Adult Leadership to Help Troop Advance

[Stosh 3452]

Adult-led, boy-run, is not teaching the boys anything other than how to follow.

 

 

Stosh,

 

I agree with your observations, but I don't agree with the first sentence.

 

 

So why then did you go on for the next several paragraphs supporting what I said?

 

If the older boys are teaching the younger boys, then I don't see it as Adult-led, boy-run. I see it as Boy-led, boy-run.

 

So I 100% agree that the Boys taking ownership for as much as possible is critical. But right now, they are staring at a blank sheet of paper and getting overwhelmed. I want to give them a paint by number this month so they gain confidence, then a picture to copy in a few months, so they are able to on their own be painting in a year.

 

 

There's a simple solution to that dilemma. Don't have the boys work on the details when they don't understand the complete picture. Planning activities from one month to the next gives the boys a real bad case of myopia. They're going to wake some day and say, "I guess we made it, I think." They had no idea where they were going in the first place so where you end up is just as good a place as any. I find very few people would find satisfaction in that process.

 

So, have THE BOYS sit down and write out the world of their scouting in that troop right now. Current state of affairs kinda thing. That's all for the first session. The second session the boys write out the world of their scouting as it's going to be in 2-3 years. That's their target.

 

Both those activities are purely boy oriented. THEY identify the world that THEY currently see in scouting. Then then identify the world that THEY want to see in scouting.

 

From those two activities, the adults now know HOW TO HELP the boys get to where THEY want to go. They have created their road map. The sheet in front of them is no longer blank. The space they need to start filling out is What is it going to take to get from point A to point B? They don't need adults to point out the way, they just need adults to sit them down and focus their attention on what they think is important for this time and place. After the adults have them sitting down, then they shut up and listen and listen carefully. They can't help if they don't know and understand where the boys are and where they are going.

 

Every six months the boys sit down and do this once again to see where they have progressed and where they have come up short. Are they on the right track or have they wandered off somewhere?

 

This process reminds me of my mom. I had a pretty good sized bedroom when I was a kid. Of course at the end of the day it looked like an explosion had just occurred. I would stand in the doorway and see toys as far as I could focus and totally overwhelmed. One day Mom said, "Look at your feet, what do you see?" to which I answered, "Toys". She said, "Pick up one, just one, and put it away." I did and when I was done I looked at her and asked "What now?". She said, "Look at your feet..."

 

How many of our PL's or SPL when they stand on the verge of a really big responsibility or even our NSP at their first patrol meeting, do we ever tell them to just look at their feet and start there.

 

Too many times I see adults showing them rather than letting them do it themselves. That's a really bad precedent to start at the beginning. All it teaches the boys is that the adults are capable to doing it for us, all we need to do is figure out how to keep them doing it. And these boys are masters of playing dumb. If that's the kind of boy-led you want, then knock yourself out.

 

Stosh

 

[Pack18Alex 92]

MattR and Stosh,

 

Some great feedback there. Given I'm a Cub Dad and Key3 for the Pack, and just a Committee Member for the Troop, I'm not sure how many of your ideals I can implement, but I'm going to take these to the ASM and see what he can use from there.

 

So the PLC has been able to handle the weekly meetings and the campouts, sort of. It's more the "big picture" side that's a mess.

 

As an example, it took my 18 months to get this joint Pack/Troop Campout to happen. The SM didn't like the old CM from a few years back and felt the Cubs weren't well trained and out of control (very true, discipline was one of our first things to work on). The correct solution would be to come on one of our campouts and teach our cubs, but he just avoided the issue and kept blaming the PLC until I came to a PLC and pitched it.

 

It's a myopic style that ignores Troop Health issue for short term comfort. This has been the impetuous for the Committee to get some control over the process. The Webelos to Scout Transition (with two joint events) is a Committee/JTE requirement, not up to the PLC. What the Troop teaches the Webelos AT the joint event can be a PLC call, but the existence of the event is a Committee fiat, IMO.

 

I don't mind if the PLC picks Hockey or a Campout on the weekend that lines up with the schedules, but they don't get to pick if they do the things that they have to do like Webelos joint activities. And they do have to be planning far enough out that people that need to take off from work can do so.

