The Top 10 for a Qaulity Unit

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

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_ Red Feather

The most difficult problem that I have seen in failing or in trouble troops is the parent participation. COH are great times to recruit parents and get them involved. Disdain for DC and above...... about the only time we hear from district is when they want money from the troop or when they have a pet project that they want us involved in. the troop I am involved with is one of the premier troops in our area and we are accused of not supporting the distict, therefore not a 'proper' troop supporting BSA. We are a very active troop doing spelunking, sailing, canoeing, backpacking, high adventure, on top of pushing the basic scout skills. We draw from 4-5 packs and get 2-3 transfers a year from other troops. But we are doing something incorrect according to a lot of the district and pro scouts. Each troop os different and should rise or fall on the merits of that troop. Parnetal involvement is paramount in the survival of a troop. Off the soap box. Thanks

 

 

KS- Korea Scout

I put all our new Scouts in a New Scout Patrol shortly after taking over as Scoutmaster about six months ago. I had 8 Scouts in the patrol at the outset. Some were truly "new", and a few had a couple months in the Troop already. I did this based on BSA literature that encourages it, two ASMs I latched onto them, and a heartfelt promise from my newly anointed Troop Guide that he would jump into it with both feet.

 

The Troop Guide piece didn't work out as expected. This older Scout, who's a good kid and completed JLT, has the typical teenage distractions, missed some meetings/activities, and increasingly came to view himself as a "babysitter". This hurt the effort.

 

All the Scouts in the NSP were not a smooth, homogenous, single demographic. They didn't all come from a feeder pack, didn't have universal Cub Scout experience, and weren't all 11 years old.

 

The ASMs, being active duty military guys, weren't at every activity/meeting, either.

 

In short, I sometimes had to "detail" an older Scout or another leader to work with the NSP. Had I assigned them to permanent patrols to begin with, that support system would have been built in and automatic.

 

We also had problems when the NSP competed in interpatrol activities at troop meetings, or at camporee competitions. I had to be very creative when they consistently came up last in events that counted on Scout skills they simply didn't collectively have yet, or physical prowess inherent in the older Scouts in the permanent patrols. To be sure, the part time Troop Guide affected this, but in fairness, no Troop Guide can make an 11 year old perform like a 15 year old in a relay race without performance enhancing drugs -- you get the point. As much as the Scouts pay attention to the competition results, this was a much bigger deal than it may seem to an adult.

 

Since FCFY (as a program) is closely linked in my mind to formation and care/feeding of an NSP, I think it's success is dependent on several things happening simultaneously, and efficiently.

 

1. NSP is formed before summer camp, of boys from the same feeder pack. They will, by definition, know each other and be close in demographics.

 

2. Gotta have a good, dedicated Troop Guide.

 

3. ASM(s) who have both the inclination and the opportunity at the same time.

 

Would I do it again? Not under the same circumstances I had this time around. I believe I can give one or two new Scouts to each permanent patrol, with FCFY tracking sheets to supplement the patrol record book, and let them run it.

KS- Korea Scout

 

Acco 40

If a scout can become first class within a year of joining Boy Scouts, it shows that he has been involved, went camping, learned basic skills, etc. I don't think that making 1\+{st} Class in the first year in and of itself is such a big deal but if done it usually shows that the scout is progressing nicely, is having fun, attending meetings, etc. If feel that if a boy becomes 1\+{st} Class within a year it is a good indicator that he will remain in scouting for a time (good retention) but not that it was \b{THE} reason for retention.

 

Look at Cub Scouts. The boys who made regular advancement were usually the ones with parental involvement (Cubs is a family based, unlike Boy Scouts) and thus stuck to the program.