Merry Christmas 2018

 Every year, my lovely bride and I debate about when to write our annual Christmas Letter.  Some years we start early (and invariably someone get sick).  Some years it’s the first snowy day of the year (too late this year – that was November 15) and some years we wait until the last minute.   We decided this year we’d try December 14.

In 12 of the last 14 Christmas Letters, I have started my 2^nd paragraph with “We’ve been busy this year” or something along those lines.   And this year was no exception.  With two boys together in the local Middle School (7^th and 8^th Grades!), we’re busy busy busy.

John started the year as a 7^th grader and was on the track team for the 2^nd year.   He’s decided however, that throwing the shot put and discus aren’t for him, and as an 8^th grader he’s switched to Scholastic Bowl.   His first competitions will be later in the spring.   He’s enjoying practices so far.   He’s really devoting himself to Scouting.  He served in the spring as Troop Guide (teaching basic skills to younger scouts) and in the fall as Troop Quartermaster (in charge of the troop’s equipment).  In August he earned his Life Rank (one below Eagle) and joined the BSA’s Honor Camper Society – the Order of the Arrow.   Late in the year, after three delays for weather, John completed his Eagle Service project.  He (and 10 of his fellow scouts) removed hundreds of invasive Bush Honeysuckle plants from a local botanical garden.   I’m sure that in next year’s Christmas letter, we’ll be telling you about John the Eagle Scout, so stay tuned!

Joshua has continued his improvements – the last several years academics have been a struggle due to his ADHD.  This year a combination of different medications and excellent teachers have made 7^th grade the best school year in a long time.   He’s also very active in Scouting, completing his Star rank (two below Eagle) at the end of the year.   He’s served since July as the troop’s Chaplain’s Aide, helping to promote religious awards and leading services on camping trips.  (He even helped open a worship service for a very large group at a District Event).   Joshua has continued his love of baking, culminating with four loaves of homemade bread the day before Thanksgiving.   He told me he’d worn himself out.   He’s VERY excited to start Foods Class at school in January.

Karen had a busy year professionally.   In March, an agency where she’d sent a resume years before called her. . . and she started as a Therapist at Living Hope Counseling Center, working primarily with children and adolescents.   That continued until December (actually, until next week) and on January 7 she starts a new full-time position at Autism Services Group, as the only Mental Therapist in their Springfield office.  This is an expansion for ASG, as they’ve never offered mental health services, and it’s exciting for Karen because she’s getting to outfit an office.  She’s buying furniture and toys and therapeutic tools on someone else’s dime!  It’s fun to be working on something else and have her come to me asking if “this 4-foot-long crayon set will look good on my wall”.  In celebration of her work with autistic children she added a puzzle piece tattoo to her right ankle.   

Karen is continuing to work with the boys’ Scout Troop, teaching junior high religious awards.   Patrick has also talked her into assisting him in teaching other adults how to administer the various religious awards (but that’s another topic for next year’s letter).   In March, the Boy Scouts recognized Karen with the God and Service Award for “Outstanding Service to Youth in the Name and to the Glory of God”

Much like his days with Secretary State, Patrick’s “enjoying” being in a public sector union in a time of strong growth in his industry.   The market prices for IT professionals have risen sharply, and several of his coworkers have departed.  But the union contact spells out maximum starting salaries so low that nobody applies for the positions – thus he’s now responsible for the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Payroll System, Federal Highway Funds System, Material Handling System and Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement systems.   In all, he’s doing work that four people in total were working on in 2016.   Luckily, he finds working with Scouts to be a great source of stress-relief.   He’s continuing to attend most of the camping trips that the boys attend, and especially is volunteering as a Unit Commissioner.   He’s currently working with 4 Cub Scout packs and 5 Scout Troops.   While the work is its own reward, he was pleasantly surprised this spring with the District Award of Merit.

The best events of the year, however, have concerned others in our lives. . . in April Patrick’s dad moved from Springfield to Chatham, to be closer to his sons and grandsons.  In June, Karen’s brother and sister-in-law informed us that we’d have a niece in January (although just now it looks more like she’s going to be a December baby).

We’re especially excited that we’ll be celebrating our 15^th wedding anniversary just after Christmas, and we’re going to have a very small ceremony renewing our wedding vows in front of just our sons and a minister on Thursday December 27.  (Look for pictures in NEXT year’s letter)

We’re hoping that your year is blessed and that 2019 is even better.

Patrick, Karen, John and Joshua

Merry Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas from the Provarts!