 

But I think you guys have really helped me drill down to it. The big picture isn't there. The Scouts and what they want to accomplish in Scouting needs to be there. The SM's high standards are great, but the Scouts need to be guided into hitting those standards, and they need to CHOOSE to hit them. The Committee needs to gain some control over the process so we can actually do planning/budgeting, but without taking over the program from the boys. The Committee also needs to find OTHER adults in the Troop/Pack/CO/Community to come in and work with the boys to learn.

 

We've had guests come in and do a healthy food component with the Cubs and it was a HUGE hit. Age appropriate activities for the Boy Scouts should happen as well.

 

As a thought, the Boys picked a monthly theme of First Aid. I'm not sure if any of the lower ranked Scouts mastered enough to advance. But we could have supported this as the committee by getting EMT or Paramedic to come in and train them, then Troop could have spent the rest of the month practicing those skills with Scout games, led by the First Class Scouts that have mastered the basics.

 

One Rank Advancement problem, when you don't have new Scouts coming in, it's hard for the intermediate Scouts to have Scouts to train, no pipeline is a big problem.

[Stosh 3452]

MattR and Stosh,

 

It's a myopic style that ignores Troop Health issue for short term comfort. This has been the impetuous for the Committee to get some control over the process. The Webelos to Scout Transition (with two joint events) is a Committee/JTE requirement, not up to the PLC. What the Troop teaches the Webelos AT the joint event can be a PLC call, but the existence of the event is a Committee fiat, IMO.

 

If the committee gets control over the process, then it's their process and the boys no longer need to worry about any more. The committee can fiat anything they want, but the boys don't need to go long with it. They're going to fiat all the boys right out the door.

 

I don't mind if the PLC picks Hockey or a Campout on the weekend that lines up with the schedules, but they don't get to pick if they do the things that they have to do like Webelos joint activities. And they do have to be planning far enough out that people that need to take off from work can do so.

 

No, they have to go ahead and make those plans and when they fail because of scheduling conflicts they will learn something for the next time. If there's no pinch, there's nothing to avoid next time.

 

But I think you guys have really helped me drill down to it. The big picture isn't there. The Scouts and what they want to accomplish in Scouting needs to be there. The SM's high standards are great, but the Scouts need to be guided into hitting those standards, and they need to CHOOSE to hit them.

 

Nope, you missed my point. The SM's high standards might be absolutely terrific, but they are HIS, not the BOYS'! Guiding the boys to HIS standards is a waste of time. It's a lot easier to assist and help the boys get to THEIR standards! That's why they state the target and the adults listen carefully to make sure they know what page everyone is supposed to be on. Let them get out in front and lead and the adults assist and help them do just that.

 

The Committee needs to gain some control over the process so we can actually do planning/budgeting, but without taking over the program from the boys. The Committee also needs to find OTHER adults in the Troop/Pack/CO/Community to come in and work with the boys to learn.

 

No, the Committee needs to mind it's own business and leave the planning and budgeting to the boys as part of their program of learning to do those things. How can one be the leader if they don't plan and budget? Planning is a piece of cake once they know what the target goal is. Here's step 1 to get there, then there's step 2, followed by step 3.... The leader knows the route to take. He should also know if it's economically feasible to take each of those steps. If not he should know how much money is there and work within those limits. Okay boys, are we going to chip in more money or do we need to plan a fundraiser? This is what a good PL does with his boys.

 

We've had guests come in and do a healthy food component with the Cubs and it was a HUGE hit. Age appropriate activities for the Boy Scouts should happen as well.

 

As part of the helping the boys with their goals, an adult can offer up non-binding suggestions for the boys to consider. They are working 2 years out on a Philmont trek? "Hey, guys I wonder if it would be helpful to get someone in here who's been to Philmont to let us know what we need to do to get ready?" Then keep quiet until it sinks in. Down the road don't be surprised when your PL comes up to you and asks for suggestions as to who they might contact about coming in and having someone tell us about getting ready for Philmont. It won't be word for word your suggestion, but it will definitely be their idea at that point. Your answer, "Hey that's a great idea, I have a couple of people I know that just went last summer, I'll get you their phone numbers."

 

One Rank Advancement problem, when you don't have new Scouts coming in, it's hard for the intermediate Scouts to have Scouts to train, no pipeline is a big problem.

