Author: Bryan

The Ask the Expert floodgates are wide open.

I’m now getting roughly 50 emails a week with Ask the Expert questions, a sign that Scouters out there care enough to seek out the right answer to their burning BSA queries. (By the way, ask your question by emailing scoutingmag@gmail.com, subject “Ask the Expert.”)

For the third round of rapid-fire FAQs, I’ve picked out nine popular questions and tracked down the right answers.

We’ll cover parents who make light of a Scout earning lots of merit badges, a troop that won’t count the same leadership position twice, a discussion of who should pin on an Eagle medal, unofficial belts, jamboree entertainment, and more.

Let’s go … 

(1) No such thing as too many

Question from Tracy: “How did you answer those parents and Scouters who make light of the fact a Scout has earned a lot of merit badges? They refer to it as his collection and imply he hasn’t really earned them all.”

Answer from Bryan: Sounds like those parents need to mind their own business. It’s one thing if they have reason to believe the Scout isn’t properly completing all merit badge requirements. In that case, they should privately meet with the Scoutmaster or his merit badge counselor. Otherwise, I see nothing wrong with Scouts earning large numbers of merit badges. The program is designed to match the wide-ranging interests of teenage boys. Why fault a boy who wants to expand his horizons beyond the minimum number of MBs required for Eagle?

(2) What’s Cooking?

Question from Denise: “My son is a 14-year-old Scout, and he earned the Cooking merit badge his first year. Assuming it takes him another three to four years to earn Eagle, will the Cooking badge count as an Eagle badge or a regular badge? If cooking is now an Eagle badge are they upping the number of badges he needs to earn?”

Answer from Bryan: Cooking merit badge becomes Eagle-required on Jan. 1, 2014. As I mentioned in my Cooking MB FAQs post, any Scout who earns Eagle after Jan. 1 needs Cooking merit badge. But Denise’s son has already earned it, so he’s good. No boy needs to re-earn Cooking MB. As to the second part of Denise’s question, the total number of merit badges required for Eagle will remain unchanged at 21. The only change is in the split between Eagle-required and elective. As of Jan. 1, 2014, a boy will need 13 Eagle-required and eight elective instead of 12 and nine.

(3) Been there, done that

Question from John: “Our troop will not count toward advancement serving in the same leadership position twice. Is this a BSA policy or just our troop policy? We can see both the pros and cons to this and thought we would ask for other points of view.”

Answer from Chris Hunt, BSA Advancement Team: “The requirement simply says to serve in one or more positions of responsibility. It does not say serve in position of responsibility that you have not already served in. A troop may organize its operation such that Scouts end up serving in different positions so they get a variety of experiences, and that would be a good thing. But including a parameter that a Scout must serve in a different position in order to advance represents adding to the existing requirements and is not permitted.”

(4) Who’s on stage?

Question from Terri: “I cannot find anything about entertainment at the Jamboree. I have a Boy Scout and a Venturer attending. Can you give us any information on this?”

Answer from Bryan: I’ve been told there are no plans to announce the musical acts in advance. But as someone who’s seen the lineup, I can say your Scout and Venturer won’t be disappointed by the entertainment at either stadium show.

(5) Pin it on him

Question from Alan: “Does BSA have a specific requirement or recommendation for who is to pin the Eagle Scout Medal on to the new Eagle Scout?”

Answer from Chris Hunt, BSA Advancement Team: “The National Advancement Team has established no guidelines on who should present Eagle medals, but we would offer as a ‘best practice’ that it should be someone who will leave a lasting memory for the Scout. The emphasis on the Scout is intentional. My grandfather—a distinguished Scouter in his own right—presented my medal, and I’ll never forget the experience. To others, the Scoutmaster who changed a Scout’s life or the den leader who shined a light onto the possibility of a bright future would be the right presenter. Another approach might be to consider a Scout’s life ambitions. The local mayor might be the right presenter for a Scout interested in community leadership or political science, or the inspirational teacher for the Scout who is considering becoming an educator. Think about the presenters who will add value to the Scout’s experience, as we continue to work with him toward the aims to develop citizenship, character, and personal fitness.”

(6) In the loop

Question from Chad: “I stumbled across your site while I was looking for a simple ‘guide’ to currently available square knots that can be worn on the Scouting uniform. Is there a simple guide which shows what knots can be worn/earned/given to a youth Scout, and what can currently be worn/earned by an adult?“

Answer from Bryan: A youth may wear the silver-on-purple religious emblem knot, the Heroism Award, Honor Medal, Medal of Merit, the James E. West knot, Venturing Leadership Award, Venturing Silver Award, William T. Hornaday Award, Sea Scout Quartermaster Award, and OA Distinguished Service Award. Once he becomes an adult, he may wear the Arrow of Light knot and Eagle Scout or Eagle Scout NESA Life Membership knot. (Thanks to all who pointed out the error in this original answer!) For more info, check out my guide to square knots, including an explanation of how to earn adult knots and sew them on right-side-up.

