Reliving an award-winning youth

Post by **MsMary** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:02 am

I still have my old Junior and Cadette handbooks with all the badges listed. But you had posted the answers by the time I looked them up, ali.

I also have a really really old GS handbook that was owned by my much older cousin.

Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:33 am

Savor Dam, thanks, but I didn't see anything about aliantha's question there - it appears to be only for boy scouts, or I've missed something.

And it's unwelcoming for some, though I passed still. Here's what I've seen first: "Your IP address based on the country, region or network has been flagged by the website owner." No-post-soviet allowed to see the secret badges?

Edit: looked more, this looks more like a fine list

server.ellenbecker.net:4271/Badges.htm
server.ellenbecker.net:4271/badge_requirements%202.htm

Yarn and Fabric Arts is there, and includes knitting.

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:55 am

Ef, sorry to not be comprehensive across the genders and nationalities. I did say I was addressing Sarge's proposed research...

While I have taught at Girl Scout adult leader Pathways sessions and am a founder of a non-profit organization supporting the entire continuum of Scouting, my greatest depth of knowledge is in the Boy Scouts of America, from the Tiger Cub program for the youngest participants all the way through adult leadership training. I am a Wood Badge certified Scouter who spent ten of the last eleven years as a leader of youth and a trainer of adult leaders.

My avatar was chosen in no small part because my Wood Badge patrol was Buffalo.

Buff...
Buff...
Tatonka!
We Will Be Herd!

(and no, as those who met me at Elohimfest will attest, I am not a buff fellow!)

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:08 am

I'm still young and have tons of honors from college (Alpha Chi member; Vice President of Beta Psi; Magna Cum Laude; Love of Learning award; Command Performance, an award given only to me). Just a little over 22 and I wrote an essay one professor said was the best he ever read.

Thanks be to God!

Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:17 am

Savor Dam, everything's fine, I meant only that it apparently won't help about the Girl Scouts, that's why I looked for more on the internet and posted it. But it can help Sarge about the Boy Scouts, so thank you.

As for the nationalities - it was more like funny than anything else. A Boy Scouts of America (if I got that right) internet site with the badges telling me my IP location looks suspicious. Spy paranoia!

And, why haven't I thought of it earlier, my congratulations to you all on your achievements!

Post by **sgt.null** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 5:47 am

sd : thank you for the link. i was hit but an overpowering sense of nostalgia looking at the badges.

my dad was active with me in scouting. even though he had a bad back he even took me camping on scout weekends. (they had a cabin for the adults)

i just wish i had stayed with scouting. i enjoyed everything i did...

Post by **Holsety** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:48 am

I also kinda wish I had stayed active in scouting, but frankly I didn't enjoy it all so...ya....I mean, actually, there were some really bad times...
(BSA, not CSA)

And your leader. I've heard many, many horror stories from women who were driven away from Girl Scouts because of the troop leader. (You know what they say about volunteer help: You get what you pay for.)

Good point. As for volunteer help, I like to think it is sometimes worthwhile, but oftentimes the people in it don't get that their is an incentive to working hard.

No, I'm not talking about a paid position down the road. Though that is a possibility. I'm talking about fun and self esteem.

Post by **sgt.null** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:41 pm

i am thinking scouting for adults.

Post by **Vraith** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 4:37 pm

Scouting for adults...I like it...
Maybe Floyd can use it for social commentary...

[["You've followed the life-norms, filling in forms...
[["Provided with dens, and scouting for men...
[["Bought your girlfriend a house to punish your spouse...
[["And you hate your commute, and y'know your nobodies sui--ui--uiuit"]]

Though fear it because.....
I know this sounds like the beginning of a joke....
And is, in fact, the first line of at least two that I know...
I really did...
get kicked out of boy scouts.

Post by **aliantha** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 8:32 pm

Vraith, what did you do to get kicked out? I gotta hear this!

Problem with "adult Scouts" in GSA is that they put you to work as a leader. It was kind of a rude awakening to my kids when they found out that Campus Girl Scouts didn't sell cookies or do anything fun like that -- they were considered adults and were pressed into service to help troops of younger girls.

I assume it's the same in BSA.

We'd have to start our own adult Scouting organization, with our own badges and everything.

Eff, thanks for looking that up!

But the badge you found is for Juniors, who are probably about 9 or 10 years old. The girls in my daughter's troop were Seniors -- so, 17 or 18. The girls at that age level earn different badges. (And my daughter Magickmaker is 22 and out of college now.

)

MsMary, I had all of my handbooks too, from Brownies through Seniors, for a long time. At some point I threw them all out. Then I became a troop leader, and kicked myself for it. Coulda used them as a resource, if only to show the girls the old uniforms

Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:34 pm

Sorry that wasn't fitting the age, I haven't seen badges like that for any other age groups.

Maybe this confused me - from Wikipedia: "Members can earn awards appropriate for their age level. Originally called badges, the terminology has changed to Learning Petals for GS Daisies, GS Try-Its for Brownies, GS Badges for Juniors, and Charms and Interest Project awards for GS Cadettes, Seniors,and Ambassadors (older girls). These Girl Scout awards are expected to be renamed "badges" in 2012-2014. Girl Scout Daisies will still earn Learning Petals and will be able to earn "Leaves"."

