The March 14 Troop meeting (at RPC) will last until 8:30 (normal time is 8:15). We will also be conducting Boards of Review if we have enough scouts who are ready for a Board. Please check with your scout, and if a Scoutmaster Conference is needed, contact our Scoutmaster. The topic for older scouts will be CPR.

Our Troop meeting this week will be at the Scout Cabin, beginning at 7:00 p.m. on FRIDAY.

Parents: Announcements at Troop meetings will be made at the END of the meeting, not at the beginning. You are free to drop off your scout, but if you want to hear the announcements, please come up to the gym at the end of the meeting.

Just a reminder that there is no Troop meeting on Thursday this week. There will be a meeting at the Scout Cabin on Friday at 7:00.

Scouts will be working on rank advancement requirements at tonight’s meeting. This includes some of our higher ranking scouts who need to teach something using the EDGE method, as well as younger scouts working toward the lower ranks. We will also be working in the attic taking inventory for the Pancake Breakfast, and checking out our Klondike Derby sleds.

Next week (January 24) we will hold Boards of Review. Please let Nancy Hopkins know of scouts who are ready for a Board.

Also next week, Mrs. Lulich will be available to assist scouts in completing the requirements for the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge. Please be aware that your scout may believe he has completed all the requirements, but some of these had to be done outside of class and have not been turned in.

Requirements 8 is: Name your two senators and the member of Congress from your congressional district. Write a letter about a national issue and send it to one of these elected officials, sharing your view with him or her. Show your letter and any response you receive to your counselor. The letter MUST be brought to this meeting.

Also, Requirement 6 MUST be completed, which requires the scout to prepare IN ADVANCE. With your counselor’s approval, choose a speech of national historical importance. Find out about the author, and tell your counselor about the person who gave the speech. Explain the importance of the speech at the time it was given, and tell how it applies to American citizens today. Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why.

We will be having a presentation from the Cook County Sheriff’s office on bullying at the November 29 meeting. We encourage parents and siblings to attend the meeting with their boy scouts. The meeting will be held in the Social Hall (lower level) from 7:00-8:30 p.m. This program teaches students in grades 5-8 how to identify and understand the problem of bullying and harassment. Students learn the cause of, effects of, and non-violent solutions to bullying through age appropriate activities and discussions. Internet bullying will also be discussed.

Reminder: The Troop Meeting this week will be on FRIDAY at the SCOUT CABIN.

Scouts who worked with Mrs. Lulich on the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge will have a 2nd session tonight. Scouts who need the orienteering requirements for 1st Class (1st year scouts plus those who missed the outing last year or previous years) will work on compass/map skills tonight.

Reminder: The Troop meeting this week is on FRIDAY, at 7:00 at the Scout Cabin. Scouts can be picked up at 8:30.

Scouts who have compasses should bring them to the meeting this Friday AND the meeting next week, Thursday at the RPC gym. We will be working Friday on compass basics and next Thursday on how to use a compass and maps in preparation for our Waterfall Glen outing (November 10).

Scouts who have been working on cooking requirements for 2nd and 1st Class can bring any completed homework to the cabin to show a leader to get signed off.

Mrs. Lulich will be at the Troop Meeting on Thursday, October 11, to sign blue cards for the Law Merit Badge. She will also be available to help scouts who have already started the Citizenship badges, or the Communications badge.