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LeCastor

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Everything posted by LeCastor

  1. Hi @Momleader. Congratulations on recruiting a new Cub Scout! As for answering your question, you should refer this to your Unit Commissioner, or District Commissioner. If you can't find those two, you should then send your inquiry to your District Executive.
  2. We've already veered far away from SSScout's question of what we will call Scouts in Scouts BSA, so I don't feel too bad responding to one of the tentacles of this thread. The telling of the "why" is one of the key aspects in Working the Patrol Method: https://www.scoutleadership.com I found this book most insightful and have used it to makes illustrations and tell timely stories when encouraging others to lead with "the why". Also, there is Simon Sinek's book Start With Why: https://startwithwhy.com Isn't it funny that we have to be reminded to take this simple
  3. Unfortunately, she'd be about a five-hour drive from my District, but I'd happily recruit her as an ADC! On a different note, I worked in NW WI for a time a few years back (in the environmental interpretation field) and always enjoyed taking trips up to the Gordon area. It's always scary to know you've been to places where evil lurks. I'm glad Ms. Nutter was there when she was! Now if we could find all the other missing kids in WI...and elsewhere.
  4. Have any of your Councils put on a College of Commissioner Science? If so, how has it gone? If not, why not? Have any of you completed your Doctorate of Commissioner Science? If so, have you found it useful to your Commissioner Service? What were your thesis topics?
  5. https://oa-bsa.org/article/how-aia-programs-benefit-lodges
  6. NOTE: For those interested in pursuing some thoughts about the Order of the Arrow regaining its path to an honor camper society, I have created a new topic in the Order of the Arrow Sub-Forum.
  7. We are veering off the subject at hand: leadership through service. Let's try to steer back on course. Otherwise, I can split off several of these posts into another topic for the Order of the Arrow sub-forum. ********* Each year about this time, I reread selected Klondike stories by Jack London. In reading "In a Far Country" this morning I was moved by a specific passage that I think is a supplement to the initial post outlining key aspects of servant leadership. Describing the hardships of living in the cold North, London says this of an individual: "For the courtesies of ordi
  8. Hi all, The reason I posted this video was not to critique the video itself. Rather, it was to reflect on the messages given within the video. @sst3rd, I can sense you are having some conflicts with the present state of the OA and I can appreciate your point of view. However, my takeaways from the video are: 1) good leaders give a hand to others, lifting them up and helping them achieve common goals and 2) we are stronger together, not divided. Thank you for your thoughts on the OA, though. There has been a significant change in many facets of the program and your concerns
  9. This is an Order of the Arrow video depicting the first initiation sequence but I believe the message transcends the OA sub-forum. We can all learn from the three tasks demanded in the video. Please have a look and then take a moment to reflect on the messages given by E. Urner Goodman and Caroll Edson:
  10. Welcome @FormerBSA to our Forum.
  11. I've been re-reading a history book, created over 15 years ago, outlining the rich background of Scouting in my area. In one particular chapter, the author highlights some pretty cool things that took place during the "Improved Scouting" years, despite the changes that the National Council, BSA introduced in 1972. Dedicated Scouters gave countless hours to mentor, guide, and teach countless young people how to navigate the world and society. This is exactly what each of us is still doing today! I think the general malaise I feel from reading some posts on this Forum is due, in large part,
  12. Last weekend, as I spoke at the memorial service for a very influential Scouter from my teenage years, I was overcome with emotion, not just from the memories of a loved one taken at a young age. Unbeknownst to me, 3/4 of the attendees were Scouters and I was the only one wearing my uniform. I wore it because I think about my Scoutmaster and his late wife each time I put on my shirt. Underneath my shirt I wore a special t-shirt I received while working on staff of a district camporee in 1994. As I was sharing a second story with the assembled crowd, I unbuttoned my uniform shirt to show off th
  13. Completely agree! I wouldn't want to hammer these Patrol Leaders with a list. I think Green Bar Bill's 4-part list, though, sums it up as you and I have done so here. from Handbook for Patrol Leaders, 1929
  14. Thanks, @MattR. Here are ten things that popped into my head as I sat down to type, in no particular order: 1. Every member of the Patrol needs to be, consistently, given responsibility/responsibilities--at Patrol meetings, on Patrol hikes, in Patrol camps, etc. 2. Remember the Golden Rule--treat each Patrol member as you would like to be treated. 3. When dealing with conflicts, take a moment to see what you've been doing and then come up with a different approach. 4. As a Patrol Leader, you should be constantly striving to improve yourself and encouraging others aro
  15. I think we need to try to wrap our minds around giving the Patrols more life and meaning and resist the urge to fill a chart from the Scoutmaster's Handbook where the Troop has QMs, Scribes, etc. In Wood Badge, for example, there is a Troop Scribe and then there are 8 Patrol Scribes who submit the goings-on from each of the 8 Patrols. The Troop Scribe shows the rest of the Troop what each Patrol has been up to through the writing of 8 Patrol Scribes.