In our household, we have a firm rule that no decorations are hung until after the boys’ birthdays are complete –John’s birthday is the 15^th, and we were very busy on the 16^th, so today was the “hanging of the greens” was this afternoon, the 17^th of December.   So, the tree is up, the stockings are hung and even the presents are all bought and wrapped.

It’s given us the chance to reflect upon the year that we’ve had.  And it’s been a busy year.

Joshua had a few minor problems coping with his ADHD early in the year, but a change to medication has turned him almost literally into a different young man.  He’s a sixth grader, and still playing in the band.  He’s continued to be active in the Boy Scouts, and has earned the rank of 2^nd Class.  He’s taking winter swim lessons at the YMCA, hoping to complete his 1^st Class Scout Requirements before spring.  Joshua spends his days thinking of Minecraft, Pokémon, Legos and Baking.   We see a future for him in engineering, robotics, or culinary arts.

John’s continued in Scouting as well, earning the rank of Star Scout (two below Eagle) at the end of the summer.  He’s continued working with Cub Scouts as a Den Chief – this year with one of the Chatham Cub Packs (mom and dad are pleased his meetings are 5 minutes away instead of 25 minutes).  John also decided to become an athlete this year – throwing the Shot Put and Discus for the Glenwood Intermediate Titans.   He’s a 7^th grader, and officially a teenager.  His personal favorite milestone of the year was back-to-school shoe-shopping, when he realized his shoes are now the same size as dad’s.

As promised, the Illinois Counseling Association published Karen’s 2^nd paper in January.   She says she’s contemplating a third, but has a lot of research yet to finish.   In the meantime, she’s serving both the Cub Pack where our boys attended and their current Scout Troop as Chaplain.   It’s been a fun adjustment to Scouting, where her primary job is to advise the youth Chaplain’s Aide.   Although she’s been able to coordinate the teaching of God and Me for 1-3^rd Graders and to teach God and Family to 4-5^th Graders and in is the midst of teaching God and Church to 6-8^th graders.   To Patrick’s surprise, she’s spending some time this winter taking Outdoor Education classes from the BSA curriculum, in order to camp with the Troop.

Patrick’s as busy as ever with Scouting – he’s transitioning from a WEBELOS Leader at the pack where the boys were into serving as that pack’s unit commissioner.  A commissioner is an advisor and trainer to adult leaders and he’s now working with two cub packs (boys K-5^th Grade) and two scout troops (boys 5^th grade through age 18), and continuing to serve as an Assistant Scoutmaster in the boys’ troop.   Mid-year, however, that troop changed – the original troop we had joined in Chatham is a great unit, with wonderful leaders.  But it was a poor fit for Joshua and wasn’t accommodating to his ADHD, so we transferred down the street to a troop with a much more highly structured program, and it seems to have been very good for Joshua.

Karen’s been enjoying the boys increased involvement in Scouting, to a point.  It’s good for her to have a “mom time” weekend from time-to-time with all the men out of the house. . . but she’s also started to get lonely, so she joined us on a campout in November. 

Here’s hoping this letter finds you all well, and wishing you a prosperous New Year and a Blessed Christmas.

John - Age 13

Joshua - Age 12

                     

Pictures this year were taken on Kaskaskia Island, near the first capitol of the State of Illinois.  John is 13, Joshua is 12 and Patrick and Karen are celebrating 14 years of marriage.

Patrick, Karen, John and Joshua

Building Leadership and Responsibility in Young Scouts

Recently I was asked "how to get our first year scouts out of a Cub Scout mentality" because they were not pushing for advancement, but were expecting to be "given" ranks when they change grades -- like Cub Scouts.   As a bit of background, the troop in question is all younger scouts, and this particular batch of first year guys are "tuning out" their leaders.


I'm going to answer in two ways, both of which are based on things I've done (and -- failed to do at times - sigh).  First, we need to get the boys out of that "Cub Scout Mentality." where merely showing up is enough to get a rank.   Although I will confess, I'm slightly guilty of fostering this.   My troop's been debating about this. .  . several of the leaders that were there when my older son joined in 2015 believed firmly that the scouts should only advance when they choose to do so -- and signal their desire to advance by coming to the leaders and asking to advance.  ("Mr. Provart, when can I do Scout Requirement 4?")    I believed last year that some of the early requirements should be scheduled out for them, much like Cub Scouts. . . and of the three scouts who joined in the winter of 2015-16, only one remains.  The other two never reached Tenderfoot Rank and one actually left saying "if I can't advance, I'm going to do something else."


