In response to the CCP Board request to haveall Courts of Honor at Family Nights, the Scouts of Troop 316voted to make no changes in our schedule for Courts Of Honor.I believe that the following letter, which was sent to the CCPBoard on November 24, 1999, fairly represents Troop 316's positionon this issue.
To: ccp_board
From: "John D. McCarthy" <mccarthy@math.msu.edu>
Subject: Re: 1999/2000 Troop 316 Plan
Dear Members of the CCP Board,
Thank you for your commendation. I think thatSteven, especially, should
be commended for handling the presentation so well. If you thinkto speak
to him personally about this, I think that would be very encouragingto him.
But I will let him know that I received this commendation fromyou on
behalf of his troop.
Thank you also for your thoughts on improvingthis calendar.
I now wish to address the issue of Courts ofHonor:
> 6) Courts Of Honor - edit calendar tohave all Courts of Honor at
>Family Nights (we will adjust agenda).
Let me begin by quoting from the present "ScoutmasterHandbook".
This quote is taken from p. 122-123 in Chapter 10, Advancement,"Four Steps of Advancement", "Step 4 - A Scoutis Recognized".
I will follow my usual procedure of placingquotes between rows of asterisks
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Immediate recognition is a powerful incentive of the BSA's advancementprogram. A Scout should receive the new badge as soon as possibleafter his achievement has been certified by a board of review.A simple ceremony at the conclusion of a troop meeting or duringa campout is ideal, with the Scoutmaster making the presentationof the badge.
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Before proceeding with the quote, let me justremark that the kind of ceremony mentioned here is the kind ofceremony that we have often had at CCP Family Night, and which,I might add, we may very well still have to the profit of everyoneinvolved.
But, as we shall now see reflected in the continuationof the above quote, BSA program policy requires much more thanthis kind of "simple" ceremony.
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In addition, a troop holds a court of honor every three months- a formal recognition with families, friends, and the publicin attendance.
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Before proceeding with the quote, let me recorda couple of remarks.
First of all, note that a court of honor isto be held quarterly. The calendar which BSA Troop 316 presentedto the CCP Board meets this requirement.
The first CCP Family Night this year was onOctober 28, 1999. The sixth and last CCP Family Night is scheduledfor April 27, 2000. This is followed by the CCP Banquet on May18, 2000.
I am going to assume in my remarks here thatthe CCP Banquet counts as a Family Night as far as the above requirement"6)" on Courts of Honor and Family Nights is concerned.Please correct me if this assumption is incorrect.
Note that the time span from the beginningof October until the end of May, the span of months in which thereare Family Nights in the 1999/2000 CCP Calendar, is exactly 8months, excluding, as it does, the 4 months of June, July, Augustand September. If BSA Troop 316 is going to conform to the BSApolicy of having Courts of Honor every 3 months, then the minimumpossible time span for its Courts of Honor on its 1999/2000 Calendaris 10 months. This figure is arrived at from the following twoconsiderations: (1) the aforementioned policy requires 4 Courtsof Honor per year, scheduled at 3 month intervals, and (2) 1 +3 + 3 + 3 = 10.
These observations indicate that it is notpossible for BSA Troop 316 to simultaneously (1) obey the requirementof the CCP Board to "edit calendar to have all Courts ofHonor at Family Nights" and (2) meet its obligations to deliverthe promise of Scouting by conforming its program to BSA policy.
As I mentioned in a previous letter to theCCP Board, I believe that, as Scoutmaster of BSA Troop 316, itis my primary responsibility to deliver the promise of Scouting.My primary interest is, and must be, to assist the Scouts of BSATroop 316 to put together a well rounded BSA program, which movesthe Scouts forward in their advancement towards the lofty goalof attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Consequently, on accountof the aforementioned conflict between the requirement of theCCP Board and the obligations of Scouting, I respectfully declineto instruct BSA Troop 316 to edit its calendar to have all Courtsof Honor at Family Nights. In line with this, I respectfully requestthat the CCP Board remove this requirement upon BSA Troop 316as a prerequisite for this board's approval of the BSA Troop 3161999/2000 Calendar.
Secondly, I wish to acknowledge that everyceremonial advancement recognition portion of CCP Family Nightis indeed "a formal recognition with families, friends, andthe public in attendance". Please understand that I am notcontending this valid point. I am only pointing out that theseceremonies are more in line with the "simple ceremony"alluded to in the quote above. I believe that this point willbe reinforced as we continue with the quote.
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In addition, a troop holds a court of honor every three months- a formal recognition with families, friends, and the publicin attendance. All Scouts who have moved up to any rank exceptEagle Scout, or who have earned merit badges since the last courtof honor, should be recognized. (A special Eagle Scout court ofhonor will be held after an Eagle Scout board of review has certifiedthat a Scout has completed all of the requirements for that rankand the application has been approved by the National Council.The Scout and his family should be involved in planning the ceremonyand selecting those who will make the presentation of the award.)
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Before proceeding with the quote, let me justremark that it is my understanding that the reference to "TheScout" in the last sentence in the quote above refers tothe Scout who is going to be recognized at the Eagle Scout Courtof Honor. The whole process of advancement to the rank of EagleScout, including policies governing the constitution of the Boardof Review for an Eagle Scout, differs from the corresponding processesfor the earlier ranks of Scouting.
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Courts of honor may be chaired by the head of the troop committeeor the troop committee member responsible for advancement. Theplanning of the program also should be handled by these individuals,along with other members of the committees.
