________________________________________<\/p>\n
Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n I saw that stuff last week about that district that was insisting on holding their own boards of review for Star and Life ranks. Boy, they must have a whole lot of volunteers sitting around twiddling their thumbs for them to have enough time for such a non-essential (and completely \u201cillegal\u201d) job! Maybe they can send a few our way\u2014we\u2019ll make sure they have meaningful jobs that are actually BSA-approved!<\/strong><\/p>\n Seriously though, since no district really has any say in a troop\u2019s board of review, I\u2019m thinking that the troops in that district should just do their own reviews and then just turn in their advancement reports to their council\u2019s service center, regardless of what their district says. After all, the district can\u2019t deny any Scout a rank or even bring it up at a Scout\u2019s Eagle board of review (if they really wanted to be that petty)\u2014all a Scout needs to do is pull out his or her handbook with the signatures for all the boards of review completed! And let\u2019s remember that BSA requirements say nothing\u2014absolutely nothing\u2014about district reviews for ranks like these. The coolest part of this nonsense is that troops don\u2019t even need to involve the district at all! (Joe Sefcik, SM, Connecticut Rivers Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n Bingo! And thanks for taking the time to write. Our daughter wants to join a Scouts BSA troop. But her father and I have a question we\u2019re not getting an answer to. Our daughter has significant food allergies, especially to gluten. We\u2019ve asked the troop leaders how they\u2019re going to handle this to keep our daughter safe, but they keep telling us it\u2019s not their responsibility. We feel that if they\u2019re going to take our daughter camping away from medical facilities, they should be sensitive to her dietary restrictions and medical needs. But their resistance to our concerns is getting to be a \u201cdeal-breaker\u201d because we don\u2019t want them to endanger our daughter. Is there any authority that will tell them they have to take some responsibility here? Thank you. (Concerned Parents)<\/strong><\/p>\n I do understand your concerns about what your soon-to-be-Scout daughter is going to be eating while on patrol and troop hikes and campouts. (I remember when one of my own sons was highly allergic to bee stings and how that problem was managed.)<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the thing for you, as her parents, to remember: The adult volunteers for your daughter\u2019s troop are just that\u2014they\u2019re volunteers. They\u2019re not professional dieticians or medical providers. They\u2019re regular folks just like you. Consequently, it\u2019ll be up to you, as her highly knowledgeable parents, to make sure she brings the foods she needs with her on every outing. Yes, she can still share mealtimes with her patrol, as she should; she\u2019ll just be eating foods that will give her no problems. And when it\u2019s her turn to do the cooking for her patrol, she\u2019ll need to be sure not to do any \u201ctest-tasting\u201d of what she\u2019s preparing. This is all part of the learning experience of taking care of herself as well as others, and in no way should prevent her from having a wonderful time in Scouting! Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m a brand new Cubmaster and I need some guidance. Our new year has started off with unexpected growth. We have three nicely sized dens plus three more dens that, in my opinion, are way too big should each be broken into two dens, for a grand total of nine sanely sized dens instead of what we have right now. It\u2019s still early in the Scouting year, so the Cubs in the dens haven’t had gobs of time to really bond, so there should be some flexibility for changing. But I\u2019m anticipating some blow-back along the lines of Why are you forcing us to split into two? The Den Leader says she can handle all the Cubs so why don’t you just let her do what she wants to do? Why can’t we stay the size we are and just refuse to take any more members? Can we stay this big if we have Den Co-Leaders? And so on\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n How do we handle questions like these and the \u201clogistics\u201d that go with them? Which brings up the question of what size a den is supposed to be.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to be taking training, but that course is weeks away and I need to resolve this now rather than later. Can you help? (Paul, CM)<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, I can help, and I believe have the \u201ccreds\u201d to give you some serious answers here. I\u2019ve been a pack committee chair, a Cubmaster, a Den Leader, and a Webelos Den Leader, and I\u2019ve also served as commissioner for three highly successful packs.