Scoutmaster Conference on ScoutmasterCG Archive

A Question of Scout Spirit

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

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.

'Forming' a Better Strategy

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

So if worksheets and forms are a lesser ‘form’ of Scouting what are the alternatives?

Short answer: conversations, dialogues, counseling, mentoring, listening and a selective memory.

Longer answer follows. Note that I may not be perfectly correct in my invocations of classical history or methods of communication but I have attempted to lay out some broad concepts as I understand them.

I may use one or all of these methods in the course of a Scoutmaster conference.

The Better Part of Valor

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

is discretion.

Bravery (valor) is important but it may be that it is more important to avoid some situations rather than brave them. If, for some unlikely reason, I should find myself in the middle of the road I will not panic but bravely manage the situation as best I can.

I will not, however, step into the middle of the road simply to prove my bravado. Our Council Camporee was planned for last weekend.

Scoutmaster Conference

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Scoutmaster conference is the principle contact with between Scout and Scoutmaster: Why does the Scoutmaster engage in this one-on-one review? The relationship between a Scout and his Scoutmaster is important for the troop’s health and for the Scout’s success. The Scoutmaster must watch the troop’s dynamics to see who is showing leadership, who is holding back, who is shy, who is working with the younger boys, who is skilled in outdoor activities, etc. Further, the Scoutmaster must watch the individual Scout to determine whether he is advancing, whether he is having fun, and whether he seems eager or uneasy.

Eagle Scoutmaster Conference

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Google the title of this post and you’ll find some pretty elaborate plans and opinions for the Eagle Scoutmaster conference. Some of them leave me thinking I should don a wizard’s robes and start boiling up some eye of newt because I am about to do something magical and mysterious.

There’s nothing magical or mysterious about it – it’s another (if more momentous) Scoutmaster conference. The Scout I will speak to tonight has completed all his requirements and is four days away from his eighteenth birthday. He called a moment ago to tell me he’s ready. It’s early July and we have pretty informal meetings at the local park (informal meaning that we get together and play ultimate Frisbee for an hour and a half). He and I will sit at a picnic table, neither of us will be in uniform and I’ll sign things while we chat. No magic robes, or top hats or brass bands – just talking to one of my Scouts.

Evaluating Leadership Tenure Towards Advancement

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The word ‘actively’ can be a pinhead on which many angels dance. In my experience Scoutmasters often read this word and start instituting metrics to evaluate the term. But the official interpretation of “active” is much simpler than that: A Scout is considered to be active in his unit if: He is registered in his unit (registration fees are current). He has not been dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons. He is engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Scoutmaster conference, informs the Scout of upcoming unit activities, through personal contact, and so on). This is not an interpretation, this is official BSA policy of what active means towards membership and, by extension, leadership. So not only are metrics a bad idea but they are prohibited by policy. Does this mean that a Scout can be elected to a leadership position, do little else than wear a patch, not show up to any meetings or outings and still fulfill the leadership requirement? In a word yes.

What is Scout Spirit?

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

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). I’ve never felt that this takes extensive examination.

Four Steps to Scout Advancement - A Scout is Reveiwed

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Fourth in a series of articles about the four steps to Scout Advancement.

Articles will be published each Tuesday beginning November 20, 2012 After a Scout has completed all of the requirements for any rank he is reviewed twice; once in a Scoutmaster conference and once at a Board of review. The Scoutmaster Conference Note that a Scout must participate or take part in a conference; it is not a “test.”

Preaching the Scoutmaster Minute

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Walter Underwood I’m a preacher’s kid, so I’ve sat through a lot of sermons, pretty much all of them longer than a minute. When it became my turn to talk at the close of the troop meeting, I tried to use some of what I’d learned in all that time. My dad was a really good preacher, but he got even better after a short post-graduate course with Dr. Reuel Howe at the Institute for Advanced Pastoral Studies. As my dad explained it, he learned a simple approach to an effective sermon.

A 'Form' of Tyranny

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s an exchange from Ask Andy: 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. What a load o’ horsepucky. This is anathema to the purpose of a Scoutmaster’s conference and should be burned; the author should be taken out and shot.