Purchasing information: BSA Norman Rockwell’s Boy Scouts of America

From the publisher

Since the beginning of the Scouting movement in America 100 years ago, events have been recorded in paintings and drawings by an official artist. Remarkably, there have been just two official artists in all that time: Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. Through brushstrokes of oil paint on canvas, the artists chronicle the history of Scouting in America – from campouts, hikes, and pinewood derby races to the Scouts public service initiatives throughout their long history. Their artwork celebrates the boyhood joys of Scouting whilst illustrating a code of honor and ideals that has shaped generations of young men.

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Purchasing information: Scouting For Boys

From the publisher:

2010 Facsimile of 1908 Edition. Robert Baden-Powell was born in 1857 and served in the British Army in India, Afghanistan and, later, West and South Africa. In Scouting for Boys he mixed his love for the outdoors, and delight in play-acting, together with the games ethics of the Victorian public school, and processed these into a newly minted tradition, that is, scouting, which became Britain’s most successful recreational export of the twentieth century. This book is the foundation document for scouting. Profusely illustrated.

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For the Dad who is proud to be involved in Scouting. Show that you support your child’s involvement in the Scout program with this Scouter Dad coffee mug, travel mug, or stein. You can even customize it with a personal message.

This is a classic white coffee cup. It is printed in a brown textured font. Includes a fleur de lis.  Options with color on the handles or interior are also available, as are travel mugs and steins.

Scouter Dad Coffee Mug by ScouterMom
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For the Dad who is proud to be involved in Scouting. Show that you support your child’s involvement in the Scout program with this Scouter Dad T-Shirt.

This is an adult sized t-shirt with white printing in a  bold font. Features a semi-transparent fleur de lis. It is available in black, brown, gray, green, red, maroon, and blue.

Scouter Dad T Dark T-Shirt by ScouterMom
Check out more Scout T-Shirts at Zazzle

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For the Dad who is proud to be involved in Scouting. Show that you support your child’s involvement in the Scout program with this Scouter Dad T-Shirt.

This is an adult sized t-shirt with black printing in a  distressed font. Features a semi-transparent fleur de lis. It is available in black, maroon, dark grey, forest green, navy blue, and more.

Scouter Dad T-Shirt by ScouterMom
Browse Scouter T-Shirts online at Zazzle.com

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Purchasing information: Developing Teen Leadership: A Practical Guide for Youth Group Advisors, Teachers and Parents

From the publisher:

Not long ago, all it took to have a comfortable career was to do well in high school, get a college degree, and find a nice stable job. But the world is changing rapidly, and many of the nice stable jobs have moved to developing countries. Even a college degree is not the sure investment it once was. Good grades are not enough. But there remain endless opportunities for those with real leadership skills – regardless of career choice. Leadership skills are what you need to manage a team, to stand out as an employee, to start a business and to nail that interview.The skills required to inspire and motivate others, to communicate effectively, to take initiative, and to make and execute plans, are as important as a high grade point average (if not more so).

But how do you teach these skills to teenagers? Parents, teachers, coaches, scoutmasters, youth counselors and advisors strive to do so every day – but often have limited training on how best to accomplish that goal. This book fills that gap. This is not an academic or theoretical book on youth leadership. It is a relentlessly practical guide on how to effectively guide teens to become leaders. It covers virtually every topic, issue and skill you need to know – and how to teach it. You’ll even learn how to teach teen leaders to teach leadership skills to each other, thus helping them become even stronger leaders.

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Purchasing information: The Eagle Court of Honor Book

From the publisher:

The Eagle Court of Honor Book is the complete guide to Scouting’s greatest moment. It covers every aspect of staging an Eagle Scout court of honor: from physical arrangements to promotion to the ceremony itself. Included are three complete ceremonies, nine planning checklists, 15 pages of charges, poems, and quotations, inexpensive props you can make, and support job descriptions. A must for any Boy Scout leader’s library.

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Purchasing information: The Scoutmaster’s Other Handbook

From the publisher:

With his first book Mark Ray revolutionized the Eagle Scout court of honor, showing tens of thousands of readers how to make Scouting’s greatest moment truly great. Now, he turns his attention to an even bigger task: building great Boy Scout troops.

In this unique and highly personal book, Ray offers hundreds of proven ideas for building strong, successful, sustainable troops that truly achieve the promise of Scouting. Beginning with Scouting’s aims and methods, the book moves quickly through every aspect of the program, from troop meetings and outings to fundraising and administration.

