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  PTC Shows »

  Cub Scout Rank Specific Shows

  PTC Media is such a hugely valuable resource in general. Perhaps it could be expanded by honing in on specific Cub Scout Ranks. Having exper ...more »

   

  PTC Media is such a hugely valuable resource in general. Perhaps it could be expanded by honing in on specific Cub Scout Ranks. Having experienced people do a podcast for each rank, Tiger through 2nd year Webelos with not only timely things the specific rank could or should be doing but also things to watch out for, such as Tigers visiting a TV or News station can be difficult so work on finding a place to visit right away, or Webelos needing to earn certain Activity badges to earn Rank, etc. Basically, a big time how-to show for each rank. The idea may not sit well with experienced scouters but think of brand new Den Leaders. The resource could make a huge difference.

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  Submitted by Community Member 19 days ago

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  3 votes

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  PTC Shows »

  Patches? Patches? We could use some stinking patches!

  Add some patches to the PTC Media store! Maybe a round patch for the PTC logo, with rocker patches all around it, one for each of the shows ...more »

   

  Add some patches to the PTC Media store! Maybe a round patch for the PTC logo, with rocker patches all around it, one for each of the shows?

  Or at the very least, a Buttons the Radical Boyscout patrol emblem!

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  Submitted by Community Member 1 month ago

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  3 votes

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  Cub Scout »

  Award/Badge Cards

  It never fails. Our Advancement chair (who is also my wife)... ALWAYS... and I me ALWAYS forgets to buy, buy enough, or buys the wrong card ...more »

   

  It never fails. Our Advancement chair (who is also my wife)... ALWAYS... and I me ALWAYS forgets to buy, buy enough, or buys the wrong cards for badges, Webelos pins, arrow points, etc.

  So tomorrow, it's another 20 mile round trip for .70 CENTS WORTH OF PAPER!

  Can't these be available in printable format somewhere? I'll keep looking - I thought I did see them once.

  Granted, it's .70 the Scout store won't get but c'mon!

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  3 comments

  Submitted by Community Member 6 months ago

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  3 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Venturing

   

  Why isn't there a category for Venturing?

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  Submitted by Community Member 8 months ago

• I agree

  6 votes

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  Boy Scout »

  World History

   

  Why should scouts just know about our history. The whole world has history that is very interesting,

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  Submitted by Community Member 8 months ago

• I agree

  1 vote

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  Boy Scout »

  accounting

   

  It will help the kids learn what to do with their math skills once they learn them.

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  Submitted by Community Member 8 months ago

• I agree

  17 votes

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  Boy Scout »

  Varsity Scout Training - A new idea!

  Boy Scout and Varsity Scout leaders are required to attend an Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (IOLS) course in order to earn their ...more »

   

  Boy Scout and Varsity Scout leaders are required to attend an Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (IOLS) course in order to earn their "Trained" patch. IOLS is a terrific resource for Boy Scout leaders, particularly Assistant Scoutmasters working with New Scout Patrols, helping them earn "First Class-First Year". For them, the requirement to attend this course makes perfect sense. For a Varsity Scout leader working with boys who are entering their 4th year of Scouting, the requirement makes little sense. It remains good information, but does not hold the same priority for a leader working with older Scouts as it does for one working with New Scouts.

  The BSA does not provide a Varsity Scout leader with a training experience where Varsity Scouting is modeled. Even with the "program neutral" training being presented today, a Boy Scout leader still has an opportunity to immerse themselves in a simulated Troop experience (a good portion of Wood Badge for the 21st Century), learning how a Troop functions through personal experience and the example of capable mentors. A Senior Patrol Leader can benefit in the same way by attending National Youth Leadership Training. A Varsity Scout Team is intended to function quite differently. Where is that model presented?

  Suggestion: Drop the requirement for Varsity Scout leaders to attend IOLS and replace it with a course that teaches the adult AND youth leaders how a Varsity Scout Team correctly functions.

