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I will be CCing three Units.  🤪  I get how "Scouting" works, but I am not entirely comfortable with being a direct contact leader at the Troop level.  So, going forward I think I will be on the Unit admin side of things and be available if the SM or ASM needs me

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4 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said:

I will be CCing three Units.  🤪  I get how "Scouting" works, but I am not entirely comfortable with being a direct contact leader at the Troop level.  So, going forward I think I will be on the Unit admin side of things and be available if the SM or ASM needs me

Awesome! Always need strong committee members working the administrative side!  If your want further advice, sing out 🤪🤪🤪

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/30/2021 at 5:19 PM, InquisitiveScouter said:

Awesome! Always need strong committee members working the administrative side!  If your want further advice, sing out 🤪🤪🤪

Should a CC who has a Scout in the Troop stay for meetings or drop and go?  I am unsure how much I should be around now.

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9 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said:

Should a CC who has a Scout in the Troop stay for meetings or drop and go?  I am unsure how much I should be around now.

When I was CC,  I stuck around to herd parents away from scouts and SM and towards volunteering for committee positions or tasks. :)

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9 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said:

Should a CC who has a Scout in the Troop stay for meetings or drop and go?  I am unsure how much I should be around now.

Stay!  But, you are there to observe the bigger picture...

1.  Who is running the program?  Scouts or adults?  If Scouts, awesome!  If adults, then, on the side ask the SM corps what's the deal?  Find a way to help the SM corps put meeting program planning and execution into the hands of the Patrol Leaders Council.  At the BEST Scout meetings, the SM is the only adult who says anything, and that is for the SM's Minute at the very end.

2.  Are the SM and ASM's keeping a "distant eye" on things, or do the inmates have free reign?  SM/ASM should only step in for matters of health and safety.  (For example, if the meeting is about setting up and lighting stoves, then an adult should watch fuel handling and check the connections prior to lighting.) We also ask SMs to assist when no one has the skill set needed for the program.

3.  Are the Scouts having FUN!?  If they are not, you will lose them over time...  Remember: "A game with a purpose."  If they are not having fun, have a discussion with the SM, but not during that meeting  (maybe the next day?).  That isn't the place for that discussion. 

4.  If your Troop does BORs during a meeting, you will certainly be needed for those. Consider having a BOR for a Scout who has not advanced in the past six months  (If the climate in your Troop is such that this would be viewed as a bad thing, then something is wrong!!  Figure it out and correct).  Ask the Scout what their goals are, and if the Scout wants to advance, then you should ask about that.  If they do not wish to advance, then ask only program-related questions:  "What patrol are you in?" "Who is your patrol leader?"  "Have you had any patrol meetings?  Tell me about that...?"  "What do you like about being in the Troop?"  "What don't you like about being in the Troop?"  "What was the last camping trip you went on?  Tell me about that...?" etc, etc, etc 

5.  Recruit parents who are there a lot...they should be your committee members and the ASMs.  It is your job to recruit adults; it is not the SM's job!!!!  So, watch the current ASMs and ask yourself, "Who is the next SM?"  If there is no clear answer to that question, you have work to do.  Use your observations to develop a Succession Plan!!!  (OMG, wouldn't that be wonderful?)

Again, YES, by all means, stay at the meetings!  Please!  I loved having a CC who would herd the parent-cats so I could focus on finding the order in the Scout-generated chaos 🤪

Do you have, have you read, and do you follow your Troop Committee Guidebook?  Here's the 2011 version: http://commissioner-bsa.org/kit/Troop Committee Guidebook 34505.pdf  You have to pay for the new version (imagine that!)  Item number 647783, for only $6.99 https://www.scoutshop.org/troop-committee-guidebook-647783.html  No steak knives included...

 

 

 

Edited by InquisitiveScouter
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So, my dad (and the committee) didn’t stay. If they dropped in on a meeting (literally, we met in a basement) they were absolutely quiet. Their meetings were held upstairs starting a little after the troop meeting and extended after the troop meeting for any scout who wanted a BoR. (So when we were up for a BoR, we literally went up.) I remember waiting in the basement with my buddy (whose mom was on the committee) and other scouts who needed a BoR.

All that to say, you don’t have to hang around the troop meeting unless the SM needs a little depth for YP purposes.

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12 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

When I was CC,  I stuck around to herd parents away from scouts and SM and towards volunteering for committee positions or tasks. :)

Perfect answer.  A great CC looks to protect SM / scouts from too many adults.  

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