Advancement « CAC North Star Unofficial Website

Urgent need for Advancement Reports

Posted on December 14, 2016 Updated on December 14, 2016

From District Advancement Chair Mark Pishon:

I attended the councils advancement meeting last night and we have an urgent matter. Rank advancement paperwork needs to be sent into council ASAP or we will miss our JTE goals.

We are sure that the advancement is occurring but the paperwork is not getting processed timely.

Cub Scouts:

We calculate that we need at least 20 additional boys to advance by year end. That is doable. (Editor’s Note: this includes the Bobcat Rank reports that seem to be understated across the Council, even if not especially in North Star.)

Boy Scouts

We calculate that we need at least 30 additional boys to advance by year end. That is doable.

Please take action today and make sure all your Packs and Troops get their advancement paperwork turned in at council ASAP.

Con has volunteered to process our district paperwork so contact him directly at cosulliva@crossroadsbsa.org or 317.797.1545.

Mark Pishon

Advancement Chair

North Star District

This entry was posted in Advancement, News.

Merit Badge Counselor Rechartering

Posted on November 30, 2016

Remember as part of District’s Recharter (yes, District recharters annually, too), we need to confirm your troop’s and crew’s merit badge counselor list. (They are technically district staff and not unit staff.)

Please confirm with District Merit Badge Counselor Registrar Mike Yates that all of your MBC’s are

Trained as an MBC
Current on their Youth Protection certification through my.scouting.org, and
Still active with the troop.

Units that fail to certify this information to Mike Yates are subject to having their MBC’s dropped in the rechartering process. That means all blue cards they sign are void. Please do not let that happen to your scouts.

This entry was posted in Merit Badge, News, Rechartering.

Merit Badge Counselors: District Rechartering

Posted on November 21, 2016 Updated on November 21, 2016

Remember, North Star District has to re-charter each year just like our units. This means all volunteers listed as “District Staff” must be dropped, added, or retained at the district level as part of the rechartering process.

For Cub Scout Packs, this is not an issue. Ever.

For Scout Troops and Venturing Crews, this is important. Many scouters in troops and crews serve as Merit Badge Counselors (“MBCs”). MBCs are District Staff. They do not recharter as part of the unit. They recharter as part of the district.

That means we need every troop’s and crew’s immediate assistance. Each troop or crew needs to verify by email that the MBC list of their volunteers is accurate by November 30, 2016.

All it takes is a quick email to District Merit Badge Registrar Mike Yates at Mike-fpd@comcast.net, saying, “We wish to recharter all of our existing MBCs for 2017.” If those MBCs have their MBC training and YPT expiring after 3/1/17, they will be good to go.

If you have new MBCs or some veterans don’t meet the above criteria, they can do the MBC training online or find live seminars at http://www.crossroadsbsa.org/506. They will need to update their YPT training. New MBCs will also need to fill out an Adult Application on paper or online at https://my.bsa.us/160ns01mb (a dedicated website for District applications).

If a unit fails to report in to Mike Yates, all MBCs currently registered will expire on December 31, 2016 and be required to re-register. Any blue cards a deregistered MBC signs after January 1, 2017 will be invalid.

Please help us avoid that unpleasantness. All committee chairs for troops and crews (or their MBC designate) should check in with Mike Yates at their earliest convenience so that District can be rechartered on time.

Thank you for your assistance.

NOTE: for more about why these rules exist, see past posts on merit badge counselors.

This entry was posted in Merit Badge, News.

November Eagle Board of Review Report

Posted on November 17, 2016

Congratulations to the following new Eagle Scouts in November 2017 by date of Board of Review and Troop number.

oct-nov-2016-eagles-report

Eagle pin

This entry was posted in Eagle Boards of Review, News.

New Merit Badge Counselor Material

Posted on October 6, 2016

BSA has just posted a quick article on Bryan on Scouting about becoming a merit badge counselor.

This has been timed to coincide with a how-to pamphlet on the merit badge counseling process and expectations of merit badge counselors. North Star District Merit Badge Counselor Registrar Mike Yates recommends this pamphlet highly.

All troops should print out this material and use it for new counselors to better understand their roles.

This entry was posted in Boy Scout, Merit Badge, News.

Shooting Sports in Scouts

Posted on October 6, 2016 Updated on October 6, 2016

Since the Spring Camporee is tentatively scheduled to focus on rifle shooting and archery, we should probably start boning up on the rules of shooting sports in scouts.

First, some basic rules. Cubs can only do BB Guns and archery in very strictly controlled circumstances, such as a Council campsite. No rifles. Ever. Scouts can do much more, but must follow the scouting rules carefully.

So how do we know the scouting rules?

This is scouts. Of course there is a manual for that. You can download the whole thing from the BSA website along with many other new resources.

Second, why are we so picky about the rules? Remember strict adherence to the Guide for Safe Scouting in shooting sports is the only way to guarantee that the BSA insurance will cover you as a unit leader and your chartered organization when you do shooting sports. This is extremely important, especially adhering to the stricter rules for Cub Scouts.

Our first duty is to protect the boys. Our next duty is safety for other participants. Our final duty is to keep the chartered organizations happy and continuing to support scouting.

If you have questions, contact the District Commissioner or the District Executive.