Re: Starting an EOA
Jim Miller Jr. (jim@stefford.com)
Tue Apr 28 09:24:44 1998
Allow me to preface my comments by stating that I have served as both a
Youth EOA Chair and as the Council EOA Advisor in the past. I only have
a couple of comments to add to Mr. Moss' post.
James H. Moss wrote:
>
> * Who are the officers, advisors, and members of the EOA? How are they
> chosen?
>
> EOA advisor is appointed by Council/Exploring DE.
Almost, but not quite right. The EOA Advisor is appointed by the Council
Exploring Committee Chair (the volunteer) with approval of the Council
Executive.
> Members are the Post
> officers who you decree are members of the EOA. In some cases that may just
> be the EOA president. I found it was best to ask the advisor to sent 2-3
> officers.
> The EOA officers are elected by the EOA. We held elections about November
> of each year.
In my experience, telling ALL Post Officers that they are automatically
members of the EOA has worked best. Some Officers have more time than
others, and I have often been really impressed with the work done in the
EOA by a Post Secretary who had that extra time and level of commitment.
You don't want to start by eliminating anyone.
> * What kind of things does the EOA do?
> 1. We helped post officers become better officers.
> 2. We helped posts.
> 3. We sent teams into assist struggling posts or new posts.
> 4. We planned, organized and ran council exploring events.
> 5. We were the council response to council events. It was difficult to get
> a big following of explorers to a council wide camporee etc. The EOA would
> fill that gap.
Successful EOA's can even go much farther than this. Some have gone as
far as running Explorer Leader Basic Training courses for the adults in
their Councils. Just like a Post, what the EOA does is entirely up to
the membership.
> * What BSA publications provide info about the EOA?
> There is an advisor's handbook, I believe. I rarely used it. I tried to
> ask questions that helped direct and let the youth do what they wanted or
> felt was needed.
See the next answer...
> * How does the Council EOA fit into the District, Council, and Region?
> The EOA fits into the Council best from my experience. Region when
> necessary.
Although it is a publication that will need to be replaced, all of these
are answered best in the "Exploring Council/District Operations Manual"
(BSA #33630). This book is invaluable for anyone working with Council
level operations. Order it while you can, and hope that an equally
useful manual is produced for Venturing as soon as possible. It comes in
a three-ring binder format so everything is able to be removed, copied,
and replaced easily.
Jim Miller, Jr.
Council Exploring Training Chairman
Hudson Liberty Council, Jersey City, NJ
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