Merry Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas everyone!   It’s the 21^st of December and Christmas Break for our boys has started (although not for the grownups), so it must be time for the annual Christmas letter to be written.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, it’s been a busy year.  Having two boys in the Intermediate School has put our calendar on steroids.

Let’s start with Karen this year – Her big news is that within the next few weeks, her second published paper “I Don’t Fit In:  What is Nonverbal Learning Disorder?” will be included in an issue of the Illinois Counseling Association’s publication “Contact.”   Amid all the research, she’s keeping her counseling license current, and still working as an office manager for a Podiatrist.  Although, the Podiatrist has changed. . . Dr. Dennis, her previous employer has sold her Springfield practice, and Karen stayed with the practice and its new owner, Dr. Rolens.   Her health challenges have continued, as she’s had multiple dental surgeries and is about halfway through twelve weeks of soft foods and wearing a mouth splint to treat Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ).   She’s looking forward to February 10^th.

Patrick remains with the Illinois Department of Transportation.  He’s picked up a few new responsibilities, and now coordinates IDOT’s Information Technology Efforts for tracking Commercial Motor Vehicles.  This involves a LOT of time on the phone, as commercial vehicles in Illinois are administered by five separate state agencies, and he has to coordinate with any interested county or municipal law enforcement agency, plus the US Department of Transportation.  Patrick’s still a Scout Leader, as well, although his grand plan to do less appears to have gone astray.  He’s currently serving as a Unit Commissioner, helping two troops and cub scout pack to improve their programs, as well as serving as a Cub Scout Leader in the boys’ old Pack and a Boy Scout Leader in the boys’ troop.

Joshua is a 5^th grader this year, at the Intermediate School.  He’s enjoying being in the same building as his big brother for a year.  He’s also picked up the trombone, and was thrilled with a successful concert earlier this month.   He’s even more thrilled that he’s completed his Arrow of Light and isn’t a Cub Scout any more, but is now a full-fledged Boy Scout in Troop 48.

John’s had a very full year.   As most of you know, he became a boy scout at the end of 2015, and he’s progressed rapidly through the ranks, needing only a couple of odds and ends before he becomes a First Class Scout in January.  He’s a 6^th grader, in his last year at the Intermediate school, and looking forward to moving to the Middle School next year.  John immerses himself in reading, especially maritime history.   His big event this year was a week at the Jr. National Young Leaders Conference in Washington DC.   He got to fly from Chicago to DC as an unaccompanied minor (even if his luggage didn’t quite make it with him), and to visit Harper’s Ferry, the monuments on the mall and the US Capitol.  He was particularly impressed with his chance to be on the House Floor.   He capped off his DC Experience, by being chosen to introduce the closing keynote speaker, Anthony Robles.  John’s very proud of his experience, and mom and dad are proud that he not only got to go to DC, but that he made a series of speeches to various community groups before and after his trip. 

A bit of housekeeping – in 2015 we moved to 27 Tanglewood Drive in Chatham IL.   Several of you have sent Christmas cards and letters to “22 Tanglewood” and that’s threatening to make our letter carrier go postal.   Please correct your records.

Merry Christmas!

Patrick, Karen, John and Joshua

This year’s pictures were taken at Fort Kaskaskia State Park and Fort de Chartres State Historical Site in Randolph County Illinois during our only weekend in October that didn’t have a Scout Function.       

     

John -- Age 12

Joshua -- Age 11

Building Patrol Method in an Existing Troop

As a Unit Commissioner, I see troops with all levels of adherence to “The Patrol Method” – the four troops with which I’m most familiar all have different methods of dealing with their patrols.   Recently, one of them asked me about strengthening the patrols in their troop.

First, the contrasts . . . we’ll list the troops from largest to smallest (I’m using letters here - and changing some details, because I don’t want to insult anyone and I don’t want readers trying to figure out which troop is which in reality):

Troop A has about 50 members, and an outstanding outdoor program.   There’s a significant group of their scouts en-route to a high adventure base each summer.   Members of this troop are present in every sub-group I can think of in the council; camp staff, our OA lodge, Eagle Board-of-review, Unit Commissioner Staff,  District training staff, District committee.  You name it, Troop A’s fingerprints are on it.  They have a truly incredible recruiting effort with Cub Scouts, with 8-12 Den Chiefs out at multiple Cub packs, and they are the only troop I know that truly follows-up on visiting Cub Scouts.  (Visiting families get a Thank You card signed by the SPL and Scribe, with contact information for the Scoutmaster).

 

The last time I visited them, there were 7 “functioning” patrols that evening.   By that, I mean that as I sat in the corner of the room watching, there were seven groups of youth obviously being led by a patrol leader.  On paper, they have ten patrols, ranging from four very large patrols of younger scouts down to one last remaining patrol that they jokingly call the “Ghost Patrol” – it has two members, both Eagle Scouts and Junior Assistant Scoutmasters.   Patrols in Troop A build intense esprit de corps and have a very strong identity because the troop borrows a bit from the Cub Scout program --right now they have two patrols of eight 5^th graders who have just crossed over from Cub Scouts, two smaller patrols of 6^th graders who are mostly 1^st Class Scouts, two more patrols of about 5-6 members each of 7^th graders, one patrol of 8^th graders, and two more “consolidated” patrols of high school kids (plus the “Ghost PatroL” I mentioned earlier).     Scouts joining the troop stay in their patrol as long as the patrol exists.   Typically, when the two patrols of scouts of the same age drop below a combined membership of 8, the smaller patrol is “absorbed” by the bigger one, and when two patrols of adjacent years (i.e. the 15 year old patrol and 16 year old patrol) drop below 8, they’re consolidated as well.  