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  Submitted by Community Member 8 months ago

• I agree

  14 votes

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  Boy Scout »

  Rethinking Varsity Scouting for the next century

  Having been eclipsed by Venturing, few Scouters now understand how Varsity Scouting fits into the "family" of BSA programs. Terminology like ...more »

   

  Having been eclipsed by Venturing, few Scouters now understand how Varsity Scouting fits into the "family" of BSA programs. Terminology like "Team", "Coach", "Captain", etc all make it sound like more Little League than Scouting. Not really a "sports" program at all, Varsity Scouting is used almost exclusively by the LDS Church in a sequential progression from Boy Scouting to Varsity Scouting to Venturing, mirroring the way its youth program is organized.

  The need to better retain 14-year-olds in Boy Scouting is a challenge that is as old as Scouting itself. Despite how well Venturing is doing with older young men and women, its 14- and 15-year-old enrollment lags. Discussions of a new program like "Junior Venturing" focused on this age group have been entertained. And yet, no age group within the BSA has more program options now!

  Rather than creating another program that would spread district and council resources even thinner, why not re-brand Varsity Scouting as a "bridging unit"? Webelos was designed to serve that purpose between Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting. Why not develop a purpose built program to transition Boy Scouts to Venturing? That is exactly what the LDS Church uses it for now. Why not directly focus the program on that objective?

  On paper, Varsity Scouting is very, very similar to Boy Scouting. In practice, it is really much more like Venturing. Varsity Scouting already shares strong ties to Boy Scouting, but its ties to Venturing are relatively weak. Two changes could be introduced that are so simple they shouldn't even require piloting. Both of them would strengthen Varsity Scouting AND Venturing:

  1. Allow Varsity Scouts to wear the official Venturing uniform.

  2. Allow Varsity Scouts to earn Venturing Bronze Awards.

  Scouts have generally grown out of their uniform by the time they turn 14-years-old. Many don't want to buy another khaki shirt. Why not let them buy/wear the Venturing green? The boy is in a uniform and better poised to become a Venturer. Everybody wins.

  A 14-year-old Varsity Scout is old enough to be a Venturing and is DOING Venturing things. Why not boost the quality of those activities and let them "take credit" for them by allowing them to earn Venturing Bronze? The boy is that much further ahead if he chooses to become a Venturer. Once again, everybody wins.

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  Submitted by Community Member 8 months ago

• I agree

  11 votes

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  PTC Shows »

  Indexing the PTC Media Site

  This is probably one of those "great, but who has time" ideas. One thing that's lacking on PTCMedia.net is an index of subjects and related ...more »

   

  This is probably one of those "great, but who has time" ideas. One thing that's lacking on PTCMedia.net is an index of subjects and related shows. If I'm looking for ideas to run a better pack meeting, where do I go? Or where do I go to find help running a Pinewood Derby? (Both of these examples were covered in early Leader's Campfire podcasts). There's now a ton of Scouting knowledge in PTC Media, but it needs to be catalogued and indexed. This would really take PTC Media to another level, IMO. But this would take someone with a lot of free time to do this. And I imagine this would not be done by one of the pricipals, as they are busy creating new content.

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  2 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 10 months ago

• I agree

  12 votes

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  PTC Shows »

  Podcasting Equipment

  Chris and the gang have done such a great job of creating quality podcasts. They have inspired some of us to do our own podcasting. I think ...more »

   

  Chris and the gang have done such a great job of creating quality podcasts. They have inspired some of us to do our own podcasting. I think it would be great to see a listing of equipment and software that each PTC show host uses for their podcast. Maybe they could even include a couple of "quick tips" to get started in podcasting. I could see this as a little blurb on each show's page - it doesn't have to take up much real estate.

  This might help others in the PTC family get over one of the hurdles to podcasting - figuring out what equipment to use to get started. Who knows what great Scouting ideas are out there in the PTC Media family. Maybe this will help us see more Scouting (or other) podcasts.

  - Scouter Jeff

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  1 comment

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 11 months ago

• I agree

  19 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Scouter Training Dates on Council Records

  How about the Councils printouts, Individual or Charter, include dates attended of training rather than yes/no and include all training avai ...more »

   

  How about the Councils printouts, Individual or Charter, include dates attended of training rather than yes/no and include all training available or qualified rather than just Youth Protection, Leader Specific, and This is Scouting. With the two year "recertification" it would be nice to know what leaders need this and at what date prior to the expiration, rather than counting on the form that only the individual scouter has, this would help the units, pack trainer, district people in record keeping and personnel changes keeping them.