So this winter, I started as an Assistant Scoutmaster, advising the Troop Guide (and anyone else who wants to talk about the first year guys).   I pointed out that 6 of 7 the requirements for the Scout Rank are things done either in "Scouting Adventure" or "Outdoorsman" for the Arrow of Light, so they ought to be very familiar to our incoming scouts.   I wanted to give our boys a flying start, and so we set up to do Scout very quickly.  A troop I serve as a Unit Commissioner actually had a Saturday session with the Troop Guide and SPL after their new scouts did their first meeting, so that they could do their Scoutmaster Conference at their second meeting.   We didn't go that fast, but our New Scouts who joined the 3rd week of February finished their Scout Rank, without really realizing they were working on it, within their first 3 weeks in the troop.

Looking ahead, at the Tendrfoot badge, we've been working about 20-30 minutes a week toward it most weeks, and picking up a few requirements each week (and some 2nd Class Requirements as it makes sense to do so).   A couple of caveats - first, some confusion on our schedule and a stretch of bad weather (mixed in with some overtime at work on the part of one of our leaders) canceled our March campout.  Second, April event is traditionally a very long day-hike (20 miles), so our new Scouts have yet to camp as of this moment.   Second, our council sponsors a First Aid Meet in late February, and so we pushed first aid very hard the first few weeks they joined.


As it stands right now after two May meetings, our boys have had the opportunity to complete all the Tenderfoot Requirements except 1(all parts), 2(all parts), 6 (6b and 6c), 6b is the physical fitness plan for improving scores.  We did 6a, the initial measurements 3 weeks ago.  One of the first year guys has completed 6b, and the others have not.   Requirement 6c, the second physical fitness, test will be done on Monday, May 22.  Requirement 7a, raising, lowering and folding the US flag will either be done at our Council Camporee next weekend or over Memorial Day.

If we do everything I expect to do on the camporee next weekend, and the weather is good on the 22nd, our boys will complete Tenderfoot Requirements 9 and 10 in the meeting on the 22nd and be ready for their Boards of Review on June 5.

Any requirements an individual scout missed can be made up at camp, or one one of our short-term camps scheduled in July and August.


As far as the 2nd Class Requirements, we've done the ones that fit naturally into our program, and there are a significant number of them scheduled to be done at camp.

Here's a rough breakdown:

The camping and outdoor ethics requirements will be done on our spring camporee (except the requirement to have 3 overnight campouts.  The fastest boys can finish that in July.)

The cooking and tools requirements will be finished on the camporee, except the knots requirements which we're doing Monday.  (Knots are an event at the camporee.)

The navigation  requirements were mostly done in preparation for our April hike.   None of the boys have done 3d, how to find directions day and night without a compass or electronic device.   We'll do that one at summer camp.

The nature requirement will be done at camp.

The Aquatics requirements will be done at camp.

The first aid requirements were done as we got ready for the First Aid Meet in February, but will be reviewed at camp.

The Fitness requirements will be left to the individual scouts.  My son is planning to do his 4 weeks of working out starting May 22, if we complete the Tenderfoot requirement that night.  (That would complete his 4 weeks the week before we go to summer camp.  It would also allow him to use the last week of school and some planned activities over Memorial Day weekend as a part of this)

The Citizenship requirements are a blend.  8a and 8b will be done both over Memorial Day weekend with the troop and again at camp.   8c and 8d about saving money and comparison shopping are left to the individual scouts.  The service project requirements in 8e have already been done for all of our scouts.  We're a highly service-oriented troop and we have a number of older scouts working toward Eagle.  Scouts had the opportunity to do 12 hours of community service just in the last week.   (Wednesday through Friday were building forms and pouring concrete for a local church as part of an Eagle Project and Saturday was landscaping the entrance to a local church camp.)

The personal safety awareness requirements in 9a and 9b will be done at summer camp.

10-12 will be done after everything else, of course.

The earliest one of our scouts joining in February could finish this would be late July.  A more reasonable goal is before school starts in late August.


Thus far, the only 1st Class Requirements that have been done have been completed are the weather-safety requirements 5b, 5c and 5d.   There were 4 inches of rain during our hike in April and we wanted to be prepared.  Several of our first year scouts have also completed their service hours for 9d.

The Tools, Navigation, Nature, Aquatics and most of the First Aid requirements (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4a, 5a, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d) will be completed at camp.

The cooking requirements for our three scouts will be done by one each at our July, August and September camp-outs.  We're talking this over with parents and walking the scouts through it at our upcoming patrol meeting on Tuesday, May 16.

It doesn't really show through, above, but there's a distinct change of philosophy as the ranks progress.

We really DID treat the Scout badge like "WEBELOS 3" -- if they showed up at the meetings and did what they were told, they got Scout. 

We did schedule most of Tenderfoot, and each week I ask the boys for their books, so that I can sign requirements.

