1. How often has your Troop achieved Quality Unit Status in the last 5 years?
Every year.2. How do you handle newcomers?
Newcomers who do not join in the early spring with the graduated Webelos Cub Scouts are put in an age appropriate patrol. When graduated Webelos join in a group, a new patrol is formed for those boys. The leadership is rotated within the patrol on an accelerated schedule (quarterly) to give each new scout a chance to experience leadership. This also allows us to work on advancement within the new patrol that is appropriate for all the scouts.3. How many registered leaders are there? What is their attendance history at regular meetings and on outings?
We have 3+ registered leaders at regular meetings and usually 3 registered leaders on outings.4. What is the boy:leader ratio at meetings and on outings?
4 to 1 is a fairly normal scout to adult ratio.5. Do you have an active outdoor program? How many days/year are spent camping? Where? What are the plans for summer camp?
We strive to hold one campout/month, except in December. See the calendar for details. We attend a week of summer camp (Ransburg) every year, usually in July.6. What is your philosophy on uniforms?
Scouts must have a class A dress shirt. Scout pants, belts, shoes, socks are optional. We also allow a class B shirt for many events.7. How are new Scouts going to learn what to do as Boy Scouts (camping skills, patrol activities, advancement, ect.)? Will they have an experienced adult leader working with them?
We assign an experienced older scout to work with the new Scouts as well as an adult leader. They work with the boys during the first year to help them advance and learn the ropes.8. What is the typical troop meeting like? Work on merit badges? Play a lot of games?
Most meetings are divided into 3 phases - planning, advancement, game. During planning, we discuss and plan upcoming events and activities. Advancement can be working with new scouts or a merit badge. We would like for these to be about 30 minutes each but rarely hit the ideal. On some nights, the planning for a campout takes most of the evening. On others, a merit badge activity may take an hour. We probably spend the least time on games.9. What is your philosophy regarding advancement (at what pace are the ranks earned)?
This depends almost entirely on the boys. We encourage and provide opportunities to advance as quickly as the boys would like but don't force the scouts to advance. Scouts that attend regularly and pay attention will be able to achieve 1st class rank by the end of their second summer camp. Those that are interested in Eagle have routinely achieved that rank in the last few years by the age of 16.10. What kind of program do you have for the older scouts? Are there any High Adventure Outings?
We have attempted to run a high adventure outing program in the last 2 years with little success. In the Fishers area, the scouts are so involved in other activities that it is impossible to schedule activities that a group can attend. We did have a small group canoe the boundary waters during the summer of 1997. We had 5 scouts and 2 adults go to Philmont for a backpacking trip during the summer of 2001.11. What kind of fundraising do you have?
We have 2 major activities that raise the bulk of troop funds. We sell Christmas trees at the Marsh grocery store (Allisonville And 116th St.) during December and have a food booth at the Fishers Freedom Festival in June. We do participate in the scout popcorn sales but this contributes relatively little to our funds. Scouts also participate in the wagon-pull for Connor Prairie's Symphony on the Prairie. For all of these fund raisers, the scouts get to put half of the money raised (divided among the Scouts based on the hours worked) into a scout account. This money can be used to pay for scouting related activites. The other half goes into the troop fund to pay for equipment and other expenses.12. What are the financial obligations for each Scout?
- At signup
- Per campout (entry fees, transportation, food - depends on the outing)
- Summer camp (Scout pays for himself and a portion of the adult leadership)
- Dues (There are annual dues - ~$30 includes Boy's Life)
- Others
13. Do you pay for or subsidize training for the boys (Junior Leader Training, Den Chief Training?)
We do pay for boys in leadership positions to go to training.14. Does your Troop have a limitation on size?
No.15. Do you have written policies?
Yes.16. Is your Troop "boy-run" or "adult-run"?
Boy run with adult oversight and veto capability.17. Are the Troop meetings and activities planned?
We have a Scout leadership meeting once a month to plan the activities for the next month. This is boy run with adult oversight. There is also an adult leadership meeting following the boy meeting each month.18. What kind of equipment do you have? Is it in good shape? Do you have enough if Webelos were to join your Troop?
We currently have a bus to transport scouts and equipment, and we have most of the equipment needed to camp. The only limitation is normally tents, but we will buy more if needed.19. Are your Scouts able to balance Boy Scouts with other activities such as sports, band, church?
We have a broad range of participation. Almost all of the scouts are involved in band, sports and church, or some other non-Scouting extracurricular. Those that leave scouts at a low priority tend to advance more slowly (because they aren't present) than those that give scouting more effort.20. How active is your Troop at District and Council events?
We attend all of the District camporees and many of the other events.21. How many current leaders are trained in...
Youth Protection? ALLScoutmaster Fundamentals? 5
Woodbadge? 1
Voyageur? 4