<\/p>\n Let’s get one easy one out of the way: There’s no such thing as a “co-leader” anywhere in Scouting. There’s a Den Leader and an Assistant Den Leader, period. To borrow from aviation, the “copilot” is the ASSISTANT pilot (now called First Officer)\u2014aircraft have only ONE PILOT. Same thing with ships: ONE CAPTAIN. Same thing with Cub Scout packs: ONE CUBMASTER and ONE COMMITTEE CHAIR. And for dens: ONE DEN LEADER.<\/p>\n As for den size, the BSA informs us that dens of eight are the ideal maximum. In my own personal experiences, eight is fine but dens of six are even better! That\u2019s because six allows for some growth, like when a friend or two of the current Cubs want to join up along the way, and you wind up with eight in the den. Six is a near-perfect number for outings (three “buddy-pairs”), and for handling advancement activities in den meetings.<\/p>\n I have to tell you that, unfortunately, I’ve had lots of experience with Den Leaders who get off on having “super-dens” of ten, twelve, and even more\u2014and they all invariably fail. First, when one or two don’t show up the Den Leader is actually thankful, so attendance starts dropping off. Second, a group of a dozen or more boys will automatically divide themselves into at least two smaller groups anyway. What typically happens is that a beginning den of a dozen (or thereabouts) Wolf Cubs dwindles over the next several years (boys can’t get the personal attention they need and any “troubled” or “shy” ones drop out or get lost in the shuffle anyway), and that den is lucky if it graduates the three or four who\u2019ve actually stuck it out to the point of joining a Scout troop.<\/p>\n The key is to “force” no one! Simply ask the Cubs themselves to form groups of between 5 and 7, by age\/grade, with no one left out. They can do this pretty much by themselves, with a bit of oversight (mostly to keep parents from getting in the way), and sometimes guiding\u2014but with a feather, not a baseball bat!<\/p>\n As for “closing” dens to new members, that’s just not part of the objectives of Scouting. We’re here to be INclusive, not EXclusive. That’s why a den of six is a very nice number…and even five can work well! At five or six, the “bonding” is a thing of beauty! Double that number and instead of bonding it becomes an exercise in greased pig wrangling.<\/p>\n You, as Cubmaster, and your committee chair, need to be united on this: You’ll need the Buddy System yourselves to deal with the renegades that want to form “mini-packs” inside the pack itself! Support one another, don’t cave in, and never make exceptions! But do this all with smiles\u2014all the time! Several of us, who are involved in Scoutmaster-specific training, have become aware of some sort of process that a Scoutmaster needs to go through, that involves paperwork to be submitted for a special needs Scout so that the age limit of 18 can be set aside because of a mental or physical challenge. Can you direct me to a website where this is described, showing copies of the paperwork or forms that must be followed? (H.L. Johnson)<\/strong><\/p>\n An excellent resource on this subject is in Topic 10\u2014”Advancement for Members With Special Needs\u201d\u2014in BSA\u2019s GUIDE TO ADVANCEMENT. Within this, Topic 10.2.2.4\u2014\u201cApproval for Special Needs Eagle Candidates Over Age 18\u201d\u2014is likely exactly what you\u2019re looking for. Also, the Appendix section 11.4.0.0 shows the precise information needed for this, and the complete form is available for downloading at scouting.org\/advancement.<\/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><\/em><\/p>\n 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: \u201cAsk Andy\u201d by Andy McCommish.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n [No. 629 \u2013 2\/18\/2020 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2020]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ________________________________________ Hi Andy, I saw that stuff last week about that district that was insisting on holding their own boards of review for Star and Life ranks. Boy, they must have a whole lot of volunteers sitting around twiddling their thumbs for them to have enough time for such a non-essential (and completely \u201cillegal\u201d) job! 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\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n(Note to Readers: I originally received this letter in mid-September)<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n