10 Things to Revitalize a Troop

I apologize if this is a well churned topic.

We have a large Troop (80 Scouts and 12 ASM's) and it is pretty good but could be better. I would like folk's opinion of things a Troop could do to go to the next level.

Note I am a "Sophmore ASM" with no Boy Scout experience though I am very active. I function as one of the "conscience of the Troop". We have had a string of good SM's.

We do:

-Transitioning to Mixed-Age Patrols.

-Transitioning to Patrol based vs. Troop based organization.

-Older High Adventure Patrol.

-Summer and Winter Camp.

-Philmont, AT, and/or Seabase each year.

-Troop Campout each month during School year. Kinda Car Camping.

Campouts based on aquatics --Canoe, Kayak, Sailing, Snorkeling, Fishing. Some hiking and bike.

-3 COH a year; run by boys.

-Boys may do MB academies if they wish.

-Adults going to Summer Camp get training.

-Two feeder Packs (much local competition -3 good Troops within 10 minutes)

-Very active Committee so good background support.

-Active OA members.

-Nearby bases provide reliable flow of military types who, once back from overseas really want to spend time with their sons and like scouting.

A few problems:

-Have been losing "Sophomores and Juniors" in program. Go like gangbusters first year and then 1/2 drop out.

-Older ASM's cycling out and middle guys dropped out (illness, moving) so younger guys had to step up. While we have lost some knowledge it provided an opportunity to change the culture (patrol reorg)

-Older boys not so involved with younger boys.

-Physical fitness. Many boys not up to hiking and swimming.

-Slipping into Eagle Factory mentality. Prob 6-8 a year out of 50-60 actives.

-Patrol size tends to be too large 10-12.

-Usual parental pressures - this is an affluent and (over) educated group of parents- so they push for rapid advancements.

-While the boys are achieving at campouts I not so sure they are having fun.

Lot of water stuff.

Sounds like you have a pretty nice program. But it sounds like your in a bit of a rut....

Do you camp at the same spots year after year?????

Same activities year after year????

I don't see any service or conservation projects. Our boys love working for the local park system. The naturalist is a cute little recent college graduate, so I imagine that helps. I have taken and shown them my eagle project which is at one of the parks we work at.....We work at a food pantry and the CO's soup kitchen.

How about sports games?? we go to a baseball game and local college football games. My sons patrol is going to see captain america this weekend and they cough cough, go to the local amusement center and have played OMG laser tag as a patrol.

The thing to remember is it needs to be fun, exciting and different.

My son's patrol is planning on going to a local place in september that was featured on man vs. food. that should be fun.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

GET THE BOYS INVOLVED IN THE DECISIONMAKING

It's their Troop. This is something the SM needs to mentor with the SPL and PLs.

Emphasize the Journey, not the destination. Allow the youth to wander and explore the trail.

At your size, two different campouts a month, with patrols choosing which one they attend, might not be a bad idea.

Camping tends to be at same locations. Boys are involved in planning the schedule. Not many games, when we did some they were popular. Leaning toward one Troop level activity and one Patrol campout a month.

Tampa - I was kindof curious with the following two lines.

Note I am a "Sophmore ASM" with no Boy Scout experience though I am very active. I function as one of the "conscience of the Troop".

Older ASM's cycling out and middle guys dropped out (illness, moving) so younger guys had to step up. While we have lost some knowledge it provided an opportunity to change the culture (patrol reorg)

I have never heard this applied to an adult leadership position, nor discribing ASM's (adult leadership again) as cycling and dropping out.

Do you mean "JASM"? the youth equivalent of The ASM position?.. (In which case as a youth, you have more control to help steer your program, rather then coach your youth to steer it.).. But, I would not think you would be given title of a JASM with no previous Boy Scout experience.

Or is your troop filled with college age young men who are doing the Adult positions, and your kindof monitoring their degree of staying with the troop.

(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

then, don't go on hikes. Go on a naturalist-led wild plants ID walk, a night-time stars ID walk, ID the trees by their bark, etc. If each walk is 5+ miles - all the better.

marketeers always solicit feedback. Have someone neutral contact all the dropouts and leavers. Find out why they left.