All but one of the boy currently has 2nd Class requirements complete that aren't signed. . . because to get them signed, they need to bring me their book and say "Is there anything that can be signed?"

It hasn't happened yet, but 1st Class requirements won't be signed unless they ask for a specific requirement to be signed.

You might also read between the lines and see that we've given the boys a LOT of responsibility -- the Assistant Patrol Leader's a first year scout, and he's going to be responsible for buying the food for the whole patrol at the July campout (the PL will be at a family function).  Each first year scout has been given the responsibility of a meal at the camporee next weekend.  If they don't take the responsibility seriously, they'll be unhappy on the campout.

Wood Badge Reflections

I participate in several online discussion groups about Scouting.   One topic which has come up quite a bit recently is the difference between the “new” (I’d prefer the term “Current” because it’s been in use for 15+ years) and the “old” (I’d say “previous” because it was used from the late-80’s until a little over 15 years ago) Wood Badge course.

I think I’m in a unique position to answer that question, having been a student in each.

First, a bit of background philosophy changed between the courses.   The first course I took, C-29-94 (that’s the 29^th course in the Central Region of the BSA for 1994), had significantly more stringent requirements for getting into the course than the second course I took, C3-144-15 (Central Region, Section 3, Council 144 (that’s Abraham Lincoln Council), 2015 course.  

In 1994, participants had to have already completed the Trained Strip for their position and were strongly encouraged to have already earned the Scouter’s Training Award, or be close to completing it.  (The Training Award has a 2-year tenure requirement, so it was one way of keeping someone from taking Wood Badge without having at least some background.)  And of, course in 1994 you had to be registered to a Troop to take the course – there was a separate course for Cub Scouters.   For my 2015 course, we wanted to train anyone who wanted to be trained.

Some of the curriculum changes reflected this philosophical change as well.  The 1995 course met for one “Pre-course orientation” in Peoria, and then three weekends over a six-week period at Ingersoll Scout Reservation in London Mills, IL.   During the two weeks between each weekend, our Wood Badge Patrol was required to meet once each time.  (Because the hosting council covers a large geographic area and three of us were coming from out of council, our patrols were built somewhat geographically.  My patrol had 3 scouters from McLean County IL and three of us from Springfield – so our Patrol Meetings were in Bloomington at a patrol member’s home – 20 to 25 miles for the three others and 70 miles or so for the Springfield group.)   

My 2015 course met for two three-day weekends (Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon) with a single Patrol Meeting between the two weekends.  (Interestingly our course met one weekend at Camp Illinek in Springfield and one weekend at Camp Bunn in Hettick IL).

The 1995 course required all participants to be in a “Wood Badge Uniform” – a full and complete uniform and your uniform shirt was authorized to have on it ONLY your council shoulder patch, the troop number 1, the world crest and the American Flag.  (No square knots, OA Flaps, temporary patches or badges of office).  We were told what specific items to bring with us the first weekend and were told to wait in the camp parking lot for further instructions.  Further instructions turned out to be an envelope with your patrol assignment and a questionnaire.   Since I had a sewing kit with me, and knew how to use it, I spent the first morning of the course sewing Eagle Patrol medallions on uniforms while my patrol-mates put together our campsite.  Our staff greatly appreciated the sewing, and lost no opportunity that first weekend to comment on the other patrols with their blank right sleeves.

The 2015 course required a complete uniform, with whatever patches you’d wear for the position you considered your primary registration (they were pretty flexible with this – I wore my “Unit Commissioner” position patch with my silver shoulder loops, but ended up writing my ticket as a Cub Scout Pack Committee Member.

The first weekend of each course was roughly similar – the idea of building a team was integral to both courses, although the 1994 course focused highly on the Patrol Method and how to teach it and the 2015 course was more focused on “leadership” as a skill.  (Or possibly as an art form).

I found the classroom curricula in both courses to be highly useful, very valuable, but not “life changing” as some would suggest.   In both courses, there were a few who “just don’t get it” – my first course had member of my patrol that would grumble about almost every demo the staff did, saying “I already knew how to do that” and missing the point that what they were demonstrating was not how to cook a meal, or build a fire or sharpen an axe or whatnot, but how to teach that particular skill.  My second course had some issues getting sessions done on time because one of my classmates was a brand-new Tiger Cub leader, with no scouting background beyond what he’d learned over two years as a non-registered parent of his older son and the summer discussing Tiger Cubs with his Cubmaster. . . as you might imagine, he had LOTS of questions.  (They were good questions, and the staff gave them the attention they deserved, but they were things everyone else already knew and understood.)