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Before proceeding with the quote, let me justremark that the job of organizing courts of honor, according toBSA policy, belongs to the troop committee, as is reflected inthe above quote.
Note that BSA Troop 316 has a Court of Honorscheduled for CCP Family Night on Thursday, December 9, 1999.The intended primary purpose of this Court of Honor is to recognizeall new Scouts for completing the joining requirements for theScout Badge.
At last night's meeting of BSA Troop 316, StevenMcCarthy agreed to contact John O'Donnell about getting togetherwith BSA Troop 316 Advancement Specialist Rose Batdorff to planthis Court of Honor. I have materials on Courts of Honor whichI hope will be of use to Rose, Steven and John as they plan thisCourt of Honor.
Jayne Harris has requested that BSA Troop 316provide her with details of this Court of Honor by Monday, December6, 1999 so that she can try to adjust the agenda for CCP FamilyNight to include this Court of Honor. I hope that Rose, Stevenand John will meet this deadline.
The continuation of the quote includes somehelpful guidelines for planning a Court of Honor.
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Courts of honor can be very meaningful experiences for Scouts.To make the most of the opportunity, those planning a court ofhonor might consider these guidelines:
* Publish the dates for courts of honor inthe troop calendar.
* Promote an upcoming court of honor throughoutthe troop.
* Involve the chartered organization.
* Invite local media.
* Have all awards on hand and certificatessigned well in advance of the event.
* Ensure that the meeting place is appropriateand properly set up. Consider outdoor locations, weather permitting.
* Use decorations and props that are fittingfor the occasion.
* Make the ceremony dignified and meaningful,both for Scouts and for the audience.
* Consider serving refreshments afterward andproviding adults and Scouts time to visit.
* Watch the time. Most courts of honor shouldlast no longer than an hour.
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This is the end of the quote which we havebeen discussing above.
Note that the above starred items are "guidelines"not policy statements. Hence, I believe, BSA Troop 316 is notobligated to implement all of these guidelines. There are, however,some remarks which are prompted by these guidelines, and whichI wish to record at this point.
First of all, note how the tone of these "guidelines"reflects the high regard which the BSA program affords to thespecial nature of a Court of Honor.
I remember very well the first time I saw aBSA Court of Honor on the evening news. I was watching the eveningnews with Cathy, when I saw, on my TV screen, Dave Cook, Scoutmasterof Troop 92 from Ovid, shaking hands with one of his Scouts ashe presented an award to this Scout. I said to Cathy, "Itook BSA Basic Leader Training with that guy." (I have sincelearned to refer to "that guy" as Dave Cook. I havegotten to know Dave more through BSA Roundtables, and BSA Troop316 camped with Dave Cook's BSA Troop 92, and two other troops,at the Sleepy Hollow Pioneering Campout back in September.)
I think that BSA Troop 316 made some stepstoward having what can truly be considered a BSA Court of Honorat the CCP Banquet last year, when BSA Troop 316 had a more formalrecognition ceremony than its usual "simple" ceremoniesat CCP Family Nights. I hope, however, that we can have Courtsof Honor which are much more impressive than even that more formalrecognition ceremony.
Secondly, note that, without so much as a blinkof an eye, these "guidelines" state that "Mostcourts of honor should last no longer than an hour." Theunderlying thought here is that one planning a Court of Honormight expect it to take longer than an hour. The counsel hereis that one not allow that to happen. In contrast to this expectation,I believe, our present expectation is that a Court of Honor mighttake about 15 minutes, at most. (I don't believe that the moreformal recognition ceremony which BSA Troop 316 conducted as aCourt of Honor at the CCP Banquet last year took much longer,if any longer, than 15 minutes.)
It is my understanding that Courts of Honorwill tend to be longer in troops that have Scouts at several differentranks. These troops will need to have, say, a Tenderfoot recognitionceremony, a Second Class recognition ceremony, a First Class recognitionceremony, a Star Rank recognition ceremony, and a Life Rank recognitionceremony. The planning materials for Courts of Honor which I haveinclude more than one suggested sample ceremony for each of theseceremonies, as well as for the Eagle Scout Court of Honor. I willrestrain myself, at this point, from going into more details aboutthese suggested sample ceremonies. If you, however, are interested,I can provide more information.
We can expect, at this point, that our Courtsof Honor will not need to be as long as troops with Scouts atseveral different ranks. We are not yet that kind of Troop. Ihope, however, that we will one day be that kind of troop. Aswe anticipate that day, we should be laying down a foundation,a tradition, of impressive Courts of Honor, that will providethe Scouts of BSA Troop 316 with the kind of proud recognitionthat the BSA program envisions for its Scouts.
I believe that, in order to lay down this kindof foundation, the CCP Board should support BSA Troop 316 in itsplans to conduct two out of our four Courts of Honor for the 1999/2000Calendar as separate events from CCP Family Night.
I respectfully request that the CCP Board removeits requirement that BSA Troop 316 edit its calendar to have allCourts of Honor at CCP Family Night. I believe that I have offeredmore than enough justification for this request. I pray that Godwill grant the CCP Board the wisdom to abandon its decision toplace this requirement upon the BSA Troop 316 1999/2000 Calendar.
Respectfully submitted,
John D. McCarthy
Scoutmaster
BSA Troop 316
Ojibwas District
Chief Okemos Council
Last Revised 12/22/99