Troop A’s patrols typically build a Patrol Box and a Klondike Derby Sled (with assistance from adults and older scouts) early on in their existence, and make a Patrol Flag on their own.  The Troop Quartermaster issues gear for their patrol box and they’re responsible for it until the patrol disbands.  The patrol gear is often custom decorated by the patrol.

I’m not sure I like this method of organization, but I have to say it works well for Troop A.    And the very strong patrols they’ve built do outings on their own, separate from the troop.  They also have a very strong Patrol Leader’s Council, which does plan the troop’s schedule – to the point of saying “Patrol X is sponsoring this outing and Patrol Y is coordinating that outing. “

Troop B may be the best-running “pure patrol method” troop I deal with.   They’ve got about 35-40 members, in a “Senior Patrol” consisting of the SPL, ASPL, Quartermaster, Scribe, Troop Guide, OA Rep, and a couple of other older scouts. The rest of the troop is in 3 “regular patrols” of about 6-7 scouts and a “New Scout Patrol” of first-year Scouts.    Troop B’s patrols are issued a Patrol Box roughly a year at a time (they have a “Spring Cleaning” day on a Saturday where the boxes are emptied, gear cleaned and adjustments are made).   Their PLC is, again, very strong, with a monthly meeting following an agenda published a couple weeks before the meeting by the SPL (with support from the Scoutmaster).  They have an annual program planning conference and the PLC is encouraged to dream big – with a summer multi-state trip every year, and older scouts participating in council High Adventure contingents.

New scouts spend a year in the “New Scout Program” in a patrol (or patrols) made up just of new scouts.  New Scouts rotate acting as Patrol Leader and Assistant Patrol Leader so everyone gets an idea of what the job does, with the Troop Guide watching over them.  As they finish their first year, the “regular patrols” compete for members of the new scout patrol.   The three regular patrols right now, have two that are composed of 6-9^th graders, and one that shades a bit older . . .I don’t think they have any 6-7^th graders, but they do have a several scouts with driver’s licenses.

Troop C is a bit more “free-and-easy” with their patrols.   New Scouts are in a single patrol, and if there are enough of them at the end of the year, they sometimes convert to a “regular” patrol – but almost always add in a couple of older scouts if they do that.  As I write this, a couple of weeks before Summer Vacation starts, the troop has a four-man “Green Bar Patrol” (a bit more on that name later), with the SPL, ASPL, Troop Guide and a scout who is both Quartermaster and Scribe, two patrols of about 6 members each that are 6^th graders and up. (The troop’s also a bit on the young side, with only three or four scouts older than 9^th grade.  Those older scouts are not members of a patrol, and are Junior Assistant Scoutmasters and the troop’s OA Rep).  Their new scout patrol has 8 members at the moment, all 5^th graders who were WEBELOS together.   They are going to grow to 9 members in the next week or so. . .they have a new member attending who wasn’t a Cub Scout and can’t “officially” join until his 11^th Birthday.

Troop C mixes and matches its patrols about once a year – it’s not unusual for there to be four patrols in January, and three in February – and all three of the patrols have completely new names.   Patrol boxes are issued 6 months at a time, and patrols are expected to have a flag and patrol yell pretty quickly after they choose a name.  (This can get to borderline hazing . . . I’ve seen a patrol, six weeks after its organization, presented with a “Question Mark” flag, as a stand-in until they get their flag done – in that case 7 days later)

Troop C, has a very experienced Scoutmaster, who likes to train his junior leaders and get out of their way.    They can be a bit rough around the edges, because Troop C’s junior leaders are not interfered with; so if they forget to plan an outing, they don’t go.    If the SPL doesn’t have an agenda for the PLC meeting, it isn’t very productive.

They’ve lost out on some recruits over the years, because parents seek a more structured program for their Scouts . . . but the boys who get into this environment tend to thrive.   This fairly small troop, with just 24 members on the roster, has an outsized presence at the council’s NYLT course coming up this summer (Almost a third of the troop is involved either on staff or as students; although not a single adult is involved).

An epilogue about Troop C’s “Green Bar” patrol: they use it as a sort-of “uberpatrol” for special activities for older scouts – Officially it’s the four junior leaders I mentioned before (SPL, ASPL, Quartermaster/Scribe and Troop Guide), plus all of the Patrol Leaders and Assistant Patrol Leaders.  They meet monthly for the regular PLC meetings, and twice a year for training, plus a couple of “fun” activities each year – often hikes or other activities that might be too strenuous for younger scouts.

Troop D, the one asking me about how to build a stronger patrol system in their troop, has a pretty cool outdoor program too – but they focus on backpacking.  I noticed that only once since the first of the year has this troop had a campout that the boys ate by patrol – the last three in a row have been meals out of the backpacks, with either  the individual or a smaller group (usually 2 or 3 scouts) cooking together.  This troop has about 15 active members who are all in two patrols “on paper” with the SPL and ASPL drawn out of one of the patrols.  There is a Troop Scribe, but no other troop-level junior leaders.

I’ve had a series of conversations with adults at Troop D about strengthening their patrols, but thus far refrained from giving any concrete advice.  On their own, they (with some help from the PLC) came up with the idea of having a couple of patrol outings.  The troop March and May outings are early in the month and the April and June outings are late in the month – Patrols met in late March for an “indoor activity” (One patrol had a pizza and movie night and the other patrol went bowling as a group), and they’ll have the opportunity again in late May/early June.  I know that one of the patrols is meeting next Saturday to make a patrol flag (the first one the troop’s seen in recent memory).

