As many returning units know, Ockanickon has always tried to provide the best
after-camp support of advancement records.
Whether merit badge card or BSA Lifeguard Certification
Ockanickon has
tried very hard to ensure quality record keeping to fill in gaps in
advancement
records.
For years
this process has been
both informal and unpredictable but due to great efforts to improve
record
keeping during the 2006 season, our records paint a more accurate
picture of
youth participation than ever before.
They are not perfect and do have some holes, but as always
Ockanickon
persues continuous improvement and hopes to provide more availability
of information than ever before.
What
Ockanickon Records
Ockanickon
generally records anything that falls into one of
the following classes, please check to make sure a pending request is
for one
of the following types of activities or your request will both yield no
information as well as waste time:
Merit Badges
– Normally scheduled badges where a Scout has
submitted a properly detailed merit badge card are always recorded. If a Scout failed to
submit a merit badge
card or submitted one with erroneous or illegible information, no
record is
made unless the badge instructor was contacted directly during your
stay. So, if Timmy
showed up for Pottery, sat
through the instruction but completed neither a project nor a merit
badge card,
it is unlikely that Ockanickon will have a participation record.
By Appointment Badges
- By Appointment badges are designed
to be done in their entirety before a Scout comes to camp. If an instructor saw
incomplete work, he was
within his right to deny instruction as the badge would automatically
result in
a partial. Since
all work for By
Appointment badges must be done ahead of time anyway, your Scout should
still
have the work they did and can present those requirements to another
badge
instructor for review. So,
in short,
unless a Scout completed a By Appointment badge and didn’t
merely attempt it,
no record was made.
Rank Advancement Work
– Dan Beard has thorough records of
all completed requirements whether in the week-long program or during
by
appointment sessions.
Certifications
– This category includes:
BSA Lifeguard
Safety Afloat
Safe Swim Defense
Coyne CPR
What we don’t record:
Climb On Safely
Trek Safely
Leave No Trace (true Leave No Trace Training is at least 8
hours and typically takes place during a weekend)
Belay Certification
Participation
in camp-wide activities such as the water
carnival, troop boating, volleyball tournament and the campfire are not
recorded. Validation is at the discretion of your unit leader
for
qualification as a troop/patrol activity for rank advancement.
Replacement Cards and
Certifications
Replacement
Cards and Proof of Certification are
available. Please
check the following
before contacting Ockanickon for advancement records:
1. Only unit leaders,
advancement chairpersons or merit badge instructors may request
replacements. In
many cases, we are
contacted by parents who may not realize their unit already has an
activity
record.
2.
Check the list
above to make sure your request is for something we record. Since we don’t
record Leave No Trace
participation, we have no way of verifying participation and replacing
a
certificate.
3.
Collect as much
information about the request as possible.
Requests for “all badges done by Mike Richaults
at Ockanickon” or “all
badges completed by Troop 143 in 2006” will be ignored as
they are simply too
general to be completed in a timely manner.
How to Get a Replacement Card
While
resident camp is not in session Ockanickon provides replacement cards
and certificates by mail. Include the name of the person who
attempted the activity, as well as their unit, council and if possible,
week of stay. If this information is not included, the card will be
returned blank. Please send a self-addressed stamp envelope
along with a properly filled in merit badge card to:
Replacement Merit Badge Cards
5787 State Park Rd.
Pipersville, PA 18947
Please allow 3-4 weeks to
receive replacement cards.
Replacement
CPR Cards
Replacement
merit badge cards are provided directly by Coyne and are available at a
cost of $5.00. Please contact Dave Fischer directly at
215-297-5290 x13 to coordinate a replacement.
Other
Concerns
If you believe the information in your replacement card is in error,
the Program Director is available at 215-297-5290 x16.
If you have
additional questions, as always, you may contact Ockanickon
at
questions@ockanickon.org
or at 215-297-5290 x16