Advancement procedure

Are you ready to show your skills and rank advance? Here is the info you will need in order to make that happen! 

This message is intended to be read as a Scout who needs understanding of the advancement process. All verbiage of "You" is referring to the Scout! Our hope, as Leaders, is this puts the advancement responsibly on the scout and not the parent(s). See below *Parents for additional detail on sending emails.

Scoutmaster Conference - SMC
  • ​If you have recently joined scouting, your first rank is Scout. You will only need to have a SMC for this rank. Moving forward you will have an additional meeting with the committee (see below).
  • The Scoutmaster will spend approximately an hour reviewing the skills you should know for the rank you are pursuing as well as asking about your time in Troop 65, your plans for your next rank and discussing your ambitions/goals in Scouting and in life. We also want to get your  feedback on the Troop - what's going well, what's not going well, what you would like to see added.
    •Keep in mind that questions may come up from previous ranks to ensure you are staying up on your scouting skills. Situations may arise where the Scoutmaster is not able to meet you in a timely manner, so an Assistant Scoutmaster may conduct the SMC in these circumstances.
  • To schedule a SMC you must reach out to Scoutmaster Hall via email.
    • Email - mhall_t65@icloud.com
      • You MUST copy another leader or parent when you email adults. BSA Youth Protection requires this and their are NO EXCEPTIONS!
      • Please include in your email your name, what rank you are prepared to have a SMC for, and a few dates and times that work best for you. Please note that campouts and summer camps are excellent opportunities to complete these. We also can complete these at our regular Monday meetings, but please keep in mind that by choosing this time might cause you to miss other advancement work while in your SMC. 
      • Mr. Hall will let you know when he's available to meet with you and work to make sure another leader will be present/within view to comply with BSA Youth Protection policy. Once a date/time is confirmed, Mr. Hall will let you know via email.
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Board of Review - BOR
  • Once you have the SMC signed-off in your Scoutbook, you will reach out to the Advancement Chair for scheduling your BOR. We strive to have 3 committee members present for every scout's BOR. These meetings will last approximately 1 hour. 
  • To schedule a BOR you must reach out to the Advancement Chair via email.
    • Email - advancementchair.troop65@gmail.com
      • You MUST copy another leader or parent when you email adults. BSA Youth Protection requires this and their are NO EXCEPTIONS!
      • Please include in your email your name, what rank you are prepared to have a BOR for, and a few dates and times that work best for you. Please not that we do not schedule BOR's during our regular meeting time on Monday's
      • The Advancement Chair will reach out to the committee members for availability. Once confirmed, you will receive an email confirming your scheduled time
​*Parents: Your scout will be using an email address for communicating advancement needs. We are happy for them to use your email address or their own. Please keep in mind that Troop 65 leaders do not provide instruction on how to properly set up, send, or reply to emails. We will leave that task up to you. However, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out.