Hello Troop 455 Family,
Despite a challenging year, Scouts have been busy with Advancement activities. Here are some outstanding highlights since the beginning of this school year:
- 6 Scouts have ranked up to the next Rank level
- 9 Life Scouts are actively working hard towards Eagle Requirements
- 37 Merit Badges have been earned
- 6 other Awards have been earned
While this is great progress, it would be great to have EVERY Scout achieve at least one rank advancement at the May Court of Honor. Currently, we have 282 Merit Badges in progress with at least one requirement completed. We have nearly 100 Merit Badges with 50% or more of the requirements completed. So with a little more effort, we could have a very big celebration in May!
Here is what I am asking of each Scout:
Carefully review your current Advancement Report: Each of you can run this directly in Scoutbook. Separately, I will send a PDF to each Scout via email. Please inform me of any discrepancies you find. The transition from Troopmaster to Scoutbook was thorough, but it remains a manual process in many cases. It is up to each and every Scout to verify that the SB records match their own records. I cannot make adjustments unless you contact me directly.
Complete Partial Merit Badges: There are several hundred partial merit badges in SB. Many of them are 50-75% complete. Push yourself to complete one or more of them this school year. Many of these might have begun at Camp or some other outing. If you are in need of a Merit Badge Counselor to complete them, or are otherwise stuck on how to complete a Merit Badge, please reach out to me and/or Scoutmaster Sharp.
Check your Activities Report for Accuracy: Keeping track of camping nights, service hours, and hiking miles has been an inaccurate science to say the least. Please check Scoutbook to make sure that you are comfortable that the activity records match your personal records. Please reach out to me with any issues. I will be working with the PLC and the Adult Leadership to put in place a better system to more consistently your activities. Each of these activity tallies has implications for many awards, MBs and ranks achievements.
For Scouts up to First Class: Please make sure that you, other Scouts, and Adult Leaders are using Scoutbook to mark off your requirements in Scoutbook. It is helpful to have both your physical Scout Handbook and the online Scoutbook in sync. If you have any questions on how to do that, please reach out to me or another Adult Leader. Congratulations on all the great work you have accomplished!
Remember that at the end of the day, each Scout owns the accuracy of his record. I am always available by email at brady@lum.net with any questions about your Advancement Records. Please don’t wait until the last minute to discover issues — all can be resolved with good planning and time.