Issue 634 – March 24, 2020

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These are the times that try our souls (Thank you, Thomas Paine).

Everywhere, we’re hunkering down, staying safe, staying clean, staying as healthy as conditions and our constitutions allow. Bluntly, our country is in lock-down. This is the wise decision and the right thing to do.

Schools and higher education facilities are using the internet for distance learning and even religious institutions are now live-streaming worship services, to look at just two arenas where technology is in use to compensate for the impossibility, right now, of large-group gatherings.

But even with these technology advantages, “cabin fever” is beginning to run rampant across all sectors of our population.

THIS IS WHERE SCOUTING CAN HELP MOST RIGHT NOW!

Thanks go out to Dan Rauch, friend and fellow Eagle Scout. Dan is former long-time Scoutmaster of Troop 63 in New Providence, NJ (Patriots’ Path Council). Here’s what he put together: A list of rank requirements your Scout son or daughter can work on at and around home, and the only outside-the-family contact needed can be by phone, text, or email! Further thanks to long-time friend, fellow Commissioner, and fellow Eagle Scout Mitch Erickson, for sending these on to me!

I’ve trimmed the wording of some requirements a bit, so your son or daughter should use the exact written wording found either in their handbooks or in the Scout Requirements book.

TENDERFOOT
(4d) Assemble a personal first-aid kit and tell how to use each item in it.
(6a) Record your best in: Pushups (number done in 60 seconds), Sit-ups or curl-ups (number in 60 sec.), Back-saver sit-and-reach (distance stretched), Run/Walk (time to complete 1 mile).
(6b) Make and describe your plan to improve in (6a) activities and keep a record of doing your plan for at least 30 days.
(6c) After 30 days, show improvement in each (6a) activity.

SECOND CLASS
(3b) Take a 5-mile foot-hike (or 10-mile bike-hike) using a map and compass. (Pre-approval required)
(4) Identify or show evidence (tracks, signs, photos you’ve taken) of at least 10 kinds of animals in the wild (like birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, mollusks, etc.) in your local area.
(7a) After completing Tenderfoot req. 6c, stay physically active at least 30 minutes five days a week for four weeks. Keep track of your activities.
(7b) Share your challenges and successes in completing 7a and set a goal and plan for including physical activity in your daily life.
(7c) Participate in a school, community, or troop program on the dangers of using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco and other practices that could be harmful to your health. Discuss your participation in the program with your family, and explain the dangers of substance addictions. Report to your Scoutmaster or other adult leader in your troop about which parts of the Scout Oath and Scout Law relate to what you learned.
(8c) With your parents or guardian, decide on an amount of money that you want to earn, based on the cost of a specific item you want to buy. Develop a written plan to earn the amount agreed upon and follow that plan (it’s okay to make changes along the way). Then discuss any changes made to your original plan and whether you met your goal.
(8d) At a minimum of three locations, compare the price of the item you’re earning money for, to find the best place to buy it. Then, after completing req. 8c, decide if you’ll use the amount you earned as originally intended, save all or part of it, or use it for another purpose.

FIRST CLASS
(5a) Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants in your local area. Evidence can include identifying fallen leaves or fallen fruit that you find, as part of a collection you’ve made, or by photos you’ve taken.
(7d) Tell what utility services your home has. Describe potential hazards associated with these utilities and tell how to respond in emergency situations.
(7e) Develop an emergency action plan for your home that includes what to do in case of fire, storm, power outage, and water outage.
(8a) After completing Second Class req. 7a, be physically active at least 30 minutes five days a week for four weeks. Keep track of your activities.
(8b) Share your challenges and successes in completing (8a). Set a goal for continuing physical activity as part of your daily life.
(9b) Investigate an environmental issue affecting your community. Share what you learned about that issue with your patrol or troop. Tell what, if anything, could be done by you or your community to address the concern.

STAR
(6) With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet “How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide” and earn the Cyber Chip award for your current school grade.

For merit badges, my online colleague “Bryan On Scouting” has just listed 58 that can be earned from home! Check ‘em out!

As for finding merit badge counselors, your son or daughter can get contact information from their Scoutmaster and then make the phone call. If the troop they’re in uses “Scoutbook” mobile software, “blue cards” are a no-brainer. If not, I’m sure creative minds can figure out a way to handle this.

Well, that’s enough for this week – I’m sure you have quite a bit of other stuff on your mind. But if you’re looking for more, Bryan On Scouting has also given you good hints on conducting boards of review electronically, and I’m betting your home council has published ideas, too.

Till next week, please stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!
Happy Scouting!
Andy

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you’d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that’s what we’ll do.)

Although these columns are copyrighted, any reader has my permission to quote or reproduce any columns or column parts so long as you attribute authorship: “Ask Andy” by Andy McCommish.

[No. 634 – 3/24/2020 – Copyright © Andy McCommish]