Information, Observation, and Inspiration for Scouters
The way we handle and manage money has changed significantly with the information age. Cash will always be with us, and checks are still in use, but electronic funds transfer is becoming the way we move money around.
Should a smallish enterprise like a Scouting unit take advantage of these innovations? Let’s look at some situations, and see if they make sense for you. Continue reading “Financial practices for units: New-Age financial products”
You’ve probably heard that many people fear speaking in public more than almost anything else. But it doesn’t have to be that way – and as a Scouter, you are in a perfect position to learn how to ease that fear.
I had never spoken to large groups very much until I became a Cubmaster. I had given presentations at work and before my professional society, but I wasn’t completely comfortable doing it. Now, I had to entertain the boys and keep their parents informed – and you know what? It was actually fun! Scouting was something I believed in, and could see the value of in my own kids, so it became second-nature to lead the group. I put that new-found comfort to use as a trainer and was just as much at ease relating to new leaders as I was to a room full of grade-school boys.
We’re into our recruiting drives now, and you’re finding that you are speaking to groups of parents eager to hear how the Scouting program will benefit their sons. Continue reading “One simple sentence”
Anyone who serves on a troop committee has most likely participated in a rank advancement board of review. To me, it is an honor and a pleasure to serve on one, for it is through this process that we can gain insight into the youth experience.
That is, if we ask the right questions and treat the Scout fairly.
There is much advice on the conduct of a board of review. Continue reading “How to ruin a board of review”
Hopefully you’re rested up and ready to head back into another year of active Scouting. Along with it comes our monthly committee meetings – pack, troop, crew, district – there are lots of meetings we have to endure and survive!
There are ways to make meetings run more smoothly and be more productive. Here are a few ideas from the experts, along with some of my observations and helps. Continue reading “Ideas for better meetings”
Fall is approaching, and as the temperature goes down, the pigskins go up. Every Friday night at high schools and Saturday afternoons at colleges all across the country, players take to the field to see who can dominate a one-hundred-yard patch of turf. Winners and losers emerge, along with the attendant lessons of sportsmanship, humility, leadership and dealing with disappointment.
But if you follow football, you’re undoubtedly aware of the controversy surrounding brain damage due to concussions suffered by players. Continue reading “Values taught here. Helmets not required.”