Patrols are too large; spin off.

attend all camporees. The Scouts need to find out how they measure against others in the skills area

Your campouts may be too tame. Have the vets organize some SERE type campouts (OK, probably without the resistance part)

all work on the Hornaday badge

have'em all go for emt training

introduce orienteering - the car stops in the middle of nowhere, push out the kids, give them a map & compass, drive off. Introduce a cross-country treasure hunt; if they want lunch they have to find it

you all may be too civilized. Find the monetarily poorest troop in your council. Go camping with them; exchange patrol leaders for that camp

>>

-Usual parental pressures - this is an affluent and (over) educated group of parents- so they push for rapid advancements.

-While the boys are achieving at campouts I not so sure they are having fun.

First two points are dealing with very important transitions. Those take time and patience.

Patrols seem a little on the large size - right sized means all boys are engaged and aren't able to sit around without having any roles.

If you arent already, try to work in some more activities on a frequent basis that dont require a campout. During meeting nights meet at the local pool for swim night; local trailhead for a hike and end with some ice cream; ice skating rink for an open skate night; meet at a local gun or archery club for some fun shooting; local climbing club?; meet at an area astronomy club on their meeting night Weekend/day/night events, they dont have to be big planned out events. Have each patrol pick an outing on their own, just get the boys out of the meeting location at least once a month. Boys like doing stuff without too much hoopla involved, so find a way to do some different fun things and they will keep coming back.

Back off the MB Academies and start driving home that that MBs and advancement are up to the boys. Let them set weekend agendas with suggestions so they do have fun.

Sounds like you are on a good track though, stay the course to let the boy lead program develop and before you know it youll be bringing them back.

Some great ideas! Keep them coming.

Moosie-Hah! I am almost 50. By Sophomore, I mean I am in my 2nd year of being an ASM! Sorry. I should have used 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year...I mean't that the first year as ASM I made lots of mistakes but now guide some of other newbie adults. If you used to be a DL it is a big shift.

Like the idea of a hike with a purpose. I led one of the 5 miler "make up" hikes and ended up doing a lot of nature and history lecturing along the way. It was well received by some boys --though I had to cram. A lot of boys always act the hike is a race. By my handle you can tell I am not a fast hiker but slow and steady.

I also like the EMT training and dumping the boys out for Orienteering. Also the SERE hike--we have some special forces types who could plan that.

I have commented on my MB frustrations many times. Boys have gone on Camporees but were not too impressed. Parents see MB Acadmies put on by Council -- we cannot stop them from going even if we do not announce them.

Like the fun or more adventurous ideas. I think at times the Troop uses the metrics of MB earned and Advancements instead of retention and fun.

I agree on the Patrol size...we will see how it works out. We have a lot of jobs at the Patrol level now so almost all boys but newbies should have something they need to do.

I thought you were "older" (then college years).. But the statements just messed with my mind, especially when concerned with the drop out rate of ASM's if they were not youth.. Normally Adults stay for their kids duration, with a sprinkling few who linger on past that.

Great ideas from everyone. My old troop (no longer involved) has done the "in a rut" to death, and now are at the stage of gasping for air.

It was at Tempa's stage about 2 years back, but needs new leadership that "get" the vision, at that stage it had a chance to turn itself around. Currently though, it is just sucking air for survival.

Saving your unit is great, if the leaders at the SM, COR, & CC have the desire to want to save it. My husband & son found it impossible to try to steer the unit while at the ASM or a committee position. So lets hope Tempa has a SM who is willing to work on changing the course the unit is currently on.

Tampa

Congratulations on your large and successful troop. My 2 cents worth, 80 is an awfully large troop and it is easy for some boys to feel lost or left out in the group, you could try breaking off segments of your troop into mini troops, say twenty or so and cater the program to the level and interests of each group. In other words as the boys move up in rank they move into even more challenging activities. Avoid the "Eagle Mill mentality" at all costs as that will definitely cost you boys in the longrun. Keep offering a wide variety of activities that the boys want to do, not the adults. I think trying to keep the troop/patrol experience smaller more intimate and personal to the boys will definitely help your retention rate and make them feel really part of the group instead of just another number. Lastly make sure your boys are first and foremost having FUN, if your troop is run like an extension of school, overemphasizing bookwork over outdoor experiences then you are just asking for trouble.

