Another reason why I love being a Scout leader

Last night, Dentist Husband and I were asked to be part of a board of review for several boys.  Having held a scout calling for over 10 years, (most of it in cub scouts), I know many of the boys very well.  I have seen them go from being excited, slightly scared, eight year old boys to obnoxious 10 year olds and beyond.

Many people don't know this, but years ago, when my son started in the scouting (cub scouts) program, I decided I needed to learn about the program and decide if it was something I really wanted him to do.  Like most families, our lives are busy and full of many things and while I recognized the support of my church to the organization, I wanted to make sure it was a worthwhile program and something I thought was worth putting in the time and commit required.  My conclusion was that if scouting is done as it is supposed to be done, it teaches wonderful principles and my son was going to learn some very good and valuable things.  When my son was 10 1/2, I revisited my research and concluded the same about the scouting (11 years old and up) program.

Anyway, last night, as I sat in this board of review, I was almost moved to tears by these young men.  When asked about the scout oath and law and how they are living it in their lives, these boys gave amazing answers of commitment to God and country.  They spoke of prayer, service and fun.  They gave examples of being kind, helpful, brave, cheerful and other aspects of the scout law.  We laughed as they shared stories of favorite merit badges earned, camp outs and service rendered.  We reviewed some of their successes and efforts toward earning their Eagle.  It in many ways was a spiritual experience for me to see these young outstanding men living meaningful, thoughtful, and moral lives.

At the meeting's end and all of boys unanimously were voted to earn their rank advancements, I walked home with Dentist Husband and said, "This is why I love my Scout calling.  I honestly love those boys."

11 Year Old Scout Camp Out--Back Yard Style

Dentist Husband and I are the scout leaders for the 11 year olds in our ward.  There is a tradition in this area that one of the camp outs in the backyard of the 11 year old scout leaders.  So, this past weekend, we did it.  

Here is most of the boys with Dentist husband at the start of it.  Our first activity was an hour service project, picking up trash in the area.  

 Setting up the tent.

 About 20 minutes into it, our neighbor brought this game over for the boys to play.  

 We had the boys cook their own steaks for dinner.  

 Afterwards, we had them light "pop can" fires.  We went through two full boxes of matches. 

 Once it was dark, we played "Tron Soccer."  I bought a glow stick soccer ball  and about 200 glow sticks.    The boys wore glow sticks on their wrists and shoes and we taped one vertically on the front of their shirt and one horizontally on their back.  We had two teams, (blue and green) of four boys each.  We set up a small soccer field, using red and orange glow sticks and used some cones, wrapped in red glow sticks as the goal markers.  Honestly, this was incredibly fun and we played for over an hour.  

 Afterwards, the boys came back to our house for marshmallow roasting.  

 At 10:00 pm, it was lights out.  

The boys slept.  I didn't.  I had a fear that one of the boys would wake up in the middle of the night, realize they were walking distance from their own house and walk home.  So, any cough, rolling over, or noise I heard, I was up.  (Dentist husband and Toothsome #1 slept outside the tent on a tarp.  I was in the house, with the windows open, on the sofa.)  Not one boy left the tent that night.  Wish I would have known that beforehand.  :) 

Anyway, it was a great camp out.  I have a feeling Tron Soccer is going to become an annual tradition.  

11 year old Scout Camp

I honestly LOVE being a scout leader.  There are few things better than seeing boys learn new skills, and having fun doing it.  A few weeks ago, we had our annual three day Scout Camp.

The night before, we had the boys at our house and had them learn how to set up the propane stove (they don't allow open fires at the scout camp we attended) and set up the tent.  The boys were each given assignments (one boy was in charge of the tent stakes, another in charge of the poles, etc.) and we discussed the buddy system, etc.  

Dentist husband, who often walks in the door moments before scouts starts (thus the scrubs) giving instruction.

At scout camp the first day.

Doing an outdoor flag ceremony.  Our boys were selected to show the others how to do it.  Yes, I got a little teary.  

Knife and wood working safety.

Archery

Setting up the tent.

Dinner and "mastering the match".  (A Dentist husband invention--you can "master the match" if you can let it burn all of the way to end without any of it breaking off and not burning your fingers.)  We let the boys burn as many matches as they wanted and we went through two big boxes.  

The "knife game"--another Dentist husband invention.  They all took turns dropping their knives from chest height (after earning their tote and chip) into an old log.  The game was "won" if every boy's knife stuck and landed in a certain small area on the log.  Honestly, they LOVED this game.  

Dentist husband, the man who makes scouting fun.  My job is figuring what the boys need to do get their rank advancements and then telling my husband what to do.  He always comes up with some great way to teach them the skills needed.  I love being there and seeing what he comes up with.  

For another post:  Becoming a "knot master"--it involves tying knots, in ice water, in the dark with a time limit, while the other boys try and distract you.  Most of the boys are now "knot masters" and they beg weekly to do it.  

Scout Record Keeping

This really should be my last scout update for a while.  I spent the better part of one day working on this latest project and I had several friends (whom I had told about this project) ask that I do a post explaining this.  

While normally, I adore computers, my trust in the scout system computers is low, so I felt a need to create my own hard copy back up system.  This way, if there is any question, I have it in my hands for the parents immediately.  (Also, because the Utah system, isn't  compatible with a Mac, I would have to go down to my husband's office to use his PCs every time a parent had a question.) 

Here is what my kitchen table looked like for most of one day.

The person before me actually had a very good system in place but she had a greater trust in the computer system than I do, so I refined it just a little bit.   

I have one thick notebook with every boy's info it.  I have them in the book based on when they entered the scouting program--the newest 11 year old scout at the front to the boys about to get their eagle at the back.

Every boy has a sheet protector with this paper in it.

As the boys earn their rank advancements, I can hand write the dates next to it.  Underneath the rank advancements, I have listed all of the required merit badges, where I can list the dates they earned those.  If a parent calls and wants to know what required merit badges their son needs, I have it all on one piece of paper.  

On the other side of the paper, I have table where I can hand write in their elective merit badges and what date they earned those.  I have it numbered, so again, they know how many they have earned.  (Boys have to earn a minimum of nine elective merit badges to get their Eagle.) 

Right behind the above sheets, I have baseball card holder pages, to hold the boy's blue cards.  (The blue cards are filled out when a boy earns a merit badge.)  So, if there is any question about their merit badge info, I have their blue cards all organized and together in one place.  

I've had several parent's ask me how to keep track of their son's info at their house.  This is what I created for my son.  

It requires a three ring notebook. 

In it, I have copies of his scout health form and any merit badge worksheets he has worked on or is currently working on.  

The first page has his rank advancement patches and cards.  They wear their current rank advancement patch on the left pocket of their scout shirt.  Behind that, I have his copy of the blue cards in baseball card holders.  

These next sheets, I got from my sister, who said their area in Colorado, requires the boys to have these sheets filled out and brought to their court of honors.  It is good to have this as part of their record.  

They are camping logs, service logs and leadership logs.  

As you can see, they very basic, but they are in the three ring binder as well.  I make my son write the info on it and sign it.  

Anyway, the project is now done and I am finally feeling very organized and feeling like I can really do my calling of "Scout advancement chair" well.