First Class Req. 4e

As the scouts in our troop advance I have 4 scouts who are second class scouts. Each needs his cooking requirement 4e for First Class. Three of the scouts are in the same patrol. The other is in a seperate patrol. Has it worked with haveing three souts as head cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? The only way I can see getting this requirement off is group team work as head cooks. The one scout on the other hand will be able to have an assistant, which could also serve as head cook to earn his part of the requirement 4e. We go camping every month but at one per month this process will take a year and a half if the team work idea is not used. My best answer is team work...

By saying it would take a year and a half, I assume you mean they are at the tail-end of their first year in Scouting, and that they have all left the 1st class cooking until the end.

We had the same problem. My short-term solution to the immediate problem was to have the patrol divide into multiple parts, with each part having a boy doing the cooking for his portion of the patrol (minimum of 3 boys in each portion, including the cook). The patrol 'portions' can be increased by including the Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, who normally are not in any particular patrol in the 'portions' (in our troop, they pick and choose whose patrol they eat with). Of course, if the boys are in a new boy patrol, the Troop Guide can also take part (the boys in question in our troop were in the new boy patrol)

With four boys in one patrol, this might take a couple of campouts to complete this process.

The long-term solution was to explain to future generations about this crunch at the end, and to encourage boys to spread themselves out in doing this requirement.

Do you have more one patrol on campouts? You can hace each 2nd class scout cook for each of the patrols and even the adults (extre-em use of adult leadership), if you have 4 groups you could finish on one trip. The adults and older scouts may be told in advane, this would encourage them to help the new scouts do the requirement right.

First Class requirement 4e: "On one campout, serve as your patrol's cook. Supervise your assistant(s) in using a stove or building a cooking fire. Prepare the breakfast, lunch, and dinner planned in requirement 4a. Lead your patrol in saying grace at the meals and supervise cleanup."

Abraiu: "We go camping every month... this process will take a year and a half..."

My take: What am I missing here? Campout #1, scout #1 leads. Campout #2, scout #2... etc. 4 scouts, 4 campouts, 4 months. Not a "year and a half". I'm sure I'm missing some important detail?

Thanks for your replies. Did I say a year and a half...over implied. If each patrol has six to eight scouts it should only take six to eight months as long as each one does it. As I have learned over the years it does not flow this way. Not always is one scout going to be committed to doing this requirement at each camping trip. I was looking for some different views. This Eagle was flying high looking. Thanks for the replies.

Abraiu.