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Show your Scouting pride! Perfect for anyone involved with Scouts! Makes a great gift for a Scout leader. The reverse side of the mug can be personalized with a message.

This coffee cup has a Fleur de Lis and reads

Proud to be a Scouter

Makes a great gift for a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or anyone who has supported the Scouting program.

This is a classic white coffee cup. Options with color on the handles or interior are also available, as are travel mugs and steins.

Proud to Be a Scouter Coffee Mug by ScouterMom
Look at more Scout Mugs at zazzle

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This hooded sweatshirt  is perfect for any mom involved in Scouting. Camping? No worries! Bugs? No way! Reads

I fear nothing. I’m a Scouter Mom

Makes a great gift for a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or any proud mother who has supported the Scouting program.

This Scout mom shirt is available in black, dark gray, or navy blue. It is printed in green in a distressed font.

I fear nothing. I’m a Scouter Mom Hoodie by ScouterMom
Custom tshirts at Zazzle

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This spoof on the Boy Scout Oath is perfect for the Scouter or Scoutmaster who understands the importance of youth leadership. Reads

The Scouter Oath On my honor, I will do my best To smile; To be patient; And to let the youth lead.

This magnet makes a great gift for a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or anyone who has supported the Scouting program.

This is refrigerator magnet. It is available as a square or round magnet.

The Scouter Oath Magnet by ScouterMom
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This women’s t-shirt  is a spoof of the Boy Scout Law. It reads:

A Scouter Is… Capable, Generous Determined Patient Dependable Trusting Hopeful Fearless Flexible Humble and Exhausted

Makes a great gift for a Scoutmaster or any mom who has supported the Boy Scout program.

This Scout mom shirt is available in blue, pink, green, yellow, and white.

A Scouter Is … Ladies T-Shirt by ScouterMom
Create unique picture tee shirts from zazzle.com.

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I hope all of you Scouters out there are able to complete your Nap on Safely training during summer camp. Show that you have completed your training with these “Nap on Safely” business cards.

This is a spoof of BSA training cards. Use these for your own joke training session or create your own Scoutmaster or Scout unit “business” cards with your contact information. The text on the back can be customized to meet your own needs.

“Nap on Safety” Training Cards by ScouterMom
Fulfill your business card order at zazzle.com.

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Get this coffee mug for yourself or your favorite Scouter. It is a spoof of the Boy Scout Law. It reads:

A Scouter Is… Capable, Generous Determined Patient Dependable Trusting Hopeful Fearless Flexible Humble and Exhausted

A Scouter is … coffee mug by ScouterMom
Make logo mugs online.

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Show your Scout pride with this Scout mom shirt. Reads

Scouter Mom

Makes a great gift for a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or any proud mother who has supported the Scouting program.

This shirt is available in blue, pink, green, yellow, and white.

Scouter Mom T-Shirt by ScouterMom
Find custom t shirts online at Zazzle

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This hat is great for any Mom involved in Scouting. Reads

Scouter Mom

Makes a great gift for a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or any proud mother who has supported the Scouting program.

This chino twill cap has a pre-curved bill, cloth strap and an antique brass slide buckle closure with tuck-in grommet. The words are embroidered on the hat.

It is available in black, cactus, Carolina blue, chocolate brown, cool gray, khaki, maroon, mocha, navy, olive, pine, pink, red, red hot, stone, storm grey, tangerine orange, and white. It is embroidered in dark pink, but you can customize this to a different color.

Scouter Mom Cap by ScouterMom
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Kay wrote to me with this question about building a working Pack Committee:

Hi,
I’ve been in scouting now for three years. For the past two years I served as Asst. Cubmaster and this year as Cubmaster. Our Pack has a very unique postition in that for the last 20 years our Pack has been ran solely by the Cubmaster and there has been no Pack Committee.
After attending a Wood Badge course, one of my goals was to bring back the Pack Committee model. We are having growing pains. Would you be able to offer any words of wisdom or advice.

A strong committee will definitely benefit your Pack. Hopefully your Cubmaster will welcome the help.