 

No, this is NOT a problem, this is a great opportunity for the boys to take a breather and hone their leadership skills. Don't worry about quantity at this point, focus on quality. Everything is cyclical and the boys will be coming in down the road.

 

I teach that within the patrol everyone is the leader at one point or another. You will get the deer in the headlight look at that point because it is assumed that the only leader is the PL. Wrong answer. At meal time the GM is the leader, setting up camp QM is the leader, handling the finances and fundraising for the patrol the Scribe is the leader, during devotions the patrol CA is the leader. Leaders working together for the benefit of others is what teamwork is all about. My teaching style uses only one quick lesson that last about 5 seconds. Leadership 101 - "Take care of your boys." Yep that's it. Does the PL take care of his boys? Yep. At meal time does the Grubmaster take care of his boys? Yep, When setting up camp making sure everyone has what they need is that the QM taking care of his boys? Yep! When the Scribe is running a fundraiser for the patrol, is he taking care of his boys? Yep. When the CA has prayers at meals and does an evening vesper devotional at the campfire is he taking care of his boys? Yep.

 

Maybe it's time to start training each other. One can send a couple of hours on a C.O.P.E. course or they can hone their leadership/teamwork amongst themselves.

 

Don't lament what you don't have, celebrate what you do!

 

Stosh

[Eagledad 2777]

You have some basic problems like not building a process for the vision. Another is the flaw of assuming that scouts will figure it out even without resources for a solution. As the program matures, the scouts gain enough experience to move the program, but it is difficult without any experience. Some support is needed to get momentum going. During our annual planning, all patrols are expected to provide equal input for ideas. That included the adults. Adults have a lot of experience and to ignore them is not doing justice for the program. Resources, scouts need to learn adults are great resources. Also, there is a saying "train for success, prepare for failure". For programs to mature to the next level, there is usually some kind of skills development required to move beyound the present level if for no other reason than building some confidience. Leading a planning session is not easy for adults, much less kids. But adults usually aquired some skills in their lifetime to lead successful meetings, where as the boys have not yet had such experiences. Are they getting any kind of training for leading meetings or are they just told to get in there and get it done. Even the SPL handbook has some guidelines to running a meeting. Train for success is not anti boy run, it is life. I usually tested my scouts on how much was being expected of them by asking them if they were having fun. If it wasn't fun, then I demanded we change. Scouting has got to be fun, all of it. Barry

[qwazse 4342]

...

As a thought, the Boys picked a monthly theme of First Aid. I'm not sure if any of the lower ranked Scouts mastered enough to advance. But we could have supported this as the committee by getting EMT or Paramedic to come in and train them, then Troop could have spent the rest of the month practicing those skills with Scout games, led by the First Class Scouts that have mastered the basics.

...

 

You're onto something. The committee can help the boys by assembling a "short list" of people to contact for topics of interest. It really should be up to those boys to make those contacts. But you might want to say "By the way. Mr. __ said he'd be willing to drop by and show us some cool stuff if a youth gave him a call."

[TAHAWK 1420]

​I think I repeat the substance of what many others have said over the years.

 

Scouting, for boys, is a boy-led game.

 

Safety aside, our job as adults is to try our best to give the leaders what they need in order to lead well - techniques , insights, and skills. We also expose them to possibilities that they have not experienced. How well, or how unsuccessfully, we do our job is reflected in how well they lead over time. If the leaders lack the skills, you teach them. You do not take over as leader.

 

"We," Scouting, expect the newly crossed-over Scouts to do what the other Scouts are supposed to do: elect their Patrol Leader. That leader will then be taught, coached, and counseled by older heads. This system is based on the insight of Scouting (and most other organizations) that people learn to lead, in substantial part, by the experience of leading.

 

To the extent that you prevent leaders from leading, they will take longer to learn the skills and art of leadership. So if you are "waiting until they can," you are interfering with the process. You are really "waiting until you can." Some adults never can.

 

If the newbie is joining an established patrol, things will be different. There is already a leader. Or that is what is supposed to be going on.

 

Ten kids on a basketball court with a ball do not sit and wait for someone more experienced to come along and lead them. They play. That is natural.