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  Submitted by Jay Roe 11 months ago

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  15 votes

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  Cub Scout »

  Trained Cards

   

  Online printout of current cub scout "trained" cards, or at least release the whereabouts of current cards instead of hunt and seek method.

  2 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 0 years ago

• I agree

  28 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Online printout of registration cards

  Have a page at My Scouting where youth and adult membership cards can be printed out. Maybe in the day, these cards had more importance, fo ...more »

   

  Have a page at My Scouting where youth and adult membership cards can be printed out.

  Maybe in the day, these cards had more importance, for example when buying uniforms. But as it stands, a unit chair frequently waits 3-5 months after recharter before getting the registration cards.

  An online print option could even relieve the councils of the need to print them entirely.

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  1 comment

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  20 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Transfer training and achievements between councils electronically

  When we moved and changed councils, we were issued new registration numbers. None of our training or achievement records were transferred a ...more »

   

  When we moved and changed councils, we were issued new registration numbers. None of our training or achievement records were transferred automatically when we submitted a transfer application.

  I was told that this was because the councils are separate operating units. Well so are my various dentists. But they have a system to automatically request records from each other. The public doesn't view the councils as separate. They just see BSA as not having its act together.

  What about councils reporting completed training and advancements to My Scouting so that adult and youth members could review their records online.

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  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  13 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Make policy changes effective across all related national documents

  Pay better attention to contradictions when updates in policy are made. For example, the Annual Health and Medical Record (printing 2008) c ...more »

   

  Pay better attention to contradictions when updates in policy are made. For example, the Annual Health and Medical Record (printing 2008) contradicts the G2SS (2009 online) with regard to the frequency of medical exams and when various levels are required.

  If changes can't happen right away with the printed materials, there could be an effective changes page online and the online version could be up-to-date.

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  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

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  15 votes

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  PTC Shows »

  Adult volunteers for positions / events

  Would like to see the topic of how to overcome the trend of fewer adult volunteers (parents don't want to step up), and scouters who don't s ...more »

   

  Would like to see the topic of how to overcome the trend of fewer adult volunteers (parents don't want to step up), and scouters who don't seem to want to help on district events such as day camp & district activities.

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  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  23 votes

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  Recruiting/Retention »

  Build more useful council and district websites.

  It is very frustrating to go to a council or district website hoping to find info on training, events, etc; only to find that the training ...more »

   

  It is very frustrating to go to a council or district website hoping to find info on training, events, etc; only to find that the training listed is a month old, events are listed with little info (price, location, registration deadlines) and that the website in general is hard to navigate and not helpful for either long time volunteers or new families.

  Large area websites should have info on camps, driving directions, info on special programs (like local historic trails programs) and links to pack, troop and crew unit websites. Links to council/district contacts should be evident from most pages.

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  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  31 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Put More Volunteer Publications Online

  I know this was sort of covered under the digital subscription idea, but I'd like to see more of the guidebooks for volunteers online. I me ...more »

   

  I know this was sort of covered under the digital subscription idea, but I'd like to see more of the guidebooks for volunteers online. I mean things like the Troop Committee Guidebook. In the same way that one of the ways to help leaders follow BSA safety guidelines is to make the Guide to Safe Scouting readily available, I think that a lot of issues that arise from units making up their own rules could be circumvented by having guidelines more easily available.

  At a minimum, the text from the fast start training could be downloadable. I searched high and low for a good listing of the troop committee positions outlined in fast start training so that I could recruit a full committee. It wasn't to be found on the official BSA websites. Even when my DE sent me links to the info I needed, it was to info that had been uploaded by an individual troop.

  We tend to make it expensive to be an adult volunteer. Not only uniforms but training materials have to come out of the individual budget or be paid for by the unit.

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  2 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  28 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Digital archive of Boy's Life.

  I would love to see either an online archive or a CD version of old Boys' Life content. Not only could this be searchable to find many ar ...more »

   

  I would love to see either an online archive or a CD version of old Boys' Life content. Not only could this be searchable to find many articles on one subject, but it would add to the sense of heritage and continuity in scouting. It could also provide a stash of great stories about scouts and scouting to share with current scouts.

