{"id":2435,"date":"2019-04-02T12:24:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T16:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2435"},"modified":"2019-04-02T12:24:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T16:24:19","slug":"issue-594-april-2-20i9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2019\/04\/issue-594-april-2-20i9\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 594 \u2013 April 2, 20I9"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just attended a College of Commissioner Science. At several junctures, other Commissioners mentioned uniform inspections as being \u201cold-school\u201d and for fuddy-duddies. I\u2019ve poked around on BSA and affiliated websites, and found plenty of PDF versions of the BSA\u2019s Uniform Inspection Form as well as some PowerPoints of indeterminate vintage, but I haven\u2019t found anything on \u201cuniform inspection\u201d as a Commissioner duty. What\u2019s the current status of uniform inspections by Commissioners? And what are your thoughts about the priority of uniform inspections among the myriad duties that Unit Commissioners must\/should\/can do to strengthen the units they serve and improve the Scouting experience for our youth? (Mitch Erickson, UC, Patriots\u2019 Path Council, NJ)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Great question! Uniform inspections were and remain among the formalities performed by commissioners. These are considered morale features and there\u2019s an excellent “How & Why” Power Point presentation, written in 2009, available just by plugging \u201ccommissioner uniform inspection\u201d into your preferred search engine.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a part of the \u201cwhy\u201d\u2026 Scouts are always encouraged to look sharp and snappy. When correctly uniformed, right down to their belts, socks, and neckerchief slides (instead of knots, rubber bands, and so forth), you get a unit of boys or girls who feel good about themselves, feel like they belong to something special, and encourage their fellow Scouts to do the same.<\/p>\n

The Commissioner isn’t there to find as many ways to “gig” a Scout as possible; the Commissioner’s role is to praise and compliment wherever possible. So whoever puts such uniform inspections in the “fuddy-duddy” category probably needs to be put in the category of clueless.<\/p>\n

As far as this being thought of as a “duty” (which carries a sort of onerous connotation), maybe thinking of it as an opportunity to promote teamwork and high standards, and to promote one of the eight methods of Scouting might help.
\n==========
\nDear Andy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At our most recent pack leaders meeting, we discussed plans for summer resident camp, which our pack will be attending for a full week. When I brought up the new 72-hour rule about parents coming to camp, and how they\u2019d need to either register as members of the BSA or spend less than 72 hours at camp. I got a lot of push-back on this point. Several asked, “What 72-hour rule?” so I showed them a copy of the page in the GUIDE TO SAFE SCOUTING that I\u2019d made and brought with me. But then I got, like, \u201cWho\u2019s gonna check?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I could let this go, but I think short-cutting any barrier to abuse is a slippery slope at best. I\u2019m pretty sure that, as a registered leader, I have a duty to report a violation if I am aware of or see one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How can I get our pack leaders and parents on-board with this without alienating everyone? (Name & Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems to me that the fundamental\u2014and critical\u2014issue here is this: “Okay, we know the BSA rule; now we’re going to break that rule on the basis of ‘who’s gonna know’.” Is this the kind of thinking you all really want from people who are supposed to be modeling ethical thinking and behavior for youth?<\/p>\n

And, for goodness sakes, why do you even care about “alienating” anyone who’s not willing to follow the BSA\u2019s rules on safety and youth protection? (“Conscience” is what we do when no one’s looking.)
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking for wording for our son’s Eagle court of Honor to recognize his additional badges and earning 3 palms. (Linda Carr)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Congratulations to your son!<\/p>\n

Before we talk about wording, let’s be sure we’re on the same page about palms. When you say your son earned “three palms,” do you mean he earned 15 merit badges beyond the 21 for Eagle? If this is what you mean, then he\u2019s earned the Silver Palm.<\/p>\n

Here’s how palms work… Earn 21+5 merit badges=Bronze Palm. Earn 21+10 merit badges=Gold Palm BUT the Bronze is removed\u2014it’s REPLACED by the Gold Palm. Then, earn 21+15 merit badges=Silver Palm, which REPLACES the Gold Palm.<\/p>\n