My first advice is going to be to get the PLC meeting on a regular basis (they met in February to ratify the calendar that the Troop Committee created in January), and my next is to get more training done of the Junior Leaders.  (Again, that’s not all my work – the troop had decided to send two scouts to NYLT as students before they asked me about the patrol method.   But they have never done any “in troop” training like ILST – I’m hoping that can happen over the summer with guys who might be ready for NYLT in 2017).   My third comment is that backpacking does not preclude cooking and eating as a group – having the patrols make a menu instead of “pick a backpacking meal for two from the troop quartermaster” would be a good start.  

We’ll see how things go from there.

Annual Program Planning

A couple of weeks ago, I made a blog post about our “Troop Operations Training,” which took place on a Saturday, starting with breakfast for the “Staff” and ending with lunch for all participants.   This post will continue that same Saturday.   We used one of the small breakout rooms from the morning to do our Annual Planning Conference.  This post will walk through that process.

My standard disclaimer applies – Just because I did something a certain way, doesn’t necessarily mean YOU should do the same.  Pick and choose what works.  (The troop where these events happened when I was scoutmaster 20-some years ago doesn’t use this exact method any more either, but I like it.)

After lunch, we put everything away and then set up the room for the afternoon session.   Quite a few of our scouts from the morning session were free to go.  Scouts needed for the program planning were the SPL, ASPL, Troop Guide, Scribe, Quartermaster, and the four Patrol Leaders (Assistant Patrol Leaders were welcome but not required).  My assistants remained, as did our committee chair, and the treasurer came as well.   Many years, our Chartered Organization Rep and Unit Commissioner also put in an appearance.

For our program planning, we started out with my quick presentation of what I expected.   I typically had a short bullet list like this:

• Sponsor one short term camp or day activity each month, including the month of summer camp.
• Attend summer camp, and provide a second opportunity for scouts unable to attend our traditional week.  (The troop had two large contingents of boys from religious schools.  Our traditional summer camp week was also Junior High Church Camp week for one of them.  So we typically sent a patrol and one or two adults as the core of a “provisional” troop for the council.  Some years we had as many as 8-10 scouts from other troops join us that week.)
• Attend the Lincoln Pilgrimage (a local event every April at Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb), plus the Council Klondike Derby, Spring Camp-o-ree and Fall Camp-o-ree.
• Plan four courts of honor, roughly in July (post summer camp), October, January and April.
• Plan no events during the OA Annual Meeting weekend, and spring and fall conclave weekends.
• Plan an overnight cabin-camp for junior leader training in January or February. 
• Choose eight monthly program themes for September through May.  (Originally, this was to be 10, and we did program all summer, but an SPL led a “revolt” that ended in them asking me to let them have less instruction and more game time in the summer.  I agreed as a “trial” and it worked so well, we kept it). 

After my presentation of the goals, the boys spent a half-hour or so plugging in council and district events, school events (we didn’t want to run a camp-out the weekend of a big track meet, for example), holidays and so on.   We also had to account for a couple of events that our Chartering Organization had that kept us out of our primary meeting room.

Then we moved into the “dreaming” section – this was where they came up with things like “Let’s drive 250 miles to southern Missouri for a weekend canoe trip.  (That became a regular occurrence)  Or “Let’s take the train to Washington DC and spend a week.  (That never happened)

Once they had the camp-outs and summer camp plugged in, we went back and figured what sessions to do in which meetings, and when to have the Courts of Honor and troop reorganizations.   

As a large and fast-growing troop, we tended to add a patrol or two in the spring as new scouts joined from Cub Scouts and shrink by a patrol or two in the fall as some of the new boys quit, and some of our older ones left also.   And, as you can see, we were putting a LOT of strain on junior leaders, so that they tended to want to change jobs every six months or so.   Our basic goal was to have one SPL do the program plan and run the troop up until just before the Cub Scout crossovers happened, and the other SPL for the year accept the new scouts and run troop at summer camp.

As a final note, on our Courts of Honor – by design, each of them had a different character.   The October/November Court of honor was done in place of a regular Monday night meeting.  This tended to be a handful of rank advancements, plus merit badges for older scouts – especially badges that had come home from summer camp as partials.  We usually had cookies and punch afterward.    The January Court of Honor was mostly geared towards recognizing new junior leaders and any reorganized patrols.   It was also fairly short, although it did tend to have a number of 1^st Class ranks being awarded for scouts who’d been really focused since joining 10 months before.   The January event was often on a Sunday afternoon, with pizza or a pot-luck.  The April Court of Honor recognized new and soon-to-be new scouts, plus a rush to get all the awards possible out to the scouts before the Lincoln Pilgrimage (which features a public parade with everyone in his best uniform) – The April court of honor was also a Monday night with cookies and punch after.  Our July Court of Honor handled all of the summer camp advancement, plus new junior leaders and reorganized patrols.  We often used one of the campsites or a lodge at our local council camp and had a pot-luck for this one on a Saturday afternoon.

The monthly programs varied over the years, but the PLC generally had favorites that they tried to run annually, and also some every two years.   Looking back at troop history, I see that in the 1994-1995 school year, when they were getting geared up for Philmont, they did the following:

