myTroop7.com Troop 7, Boy Scouts of America Community Church at Upper Ridgewood Ridgewood, New Jersey

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• Latest troop news/events
   
• Troop 7 book reviews
   
• Troop 7 Board of Review Policy
   
• Here Are the Rules for
  Star & Life Service Requirements
  
  
  

Updates:

 

Calendar Items:

10/30               Fall Court of Honor, Parent Meeting @ 7:30

Additional notices:

REGISTRATION 2008-2009:

Troop 7 registration for 2008-2009 has begun.  Registration packets have been mailed to all current Troop 7 members.  Deadline for registration is September 18th.  Scouts will not be able to attend any Troop 7 trips until they have re-registered for the year.  For registration instructions, click here.


Communications

 Scouts, if you are unsure about meeting times or events, you should call your patrol leader.

 

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Troop 7 Book Reviews:
Summer 2008

Many Troop 7 scouts worked on their reading merit badge over the summer and wrote reviews of the books which they read.  Follow the link below to read all the terrific reviews:  

Click here to read the book reviews
 

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Board of Review Policy and Schedule 2008-09

By Ms. Carol Gyzander, Troop Advancement Chair
Date: October 13, 2008

This bulletin covers the troop program for managing and scheduling all non-Eagle (all ranks from Tenderfoot to Life) Boards of Review (BoR) during the 2008-2009 troop year.

It is helpful for new Scout families to know the steps involved for a boy to advance to the next rank. 

1) The boy first completes the requirements for the rank (A boy learns). He will need to take the initiative to let his patrol leader know that he may have some requirements to be done on a campout, such as cooking.

2) He demonstrates the requirements and has them signed off in the book (A boy is tested).  A Scout can ask Scoutmaster Babunovic or one of the Assistant Scoutmasters to sign the book.

3) When they are complete, he schedules a Scoutmaster Conference by calling Scoutmaster Babunovic.  After he has finished the Conference, he calls Ms. Gyzander to schedule a Board of Review, where at least three adult troop committee members meet with the Scout to discuss his Scouting experiences (A boy is reviewed). 

4) New rank badges are awarded at a Court of Honor held three times each year (A boy is rewarded) although the boy actually becomes that rank when he passes the Board of Review.

The troop leadership puts each Scout in the "driver's seat" to manage his rank advancement and it is the boy’s responsibility to request Scoutmaster Conferences and Board of Review dates himself (although we will be working with boys who do not seem to be advancing).  Note that the boy himself should be making these calls and inquiries and not the parents!

As a courtesy to the adult Board of Review members who give so generously of their time, we are again requesting one week’s advance registration for Boards of Review.  This is also intended to help the boys demonstrate responsibility and to gain experience by pre-planning their advancement.  Mr. Babunovic and the Assistant Scoutmaster for each patrol are available to offer guidance as needed.

Below are details of this year’s program:

1. Non-Eagle BoRs will be available on the following dates:
   1. For presentation at the Court of Honor Thursday, 10/30 (requests for these BoR can still be made even though we are less than a week before the date)

·                   Thursday, 10/16        starting at 7:30pm

·                   Sunday, 10/19          starting at 7:00pm

2. For presentation at the Court of Honor Thursday, 1/22 (all BoR are troop meeting nights, starting at 7:30pm):

·                   Thursday, 11/13

·                   Thursday, 12/11

·                   Thursday, 1/8

3. For presentation at the June Eagle Court of Honor (date TBD) (all BoR are troop meeting nights, starting at 7:30pm):

·                   Thursday, 2/26

·                   Thursday, 4/23

·                   Thursday, 5/14

2. Each Thursday BoR date is a troop meeting night, so the Scouts should be available.  
3. As always, Scouts need to have completed their Scoutmaster Conference and have a Scoutmaster’s signature in their book before they contact Ms. Gyzander to schedule an appointment for any of the BoR dates.  Courteous Scouts (Again, the Scouts, not parents need to call) should make an appointment at least one week in advance of the date they'd like to schedule a Scoutmaster Conference.
4. All BoRs on the nights listed above will be available only on a first come-first serve basis.   Scouts (not their parents as this is a Scout's responsibility) must contact Ms. Gyzander a week in advance of one of these dates to make an appointment.
   