  I don't know if the original contracts with authors and illustrators would support this going way back. It certainly seems like something that could be done going forward as a digital archive.

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  3 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  60 votes

  I disagree
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  Boy Scout »

  Scouting Heritage Merit Badge

  Have you heard about the Scouting Heritage Merit Badge yet? No? Well, that is probably because there is no such merit badge... yet. On the B ...more »

   

  Have you heard about the Scouting Heritage Merit Badge yet? No? Well, that is probably because there is no such merit badge... yet. On the BSA Innovation Engine (found at http://ideas.scouting.org/ ) there are a lot of ideas thrown around for new merit badges. This one happened to catch the eye of Cubmaster Chris and I as we recorded a new episode of the Leader's Campfire podcast last night. During this episode we discuss some of the ideas found on the BSA Innovation Engine, along with Jerry from The Scoutmaster Minute podcast.

  The idea for a Scouting Heritage Merit Badge was posted by alobdell. He, or she, gave this merit badge some serious thought before submitting it to the engine. Here is what he/she wrote:

  Include Scouting Heritage as a Merit Badge. Many of our Scouts do not know about the movement of Scouting. Requirements could include some of the following.

  1. Write an essay about one of the Founders of Scouting. Make a presentation about the origin of Scouting to a non-Scout group such as a Church or civic organization.

  2. Learn about Careers in Scouting.

  3. Exchange letters with a Scout in another Scout Council.

  4. Learn about the World Scouting Organization

  5. Conduct an interview with a Veteran Scouter

  6. Meet a Scouting Professional

  7. Visit your Scout Council Headquarters

  8. Learn about the BSA's Adventure Bases

  9. Attend a District Rountable or District Meeting

  10. Make a display of Scouting information and material for your community to be open to the public for at least one week.

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  2 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 1 year ago

• I agree

  7 votes

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  Fundraising »

  Baked Potato Sale

  A Life Scout at my church had a baked potato sale Sunday to raise money for his Eagle project. He sold loaded baked potatoes and you could ...more »

   

  A Life Scout at my church had a baked potato sale Sunday to raise money for his Eagle project. He sold loaded baked potatoes and you could get them with or without chopped brisket (another of those Texas BBQ things). The brisket and potatoes were donated and he sold out of 200 spuds and could have sold another 50-100 more (admittedly we have a fairly large congregation). He had two stations going, long lines at both and I heard several people say they weren't going to wait in the line. Without the brisket, I think they were $5, so he made a fair amount in a few hours of work. Too bad the lady in front of me got the last ones!

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  2 comments

  Submitted by Kevin Mc 1 year ago

• I agree

  25 votes

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  PTC Shows »

  Podcast Featuring Scouts?

  Would anyone like a podcast that features scouts form troops around the nation sharing there opinions on scouting. I don't know if this will ...more »

   

  Would anyone like a podcast that features scouts form troops around the nation sharing there opinions on scouting. I don't know if this will work but i thought I'd throw it out there.

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  3 comments

  Submitted by Kevin 1 year ago

• I agree

  -15 votes

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  Cub Scout »

  Arrow Points for Tigers

   

  Now that Tigers wear a scout uniform and receive a Tiger Badge for it shouldn't they also receive arrow points instead of beads.

  3 comments

  Submitted by Owen 1 year ago

• I agree

  -16 votes

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  Paperwork »

  Tour Permit Idea

  It was talked about including a Committee member as a signator for Tour Permits. Well why not bring it down to the Den Leader level. As lo ...more »

   

  It was talked about including a Committee member as a signator for Tour Permits. Well why not bring it down to the Den Leader level. As long as it takes a check box from a committee member. If it is a Pack event than yes the Committee Member should take point but if at the Den level it shoudl be the Den Leader, they know what is best!

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  1 comment

  Submitted by struax 1 year ago

• I agree

  -25 votes

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  Cub Scout »

  Pack caps and neckerchiefs instead of rank specific

  In an effort to save money have a Pack specific cap and neckerchief instead of the separate ones for Tiger, Wolf and Bear. Webelos would no ...more »

   

  In an effort to save money have a Pack specific cap and neckerchief instead of the separate ones for Tiger, Wolf and Bear. Webelos would not be included in this.

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  4 comments

  Submitted by openid 1 year ago

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