(7) Belt it out

Question from Patt: “I’ve been stationed overseas in a couple of different countries and have participated in international Scouting events. One item in particular I like to wear is a leather belt designed to look like the World Scout Movement Knot. Is it wrong to wear this unofficial belt with my official uniform?”

Answer from Bill Evans, BSA Program Impact Department: “The only program where we offer the option of wearing any belt of choice is the Venturing program.  Cub Scouts are very specific on which belt to wear, while the direction for wearing the green and khaki Boy Scout uniform only offers two options: official uniform belt or a leather camp, high-adventure base, or Wood Badge belt.”

Reference: Page 14 of the Guide to Awards and Insignia (PDF).

(8) PROJECT? What project?

Question from John: “Advancement requires serving in a position of responsibility or a leadership project. (‘While a First Class Scout, serve actively in your unit for four months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility, or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the unit.’) What are some examples of these types of projects?“

Answer from Chris Hunt, BSA Advancement Team: “We don’t normally provide examples for this sort of thing because we don’t want to establish a ‘standard.’ It’s better if both youth leaders and adult leaders brainstorm prospective projects that will help the individual unit. That said, it’s hard to resist coming up with an example. But remember, it’s just an example from one Scouter to another that maybe could generate that brainstorming. If I were a Scoutmaster I would probably have a mental list of things I would like to see improved. Maybe there are behavioral issues, for example, that might be resolved if Scouts who are not involved in troop leadership were to give input and take ownership of the solutions. A leadership project might then be to assemble a Scout focus group and give leadership to the creation of a troop code of conduct that all the Scouts could accept. Such a code would have to be drafted and edited, perhaps reviewed by all the Scouts in the troop for input, and be reviewed by the PLC for further adjustments. The Scout could then present the code to the troop committee for its review, and finally have it printed and signed by all the Scouts.

(9) One task, two requirements?

Question from Dave: “Can a single task satisfy the requirements of two (or more) separate merit badges? For example, Scouts in my troop are going to visit a courthouse and view live court to satisfy a requirement for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge.  Can they use that same visit to satisfy a requirement for the Law merit badge? My instinct is no, Scouts need to complete each merit badge independently, but I thought I would Ask the Expert.”

Answer from Chris Hunt, BSA Advancement Team: “We address this in the revised Guide to Advancement, which should be released within the next 30 days. It will be posted on scouting.org first as a PDF and then printed and distributed to Scout Shops. The book is in final editing and the actual wording may get some minor adjustments. If folks follow us on Twitter they will be the first to know about the release of GTA 2013.”

4.2.3.6 Fulfilling More Than One Requirement With a Single Activity

From time to time it may be appropriate for a Scout to
apply what was done to meet one requirement toward
the completion of another. In deciding whether to allow
this, unit leaders or merit badge counselors should
consider the following.

When, for all practical purposes, two requirements match
up exactly and have the same basic intent—for example,
camping nights for Second Class and First Class ranks
and for the Camping merit badge—it is appropriate
and permissible, unless it is stated otherwise in the
requirements, to use those matching activities for both
the ranks and the merit badge.

Where matching requirements are oriented toward
safety, such as those related to first aid or CPR,
the person signing off the requirements should be
satisfied the Scout remembers what he learned from
the previous experience.

Some requirements may have the appearance of
aligning, but upon further examination actually differ.
These seemingly similar requirements usually have
nuances intended to create quite different experiences.
The Communication and Citizenship in the Community
merit badges are a good example. Each requires the
Scout to attend a public meeting, but that is where the
similarity ends. For Communication, the Scout is asked to
practice active listening skills during the meeting and
present an objective report that includes all points of
view. For Citizenship, he is asked to examine differences
in opinions and then to defend one side. The Scout may
attend the same public meeting, but to pass the
requirements for both merit badges he must actively listen
and prepare a report, and also examine differences in
opinion and defend one side.

When contemplating whether to double-count service hours
or a service project, and apply the same work to pass a
second advancement requirement, each Scout should ask
himself: “Do I want to get double credit for helping others
this one time, or do I want to undertake a second effort and
make a greater difference in the lives of even more
people?” To reach his decision, each Scout should follow
familiar guideposts found in some of those words and
phrases we live by, such as “helpful,” “kind,” “Do a Good
Turn Daily,” and “help other people at all times.”

