SueM

>I wish Scouting would adopt the traits because I think they >are all very good.

...I thought that they had 100 year ago!!

Trustworthy

Loyal

Helpful

Friendly

Courteous

Kind

Obedient

Cheerful

Thrifty

Brave

Clean

Reverant

That said, I do agree that much is lost as far as disclipline goes, but as much as we'd like them to behave like well trained marines, we do have to remember that many are also just 11-12 yrs old..and not grown men! We teach them about team work as much as they are willing to learn it...try to give them skills and knowledge to make better decisions..learn how to be leader, etc. but there's only so much that we can do in our "one hour a week".

Sue M.

It's been a while and just having come from my WB Association meeting, I'm feeling up for a round so....

I used to be a BEAVER

and a good ole' Beaver too

but now I'm finished Beavering

I don't know what to do

I'm growing old and feeble and I can Beaver no more

So I'm going to work my ticket if I can

Back to Gilwell, Happy Land!

I'm going to work my ticket if I can

Sue M. Beaver SR-605

TG - SR-741

(now let's see if we can flush out a Bobwhite!!!)

Speaking of walking sticks and patrol totems...I was stunned when at the morning flag ceremony on the first day of the 2nd weekend, my "children" in the Eagle patrol (that's what they begin to feel like!!) presented me with a walking stick, which they had cut on an angle at the top and burned my patrol totem into. It was a very unexpected gesture and very much appreciated!

Sue M.

Eagle Pete,

Staff uniforms no longer need to be "stripped"..you wear your normal uniform..just minus any temporary adornment or non-regulation patrol patches.

We wore our beads with the participant neckerchief for the whole course

Congratulations and I applaud you for being willing to step up! I was in your position 2 years ago..no men were willing to step up so it was me or no one! Trying to turn a troop around can be challenging at best..very frustrating at worst..especially for me as a female SM! I have asked my self almost weekly for the past 2 year "Just WHY am I doing this again???" but I keep plugging away because the answer is always..."It's for the Boys!"

Be prepared for new roadblocks every step of the way in trying to turn the troop around. You'll most likely find that everytime they make one positive step, you'll come up against a new roadblock which you'll need to overcome. Look for that positive step at each meeting and try to build on it. Make sure your other adult leaders understand the program well enough to -help- you rather than cause problems. Good Luck..

Sue M.

Dan,

Perhaps you could "request" that you get in the Beaver patrol..it would depend on your Course Director though and how he/she feels about allowing people to pick what patrol they're in. Some will try to honor those requests while others don't. It can't hurt to ask though if that's what you want.

sue m.

Congratulations!! I just finished my first (of hopefully MORE) stints as a Troop guide and it was an awesome experience!! I loved every minute of it! We had so much fun doing the staff development AND the course!! It is a lot of work but well worth the effort..it really reinforces what you learn when you go through the course.

We got our patrol assignments a week or so before weekend #1 but didn't get the names of our patrol members until the night before. Knowing which patrol we were getting gave us a little time to prepare something special for our patrols..even if we didn't know who would be in them. Being a Troop Guide is like being a parent..you bond with your patrol and it's hard to not want to guide them -too- much! It's tough when you have to start backing away from them because they're like your children!!

Sue M.

Beaver SR-605

Eagle Troop Guide SR-741

I would check with your unit first and see if they can provide you with some financial help..maybe no one has ever brought up the question before. Then if you do have a local WB Association, check with them to see if scholarships are available too..our local WBA provided scholarships for at least 2 participants and had other "resources" within the district who would cover the fee if needed too. IOW's...it can't hurt to ASK everyone!!

And I agree with SR540..if you are REALLY lucky, you'll get to be a member of the first and finest patrol..the BEAVERS!!! We're always the overachievers no matter what the others say!!

Sue M.

We (the troop guides) did this for our recent Wood Badge course. One of the TG's set up a private website and we then just uploaded our presentations so that we could share them with each other. It made it easy for those who were a bit behind on things to look through what various people had and were doing with presentations and they could pick and choose what they wanted to put together something that worked for them. Many people did them in PP, but I did mine in either Word or Pagemaker (converted to PDF form).

sue

Maybe I should spin this off as a separate question, but how do other Courses do the final segment?...you know..the "It's in every one of us" thing? Do you do the song twice? Just curious.. In our courses, we have a staffer who pretty much spends both weekends taking candid pictures of both the staff and the participants. Then, they'll run the first time through the song with the stock BSA pictures and the CD will give his final farewell and they'll start it again only this time it's a surprise slide show of the participants. It's fun to watch them when they first realize it's pictures of THEM this time and it never ends without lots of laughter and tears...and a standing ovation...do other courses do something similar??

sue m.

I'm a bit confused by the question, but what I have seen done is sometimes you get to be "honorary" members of a patrol at beading time so if you're invited to sing along with them..I think it's ok, especially if they only do one verse. If they do the whole round though you'd go with your own critter patrol.(This message has been edited by SueM)

From what I have been told, the National Council does not have or keep any records on WB'ers. Our local council doesn't even have them!! One of the goals of our Wood Badge Association has been to build a list of known WB'er's, so we all contribute to it as much as we can when we happen to identify one through other ways. One of our long time SM's does have some records of his own, but we haven't gotten them yet.

