Re: Another problem for Exploring in the BSA
Susan Wilcox (slwilcox@ucdavis.edu)
Wed Feb 11 17:51:53 1998
The post I am associated with does not offer BSA advancement. Most of the
scouts joining the post are Life scouts. Thus if they wish to attain Eagle
they must stay active in the Troop. Most of the boys are past being SPL
when they join the Post and are usually Instructors, Guides, and JASMs in
the Troop. The Scoutmaster works with each boy individually to determine
the amount of commitment they are able to make - ie how many and which
meetings they are going to attend. This system has been working very well.
The troop gets very good senior scout instructors and the younger 'older'
14+ scouts have a chance to lead without feeling overpowered by the 16+
year olds. By 16 very few of the scouts want to go on outings with the
little kids. The really enjoy having their own less structured outings in
the Post.
Susan Wilcox
Post/Troop 111
Davis California & still dry. Floods are still 20 miles away!
At 02:12 PM 2/11/98 CST6CDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 98-01-28 01:14:31 EST, Steve Featherkile writes:
>
><< James,
> What i've done is to require the boys to participate in their troop
> activities at a 25% rate. That way they stay active with the troop and
> the troop gets the benefit of their experience and leadership.
> "Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't." Most of the
> explorers are pretty good about doing that, knowing that it is a "price"
> they pay to belong to explorers. >>
>
>I have tried something similar to this, and have had no success with it. The
>boys just don't "buy in" to it, citing that all the other non-Scout Explorers
>have no such requirement. I try to encourage dual registration in the Post
>and Troop, as well as participation in both sets of activities. Some will do
>this and some will not. Depends on why they joined the Post. A few want the
>added scope, challenge, and social (read co-ed) nature of the Post, and are
>still interested in Troop leadership and mentoring. This group wants to
>continue with advancement. Most seem to want to move up to the Post because
>they are not interested in advancement, dislike troop meetings, detest
>uniforming, and have no patience with younger Scouts, but like the camping,
>etc.
>In either instance, the boys benefit, and in the case of the latter group,
>they are at least retained in one of the BSA's programs. And quite often,
>individuals from the latter group have much to offer the Post.
>
>YIS
>
>Cliff Egel
>Scoutmaster, Troop 39
>Advisor, Post 39
>La Grange, IL
>
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