This is the same way Scout RANKS are earned… When your son earned Tenderfoot, his Scout badge came off; when he earned Second Class, the Tenderfoot badge came off, all the way to Eagle when the Life badge came off his uniform.<\/p>\n

The only time more than a single palm is worn is when a Scout earns 21+20 merit badges and beyond. At the point, the “cycle” repeats itself: 21+20=1 Silver Palm (15 MB) plus 1 Bronze Palm (5 more), 21+25=1 Silver Palm plus 1 Gold Palm (the Bronze comes off the medal as the Gold goes on), and you can see the pattern here…<\/p>\n

So, if I’ve guessed correctly, all that needs be said at your son’s court of honor is that he’s earned the rank of Eagle-with-Silver Palm.<\/p>\n

(BTW, he can continue to earn merit badges\u2014and Palms\u2014right up to the day before his 18th birthday!)
\n==========
\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last night we had an Eagle board of review, and the district advancement chair made comments to the other board members about how thin the final report was, how the Statement of Life Purpose was too sparse, and how the project only took two days to get done. He also commented that we, the troop\u2019s adult leaders, should be going over these things to make sure that the final report is nice and fat, the Statement of Life Purpose is essentially an essay, and that projects should take more time, or involve more people and hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s always been my understanding that the Scout’s work is the Scout’s work; it\u2019s not the work of the adults making the Scout’s product into an image to fit some biases of the advancement committee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consequently, I let the Scout do the work and he and I went over his Eagle packet to make sure it\u2019s complete before being submitted, but I always felt that the Scout does the service project final report in his own words, without constantly being given feedback to keep making it perfect. And I treat his Statement of Life Purpose the same way\u2014it\u2019s the Scout’s; it\u2019s not the vision of some adult.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read the GUIDE TO ADVANCEMENT and the preface in the EAGLE SCOUT SERVICE PROJECT WORKBOOK. They both specifically state that there is no minimum amount of hours that must be met, or that the volunteers must be Scouts or Scouters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have always managed our troop as Scout led, which means to me that the Senior Patrol Leader is the true leader of the troop, and that my assistants and I guide by asking questions to keep them on track, ensure that no one gets hurt, and there\u2019s no property damage\u2014but THE SCOUTS RUN THEIR TROOP, and this carries over to Eagle projects and final report, courts of honor, and so on. The Scouts do the work and, if they do make a mistake, it\u2019s a learning experience for them. From everything I\u2019ve read, this is the correct way to do it. But in our council and district there seems to be bias toward the adults being the ones who should be doing all these things. Am I wrong here? I\u2019d appreciate some feedback. (Josef Rosenfeld, SM, Westchester-Putnam Council, NY)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s unfortunate when an advancement representative from one’s council or\u2014in this case, district\u2014gets something wrong. But it’s completely appalling when that representative gets everything wrong.<\/p>\n

– There’s no BSA stipulation on how “thick” or “fat” an Eagle Scout Service Project Report must be.<\/p>\n

– There’s no BSA stipulation on any sort of “minimum” hours or days that service project should take; in fact and as you saw, the project workbook specifically states that there’s no minimum time required.<\/p>\n

– There’s no BSA stipulation for the format, length, or style of the “statement of life purpose.” So long has addressed the information requested, it should be considered completed, even though this is not a “requirement” per se.<\/p>\n

So I hope you know that you should continue doing exactly what you’re doing, and do so with pride for getting so much exactly right!<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, your troop’s adult volunteers have the absolute right to insist that this particular advancement representative not ever visit your troop’s Eagle boards of review again. (This would be much more polite than carrying this jerk out the door and dumping him in the drink. Shame on him for being that clueless!)<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 594 \u2013 4\/2\/2019 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2019]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ Hi Andy, I just attended a College of Commissioner Science. At several junctures, other Commissioners mentioned uniform inspections as being \u201cold-school\u201d and for fuddy-duddies. I\u2019ve poked around on BSA and affiliated websites, and found plenty of PDF versions of the BSA\u2019s Uniform Inspection Form as well as some PowerPoints of indeterminate vintage, but I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2440,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435\/revisions\/2440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}