This is a problem many growing Cub Scout Packs need to deal with, especially in the case of new Packs where the Cubmaster was the driving force behind getting the Pack started. For a working Pack Committee, you will need a Committee Chair who works well with the Cubmaster. In a case where this is not initiated by the Cubmaster, you might need to convince him that he is not being replaced, but that people want to help lighten his load. Many hands make light work.

The Committee Chair will also need to look at the other parents in the Pack and recruit them them to be Committee members. I recommend you try filling the Treasurer position and the Pack Trainer position also. Our Committee also has a Religious Emblems Coordinator. Other members can fill roles like Pinewood Derby Chair and Blue and Gold Banquet Chair.

You might find some of the articles on my Pack Committee page helpful.

Good luck and good Scouting!

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A reader recently wrote to me with this question:

Looking for a little advice. My daughter recently joined a newly formed Venture Crew. The adults involved are very enthusiastic, which is great, but they tend to talk over the kids and take over the meetings. Some of the adults are keeping the kids form running the meetings successfully. My daughter doesn’t want to be rude, but she doesn’t feel that the adults are allowing them to make progress without being involved in every step of the process and she doesn’t know how to approach them.

These adults have been involved in Scouting for 30+ years and are a very important resource. No one wants to lessen the importance of their contributions… but the kids don’t want to listen to 30 minutes of  reminiscing .

Any words of wisdom?

I agree that this is a difficult situation. These Scouters probably mean well, but in the long run their over involvement in the meetings won’t benefit the Crew.

I don’t know what your meeting space looks like, but it is possible to divide it up into two different sections – one for adults and one for the teens? Some Scouters just like to get together for fellowship at meetings, so if you provide them with a separate area to do that, maybe they’ll let the Venturers carry on their business on their own.

The youth might also need to take a more direct approach. The officers could band together and be honest with the adults. “We have noticed a problem in the Crew. We would like the youth to run the meetings so we can develop our leadership skills. Would all of the adults mind sitting on the other side of the room so we can try to handle this ourselves? You can see what we are doing from over there. After the meeting, we’ll get together with you for five or ten minutes to review how it went and to see if you have any advice for next time.”

Crews tend to be more free form than other BSA units. They might want to consider holding some of their meetings elsewhere, like at the local burger joint. If it is a small Crew, the youth can all have their own table and the adults can sit nearby. They can even choose a table which only has room for the youth. This alternate format in a public location might discourage adults from hanging out with them all the time.

Does anyone else out there have some advice or solutions to offer to this reader and her daughter? Add your ideas to the comments below.

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The Sweet 16 of BSA Safety describe the measures we should use at all Scouting activities. The sixteenth point of the Sweet 16 is Discipline (see below).

Scouts can be instructed in the rules and understand them and still not follow them. Why does this happen? It is not necessarily because the Scouts are trying to be disrespectful. In many cases they are caught up in the fun of the moment. But if they are not following the instructions of the activity supervisor and it has the potential to become unsafe, it is time  to step in.

Usually an explanation to the Scout of why they must listen and follow the directions is enough. When they understand we are just trying to keep them safe, they are cooperative. If this isn’t effective though, it might be time for more drastic measures, such as a call to the parents.

The more difficult situation is when the person who is not following the directions is an adult. It does happen from time to time.  Although the point below only mentions youth, if you have an adult who has decided they don’t need to follow the safety instructions,  then the youth might want to follow his lead. “Mr. Jones isn’t wearing his PFD, so why do I have to?” In this case it is usually helpful to enlist the assistance of a couple of other adults who will back you up and approach the adult as a group and ask them to comply.

From the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety on the Scouting.org website:
16. DISCIPLINE
No supervisor is effective if he or she cannot control the activity and the individual participants. Youth must respect their leader and follow his or her direction.

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The Sweet 16 of BSA Safety describe the measures we should use at all Scouting activities. The fifteenth point of the Sweet 16 is CPR Resource (see below).

BSA seems to leave it up to you what a “strenuous activity” is. Chances are your unit participates in some sort of strenuous activity from time to time. Why take a chance? Encourage some adults in your unit to learn CPR. It’s one of those things you hope you never need, but if you do it could save a life.

From the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety on the Scouting.org website:
15. CPR Resource
Any strenuous activity or remote trek could present a cardiac emergency. Aquatic programs may involve cardiopulmonary emergencies. The BSA strongly recommends that a CPR-trained person (preferably an adult) be part of the leadership for any BSA program. Such a resource should be available for strenuous outdoor activity.

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