Scoutmaster Musings

Webelos are working on their last activity pins and final requirements for their Arrow of Light awards. Part of that requires them to visit Boy Scout troop activities.
I enjoy having these visitors at troop meetings because its all new and interesting to them. Since we had scouts join in the spring, by now everyone in the troop is used to the routine and meetings sometimes become monotonous. Having a few fresh faces makes it interesting.
It also points out the need to keep troop meetings interesting for all the scouts. The PLC needs to try a bit harder to ensure fun games and activities are planned. They also need to remind the troop to be welcoming to our visitors and invite them to be their guests for games and such.
Since our troop does not have a specific Recruiting adult, that falls to me. I've written and called the local Webelos den leaders letting them know our meeting times. We've scheduled a special outdoor event just for Webelos. We've also offered to have scouts visit den meetings to talk about Boy Scouts. And, we have two Den Chiefs installed in a local pack.
Now, if the Packs follow through on their end, the scouts will have a good transition experience.

Scout On

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Yeah! A long day with the new troop leadership team yesterday was just great!

Our new SPL obviously has the respect of his team and they stayed on task very well all day. That was a great sign of a good 6 months ahead of us.

We start the day at 9am with the SPL, ASPL, scribe, and all Patrol Leaders reviewing the troop schedule for the next year and then adding 6 more months of activities to the end. We do this twice a year, scheduling events out 1 year and tweaking anything needing changes 6 months out.
Each patrol is supposed to have a meeting before this session where they come up with a list of ideas their patrol would like to do - well, theoretically that works great but this time not many patrols held that meeting and it showed. Something we can improve on in the spring.

At 11:30, the rest of the troop leadership show up for the Leadership Training part of the day until 3:30. They get an intro to BSA leadership, troop organization, and available adult resources. Then, we break for a team-building lunch. After that, we discuss troop processes (advancement, merit badges, success of new scouts, and positions of responsibility) followed by learning the EDGE teaching techniques.
The SPL and ASPL take their people separately to develop goals and fill out their goal wallet cards, then they each share a goal with the whole group.
We then go over leading games, leading meetings, and teaching skills.

If any scoutmasters would like details about our day, just send an email.

Scout On

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You might have noticed the Double Prizes link at the top of the pages. I was a bit surprised to find out that the site is generating money, so I'm excited to surprise some good scouting folks out there with a gift.
Starting in October, there will be two winners selected instead of just one. I hope it keeps up so I can continue with the gift card thing.

Hey, speaking of 'two', we've got two boys looking to join our troop. They both just moved into town and one has never been in scouts before. They attended our Court of Honor, so hopefully it wasn't too long and boring - I know the snacks were good afterwards at least!

Scout On

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