Boy Scouts of America
Troop 373 Parent Handbook
The registration fee to join the troop is $90.00. This includes all fees and a subscription to Boy’s Life magazine. Please make checks payable to "Troop 373." This fee is paid annually.
Parent involvement is essential for the health of the troop and is expected of all troop families. Troop 373 requires one Assistant Scoutmaster for every four new scouts entering the troop. Parents who are not Assistant Scoutmasters should plan to serve on the Troop Committee. Parents should also plan to join their scouts at each of our troop’s quarterly Court of Honor meetings where we gather to celebrate and encourage our sons’ achievements and communicate troop news.
The Troop Committee is composed of parents and is run by an elected Chairman. The Committee’s monthly meetings are open to all parents. The Committee has specific positions and responsibilities such as Treasurer, Membership Chairman and Advancement Chairman.
The Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters
The troop's Scoutmaster is a trained leader who coordinates and manages all troop activities. Assistant Scoutmasters are parent volunteers who support the Scoutmaster, attend as many troop meetings and activities as possible, and meet once a month with the Scoutmaster to plan troop activities.
The troop meets at Homestead Elementary School on most Tuesdays during the school year from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. The troop calendar shows all troop meetings. It is important that each scout be at all meetings. Essential information is provided at every troop meeting. Parents are encouraged to attend these weekly meetings to stay informed. The meetings start at 7 p.m., so your son should be at the school 5-10 minutes before that time. Scouts should bring their Scout Handbook to each meeting.
Often, the third Tuesday in a month is used to conduct Boards of Review (described below). Only scouts who are ready for a Board of Review and the Patrol Leadership Council need to attend these meetings.
Attendance at 75% of the meetings is required to maintain a scout’s active status in the troop. If a scout is going to miss several meetings in a row, he should discuss his reasons with the Scoutmaster.
Each scout is required to have a uniform, complete with all patches and insignia properly placed. Uniforms are to be worn to all troop meetings and functions unless scouts are instructed otherwise. Uniforms should also be worn when traveling to and from campouts and summer camp. When the uniform is worn, it should be worn with respect. The uniform provides a strong feeling of companionship with other scouts as well as identification with the aims of the scouting program.
Uniform, patches, and insignia may be purchased at the Scout Store. The troop will present each new scout with the official troop neckerchief at his first Court of Honor. If, for some reason, you cannot get a uniform, please discuss this with the adult leadership. Many boys have outgrown their uniforms and the troop encourages "recycling" them.
A scout who is not in full uniform at a troop event will receive a warning the first time. The second time a scout is not wearing a full uniform at a meeting, his parents will be called to pick him up early from the meeting.
Within Troop 373, your son will be a member of a small team of 6-8 boys called a patrol. There your son will learn to relate to others, discover common goals, make decisions, carry out group plans, grow with peer leadership, and meet Scouting’s aims of fitness, character, and leadership development. The patrol works together as a unit on everything. The "patrol system" is used to give real responsibility to as many boys as possible in an environment of fun, learning, and companionship. One or two Assistant Scoutmasters serve as advisors to each patrol, but intervene only when needed.
Each patrol elects a Patrol Leader and an Assistant Patrol Leader to organize and manage patrol activities. The troop elects a Senior Patrol Leader and three or more Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders who run the weekly troop meetings. The Patrol Leaders, Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Scribe, and Scoutmaster form the Patrol Leadership Council. They meet the first and fourth Tuesdays of each month before troop meetings to plan all of the troop’s activities.
The troop elects new leaders twice a year. In order to be eligible for election to a leadership position, a scout must maintain reasonable attendance, and agree to attend Junior Leadership Training and at least 75% of the planned meetings and events during his tenure in office.
Campouts are an important part of the scouting experience. Campouts are usually announced quite far in advance at the scout meetings and are listed on the quarterly scout calendar. If a scout is interested in a campout, he should be sure to attend meetings or contact his Patrol Leader so that he does not miss the sign-up dates.
Information about specific campouts will be given to the scouts at the meetings before the campout. Meals on camping trips are planned, purchased and cooked by patrols. Each scout is expected to participate with meal planning and preparation. An adult leader will assist (particularly with the younger scouts) in the planning and preparation, but this is designed to be a scout-run process with minimal supervision. Adult leaders plan, prepare, cook, and eat as a separate group.
Each member of the patrol shares in the cost of food. The Patrol Leader assigns duties such as cooking and clean up and selects two or more scouts to go to the grocery store (with a parent) to purchase the food. Because money is collected and food purchased several days before a camping trip, a scout who cancels after that time cannot expect to get his money back. If your son has any special dietary needs, discuss them with the Assistant Scoutmaster who is assigned to your son's patrol.
The Scout Handbook contains equipment lists that will be useful as the scout prepares for a trip. Clothing for special types of outings is often discussed and demonstrated at troop meetings or at a "shakedown" meeting held to make final preparations for some trips. In addition to bringing personal supplies, each scout is responsible for a share of the patrol effort.
Patrols arrange for their camping equipment such as tents and cooking equipment for each trip. The troop owns a supply of tents and cooking equipment. Troop equipment is available for checkout by a patrol for any troop-sponsored event. Troop equipment is stored in the storage rental facility on County Line Road near Holly. The troop’s quartermaster will arrange time to meet at the storage locker for equipment check-out/check-in before and after each camping trip.
All parents are expected to share in the responsibility of providing transportation. The scouts attending the outing generally arrange transportation at the patrol level. Parents have a standing invitation to come along for the fun. One or two campouts each year are "family campouts," and the whole family is invited to join the troop.