   Once all of the slots for any of these nights are filled, Scouts will be able to schedule their BoRs for the following date, if it is available.  Additional Board of Review dates may be announced at the troop’s discretion if a large number of boys are ready to advance and cannot be accommodated on a timely basis.
5. As always, Scouts need to come prepared with full Class A uniform (including socks) and their Scout Handbook.  The BoR may need to turn away any Scout who is not prepared.  Families may speak confidentially to Scoutmaster Babunovic about financial support if there is a financial hardship.

We hope that by having a BoR schedule with fixed dates, each Scout will be able to plan out his rank advancement, Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review dates, without any surprises. So, for example, if a Scout knows that he wants to be a First-Class Scout in December, he needs to get his requirements done and have a Scoutmaster Conference probably no later than late November in order to have a chance for a BoR in December. Scouts who take the time to plan this out now have dates to shoot for.

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Here Are the Rules for
Star & Life Service Requirements

By  Mr. Bill Commer, Assistant Scoutmaster

With summer upon us, many of you who either First Class or Star Scouts may be thinking it would be a great time to complete your service requirements for the Star or Life ranks.

While it is perfectly fine if you want to kick back this summer and get a fresh start in September, we just wanted to be sure that each of you is aware of the rules in Troop 7 for completing your Star and Life service requirements. The rules are the same whether you start on your service project now, or wait until September.

For Star:

•  Six (6) hours of community service after you have attained the rank of First Class;
  
  
•  At least two (2) hours must be in an independent community project (outside of such planned Scout activities as someone's Eagle project, our annual fundraisers, and the regular troop community service events).
  
  You'll need to identify, plan and lead the project.. Some project ideas might be to organize and lead a two-hour (2) volunteer effort for your patrol at the Y, or the Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, or at the Library. There's plenty of work that needs doing around town, so we're sure you'll be able to find something to do for the community.
  
  After you've given some thought to what you might want to do, your next step must be to contact Mr. Babunovic. He'll be able to help you work out your ideas and build your project plan;
  
  
•   The remaining four (4) hours can be either an independent project, or such planned Scout activities as helping on someone's Eagle project, cleanup duty at the Memorial Day Parade, etc... ; and
  
  
•  All community service must be reviewed and approved by Scoutmaster Babunovic in advance of doing the service work. Work that Mr. Babunovic has not approved will not be counted as service hours at either your Scoutmaster Conference or Board of Review.

For Life:

•   Six (6) hours of community service after you have attained the rank of Star;
  
  
•  At least three (3) hours must be in an independent community project outside of such planned Scout activities as someone's Eagle project, our annual fundraisers, and the regular troop community service events).
  
  You'll need to identify, plan and lead the project.. Some project ideas might be to organize and lead a three-hour (3) volunteer effort for your patrol at the Y, or the Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, or at the Library. There's plenty of work that needs doing around town, so we're sure you'll be able to find something to do for the community.
  
  After you've given some thought to what you might want to do, your next step must be to contact Mr. Babunovic. He'll be able to help you work out your ideas and build your project plan;
  
  
•  The remaining three (3) hours can be either an independent project, or such Scout activities as helping on someone's Eagle project, cleanup duty at the Memorial Day Parade, etc...; and
  
  
•  All community service must be approved by Scoutmaster Babunovic in advance of doing the service work. Work that Mr. Babunovic has not approved will not be counted as service hours at either your Scoutmaster Conference or Board of Review.

CLICK HERE to download a copy of the guidelines and workkbook.

If you have any questions about the rules, please contact Mr. Babunovic.

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