Scout Handbook

The traditional way Troops keep track of their advancement is by getting adult signatures in their Scout handbook. There are two important reasons why this should not be the sole means of record keeping:

• The handbooks are not always available when the advancement is completed. Often, a Scout does not bring his handbook to an activity. In some cases, such as backpacking or water activities, we discourage Scouts from bringing their handbooks because they will likely get damaged. Without handbooks. there needs to be an alternate way to keep track of advancement.
• Handbooks get lost. This happens more than we want, but these are teenage and pre-teen young men. It is catostrophic when all records of a Scout are lost.

Consequently, the Troop keeps advancement records on a computer. This allows us to keep redundant copies of the records and simplifies our records transmission to the Council when a Scout applies for the Eagle rank.

The handbook does have important uses. For redundant records keeping, it is useful to record dates and signatures when possible. Scoutmaster conferences and Boards of Review are expecially important dates to record in the handbook.

Some advancement requirements need specific information recorded that is not part of the computer record. These should be recorded in the margins of the handbook on the rank advancement pages. Examples are:

• Dates of campouts that apply to Tenderfoot, Sencond Class and First Class advancement.
• Tenderfoot Olympics scores.
• For Star, Life and Eagle, the starting and ending dates for Positions of Responsibility.

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