Patrol Method at Camp

[Beavah 205]

Modern BSA summer camps tend to be geared toward whole-troop or individual type camping, eh? Dining by troop, campin' by troop, assemblies by troop, individual activities, individual merit badges.

 

Not much of anything that supports or even allows for da Patrol Method.

 

So what do yeh guys and gals do to try to keep Patrol Method alive during your week at camp?

[GernBlansten 10]

Our council camp offers three options.

1) A troop style, dining hall camp.

2) A patrol style, patrol cooking.

3) And a self run troop camp (patrol cooking but troop provides/designs program).

Our troop has always elected for the patrol style. The camp provides the cookboxes, stoves and raw food. Each patrol does the provisioning (getting the food from the depot), cleaning (4 bucket method) and cooking (propane stoves).

Frankly, the food is better and meals are more enjoyable, less noise, more variety. The downside is cooking and cleaning take more time from other activities.

This summer we are going out of council to summer camp but that camp provides the same styles.

[Lisabob 13]

My son's troop is going to a camp this summer where they had a choice between patrol cooking and dining halls. They chose the patrol cooking. I can see where this may help build patrols, although as I've been helping them with mb registration I've noticed an interesting thing.

 

One of the patrols chose to do most of the same mbs together. The rest of the patrols are scattered to the winds all day long.

 

It'll be interesting to see how, or if, this has any effect on the tightness of the patrol by the end of the week.

 

Lisa'bob

 

 

[Oak Tree 15]

Other than lining up by patrol when the troop assembles at our campsite, we do nothing to maintain the patrol method while in camp. Just seems like it would be swimming against the current, given all the things Beavah points out about the camp structure. We'll use the patrol method in other times and places.

 

Oak Tree

[EagleInKY 14]

At times our camp makes it even harder by having "campsite structure" around some items. For example, Campsite #5, which may have three troops in it, is responsible for cleaning the showerhouse on Tuesday...

 

So, to battle this, we've done a few things:

- Tents are assigned according to patrols. We keep the patrols together and try to provide space between them using adults or senior troop leaders.

- Patrols are assigned duties in the campsite (cleanup, flag, etc.).

- Campsite inspection - patrols are given individual scores. The SPL and PLs conduct the inspection. Patrol with best inspection results for the week is given an award.

- Troop campfire with patrol skits. We try to do this one night.

- Campwide competitions - build teams by patrol, if possible.

 

[Kichkinet 10]

Our council's camp offers both patrol opportunities and troop opportunities.Activities can be patrol or both. Patrol activities would range from rock climbing, to shooting, to canoeing to even cooking if you wanted. Our troop prefers to do eating together and certain activities by patrol.

[pizzafrisbee84 10]

I am staff at a Summer Camp and from our perspective, addressing the patrol method is difficult at best. This year I have taken on the task of designing a program for our camp that will increase the opportunities for Patrol-method camping.

 

At many camps, the only patrol activity seems to be meals, but as a staff member, I have a problem with that. Meals are some of the few times that we have the entire camp together in one place. This is where we can give out our announcements and messages to everyone without having to track people down. No one is going to miss a meal if they can help it, right?

 

Secondly, I don't know about at other camps, but at our camp, we do a short program during the meals (song, skit, or what-have-you). This serves to bring some of the staff into the spotlight so to speak and helps to form bonds with the campers. All of the staff rotates through the program schedule and the kids often relate the staff members with the program that they did at a meal.

 

This is where I'm coming up empty handed when trying to write up this program. There doesn't seem to be a program at any camp out there that is doing what I want to do. I have nothing to base this on and I'm sorta starting from scratch. We already offer inter-troop competition and urge them to participate by patrol rather than troop, but I would like to go a step further. If anyone has any suggestions for patrol-method programming, please let me know.

[John-in-KC 311]

Here's the fundamental issue pizzafrisbee hints at:

 

COOKING MERIT BADGE IS NOT ON THE EAGLE REQUIRED LIST.

 

When I was a Scout, I needed the times I was cook, either in camp or on the trail, to get my count up! No, I didn't plan menus, but I had to work with the PL (or when I was PL, insert myself in the roster) to make sure all the roster jobs got done.

 

Cooking isn't part of the Eagle matrix right now. That's a BAD thing, IMNSHO. The leadership cooking teaches (not to mention the culinary skills) come back to help Scouts as they approach Eagle.

 

The other thing is that Scout camp competes for $$$ (whether the Scout earns them or Mom and Dad send him) with band camp, tennis camp, debate camp, space camp, this camp, that camp, and another camp. From my observation, parents want concrete, quantifiable achievement. Personal growth and having FUN, which was part of my years in camp, just does not cut it anymore.

 

YIS