The troop keeps a medical release form on file for each scout. These forms are required for participation in troop activities and must be updated every nine months.
The troop provides an annual week-long summer camp experience at Colorado's premier scout camps. Summer camps are fun and a great opportunity for rank advancement and to earn Eagle-required merit badges. Summer camp is usually the highlight of the year for most scouts, and attendance is highly recommended for first and second-year scouts. Scouts are encouraged to earn money to pay for summer camp through participating in troop fundraising events.
Sign up for summer camp is in the spring. The troop generally reserves two weeks at different summer camps each summer, and scouts can choose the camp and week that works best for them.
A "shakedown" meeting is held before each summer camp. Final plans and course schedules are completed at those meetings, so all summer camp participants should plan on attending.
High Adventure and Mid-Venture Trips
High adventure and mid-venture trips are offered for scouts who meet certain age and rank requirements. Usually these trips consist of at least several days in the wilderness, and stress survival skills and teamwork. Philmont Scout Ranch is often considered the ultimate High Adventure trip. Here scouts backpack through the wilderness for a trek that also includes a variety of other activities at each base camp. Other trips include Florida Sea Base, Boundary Waters canoe trips, Tall Ships, Okpik winter campout, Tahosa treks, 14er climbs, bicycling trips, river rafting and cross-country ski trips.
Arrangements for High Adventure trips often begin two years in advance of a trip. Sign-ups for High Adventure trips will announced at meetings and in the troop newsletter. There are often limitations on the number of openings for High Adventure trips. The troop has established selection guidelines that ensure that as many scouts as possible can participate in High Adventure trips. For further information on these adventures, contact the Troop 373 High Adventure coordinator.
Rank advancement is a very important part of the scouting experience. At any given time during a scout's involvement in Troop 373, each scout will be working toward the next level of scouting until he reaches the ultimate goal of Eagle Scout. This can seem like a long road sometimes (less than 2% of all boys who start in scouting actually achieve Eagle Scout), but it is also very fun and rewarding for the boys. Troop 373 boasts a very high percentage of boys achieving the ultimate rank of Eagle Scout!
Advancement requirements are listed in each scout's Handbook. Scouts in Troop 373 have many opportunities to complete advancement requirements. First, rank advancement sessions are held regularly during the weekly scout meetings. Scouts can also work on rank advancement during campouts. The Assistant Scoutmasters and senior-level scouts (Star, Life and Eagle Scouts) can sign-off on requirements in a scout’s handbook.
Regular participation in troop activities is an important requirement for rank advancement. A scout may not be approved for advancement if he has not consistently attended 75% of the troop’s meeting and outings.
The last step for each rank advancement is a Scoutmaster Conference and a Board of Review. The scout must call the Scoutmaster to schedule each Scoutmaster Conference. Boards of Review for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class are conducted by the Patrol Leadership Council, usually held during the third troop meeting of each month. Boards of Review for Star, Life and Eagle candidates are conducted by the Troop Committee during their monthly meetings.
Courts of Honor are held quarterly to formalize rank advancements and publicly recognize scouts for their achievements. All parents and scouts are expected to attend Courts of Honor and share in the boys’ accomplishments. Brothers and sisters are welcome to attend these meetings.
Eagle Scout Courts of Honor are the highest recognition given to scouts. A separate Eagle Court of Honor is held for each scout who achieves this esteemed level of scouting. All scouts are encouraged to attend these special meetings, along with their families. Attendance at an Eagle Court of Honor is one of the best ways to understand and appreciate the significance of this rank, and is a real encouragement for scouts to "stick with it" until they reach Eagle rank.
Scouts at the higher levels (First Class, Star and Life) need to earn merit badges in order to advance. Accomplishments toward earning each merit badge are recorded on a "blue card". Scouts and their parents should be aware of the importance of keeping blue cards up to date. When authorized adult leaders ("merit badge counselors") have signed-off on each requirement for a merit badge, it is the scout’s responsibility to turn the blue card in to the troop’s Advancement Chairman. The blue card eventually goes to the regional BSA headquarters and becomes part of each scout’s permanent file.
Many parents, teachers and other qualified adult leaders have volunteered to serve the troop as a merit badge counselor for one or more merit badges. The troop maintains a list of these counselors. Scouts should contact a merit badge counselor before beginning work on a badge. Merit badge counselors can advise the scout on the best way to proceed on each merit badge and advise them throughout the process. Ultimately, this merit badge counselor will have to sign off on all work toward the badge.
Summer camp and Merit Badge Colleges provide great opportunities to earn merit badges. Merit Badge Colleges are one or two-day sessions held to help scouts to earn several merit badges in a concentrated time period. Scouts are advised of upcoming Merit Badge Colleges at troop meetings and in Smoke Signals.
The troop sells King Soopers grocery coupons at meetings and Courts of Honor as an ongoing fundraiser. Five percent of sales are credited to the scout's Scout Account. The troop has at least one major fundraiser each year, currently the Holiday Wreath and Garland Sale. The sale raises most of the troop's operating budget each year, so all scouts are asked to help sell wreaths and garlands. Commissions earned by scouts through fundraising sales are maintained in individual Scout Accounts. Scout Accounts can be used to pay activity fees or other scouting-related expenses, such as equipment purchases.
A Scout is responsible for his own conduct at all times. He is expected to take the Scout Oath and Law seriously and exhibit those ideals in his daily life. All members of the troop, both boys and adults, work together to help each individual grow and develop.