 

Adults allowing the natural leaders to lead is apparently an unnatural behavior. Adults seem to instinctively think it's about the results - the well-oiled machine.. Those who created Scouting know its about the journey. Let them play. They joined to have fun, not to meet adult expectations.

 

____________________________________________

"Little League Coach pitches Parma Giants to regional championship. 'I had to take the ball. None of the kids could find the plate.'"

[Pack18Alex 92]

Sometimes it's important to get away from the theory and lead by example.

 

In the First Aid Scenario, the ideal is: the boys organize it, decide what needs to be done (experience Scout/Scouter, EMT, whatever), call them up, get the resources handled, teach the boys, write the thank you note, practice their skills, pass their skill tests.

 

The status quo: boys meander through the requirements by a transfer scout that had it signed off without mastering. Boys bomb their games. Nobody passes first aid. Scouts are discouraged.

 

So how to we get from status quo to ideal?

 

The suggestions I'm hearing here sound a lot more like "well, tell them to read the SPL manual and do it, celebrate whatever they get done." If you help them, they'll drop out of Scouting.

 

Well, 1 recruit in the past 3 years and like 8 drop outs tells me that they are more than capable of dropping out of scouting without adult help.

 

My thought would be:

 

Month 1: Committee solicits volunteer to teach, SM/SPL plan out games to practice, some boys pass their skill tests. Wahoo, success under belt.

 

Month 2: Same as month 1, but now SPL understands who to get things done, PLC discusses what to do, makes a decision for month 4.

 

Month 3, Same as month 1/2 because of lag time, but now PLC is deciding what resource they want in months 5/6.

 

Month 4, PLC picked resource, Committee makes calls.

 

Month 5, PLC picked resource, Committee comes back with short list, SPL gets someone to make the calls.

 

Month 6, PLC picked resource, PLC does some preliminary research. Committee helps if calls needed during business/school day, but PLC has it under control.

 

In 6 months we've led by example, led by example while teaching how, and transitioned over to the troop getting it done.

 

Right now, things are a disaster. Committee having some control over the program we're delivering lets us delegate tasks AND TRAIN the boys how to do it. It's really hard to train someone in a job you've never done.

 

And, again, my post was about what we can do, AS A COMMITTEE, to help the program so my demoralized Scouts feel they can do things. Success begets success. Occasional failures mean you learn and improve. Constant failure just begets failure.

[Hedgehog 334]

The advice you are reading isn't just theory. It is how successful troops are run. I'll be honest. Nobody learns leadership through someone else's example. Not boys and not adults.

 

We were talking about the saying that if you teach someone to fish you feed them for a lifetime. A scout asked, "once you teach them, how do you actually get them to fish for themselves?" The adults stopped for a minute and thought. Our reply was, "you stop fishing for them. " The answer to your question is that there is nothing the committee should do except encourage the SMs and ASMs the learn how to implement a boy-led troop.

 

My philosophy is that a leader's role is to guide by asking questions. For planning purposes have a separate PLC meeting. Here would be my questions:

 

What do you ideas to do you have for our future meetings?

 

For each idea, what sort of activities would you do?

 

Out of those ideas, which meetings do you want to do for each month?

 

Now that we have the themes, let's plan the first month.

 

What activities should we do?

 

Out of those ideas which ones do we want to do?

 

For each idea, what needs to be done to implement it and who is going to do it?

 

This is the process the boys in our troop go through to plan every meeting - except the SPL or PL (depending if it is a troop or patrol activity) is the one asking questions. I sit there watching until the PL asks me what I think and I respond, "you are in charge, it's your decision. "

 

Don't focus on advancement. Scouts is not school - it is not about learning and tests and passing.

 

Our boys' theme for this month is Duct Tape. Each patrol runs a program regarding the theme. One patrol showed how to make duct tape cups and had a relay race moving water from one bucket to another (guess what I'm going to say when a scout tells me he forgot his cup on the next campout? ). Another patrol is doing first aid using duct tape - blisters, cuts, splints, etc. our theme for October was lashings - two patrols collaborated and used their two meeting to build catapults that were used to fire water balloons at me and another ASM (my sons patrol almost hit me). Imagine the reaction of the Webelos that were visiting our troop that week. The theme for December is Vikings - I can wait to see how they tie it into scouting. These are ideas the boys came up with. All we did was supply ther rope for lashings and the duct tape.