Month	1st Year Program	Others	Outing
September 1994	2nd Class Emphasis	Orienteering	Troop camp at a nearby state park
October 1994	Camping requirements for 2nd Class, 1st Class and Camping MB	Wilderness Survival	Council Fall Camp-o-ree/Orienteering Meet Court of Honor
November 1994	1st Class Emphasis	Citizenship in the Community	Troop camp at our local scout camp. Meeting with the Mayor + a City Council Meeting.
December 1994	Make-up sessions	Citizenship in the Community	St. Louis Science Center Day Trip
January 1995	First Aid MB	Emergency Preparedness MB	Council Klondike Derby Troop Reorganization
February 1995	Cooking MB	Indian Lore MB	Council First Aid Meet Court of Honor
March 1995	Make-up sessions	Backpacking MB	Troop camp at a private campground (10 mile hike with Backpacks). Scouting for Food.
April 1995	Tenderfoot Emphasis	Backpacking MB/Hiking MB	Lincoln Pilgrimage (20 mile hike on Saturday with packs for Hiking MB, parade on Sunday)
May 1995	Tenderfoot Emphasis	Pioneering MB	District Spring Camp-o-ree
June 1995	Tenderfoot Emphasis	Summer Routine	Weekend camp at a state historical site. Primary Summer Camp.
July 1995	Make-up Sessions	Summer Routine	Secondary Summer Camp. Philmont Expedition. Troop camp at State Park.  (This happened while most junior leaders were at Philmont and was run by younger scouts.)
August 1995	Make-up Sessions	Summer Routine	Canoe Trip.

On top of all of the above, we had three weekend backpacking trips for our Philmont Crew (which was centered on one “older scout” patrol, plus the junior leadership and a few others).  We also had a large number of active members of the Order of the Arrow in the troop, and so three or four times in that year we had 12-20 members of the troop camping with our OA Lodge, plus a Winter Dinner in January. 

Add to that most years (although not the summer of 1995), a few of our scouts attending what would now be called NYLT for a week in July.

I’m especially proud of the fact that, per my instructions in July 1994, the troop ran an outing in July 1995 when the SPL, ASPL, Quartermaster, Scribe, Troop Guide and 3 of the Patrol Leaders were at Philmont, along with four of our adult leaders.

Once the basic schedule was complete, we finished our day with pizza and cleaning up after ourselves.   

The schedule on paper was typed and presented to the Troop Committee in August.   The PLC had the opportunity to “tweak” the schedule at its monthly meetings, but that’s another post.

On the Topic of Junior Leaders

For my friends who aren't scouts or scouters (the term for adult volunteers), the "Junior Leaders" of a Troop are the scouts who actually run things.  The 11 years I was Scoutmaster, I was the person nominally responsible . . . but I identified myself as "The principal advisor for the Junior Leaders"

Each Junior Leader fills one or more "Positions of Responsibility" in a Scout Troop.

Lately, I’ve had a series of experiences in Scouting with various boys filling Positions of Responsibility.  Here are a few thoughts on the commonality of these experiences.

A few weeks ago, I was present as a Unit Commissioner at a Troop Court of Honor where the Senior Patrol Leader position of responsibility was handed off from one scout to another.  Unusually, the outgoing SPL had not wanted to be replaced, but had lost the election and graciously agreed to serve as the new Assistant SPL.   He said a few words at the Court of Honor, expressing his hope that his successor would do a good job.   He was a good sport about it, but it was clear he was disappointed to be leaving a job he considered to be his.

A few weeks before that, I got to work with Den Chiefs in my Pack, one of whom was leaving with the outgoing WEBELOS den as they crossed over into Boy Scouts, and two of whom are remaining to continue working with our boys.  Our three den chiefs are from two separate troops, and have wildly different levels of experience both as Boy Scouts and as Den Chiefs, so they keep me on my toes.

Last weekend, I served as the Advisor to the youth chair of my Order of the Arrow Lodge’s annual One Day of Service.   For this event, we use every campsite in our local camp, and have troops spend the day retiring U.S. Flags.   This has been happening for several years, and gets larger each year.    This year we spent from 9am to 5pm working at eight different sites within camp and burned more than 1500 flags that were in poor condition.   We ended our day with a very impressive campfire, capped with the calling out of approximately 30 scouts and scouters into the Order of the Arrow.

The common thread in these experiences was the continuously high quality of the youth who make these programs happen.   

The outgoing SPL had inherited a mess when he took over in August.  The Patrol Leader’s Council meetings had largely become just an excuse for the older boys in the troop to hang out and eat pizza together.  Over just six months this young man, still in junior high and only a Star Scout, had restored the PLC to a functioning body, and had put together a full-year program plan that his successor will complete.  He’d also worked with two different Cub Packs to assist in recruiting.  (Very successfully too, the troop’s almost 30% larger than it was in August.)

Our Den Chiefs are given a one-session orientation in the fall, in which I explain that they have the most difficult job in Scouting, seeing as how they have so many different people that they have to keep happy, from the leadership of their home troop, to the leadership of the den, to the boys and parents in the den (and most especially me, the coordinator of the Den Chief Program at our pack).   They’ve performed admirably – showing up on time, in uniform and prepared for their role in our meetings.  I was able to award two of them the Den Chief Service Award for completing a successful year in the role at our February Blue and Gold Banquet.

Finally, the OA Event.  I can’t say enough about our Order of the Arrow Lodge Leadership.  From the rookie event chair (Who’s only been in the OA since last June) to our Lodge Chief and his Vice Chief, to the random Arrowmen who stepped up on no-notice to assist in a number of tasks on Saturday, the youth leaders performed magnificently.  (How many 8^th graders do you know who are willing to stand up in front of an audience of 80 of their peers AND ADULT SCOUTERS, and speak off-the-cuff about the schedule for the day?)

The best lesson for a scouter in all this, of course, is to give the youth their initial training and get out of the way.   When they know you’ll have their back, and give them the support they need, they can do amazing things.  (The Lodge Chief came to the One Day of Service event at lunchtime, directly from his college placement exams, with a box full of the orientation packets for the new candidate members of the Lodge, and his assistant arrived with personalized scripts for the Ceremony Team to use Saturday night – despite the cast changing as late as Thursday and the list of new candidates not being finalized until Wednesday.)