Sue M.

Our council nearly always invites Cubs to the Camporees and often also invites them to do family camping along side their "sister" troop (if they have one) for one night. While the Cubs don't participate in the events, they do get to watch them as the Scouts do the events. Sometimes there are events specifically for the Cubs too.

sue m.

My 2nd weekend as a staffer was also a blast! I was really stunned by the amount of appreciation that the participants expressed to the staff for all the work that we put into making it as much a "mountain top" experience as we could. I was not sure I was going to be able to make it through the final handshake with them without tears! It's like watching your children go off on their first day of school!! I can't wait to see them graduate and get their beads!

Sue M.

When I first joined our troop, all the parents who were hanging around were invited to attend the committee meeting. Though we sometimes offered opinions, etc. It was made clear though that while we could attend, we would have no vote in anything that came up unless or until we signed the adult application. This is still kind of the way we continue to run things..parents are welcomed to attend.

sue m

Many school districts are starting to "lock out" recruiting efforts...it's getting to be a major problem in some areas. Locally here, we are no longer able to go into the classrooms and present programs to recruit or send home flyers. We have to fight just to be able to go to the schools on their Back to school night and set up a table with information.

Sue M.

This just happened in our troop last week...it was my son and another boy, who I actually talked into running too and the first vote was a tie. They revoted and a couple of the boys including the last SPL purposely threw their votes to my son..not because they felt he was the best one for the job, but more so they could try and cause him issues!! The father of one of the boys actually came and told me this himself after the meeting..as he also said that he would not be bringing his son back for a while so that my son did not have to deal with deliberate sabotage right off the bat!!

Sue m.

SR540Beaver,

I just got done with my 1st weekend as 1st time staff too and was worried about weight gain too..I'm not used to eating 3 meals a day! However, our QM was very conscious of "portion size" so I was able to get through the weekend without overeating..I know I burned a lot of calories though too..

Sue M.

I Used to be a Beaver...who is now trying to herd a flock of Eagles back to their nest!!

Eagle76,

Let me be the first to say congratulations for taking the plunge! I'm glad that you didn't decide to put it off and hope that it has given you a fresh perspective on how you can help the troop better. And see..didn't we all tell you you'd have fun!

Sue M.

Our council only holds a course every 2 years and even at that we have a hard time getting participants for anything near a full course. I think there were only 32 in my course 2 years ago and we have 40 for this course..a neighboring council does try to have an annual course and they are having trouble drawing paricipants for it on an annual basis too. We're a very transient area due to a high military presence, so sometimes that also comes into play when we look at future staffing situations. New adults come in..maybe get basic training but then move on. We face a lot of burnout sometimes because there are only a limited amount of people who are willing to make the committment to do -anything- extra to help...which is how I ended up as the SM too!

sue m.

I'm also halfway through my first stint as a staffer and we also have several former CD's on staff..though only one of them has been the CD for WB/21st Century and he is there strictly to do the "Win all you can" game because he does such a good job with it. Otherwise, the others are there more in advisory roles and they do stay out of the CD's way so he runs things.

I honestly think that although the new 30% new staffers is a good thing, I can also see the need for -some- flexibility, especially in areas where you just can't hold the course often enough to provide a pool of new staffers or that there is just a general lack of available staffer to put on the course regularly.

CYNScouter,

By now, you are surely aware that the noble and always eager Beaver is always the first and brightest of the critters..We're the critter everyone else always -wishes- they could be..IOW's, as a friend of mine puts it..they suffer from "Beaver envy"!!

Sue M.

SR540Beaver,

I am exhausted, but I had a blast being on staff..as if that would come as a surprise! I got the Eagle patrol and though it took them a day or so to "get it"..by yesterday morning, most of them had solid ideas for where to go with their tickets. Many of the participants actually thanked us..saying that they could really see..and were amazed at how much work staff had put into making this a great experience for them. Everything went off well..no major problems except that we had some participants with -very- competitive and dominant personalities, who the all TG's had to have a small discussion with because their behavior was starting to escalate to becoming an issue. It worked out very well though as our discussion came right before we presented the Communication segment so we were able to work the situation into the that presentation!

I'm really looking forward to weekend 2!

sue

SR540Beaver,

I'm leaving tomorrow to begin my first (of hopefully many) stint(s) as a Troop Guide at SR-741. I'm nervous...and hope that I can do a good job. I will be with the Eagle patrol so I've made a big Eagles nest out of wild grape vines and bought some nice small stuffed Eagles which I'll put in the nest. Wish me luck!!!!!

Sue M.

We don't do "waiting periods" with new adults but we have started to interview adults before we let them sign that adult application..mainly to find out what their committment level is! We got tired of having tons of people on the roster who did nothing..half of them we didn't even KNOW because they had been on the roster for so long!! When we do then find adults who want to really help, we first sign them on as Committee members. This gives them a chance to get their feet wet slowing in how the troop is supposed to operate and also then gives us a chance to get them trained before they move into the ASM job.

Sue m.