 

Ask yourself why the boys don't have T-1st but do have merit badges? Because merit badges are interesting and the basic skills are taught like school. Did I mention that for the lashings theme the boys taught a bunch of knots and the required lashings. The younger scouts didn't think they were doing "advancement" - they thought they were building a catapult.

 

With your a Troop, you need someone to train the trainers. I don't have a problem with a scout (who has already passed that requirement) asking me "Mr. Hedgehog, is this the right way to tie a sheet bend?" If it's not, we get a book and review it. The older scouts master the skills by teaching them.

 

Just remember, it is easier to start out boy-lead and continue than to start out adult-led and change.

[Eagledad 2777]

And, again, my post was about what we can do, AS A COMMITTEE, to help the program so my demoralized Scouts feel they can do things. Success begets success. Occasional failures mean you learn and improve. Constant failure just begets failure.

 

Without getting into quoting the Committee Handbook, the committee’s only proactive responsibility is to provide a Scoutmaster who believes in the Troop vision and builds a program toward that vision. All other committee actions are reactive to the Scoutmaster's program. I’m a little uncomfortable with your troop because it appears your committee is very proactive toward the process of reaching the vision and I don't see where your SM even fits in your program.

 

Take it from someone who used to have the responsibility of fixing broken units, “a program cannot serve two mastersâ€Â. I think your unit adults need training to understand each others roles better. If you were in our district, I would request the District Trainer give the Scoutmaster Specific and Committee Specific courses to your unit requesting all the volunteers to attend. Then I would ask the group to sit down and define the program vision and the specific responsibilities in the process for reaching that vision.

 

Barry

 

[LeCastor 641]

When I was a "green" Scoutmaster I tried something similar to the approach you are suggesting, Alex. When I noticed the Troop I was coming into didn't have a grasp of the patrol and all skill instruction was led by one or two ASMs, I asked the SPL if I could show him how to plan a monthly theme and integrate that theme into four weeks of Troop meetings. He said it was okay and off I went.

 

For the month of November, I told the Troop we would be concentrating on the cooking theme. Over the course of the month, I put out a Dutch oven and the ingredients for a peach cobbler. I gave the directions to the SPL and left the scene. Forty minutes later I asked if I could have some cobbler and the Scouts served me up a bowl. The following week an ASM showed the Scouts how to make a hands-on meal in the church's kitchen. They loved it. Next, another ASM showed the Scouts how to make buddy burners and they loved it. Finally, in the week I told them they had the idea and, rather than do cooking again, I gave them a list of all the themes in the Troop Program Features Vols I-III and had each Scout highlight the ones that spoke to them the most. Once they were finished I collected the sheets and gave them to the SPL, who promptly left them on the table and went home...He also absconded with my Troop Program Features binder and never brought it back.

 

The idea of a monthly theme didn't really resonate with the Scouts as had hoped it would. So what? However, they did see how a skill instruction could work. Score! Did it help them in the long run? Absolutely. Did it work out as smoothly as I had shown them from then on out? No. Sometimes a Troop meeting looks like total chaos and sometimes it looks like a well-oiled machine...but it's really up to the Scouts to make it all happen in a way that makes them happy.

 

As a Troop Committee, I would suggest empowering your Scoutmaster to guide the SPL and PLs to their end goal, as Eagledad hinted at with his "vision". Ideally, the Scoutmaster would sit down with the SPL and plan a time to implement the Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST). Personally, though, I find that course too indoors-and-classroom-centric,so I am in the process of coming up with a hybrid of ILST and Green Bar Bill's Patrol Leader training that I quoted earlier.

 

Start with the Scouts as leaders and off they'll go.

[Pack18Alex 92]

The advice you are reading isn't just theory. It is how successful troops are run. I'll be honest. Nobody learns leadership through someone else's example. Not boys and not adults.

 

Your assertion on not learning through example simply isn't backed by practice or theory. Leadership courses all heavily emphasize mentorship, along with confidence building exercises and practice putting it into place. Read an interview with ANY CEO, General, or other person who climbed the ranks, they'll all point to 1-2 mentor/leaders that taught them, then they took those lessons and perfected them. You have to put it into practice, but if nobody shows you proper leadership, you copy whatever you see in movies, you need someone to model behavior to copy, that's how mammals learn.