Of course, the prudent scouter also makes allowances for the fact that they ARE youth . . . I got an e-mail on Monday pointing out that I was still responsible for the lodge we used as our HQ on Saturday – and there was mud on one of the doors and a cot left set up in one of the rooms.   I’d left before things were finished on Saturday night and had another commitment Sunday, so I’d hoped the youth staff would get everything cleaned up . . . but they missed just these few things.   I ran out to the lodge Tuesday night and spent not more than 15 minutes putting away the cot, cleaning the door, shaking out two rugs and sweeping the floor.  

Give your Junior Leaders the room to fail . . . most of the time their successes will be spectacular and their failures will be small.

"Troop Operations Training"

A little background – my two boyhood troops and the first troop I served as an adult (when I was in college) were “mature” troops, fully functioning with good programs.  The SPL tended to be a high school student, and patrols were led by 1^st class or Star scouts who were 13-14 years old.  

In 1991, I became Scoutmaster of one of the oldest troops in my new council, but the troop had fallen on hard times.   When I had joined the troop a year before as an Assistant Scoutmaster, we’d had zero scouts – the troop had been chartered with four, who’d all quit soon after.  At the moment I became Scoutmaster, we had 10 scouts.  Our oldest scout, and SPL, was 12, as was his assistant.   The other 8 scouts were all 11, and were split into two mini-patrols of four scouts each.

We worked very hard on recruiting that first year that I was Scoutmaster, and we were phenomenally successful.  We brought in all of the WEBELOS Cubs from three different Packs.  The first was a den from the pack sponsored by our own chartering organization, and it had four new scouts.  The other two were from nearby packs that weren’t associated with a troop.  One of them sent us six new scouts and the other sent us 14 new scouts.   So between March and May, we ballooned from 10 scouts to 34.

We knew by late fall that most of these boys were coming, so we spent a winter weekend cabin camping and using the then-new video based “Troop Leader Development” course.   That course, like the current ILST, was focused on “Leadership” – managing people.    But because our average Patrol Leader in the summer of 1992 had only been on two camp-outs and was looking forward to starting 6^th grade in the fall, we needed a more “nuts and bolts” course.  

I did a couple of ad-hoc sessions that summer, with our new scouts (the first year campers were rotating through the job of Patrol Leader a month at a time until the boys from different packs got to know each other well enough to vote on a permeant PL that fall).  But those just barely got us through – our SPL, ASPL and the Troop Guide were having to spend an awful lot of time walking patrols through the most basic of operations.

So in the fall of 1992, I started seeing how many birds I could kill with a handful of stones.   That fall, I was working full time, serving as Scoutmaster AND working toward my college degree as a night school student.  I happened to take a course in curriculum development (EDU312, if memory serves).   My professor approved the idea of using scouting as my classroom for curriculum development (I was the only student in that class who actually got to USE the curricula I designed).   My two big projects for the class were a program to allow our new scouts to earn First Class in a year and an ongoing Junior Leader Training plan for the troop.

My goals for the training were:

• .       Deliver training in the “Hands-on” techniques needed to lead a patrol on a weekend campout, including menu planning, duty roster scheduling, evaluating equipment needs and pricing/purchasing food.  (The target for this training was my 11 year old patrol leaders)
• .       Enable junior leadership of the troop to learn their jobs well enough to explain them to younger scouts, as well as to develop public speaking skills.   (The target for this was those 12 and 13 year olds filling the roles of SPL, ASPL, Quartermaster, Scribe and Troop Guide)
• .       Assist younger scouts in learning which of the junior leaders could help with a specific task.
• .       Ensure that all of my adult leaders (most of whom had less than two years of experience as Scouters) understood the various junior leadership roles, AND understood that “stepping in” to see that a junior leader’s job got done was a failure on the part of the adult leadership.
• .       Use the BSA’s Junior Leader Training curriculum to develop “leadership skills” needed to be a successful junior leader.

The first weekend that we tried the training proved to be a bit overwhelming.   We ran an all-day session the Saturday before Scout Sunday in 1993.  The BSA curriculum of the day had an exercise in the class that was built around lunch, so we started about 9am and did the video based course until about 3.   Then dove right in to the “hands on” stuff – mostly using the Camping and Cooking Merit Badge pamphlets for the “how to” instruction.  Luckily that was a pilot group – just our five Troop Level leaders (SPL and his guys) plus four patrol leaders and four assistants.

The summer of 1993, we tried again – the course was nearly in its final form.  On a Saturday in late July, the Committee Chair, my assistant scoutmasters and I met with the SPL, Assistant SPL and Troop Guide about 7:30 in the morning to set up tables and chairs and get things ready.  As “host,” I provided doughnuts and juice (adults were on their own for coffee), and our “students” arrived at 8:30.   We had invited all current patrol leaders and assistant patrol leaders, plus a number of scouts who were 2^nd class or higher rank and who we knew would soon be moving into a leadership position of some sort.

Our morning went along this schedule.

8:30 – Welcome an introductions (we recognized that some of our 2^nd class scouts were still pretty new to the troop and might not know the Committee Chair, and might not know what a “Quartermaster” does, for example.  So each adult and junior leader explained who they were and a 30 second job description.  Mine was “I’m Patrick Provart, and I’m the Scoutmaster.  I’m ultimately responsible for all of the troop’s programs and I serve as the principal advisor to the Senior Patrol Leader”)

8:40 – SPL speaking on leadership.   The speech varied year-over-year, depending on the needs of the troop and the abilities of the SPL, but we wanted to emphasize that it was OK to make mistakes, that adults and junior leaders would be providing guidance and assistance – but that the scouts would REALLY be responsible for getting the program done.

