If you are scout leader or merit badge counselor looking for ideas or material to use, it really is slim pickin’s on the web. Not much material is out there, and what is out there is not very useful. My hat’s off to meritbadge.com and usscouts.org, both timely and useful resource sites.
Unfortunately, neither of these really gave me what I was looking for – quality training material. I’ve gone seeking powerpoints, checklists, trip planning ideas, actual discussion on meritbadge program ideas, good simple handouts for knots, etc., etc. with no success. There is a niche out there that needs to be filled.
My idea is to put up what I’ve produced, express my views on the subject of scouting today, and hopefully find any like-minded parents out there that see the benefits of building a collective resource library for all to share, build, and improve. This is all about helping our kids better prepare for life and having a positive scouting experience.
If you’ve got anything to share don’t hesitate to send across. If you want my original .ppt files, happy to send, just let me know. Some are too big to post.
I do realize the raw beginnings of this site are a bit provincial. I apologize for that, but I am just posting material on things I know about. Hopefully over time this resource site can reach far and wide.
YIS, BP
About the site name- I started this site in WordPress, a free and easy to use web resource to do this type of publishing. (I have a note under computer merit badge that explains more.) Since the intention of this web site is to be a resource for good material and not just a collection of links, I ran out of free space as I added attachments. I was talked into creating an actual URL by a knowledgeable web person rather than expanding the wordpress site for a fee.
Finding a quality domain name is not easy. I wanted something both relevant and easy to remember. Unfortunately most of the good names I could come up with were already taken (going to these sites you’ll find all the same typical crappy web stuff - broken links and the same old not very useful scout material that is on 50 other sites). I started my wordpress blog as “goodscoutkarma” to denote the positive spirit of sharing with each other for the benefit of all. Feeling it may not have universal appeal, I came up with Scouting Club.
I chose this because it spans both scouting and outing clubs. Scouting was not around (or not visible to me) where I grew up. Rather, we had this great outing club in high school led by a very good teacher, Mr. Arno. The experiences he brought us had a big impact on my life.