I’m assuming all of my readers understand that Wood Badge participants spend the time before the last weekend coming up with items for a “Wood Badge Ticket” which will be approved the last weekend and which they’ll then have 18 months to “work” in order to complete the course and receive their Wood Badge beads.

The ticket is where I found the MOST significant difference between courses.  My 1994 ticket was written in three sections:  1) Service to my unit, 2) Service to scouting at large, and 3) Self-improvement.  Each section was to have 5 items within it.

For the record, the 15 items in my 1994 ticket were:

11.     Develop a youth training schedule to ensure that the Junior Leaders in my troop were fully trained.

22,   Develop a specific curriculum for training Patrol Leaders in my troop.  (I had a large, fast-growing, and very young troop.  My typical Patrol Leader was 11 or 12 and a 2^nd Class scout, so this was critical)

33       Develop an environment in which training was encouraged to the point that at least two adults in the troop would earn the Scouter’s Training award.  (This one sounds difficult, but was really a “gimmie” – I knew that two were in the process and two others could be encouraged to take the Scoutmaster training of the day.)

44.     Develop a “First year scout” program in the troop with the aim of getting 75% or more of the scouts joining the troop to the rank of First Class within their first year.

55.       Develop a plan for ongoing recruiting from nearby schools and Cub Scout Packs

66.       Serve a year on Lincoln Home District Roundtable Staff (another “gimmie” – I started staffing roundtables in the fall of 1993, and would continue to do so until I moved to Bloomington in 1996)

77.       Develop a specific roundtable program for Junior Leaders (we had a few scoutmasters who brought their Senior Patrol Leaders to Roundtable, and we were encouraging that.  I led a breakout session monthly for them).

88,       Serve on staff for at least two district and council events.  (I wimped-out here – my Troop Guide wanted this to be “chair a council or district event”)

99.       Deliver at least three presentations regarding the Friends of Scouting program or training opportunities to units within my district.

110.   Deliver at least three presentations regarding scouting to non-scout groups.  (I became a fairly regular lunchtime speaker, talking to Rotary Clubs and other service organizations and a few evening presentations to church groups considering charting units.  One of them helped to start a Troop in 1995)

111.   Lose 15 pounds (from 215 to be under 200) before traveling to Philmont Scout Ranch with a council contingent in 1995.

112.   Complete my Undergraduate Degree (Another “gimmie” – I was going to graduate in December 1994, no matter what my ticket said)

113.   Apply to at least three graduate schools (my first draft of this was “Register for Grad School” but my Troop Guide pointed out that I couldn’t control my own acceptance.)

114.   Serve my community through at least one non-scouting group by providing leadership to for at least two functions.  (This was a step-up to my service as a Deacon in my church – the bit about “at least two functions”)

115.   Complete first-responder training and notify my employer of my status as a first responder for medical emergencies.

I RUSHED through this ticket – turns out that by completing it before May 1995 and writing a paper on it, I was able to get four credit-hours of college credit as a grad student at the University of Illinois at Springfield. (It’s an undergrad Educational Seminar class. . . EDU465, I think.)

My 2015 ticket consisted of only 5 items, but they were each more detailed.   One of the five had to focus on “diversity” and one had to be a “personal growth” item.  (By the way, I actually wrote two tickets, one as a Unit Commissioner and one as a Pack Committee Member.  The Troop Guide had me complete the Pack Committee Ticket, as it would be more useful to Scouting as a whole)

11.       Survey local faith communities, especially those sponsoring Scouting Units (or open to doing so) and produce a list of contacts able to work with scouts of that faith on religious awards.  (Since my older son was about to be a Boy Scout, I pushed this into the Boy Scout-age awards too)

22.       Develop a “core curriculum” showing the training for each job in the pack (Committee Chair, Committee Member, Cubmaster, Assistant Cubmaster and Den Leaders).   This also included the requirements for the Scouter’s Training Award and the Den Leader Awards. (Yeah, it’s a throwback to my first ticket, but I consider training to be crucial)

33.       Develop a written plan for SOMEONE else to lead the Pack through the JTE process.  (I’d been coordinating JTE for 4 years and we wanted that coordination to continue after I leave the pack)

44.       Prepare a “WEBELOS Parents Guide” focusing both on the Pack’s WEBELOS program AND on how to pick a troop and have an easy transition to that troop.  (We don’t have a troop at our chartering partner, and have had too many boys over the years move to troops that were a poor fit, causing them to quit)

55.       Lose 25 pounds (yep, another fallback).

All in all, the courses were more similar than different, and of course the most important part of each was the “between sessions” stuff.   The lasting value is in the results of all those tickets, but also in the relationships built and strengthened during the course.

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.