8:50 – Scoutmaster/Committee Chair joint session on troop structure.   This was the troop org chart right out of the Junior Leader Handbook and Scoutmaster’s Handbook.  We talked about what our adults were doing and how that tied in to the job of the various junior leaders.

9:00 – 5 minute break, and re-convene in the next room, where a patrol box was set up with all of the gear taken out of it and spread on the floor.  An additional small pile of gear was behind it.

9:05 – Troop Quartermaster, explained what was provided in a patrol box when he issued it, what the PL should expect to buy for his patrol, and how to use the various equipment in the box.  Our Chartering Organization had a patio outside one of the rooms we were using, and at our lunch break we actually used the troop’s camp stoves, and made sure everyone knew how to light and use them.

9:35 – Back to our original room, which had been re-arranged by adults while the scouts were with the Quartermaster.  Now the “students” were sitting at three tables.   During this session, led by the SPL, the Assistant SPL was at one table, the Scribe at another and the Troop Guide at the third.   Each group planned a menu for a camp out, and a duty roster for the camp out, using forms provided.   At the end of this session, the menu was then broken down into a grocery list.

9:50 – The Troop Guide led this discussion from the front of the room.   He walked through the timeline leading up to a camp out.  At that point in time, we used a 5-10 minute patrol meeting in each troop meeting.  This presentation showed how the patrol would bring money to the grub hustler (usually the PL) at the meeting before the campout, so that no one had to buy food with their parents’ money.   That of course, meant that the PL or grub hustler had to announce the price two weeks before the outing (we provided page that they could use to plug in the “price” they figured by adding things up in a store.  The sheet then had them add 10% for errors and omissions, and sales tax).    The THIRD week before the camp-out, then, was when the patrol had to finish planning the menu.

10:00 – Five minute break, and then return to the three tables

10:05 – Troop Scribe led this session.  Because we had so many newbies on all levels, we provided a lot of forms.  This session was the scribe talking about the important ones – the troop calendar, the monthly meeting plans and the campout planner.    The calendar is obvious, the other two, I’ll explain a bit.   We provided a monthly sheet to each patrol leader after the monthly Patrol Leader’s Council Meeting.  This sheet listed what needed to be done in each patrol meeting the upcoming month.  Losing it was no big deal as the same information was available each week at the beginning of the meeting.   The campout planner was a sheet that the scribe provided about a month before each outing.  It listed where we were going, departure and return times, special equipment and preparation needed (like “Canoe trip: all scouts attending must have passed the BSA Swimmer Test within the last 12 months”) and any fees the troop needed to charge (“Troop Fees: $8 per person, for patch and campsite fees”).  The PL was expected to add these fees to his food cost, and to collect the fees and bring them to the Scribe or Treasurer.

10:30 – Five minute break, recognizing that this stuff was pretty boring and we needed to keep some activity going.

10:35 – SPL and Scoutmaster jointly lead a session on “leading a game” – our troop meetings, right out of “Woods Wisdom” (Today’s Troop Program Features) featured a 20-30 minute game near the end of the meeting.   We also eventually evolved into having patrols take turns running games during pre-opening.   Of course the real purpose of this session was to burn off some energy because the boys had been sitting and doing paperwork for an hour.

10:55 – Back to the tables.   Troop Guide led a session on the troop’s advancement program and a PL’s place in it.  Per the Woods Wisdom plan our troop meetings had a pre-opening, opening, and then the patrol meeting.  Then we broke for “instructional time” – which varied depending on the feature for the month.  However, it was a given that the various junior leaders – especially the troop guide -- would spend some time with our first year scouts, working toward First Class Rank.   We expected Patrol Leaders to help track which of their scouts had missed meeting requirements, and needed to make things up at the meetings periodically set aside for that.  In the fall and winter each year we also worked on Camping, Cooking and First Aid merit badges within the troop setting.   (At the same time, the second year guys would be working on Wilderness Survival, starting on Hiking, and working on Emergency Preparedness).

11:30 – Troop Scribe one last time on the Baden Powel Patrol Star.   (This award is nowadays called the National Honor Patrol Award).   To earn this award in the early to mid 90’s a patrol had to meet monthly outside of troop meetings, among other goals.  We always encouraged it, but only had one patrol win it.

11:45 – Scoutmaster’s Minute

11:50 – Grace, then move into the next room, where box lunches were set out.   The lunches were one of the exercises from the national curriculum.  As the boys opened the boxes they discovered that one scout had all bread, another had a box of apples, and someone else had a box of ham and so on.  If they all worked together, everyone could have lunch.

This final format got codified and distributed to other interested troops around our district as part of my Wood Badge Ticket for C-29-1994.

I'll make another blog post a little later in the week talking about our afternoon Annual Program Planning Conference.

Some thoughts on how to evaluate a Scout Troop as a visiting parent

First, I found these 10 points helpful.  They are from Clarke Green's Scoutmaster CG blog, which I've found to be an EXCELLENT source and he's one of my regular reads.  (This particular post seems no longer to be present, but I still use it)

• Ten points to gauge the health of a troop (from the Scoutmaster CG Blog)
• Ask a random scout the date of the next camping trip, where they are going, what they will do there and what it costs.  Where did he learn this information?
• Ask a random parent what rank their scout holds and what they need to do to advance to the next rank.  Ask their role in advancement.  Ask when the next parents’ meeting is scheduled.
• Ask the youngest scout how to go about earning a merit badge
• How long will current Scoutmaster, Committee Chair and Chartered Organization Rep commit to staying in those positions?  Who is the next Scoutmaster, Committee Chair and Chartered Organization Rep?  Is there a transition plan?
• Ask the patrol leaders’ council to list the last 5 times they were told they could not do something or that their decision was overturned, or they were told to do something they’d rather not.
• What is the next step in training your adult leaders?  What are they doing to increase their knowledge and skill over the next six months?  The next 12 months?
• What is the year-round active recruiting plan?
• Why did the last five scouts who dropped from the roster leave?  Did they age out, or leave for other reasons?  Were those reasons discussed and addressed by the Scouters in the unit?
•  Ask a patrol leader the name and rank of each member of his patrol, and what each member needs to do for his next rank
• What is the long-range calendar?  What happens over the next five years?  What are your high adventure, advancement and participation goals
• See scoutmastercg.com/10-point-troop-checkup