 

We were talking about the saying that if you teach someone to fish you feed them for a lifetime. A scout asked, "once you teach them, how do you actually get them to fish for themselves?" The adults stopped for a minute and thought. Our reply was, "you stop fishing for them. " The answer to your question is that there is nothing the committee should do except encourage the SMs and ASMs the learn how to implement a boy-led troop.

 

Correct, you teach them to fish, now they can fish, but they won't do it if you keep feeding them. However, if you don't teach them to fish, and you just don't fish and say figure it out, well that sucks.

 

My philosophy is that a leader's role is to guide by asking questions. For planning purposes have a separate PLC meeting. Here would be my questions:

 

[...snip...]

 

Sounds good, but I can't do anything about the PLC meetings, I'm not a part of them. But yes, the socratic leadership method is terrific. I love it. But I was also taught it.

 

Ask yourself why the boys don't have T-1st but do have merit badges? Because merit badges are interesting and the basic skills are taught like school. Did I mention that for the lashings theme the boys taught a bunch of knots and the required lashings. The younger scouts didn't think they were doing "advancement" - they thought they were building a catapult.

 

Actually, not the case here. The prior Scoutmaster didn't care much for the advancement/badge program, so he mostly ignored it and just took the boys camping. The boys didn't do much to setup and blamed it on Jewish Sabbath restrictions, so the SM/ASM did a few things, meals were brought pre-prepared, and they mostly hung out playing cards all day, roasted marshmallows at night, and went home. They had a lot of fun (but retention was bad because after 2-3 times doing that, it's boring).

 

However, they did do "Merit Badge College" (a three day "campout" at a school where classes are taught for 2 straight days, meals are provided in the cafeteria -- though the Troop brought its own kosher meals instead) and got 5-6 merit badges. Then they went to summer camp for 2-3 sessions and came back with blue cards. The standards in the MBC/Camp merit badge programs are always criticized, but nonetheless, boys come back with a stack of earned merit badges, and they went out at Court of Honor.

 

The then-ASM, no SM, was frustrated, because he'd get volunteers (OA, UCs, whatever) to come help, they'd come to a Court of Honor, see the boys getting stacks of merit badges, and figure everything was great. Meanwhile, the boys never rank advanced, don't know how to fold an American flag, etc.

 

They went to a big Camporee, really wanting to compete in the gateway competition. Very few of the Scouts could do much with the lashings. They had a gateway up, but they were embarrassed at how polished other troops looked and how bad they did. The Scouts want to get better (at least they tell me that, they see the Cubs winning awards, buying gear, etc), the SM tells me he wants the troop to get better.

 

So I'm looking for ways I can help.

 

With your a Troop, you need someone to train the trainers. I don't have a problem with a scout (who has already passed that requirement) asking me "Mr. Hedgehog, is this the right way to tie a sheet bend?" If it's not, we get a book and review it. The older scouts master the skills by teaching them.

 

Agreed 100%. The SM has reached out to groups for help. Troop has a bad reputation (from years ago), hard to get help. No volunteer to go to Roundtable, so no bonding with other leaders.

 

​Just remember, it is easier to start out boy-lead and continue than to start out adult-led and change.

 

Yup. But right now, we're about to be a formerly boy-led troop. A few more drop outs (which is likely to happen next year because of ages, etc), and we won't have the 5 to re-charter. The cross-overs from the Pack won't stay with this program. If the program isn't turned around somewhat, the new Pack families coming in will simply replace the entire leadership team via the CO and have a fully adult-led Webelos 3 troop, complete with doing campouts all joint with the Pack, etc (as opposed to my 1/year proposal plus Webelos camping with Troop a bit).

 

So the status quo troop that survived has 13 months of life left. Either it will be Webelos 3 next year and fully adult-led, or it will be shut down for lacking 5 Scouts to re-charter.

 

So I bought some time, we're holding back AOL and crossover until March. That still only leaves 5 months to fix things. The Committee Chair offered up Winter Camp to the boys (this is Florida after all), no takers.