  16. The patch isn't the point. The "job" is the idea here. How many times have we seen a Troop campout where 2-3 Scouts from six different Patrols showed up, causing the Scoutmaster to make the decision to create an ad hoc weekend-long Patrol? Might the fact that each Patrol member has a job create a sense of ownership where each member is compelled to show up consistently for each outing?
  17. @DuctTape and @fred8033, you see my point now. How many times have Scouts gotten bored and quit because they had nothing to do? A Patrol Leader should be working with each member of the Patrol to make sure responsibility and accountability is shared. I don't think Green Bar Bill ever said anything like this. Instead he quoted the Three Musketeers: "All for one, and one for all!"
  18. I hear what you're saying, Q. Now, I would ask why the Troop needs a QM if each Patrol has its own set of gear in the closet/trailer/corner. I don't want to get hung up on QMs or any particular role here. My point is giving a Troop position takes away from a Patrol position. If we give greater responsibility to more Scouts are we not giving more accountability to more youth?
  19. I think the pushback, and some shown here so far, is that adults want to make everything "formal" and "official". The Patrol Leader is the one who makes the decision about who does what, based on each Patrol members strengths. The Patrol Leader is the only "formal" and/or "official" role as far as the Scoutmaster should be concerned. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with a Troop of 8 Patrols to have 8 Scouts with QM patches on their sleeves. See what I mean?
  20. Thanks, all, for the discussion thus far! This is the point I'm trying to make. Did you roll your eyes at me? Quite simply, my answer is because it's the Patrol Method. Not everything one does has to be for advancement. If you are doing something strictly for advancement, then I don't think you are doing it for the right reason(s). How is the disagreeing with me? Let's have a moment of Green Bar Bill wisdom: "You will never get anywhere with a one-man system. The farthest if can bring your Patrol is into the ditch and one might assume that that is e
  21. As a Commissioner and trainer of Scoutmasters, I often suggest (strongly) that every Scout in a Patrol needs a job to do. That means every Patrol should have a PL, APL, scribe, quartermaster, historian, webmaster, etc. I don't know how many times I've heard the pushback that, "our Troop already has a quartermaster". Patrols should have gear, a blog, meetings (requiring a scribe to take minutes), etc. Troops don't need a quartermaster as much as a Patrol does, provided the Patrol has its own gear (which it should). I think a Troop quartermaster who works with Patrol quartermasters is a go
  22. Sorry to mis-lead you two. I joined as a Bear Cub in 1987. The uniform shirt I shared belongs to a recently-retired Scoutmaster from our area. Yes, @desertrat77, our Scout Executive shared that with us a few days before we all learned of this lawsuit. I think BSA was trying to pave the way for merger in the 1970s and "Scout BSA" was a way to make it easier?
  23. I agree, DuctTape. So why don't we have that same level of depth anymore? Why is the Patrol Method only touched on for two pages in the 13th edition? Do you think this is why neither Scoutmasters nor Scouts know how to effectively implement and use the Patrol Method? I guess we could buy all remaining copies of GBB's books and distribute to our Scouts. Or maybe we could petition the BSA to reprint them in bulk for today's Scouts to use??!!
  24. I know what you mean but here is a photo of a uniform from the mid-1970s.
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