Questions to ask each troop:

•  How many members, in how many patrols?  (Want to hear at least two patrols and 10-15 members minimum.)  How many new Scouts do you expect this year?
•  How many WEBELOS joined a year ago, how many are left, and what is their rank?
•  How many adults are on the Troop Committee and serving as ASM?
•  How long has your Scoutmaster been in position, average tenure of Assistant Scoutmasters, Committee Chair and members?
•  Are new adults welcome on committee and as ASM?
•  How many adults have a trained strip?  Scouter’s Training Award?  How many have completed Wood Badge?  How many committee members have completed Troop Committee Challenge?
•  How often does the PLC meet?  How is the annual program planned?  (Expect monthly PLC and youth led annual planning conference)
•  Have youth leaders completed ILST?  NYLE?  Trainer’s EDGE?  (If no one has done ILST, that’s very bad.)
•  How long has the SPL been in office?  How is he trained?  Did the adult leadership stay out of the SPL’s way during the meeting?
•  How long has the Troop Guide been in office?  Been in Scouts?  What level of training has he had?  May we meet him?
•  Which adult leader advises the Troop Guide?  How long has he been working with New Scouts?  Has he had ILOS training?  Earned his Trained Strip?
•  Will our WEBELOS be in a New Scout Patrol, or with older boys?   If a New Scout Patrol, will they be mixed with Cubs from other Packs?
•  What are dues and fees?   Average annual cost?  How is fundraising handled?
•  How often does the troop camp, and where?   High adventure?  Summer camp? Can we have a copy of your calendar?
•  What is the level of troop participation in District and Council events (Camp-o-ree, Klondike Derby, First Aid Meet etc)?  How many troop members attended an OA event in the last year?
•  Is there equipment enough for the whole troop?  Is it in good repair?  Is there sufficient budget to maintain the current equipment, plus regularly update it?  Where is it stored, and how is it transported to camp outs?
•  Is the troop in uniform?  Can scouts wear jeans with their uniforms?  Athletic shorts?  White socks, or no socks at all?
•  Is there a written discipline policy?  How does it account for scouts with behavioral problems?
•  Does the troop follow Troop Program Features for meeting plans, or use its own plan?  Advancement work in meetings or not?
•  What is the average length of time to reach First Class Rank?
•  What was your JTE Score last year and the year before?  Can I have a copy of the score worksheet?

Advice WEBELOS for parents on choosing a Scout Troop

First of all, remember that the transition is for you and your Scout to choose -- the fact that I look for specific attributes in a  Scout Troop does not necessarily mean you should.

My guide is also somewhat geared toward the fact that we are in a metropolitan area of close to 150,000 people in a BSA District that has about 30 troops in two counties.  About 20 of the troops are within a 20 minute drive of our Pack's meeting place, and many of them are closer to our members homes than our chartering organization.  (Side note, there are two local troops chartered to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Because their Scouting program is slightly different and includes slightly different ages for joining, I chose not to list them.  If you're an LDS Scout, check with your local council and congregation for more details)

The following is a two-page handout that will be going to my younger son's 4th grade WEBELOS Den in about 3 weeks at our Blue and Gold Banquet.  We've already made one troop visit, and last weekend observed at the Council's Klondike Derby.  We had four specific troops we intended to observe, but the boys liked a patrol from a 5th troop, and we spent a large part of our morning with them.

A few things you should know about choosing a Scout Troop:

• Our WEBELOS Den is NOT required to all join the same Scout Troop.  Although often in the past, all of the New Scouts from Pack 38 have gone to the same troop; there is no requirement to do so.  It is well worth your time and effort to consider each troop we have visited (and potentially others, as well) before determining which troop is the best fit for you and your scout.
• Consider geography.  There are scout troops all over Springfield, and in Sherman, Riverton, Rochester, New Berlin and Pleasant Plains, plus three in Chatham.  Choose a troop a comfortable distance from your home, and be aware of which school district most of the troop members attend.
• Consider troop size.  Scout troops vary greatly in size.  Some units, like Troop 210 at Asbury/Jerome UMC, are very large.  Others are much smaller.   Larger troops typically have more resources and may provide more programs to their scouts.   Smaller troops generally provide more individual attention to each scout, and tend to provide more chances for individual achievement.
• Consider the troop calendar.   Scout troops have a great deal of individual freedom in how they run the basic BSA program.   All troops will offer a long-term camp during the summer.  Some may offer multiple chances to attend long-term camp.  Some may offer a “high adventure” camp in addition to (or in place of) the basic summer camp.  Many local troops have 12 or more camping trips in a year, but some have fewer.  (Troops can have as few as 4 in a given year.)  Most troops meet year-round instead of taking the summer off like Cub Scouts.  In some cases, missing lots of summer activities may slow your scout’s advancement.
• Consider program costs.  The minimum cost for a Scout in any troop is $36 a year ($24 for National Registration and $12 for Boy’s Life).   Some troops charge the minimum, and then any additional costs are passed on following a “per scout, per activity” basis.  You’ll pay for each troop activity as it happens, and only if you participate.   Other troops follow the model that Pack 38 uses and charge an annual fee that includes the majority of annual program costs.  In these troops, you’ll pay a single annual fee that includes some specific activities.  Some troops offer a blend of these.  Most have some fund-raising to offset some costs.
• Consider uniform and equipment costs.   Most, but not all, scout troops locally expect their members to wear the full uniform (uniform shirt, uniform pants or uniform shorts and uniform socks, uniform belt and hat).   You may wish to find out if the troop you are considering maintains a “uniform bank” where uniforms are donated when no longer needed.  Scouts may take uniforms for their own use from the uniform bank if they wish.  Many troops also have troop T-shirts.  You should find out if the troop you’re considering has one of these and what costs are involved.  (Some provide a shirt as part of the annual program costs).  Likewise, find out what camping equipment the troop expects each scout to have.  (Most expect you to have a backpack, sleeping bag, mess kit, flashlight, and rain gear.)
• Consider a troop’s discipline policy.  Boy Scouts are expected to be more mature than Cub Scouts.  Ask what rules of behavior a troop expects its members to follow.  Ask what a troop’s policy is for those times when a scout doesn’t follow the troop’s rules.
• Consider the tone and general feel of a troop.  Some troops are very formal, others more casual.  Some spend half of the meeting playing a game; others spend lots of time on instruction.  Some are quiet and others boisterous.   Some have different meeting plans for summer.
• Consider the leadership of the troop.   Boy Scout Troops are supposed to be run by the boys, with advice and counsel from the adults.  When visiting, look for evidence that the program is planned and run by the boys, rather than the adults.  Be aware that sometimes a boy-run troop can be a bit more chaotic than an adult run troop . . . but in the end, your scout will get more out of the boy-run troop.  Consider also the adult leadership, and their length of service/future plans.   Joining a troop whose Scoutmaster is marking time until his son earns his Eagle and quits next summer may result in a rude shock.  Look for a troop with several trained and committed leaders, who DON’T have 16 or 17 year old sons.
• Consider the training level of the troop.  It’s mandatory that the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters have completed BSA Youth Protection Training.  You should ask what level of additional training the adults have.  (In particular, look for adults wearing a “Trained” strip on their sleeve and for adults wearing a leather thong around their neck with wooden beads hanging from the thong).   Ask how many youth in the troop have been trained, and to what level.  Most troops provide some training in the troop.  Ask about ILST “Introduction to Leadership Skills – Troop,” the basic course available for troops to use to teach leadership.  Well run troops send one or more youth to “NYLE” the “National Youth Leadership Experience” which is offered annually by each council.  Exceptional troops will have sent an occasional member to NAYLE – the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience, offered at one of the BSA National Level camps.  These scouts serve on staff for the local training course.
• Consider quality.   There is no single metric for the quality of a troop’s program, but a close approximation is in their Journey to Excellence score.  Don’t be afraid to ask if they qualified for JTE last year, and at what level.   They should be able to tell you bronze, silver or gold for the last several years.  You could also consider asking how many Eagle scouts the troop has produced in the last several years, and when was the most recent.
• Consider the environment in which the troop meets and camps.  Do they have a clean, spacious, well-lit meeting area?   Is the troop’s equipment stored in a trailer, or a garage, or a storeroom in the building . . . or is it in the Scoutmaster’s garage or even sent home with various families?   Is the troop’s equipment in good shape?
• Consider tradition, family and friends.   It goes without saying . . . but if your scout’s father and grandfather were in a troop, you should consider joining that troop.  If your church or social organization sponsors a troop, you should consider joining that troop.  Troop 3, at Douglas Avenue UMC, is the oldest continuously active troop in the Abraham Lincoln Council (Founded in 1915, and in continuous service since 1942).   If your scout’s best friends joined a specific troop, you may consider joining that troop as well.

Once you’ve chosen a troop:

There are things you need to do once you’ve chosen a troop.

•          Inform your Den Leader. 
•         Inform that troop.  They should have an application and medical forms for your scout.  (Parts A and B you can fill out right away.  Part C must be completed by a doctor before summer camp.)  Probably, they will also have an adult application for you. 
• .       Confirm your new troop’s meeting time and location.   Find out what time is the earliest you can drop off, and the latest you can pick up.  You don’t want to wait 20 minutes in the car before someone arrives, or worse - arrive mid-meeting.  Likewise, if you’re the last to pick up your scout, two adults will have to wait with your scout until you arrive.
• .       Make sure you have an up-to-date Troop Calendar. 
• .       Get to know five people, right away.  The adults you should know are the Scoutmaster, the Assistant Scoutmaster running the New Scout program, and the Troop Committee Chair.  (These three adults will have all the information you need, and will be glad to listen to your questions and/or complaints.)   The other two you should know are older boys.  The Senior Patrol Leader is the boy who runs the troop.  You should know who he is.  (Look for a patch on his left sleeve with a silver-colored Boy Scout Symbol over three equal bars.)  The Troop Guide is the boy who will be working most closely with the new scouts.  (Look for a patch on his left sleeve with a bright red Boy Scout Symbol over three equal bars.)   Everyone else can wait . . .
• .       Confirm your new troop’s policy on uniforms, and any suggestions on camping equipment.  Some troops don’t expect new scouts to wear their uniform until they earn Tenderfoot rank, others will expect WEBELOS Crossing over to be in correct uniforms right away.   Some units will need you to have proper winter camping gear right away, others will expect very minimal camping gear, or may have gear to loan.
• .       Confirm summer camp dates, and dates for any deposits.  Confirm with the Pack any camp fees that they might forward to your new troop, and under what conditions.