As Scout leaders and advancement administrators, we
must ask ourselves an even more pointed question: “Is it
my goal to produce Scouts who check a task off a list or
Scouts who will become the leaders in our communities?”
To answer our own question, we should consult the same
criteria that guide Scouts.

Thanks to all the Scouters who sent in questions and to BSA experts Bill Evans and Chris Hunt.

Be ahead of the game

Scouters who follow the BSA Advancement Team on Twitter (@advbsa) are usually the first to know about advancement changes.

See if your question has already been answered

Before submitting your question, browse through previous Ask the Expert posts.

Ask your question

I can’t track down all the answers, but send your Ask the Expert questions to me and I’ll do my best.

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Photo from Flickr:  Some rights reserved by ed_needs_a_bicycle

Update, June 3: As several people have pointed out, these aren’t just for troops. Teams, crews, ships, and posts can find great use out of them.

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In Scouting, one size doesn’t fit all.

So suggesting a month-by-month troop planning calendar on a national level, as in the past, just doesn’t work.

For example, take the Fishing program feature. A troop in Texas could make that work in March, but a troop in Wisconsin would find that timing a little less, well, comfortable.

Enter the next generation of troop program plans, sure to make your life easier. I have a preview of two from the upcoming generation that I’ve been authorized to share with you.

There will be 48 in all, delivered in three volumes of 16 each over the course of 2013 and early 2014.

But the best part is that the new program helps are flexible, and troops can customize their own year from the 48 months of activity ideas. Selection is key as youth leaders plan the upcoming year.

There’s also customization within the program features themselves. You don’t expect every skier to go down the same run, so why expect a 13-year-old First Class Scout to complete the same troop programming as a 17-year-old Eagle Scout?

That’s why meeting plans, like ski runs, come in three flavors: green, blue, and black. Skills marked with green circles are essential, those with blue squares are challenging, and the ones with black diamonds are the most advanced.

Another change is the way the program features are divided by volume. Nobody creates a troop calendar alphabetically, but past program features volumes were organized that way. This time they’re mixed up, deliberately combining outdoors, careers, and hobbies to make each volume more diverse.

Vol. 1 comes out this fall, Vol. 2 is out by the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014, and Vol. 3 is released in first or second quarter 2014. The hope is that each of the 48 program plans will be made available individually and digitally so units can purchase and download only those they want to use. Stay tuned for more details about distribution once I learn more.

Curious what one of these program features will look like? Well, gone are the black-and-white pages with illustrations that were charming but not always informative. The new versions are broken into chunks with information that’s clearly presented and easy to use right away.

It’s perfect for the Scouter who doesn’t have time to sift through pages and pages of information and just wants a clear, proven, effective plan for meetings and activities.

Take a look at the First Aid program feature, and the Science program feature (links open PDFs in a new window) to see what I mean.

And big thanks to Scouting pros Don Shepard and Diane Leicht for this exciting preview.

What are the program areas?

Here’s the tentative list of 48 subject areas:

1. Camping
2. Backpacking
3. Pioneering
4. Hiking
5. Cooking
6. Winter Camping
7. Outdoor Ethics
8. Nature and Environment
9. Wildlife Management
10. Rifle
11. Archery
12. Shotgun
13. Climbing/Rappelling
14. Fishing
15. Cave Exploring
16. Swimming
17. Wilderness Survival
18. Canoeing
19. Kayaking
20. Scuba
21. COPE
22. Geocaching
23. Orienteering
24. Bowling
25. Cycling
26. Fitness/Nutrition
27. Basketball
28. Skiing/Snowboarding
29. Soccer
30. Emergency Preparedness
31. First Aid
32. Special Needs Awareness
33. Citizenship
34. Safety
35. Mentoring
36. Financial Management
37. Communications
38. Project Planning
39. Engineering
40. Science
41. Technology
42. Mathematics
43. Games
44. Music
45. Drama
46. Spectator Sports
47. Living History
48. Ethics

What do you think?

How do you like the new designs? Do you use the existing program features? How will you use these new plans? Leave some thoughts below.

After an extensive discussion within the organization, the Boy Scouts of America’s approximately 1,400 volunteer voting members chose to adopt the membership policy resolution and remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone.

The final vote breakdown was 61.44 percent for the proposal, and 38.56 percent against. The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2014.

Voting results were tabulated and certified by TrueBallot, an independent, third-party voting firm.

Read more at this site, or find the full text of the BSA’s official media statement below:

For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, with a focus on working together to deliver the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.

