How and why adult leader recognition is important for ScoutMasters, Assistants, Committee and the boys in the scouting program.
- Awards for Adult Leaders (Scouting.org)
- Big List of Scouter knots you can earn (some are retired)
- PDF Presentation on knots you can earn, and explanations of the different knots.
- Local recognition can be found through your council’s website, or call your scout service center. For example, these are awards for Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, and Spark Plug for Theodore Roosevelt Council, in Nassau County for 2018.
- Award Coin gift for Committee Chairperson (Amazon)
- Assistant Scoutmaster Award Coin (Amazon)
Transcript:
I’m going start out by saying that I’m not big on recognition for myself. In fact I never even put in for a recognition knot until cub scouts were long gone and I was in the boy scouting program.
For those that don’t know, there are lots of recognition knots that can be earned and worn on the uniform. They are some for service given where you can apply for them as leaders and there are some awards that are bestowed on a leader for the work he has done within the scouting program. Some awards are not knots, some are certificates, plaques and such.
From here on out I’ll refer to any and all of these as recognition – generically.
But, as I said, I’m not personally big on recognition, but I will say that recognition is important. If you are leader in the scouting program and you believe you go above and beyond the basics, I feel you deserve to be recognized.
Theodore Roosevelt council on Long Island recognizes scouters with Cubmaster of the year, scoutmaster of the year, committee chairperson of the year, district award of merit, silver beaver awards and spark plug awards.
The problem with all of these awards however is it generally requires someone from your unit to nominate you, and if you are the one carrying all the water for your troop the others are blissfully unaware you can even earn recognition, so sadly there are some years where nobody is put up for many of these awards.
So, if you are a scouter in a unit, take a moment and look around at your pack and your troop and take the few minutes to fill out the paperwork to recognize someone important to your unit.
Not only does this show the person you appreciate them, but it shows the boys and other adults that these contributions matter.
I’m sure that if you looked around you would find candidates that have attended summer camps without fail, and taken advanced training over multiple weekends like woodbadge, and took a contingent of boys down to sea base.
Recognition makes the unit stronger, by setting the example that hard work and dedication matter. But this is what works for us.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was recognition for adult leaders.
