Author and Scouter Mark Ray offers these thoughts on the the GSUSA lawsuit that’s been in the news lately; Did you roll your eyes when you heard the news that the Girl Scouts of the USA was suing the Boy Scouts of America for trademark infringement? That’s perhaps understandable–until you dig into the complaint GSUSA filed. … the words you use can … cause real harm to our movement (and to other youth-serving organizations) as well....
I did not start out as a believer in co-ed Scouting. For most of the last 35 years I’ve been a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America the status quo worked fine for me, co-ed Scouting was a big unknown, and being unknown it was something to resist. Three Things That Changed My Mind. First – during a week-long international Scouting trip several years ago (and two more since) I watched co-ed Scouting at work....
Yes, girls in the BSA. I want the BSA to be a fully co-ed organization with no limitations on how girls participate. Before you lose it understand I don’t think girls in the BSA should be forced on anyone. More about that later. I think we can and must make this happen for one simple reason: it is the right thing to do. I can’t say I always thought this way....
How do you share knowledge or skills with more than one person? If it’s just three or four people we get them together and tell them. Easy, right? What if it’s ten or twenty people? How about thirty? When numbers grow we start thinking in terms of economy. The classroom is an economical model of instruction, we are all familiar with classrooms, so we’ll probably employ that model. We stand in front, our students to sit still, pay attention, and we teach, we evaluate the knowledge we have shared with assignments and tests....
Imagine, for a moment, there is nothing called “Scouting”, no program, no troops, no councils, no districts, no uniforms, no badges. Someone comes up with an idea for helping young people develop character by getting outdoors and going camping. They share this idea with young people who get pretty excited about it. They get their buddies together, and decide they really like the whole idea, and organize a camping trip....
A reader has taken the initiative to create a map of inclusive Scouting – they write: Though we may not always agree on the policy, we can always agree that more youth in Scouting is a good thing. So for parents, youth, and volunteers that haven’t considered Scouting in the past because of inclusivity concerns, we’ve created this resource. I hope you find it useful. This effort undertaken by volunteer Scouters to map Scouting units that welcome LGBT Scouts and adults is a resource for families, Scouts and potential volunteers looking for Packs, Troops, and Crews who choose to select inclusive adult leadership....
Nineteen year-old Kazik, prisoner 918, in Auschwitz. In Podcast 270 I tell the story of Kazimierz Piechowski, or Kazik, who grew up as a Boy Scout in Tczew on the border of Poland and Germany. When the Nazis invaded in 1939 Kazik learned the true meaning of the Scout motto. British songwriter, Katy Carr, wrote “Kommander’s Car” a song relating the pivotal moments of Kazik’s story. In August 2009 Katy Carr traveled to Poland and recorded her meeting with the then 90 year old Kazik and his wife Iga....
I was dumbfounded when the parent of a Webelos visiting our troop asked; “What about a Scout who doesn’t really like camping?” How would you answer that question? The best I could come up with was; “I don’t really know what Scouting is if we aren’t camping, I don’t think it’s an option.” I couldn’t really explain why we go camping beyond the typical answers about having fun, teamwork, physical activity, and I realized a lot of activities could accomplish those ends....
Active, aware, Scouters all ask themselves how well they are delivering the Scouting program. There are any number of ways to measure metrics, the Journey to Excellence being the most familiar and widely used tool. I am going to suggest ten questions a Scout troop can ask of itself that do not have metric answers. Hopefully the answers would help shape a long range view, and give some idea of what’s working;...
This is the fourteenth installment in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the thirteenth installment in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the twelfth installment in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the eleventh of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the tenth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the ninth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the eighth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the seventh of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the sixth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the fifth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....
This is the fourth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how. *I’ve based this work of fiction on the stories shared by readers and listeners, questions they have asked, and the advice I commonly share in reply.*Scoutmasters can expect to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. I’ve tried to avoid being unreasonable optimistic, or overly pessimistic about the progress we can make when we stick to the basics....