Based on growing input from within the Scouting family, the BSA leadership chose to conduct an additional review of the organization’s long-standing membership policy and its impact on Scouting’s mission. This review created an outpouring of feedback from the Scouting family and the American public, from both those who agree with the current policy and those who support a change.

Today, following this review, the most comprehensive listening exercise in Scouting’s history the approximate 1,400 voting members of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Council approved a resolution to remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone. The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting. A change to the current membership policy for adult leaders was not under consideration; thus, the policy for adults remains in place. The BSA thanks all the national voting members who participated in this process and vote.

This policy change is effective Jan. 1, 2014, allowing the Boy Scouts of America the transition time needed to communicate and implement this policy to its approximately 116,000 Scouting units.

The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive, and unresolved societal issue. As the National Executive Committee just completed a lengthy review process, there are no plans for further review on this matter.

While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting. Going forward, our Scouting family will continue to focus on reaching and serving youth in order to help them grow into good, strong citizens. America’s youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve.

You’ve never seen a jamboree like this.

Each time the BSA hosts its signature event, the result is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the Scouts and Scouters who attend. But 2013′s edition promises to bring the jamboree experience to a new level.

How? Well, just like in real estate, it starts with location. The big event will be the first jamboree at the new Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia.

But there’s more to the BSA’s 18th national Scout jamboree than just the new digs.

The Jamboree Division has made some wholesale changes to the way the event is organized. Such as…

• A smaller footprint: Jamboree campsites will take up about 1,000 acres instead of the 5,000 used at Fort A.P. Hill for previous jamborees. That means the farthest campsite is just 1.5 miles from the arena stage. Result: Less time spent walking, and more time spent having fun.
• An all-Venturers subcamp: You know Venturers can now attend the jamboree, right? Well, in 2013 they’ll get a subcamp all to themselves to meet peers who share their enthusiasm for high adventure.
• No vehicles: You won’t hear, “Look out, here comes a car!” at the Summit. Personal vehicles aren’t allowed within the jamboree footprint.
• More technology: Part of the “BSA magic” will be the integration of technology. More details on this as 2013 nears.
• A focus on service: Each Scout and Scouter will participate in a Day of Giving Back, in which they complete a service project for the area.
• Less gear: The jamboree will provide tents, cooking equipment, and all other troop gear. Result: No more filling up an 18-wheeler and sending it on a cross-country trip.
• More fun for visitors: Can’t make it for the entire 10 days? For a small fee, visitors can enjoy an all-new experience tailored just for them, including “jamboree lite,” which offers a sampling of jamboree activities for families.

Check out the full list of what’s new for even more information. 

The Summit’s main jamboree Web site has a ton of other details for 2013, too, including fees, participant qualifications, and more.

And you can’t miss the new, excellent promotional video, seen below.

For many Scouting units, this Sunday is Scout Sunday, a chance for faith-based chartered organizations to celebrate and recognize the Scouting organization.

I think I read somewhere that there’s a football game on Sunday, too, but that doesn’t stop Scout units across the country from taking time to remember that a Scout is Reverent.

By official BSA designation, Scout Sunday is always the Sunday that falls before Feb. 8, the BSA’s birthday. But chartered organizations can choose any Sunday to celebrate Scouting.

The BSA has collected several resources for your unit’s Scout Sunday observance. Find all of them here.

But this is Scouting, so there’s another great resource: other Scouters. Here’s what some of you have planned for Scout Sunday:

• Davi S. says: “Three of our Boys are receiving their Religious Medals and attending Mass together on Sunday.”
• Jane H. says: “We have a pack and troop chartered through the same church and we will be having flag ceremonies at two services. We will also be there to be ushers and be greeters. It is a first for us!”
• Phil M. says: “At Cornerstone UMC in Portsmouth, Ohio, we have Scouts participate with the service, there is a slide show of recent activities and members of Pack and Troop 12 attend service in uniform; we also have a pancake breakfast (Feb. 13 this year).”
• Rick W. says: “Our troop and pack serves breakfast to the congregation before Sunday School. Then we attend church services in uniform and do the parts of the service as asked by the minister”
• Allen O. says: “Adat Shalom Synagogue, charter partner of Troop 364, along with Pack 613, chartered by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and Crew 18, chartered by Jewish War Veterans, will host a Scout Shabbat service which will bring together Jewish Scouts from dozens of area units for a Friday evening of reverence, prayer, and camaraderie.”

These responses came from the Scouting magazine Facebook page. Head over there to see even more feedback about Scout Sunday!