510spl

thanks for the feedback (i took notes!). the identity that our patrols have is basically planning food for the campouts (donuts, ez-cheese and crackers, and of course enough pop to fill the grand canyon) and setting up tents together. i never even thought to read the PL handbook!

tomorrow is the first meeting of my second term, we will elect new PLs and all scouts will get new jobs. i am going to try and outfit them with the PL handbook (and get one for myself) and distribute the job journals (now with expectations/ideas for the specific jobs). we are going to have a very interesting PLC- i was hoping to advnace some sort of interpatrol competition every other week or so and give prizes/food to winning patrols.

thanks again for the tips, i am excited for the upcoming six months. if there is anything else that might help introduce the ideals of the patrol method, please let me know!

six months ago, I was elected to be the spl of quite possibly the most adult-led troop in the country. our PLC was a homework club that met half an hour prior to meetings, our TLC and Committee planed everything and chose which campouts we went on, and troop meetings were basically announcements, hour-long patrol meetings (which consisted of card games, talking, possibly more homework), and then a closing ceremony.

a few months into my term i decided something was wrong and, after learning what a boy-led troop was, began to make the conversion myself (the SM and CC agreed but some of the old guard was unwilling to be actively supportive for a few months). first off, i moved the PLC to a sunday (the day before our monthly TLC) so that 1) the descisions made here would directly influence the TLC and 2) we would have a few hours to plan out our monthly campout. i also am encouraging more participation in troop jobs and made them more accountable by designing "job journals" which keep record of what every scout does for his job.

something that still bothers me is the lack of following the patrol method. last week i was reelected and for the next six months i want to use this time to patrol-methodize the troop; that is, i would like to put more emphasis on the individuality, spirit, and freedom of the patrols, encourage our PLs to actually plan patrol meetings and activities, etc., but at the same time i dont want to move too fast and loose the support of anyone in my troop. what is the best way to go about this? how can i implement a more boy-led/patrol-method style troop? any feedback would be wonderful. thank you.