With whom does the SPL eat?

[Mr Irish 10]

We're a pretty young troop, but we just had a camp out last weekend where the new SPL kept butting heads with the PL of the patrol he was eating and tenting with. I took the SPL and my son (the other PL) out for pizza after the campout, where we brainstormed for a while and came up with the notion of attaching the SPL to the adult patrol for logistical support. I'm glad to see here that arrangement works for many others.

Something we did as well, after a weekend of slight acrimony and micromanaging, was I asked the SPL to do a big Sunday breakfast fry up of all the leftover food, while completely leaving the patrols alone to break camp. It let the PL's get their job done, then the SPL got to play breakfast host, which worked pretty well.

[Mike F 10]

We split the SPL and ASPLs away from their "home" patrols about 6 years ago and have never looked back.

They eat with adults and camp close by.

This allows the typically younger PLs to run their patrols without interference.

And it allows some great discussions with the Staff about how things are progressing, next activities, ideas for improvement, etc.

As long as the Staff guys are busy running the campout, the adults will mostly take care of the cooking and cleanup for them. If they are getting lazy and hanging around, they get pulled into the dirty work.

 

[desertrat77 1144]

All great suggestions!

 

In my experience, as a scout and a scouter, the ASPL and SPL dined with the adults.

 

As Mike F pointed out, this allows the PLs to learn some leadership without interference.

 

It's also a signal to the scouts that the ASPL and SPL have different levels of responsibility and authority now.

 

As an SPL in the days of yore, I learned a great deal from the adult scouters during meal time...invaluable mentorship moments. .

 

But each troops' organizational dynamics are different...as each family celebrates holidays differently, with no right or wrong way, so it goes with troop traditions.