And looks like there's no yarn or something award/badge for that age level. For Seniors the closest things are apparently in Girl Scout Interest Project Awards - "Sew Glam" and "Textile Arts" here www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/i ... /11_17.asp Perhaps "Sew Glam" could fit, it appears to be about own design, and knitting a new thing can get really creative.

There's also a separate page on "Sew Glam" as an interest project www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/i ... w_glam.asp

And here's a link to the main insignia page there, maybe something else of use can be found www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/insignia/

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 1:53 am

[rant]
On the topic of volunteers...

Having been a volunteer Scout leader for ten years (let's see: I was a den leader, cubmaster, committee chair, merit badge counselor, roundtable staffer, summer camp master-of-ceremonies, unit commissioner and district committee member), my observation is that volunteers do all the real work of running the Scouting program and dealing with youth. The only thing the professionals do is look for ways to raise money (very little of which ever trickles back down to the program-providing units) and impose bureaucracy upon the volunteers.
[/rant]

Post by **aliantha** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:44 am

You are not far off the mark, SD. I was annoyed about that during my time as a leader. So much of the cookie sale money goes to supporting the council bureaucracy. Cookies were $3.50/box (they are $4 now in some councils -- each council sets its own price) but the troop only got about 25 cents of that. The rest goes to council.

I was also annoyed about the political maneuvering -- so much so that I strongly resisted getting involved in other volunteer positions, even at the service unit level. I got sucked into a committee for adult recognitions and said, "never again."

Eff, thanks again -- the info you found is correct for Girl Scouting today. When I was a Girl Scout back in the '70s, there were no Daisies or Ambassadors*, and Brownies and Seniors didn't earn any badges at all.

Don't get me started on those Interest Projects.

Oh fine, I'll get myself started.

Periodically, GSUSA revamps their program to try to make it more relevant for older girls, so they'll stay in Scouts. Boys don't get ribbed for staying in the Boy Scouts, but girls who stay in Girl Scouts past the first year or so of Cadettes get funny looks from their peers. The sad thing is that the older girls get to do way more fun stuff than the younger girls do -- backpacking, trips to Girl Scout/Girl Guide facilities in other countries, etc.

Anyhow, about the time my daughter was in her last year of Cadettes, GSUSA added the Interest Projects. The twist was that for the Interest Projects, instead of earning a badge that goes on your "stupid" vest or sash, the girls earned a backpack charm. Trouble is that backpack charms were popular for only about 15 minutes while the Interest Projects were under development. By the time GSUSA rolled out the IPs, the girls were like, "Why would I want a backpack charm?? They are soooo 15 minutes ago!" So GSUSA had to revamp the IPs almost immediately. Now the girls can earn either a charm or a patch. And hopefully GSUSA has learned a valuable lesson about marketing to tweens (but I wouldn't count on it...).

*Ambassadors are a new program within the past four years or so. When my daughters were in, Juniors were 4th graders through 6th graders; Cadettes, 7th through 9th; and Seniors, 10th through 12th. The problem is that 6th grade Juniors are already in middle school -- their interests are so different from those of 4th graders that you almost have to run a separate troop for them. Ditto for the 9th graders, who are already in high school and so don't really want to hang out with middle schoolers. And 11th and 12th graders have cars and are already looking toward college. So GSUSA has made the 11th and 12th graders Ambassadors, and rejiggered the levels below. I think Seniors are 9th and 10th grade now, and Cadettes are 6th through 8th.

Post by **sgt.null** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 4:05 am

at our watch commune we will earn merit badges.

Post by **MsMary** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 4:27 am

aliantha wrote: Problem with "adult Scouts" in GSA is that they put you to work as a leader. It was kind of a rude awakening to my kids when they found out that Campus Girl Scouts didn't sell cookies or do anything fun like that -- they were considered adults and were pressed into service to help troops of younger girls. I assume it's the same in BSA.

I loved being a Campus Girl Scout (Campus Gold, I think they called it) and helping with troops of younger girls. I was also a Girl Scout cookie chair at college and sold tons of cookies to my college housemates, who couldn't resist seeing the cartons of them every time they walked through our living room.

I love GS cookies.

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:37 am

aliantha wrote:Boys don't get ribbed for staying in the Boy Scouts, but girls who stay in Girl Scouts past the first year or so of Cadettes get funny looks from their peers.

Actually, there is real dropoff in Boy Scouts participation at about the same age mark. Lots of young men leave the program, and many who stay in are not really participating.

They are Scouts who essentially show up for only those meetings, outings, or community service opportunities necessary for whatever advancement they are working toward. They are using the program for their own purposes (or those driven by their parents, who know the value of advanced BSA rank in getting an edge in college admissions and other aspects of early adulthood), but they do almost nothing to mentor and motivate the younger Scouts.

Considering that the whole foundation of BSA is that after Cubbing it is supposed to be a boy-led program organized around patrol-level leadership...well, suffice to say that it seldom really works that way.

On the other hand, I have had the honor of working with some truly remarkable young men whose leadership skills have amazed and humbled me. I really have learned as much from them as they ever did from me.

Post by **sgt.null** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:23 pm

just don't let zombiac make the bs brownies...

sd: and too much scouting has wound up in the courts. never understood not wanting to follow the program and then suing to change it. create your own group...

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Reliving an award-winning youth