Good luck and happy scouting!

Thanks everybody.

We have a lot of folks on the same page so I think we will be OK. I think more Patrol activities will work on the intimacy issue; we have 2-3 ASM assigned to each Patrol to facilitate smaller level activities.

The older dads are aging out as their sons hit 17-18; some are working on committee, a couple not happy with size of Troop and things not being the way they ran it. New dads have some great material and we got them trained up fast. Like I said we lost some of the middle dads (and also the most outdoors one) to a run of bad luck - a company moving, military reassignment, and two life threatening illnesses.

Some good ideas I will give them to my sons and see if they can push for what they like up through the boy leadership.

My immediate reaction is that your title isn't right.

Your troop is very vital. It's more alive than the great majority of troops. You do high-adventure every year. You're large. You're active in the OA.

In the OP, you say you want to get to the next level. That's different from "revitalizing".

But ok, I think I understand - you want the troop to be even better.

What does "even better" mean to you? What does it mean to the Scoutmaster? And in particular, what would it mean to the Scouts?

The one symptom that you list that everyone probably agrees with, is that half of the boys drop out? Is this the real number? Do you normally lose half of the boys by the end of their second year? Has anyone talked to the ones who dropped out to see what they thought the problem was? Or talked to the parents?

ASM change isn't really a problem - it's just a fact of life.

Older boys not being too involved with younger boys - that's going to depend on what vision people have for the program. This could be fine in some people's minds, or a problem in others.

Physical fitness may be an issue to deal with, but it's not because of a problem in the unit.

Having six Eagles a year isn't a problem either. It might be a symptom of a program that is too focused on advancement, but not necessarily.

Patrol size of 10-12 can work out fine in my experience, depending on what type of attendance you have.

Boys not having fun. That's a problem, but it looks like it's more your opinion than an accepted fact.

From your overall description you are part of a very active, energetic troop with lots of parent involvement. You are losing too many boys, and from what you've told us, it looks like it's because the boys are too focused on advancement and not having enough fun.

If you want to change this, it's going to take a consistent message over time, and you're going to need to have leaders who are on the same page - both adult and youth. You need to ask yourselves, "What could we do differently to keep more boys engaged? What would make it more fun? How can we mix up the program a bit?"

I like the idea of additional trips, some for just the older Scouts. Go in with a bunch of ideas, in case the Scouts don't have any. Come up with some that are more complicated logistically, and let the boys work on solving it. Can they do a 5-day bike trip? Backpacking trip? Can they plan their own water event? Sometimes just giving them a chance to hang out together while doing something just a little bit more challenging can grab them.

Eagledad's ideas are good. Once you agree on this vision, you've got to get the parents to buy in. Talk to them repeatedly. Parents meetings, emails, one-on-one conversations. Pick a message and stay on it - and it will become part of the culture.

Good luck with everything.

What we do:

(We are just over 50 boys along with a Venturing crew)

1. Mix the patrols. Patrols have a mixture of ages from new scouts to Eagles. The older scouts who need leadership positions hold Venturing positions, act as Troop Guide for the patrol, or serve in other leadership capacities. It is the patrol's job to help the younger boys advance (which also helps the HS and Jr. High boys to brush up on their own skills).

2. Set up a venturing patrol/crew. Coordinate it with the troop so that crew meeting are on the same night as troop meetings, but offset timewise. Also, only schedule 2 crew meetings a month. This allows them to participate even on the days of troop meetings, but then they go for their separate meeting a bit later. (We have ours set up on 2nd and 4th Mondays, 45 minutes after the start of the troop meeting.)

3. High adventure is a must and the Venturing program will help foster it.

We have found this helps retain the older boys. It also allows more leadership positions to open up for the boys who are middle school age.