount of time left. … in a perfect world, the SM has been counseling boys not to let it get to this point, but as you say, Scout aged boys do a lot of things they shouldn’t....

So far we have determined that needless Eagle Scout problems can be caused when a Scoutmaster seeks to impose his ideal vision of an Eagle Scout on the advancement process. In addition we have discovered Baden Powell founded Scouting on the idea that it would offer Scouts a way to challenge themselves towards achievement on an individual basis rather than against an ideal standard. As a rule of thumb if there is no numerical metric applied to a requirement it is improper and against policy to create one....

Scoutmasters need to understand what makes Scouting different from everything else – why young men and women have been Scouts all over the world for the past century. If they take the time to do this they’ll avoid most Eagle Scout problems. Scouting’s founder Baden-Powell envisioned a movement that would give everyone the opportunity to challenge and achievement based not on a single standard of performance but on a highly individualized, internalized standard....

During my tenure as Scoutmaster I have worked with 50 Scouts who have earned the rank of Eagle. Becoming an Eagle Scout is supposed to be challenging. Unfortunately these normal difficulties are often compounded by totally unnecessary Eagle Scout Problems. All too often this drama is caused by the Scoutmaster. Somehow there are a number of Scoutmasters who act like that they are the gatekeepers for the advancement system (especially the rank of Eagle) when they are supposed to be coaches, guides and mentors....