 

They want to be better. The SM is a terrific outdoorsman that lives and breathes the BSA program, but he's mostly gotten frustrated with him. Last campout he and I were up until all hours of the night discussing what to do and brainstorming. When I left the campout, I posted here, looking for advice from people here.

[Pack18Alex 92]

When I was a "green" Scoutmaster I tried something similar to the approach you are suggesting, Alex. When I noticed the Troop I was coming into didn't have a grasp of the patrol and all skill instruction was led by one or two ASMs, I asked the SPL if I could show him how to plan a monthly theme and integrate that theme into four weeks of Troop meetings. He said it was okay and off I went.

 

For the month of November, I told the Troop we would be concentrating on the cooking theme. Over the course of the month, I put out a Dutch oven and the ingredients for a peach cobbler. I gave the directions to the SPL and left the scene. Forty minutes later I asked if I could have some cobbler and the Scouts served me up a bowl. The following week an ASM showed the Scouts how to make a hands-on meal in the church's kitchen. They loved it. Next, another ASM showed the Scouts how to make buddy burners and they loved it. Finally, in the week I told them they had the idea and, rather than do cooking again, I gave them a list of all the themes in the Troop Program Features Vols I-III and had each Scout highlight the ones that spoke to them the most. Once they were finished I collected the sheets and gave them to the SPL, who promptly left them on the table and went home...He also absconded with my Troop Program Features binder and never brought it back.

 

Awesome, sounds like it worked great. They got that side of the program, boys got excited, and started to work? Other than a missing binder sounds like a terrific success, even if they implemented it differently.

 

The idea of a monthly theme didn't really resonate with the Scouts as had hoped it would. So what? However, they did see how a skill instruction could work. Score! Did it help them in the long run? Absolutely. Did it work out as smoothly as I had shown them from then on out? No. Sometimes a Troop meeting looks like total chaos and sometimes it looks like a well-oiled machine...but it's really up to the Scouts to make it all happen in a way that makes them happy.

 

Other than a 2 minute CM led discussion in the Pack Meetings about our monthly theme, I'm not sure what they are. I know the SM and PLC use them, they seem like a useful tool for simplifying the planning. But you demonstrated skill instruction and taught them, then backed off and let them do it.

 

Given that most of the boys are lucky to get home from school by 5 PM, I think have committee members make phone calls is a reasonable assist for them, as long as they direct the process.

 

 

As a Troop Committee, I would suggest empowering your Scoutmaster to guide the SPL and PLs to their end goal, as Eagledad hinted at with his "vision". Ideally, the Scoutmaster would sit down with the SPL and plan a time to implement the Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST). Personally, though, I find that course too indoors-and-classroom-centric,so I am in the process of coming up with a hybrid of ILST and Green Bar Bill's Patrol Leader training that I quoted earlier.

 

Start with the Scouts as leaders and off they'll go.

 

Sounds like a great idea. I'm not sure what I can do with that though, the nature of the beast.

 

Scoutmaster is fully empowered, to date he's run the program with total flexibility with the CC filling out paperwork.

 

We'll figure it out, some really great useful nuggets here. Not sure how much I can do with them because a lot are SM-specific things to do, and he does whatever he wants with the program and doesn't really listen to anyone... it's a good thing for keeping Soccer-moms at bay, but it also means it's hard to even make suggestions.

 

We'll see what happens. I think some demo classes might help them dramatically, as long as it's immediately backed off of.

 

BTW: there is a Plan B. Plan B is to teach the Webelos 2s as many Tenderfoot skill requirements as possible, with the goal of them crossing over and being ready to jump in as Tenderfoot and do FCFY. That will leave the existing Scouts in the dust, so I'd like a better solution, but other than improving the skill instruction part of the meeting, I'm not getting a lot.

[TAHAWK 1420]

"mentor"

 

"leader"

[King Ding Dong 540]

I am starting to get the feeling that the answer to your question is: the Troop Committee can appoint a new Scoutmaster.

[Pack18Alex 92]

I am starting to get the feeling that the answer to your question is: the Troop Committee can appoint a new Scoutmaster.

 

Thanks for the advice. We're going to do out best to find slightly less drastic methods of fixing the weaknesses of the program than replacing the Scoutmaster.

 

That seems like a baby and bathwater situation.