Over the last quarter of the year last year (2011) we received a bunch of new Scouts into the Troop. They all seemed real gung ho about joining and could not wait for the adventure to begin.
We are preparing for our first winter camp out with the new Scouts right now. In two weeks, we will be taking them up on Mt. Hood for their first weekend with the Troop and after the last few weeks and what’s left of January worth the training, they will step off on their Scouting adventure.
Last night at the Troop meeting the Scouts demonstrated layering. Each Scout showed up and was inspected by the older Scouts in their winter clothing. They were given a pass or no pass on their choice of winter clothing. They all did great.
I gave out a bunch of spare stuff I have been collecting and outfitted about 5 Scouts with pants, sleeping bags, and other cold weather items.
When these new guys crossed over in November we talked about gear expectations and what they needed to have versus what we would provide. I explained to them that they were joining at the perfect time.. Right before Christmas and gave them suggestions for their Christmas wish list.
So last night as I talked with a few of the new parents and answered their questions and concerns the subject of gear came up. It became obvious that lots of camping gear appeared under the Christmas trees of many of the Scouts.. nay.. all of the Scouts got some piece of new gear.
One of the new Scouts came up to me and said he was excited about the up coming camp out. He asked if he was going to be cooking for himself and his buddy on the trip.. I replied that most certainly he would be cooking if he was going to eat. He got a huge smile on his face and said . YEAH!!! I got a stove for Christmas! So I asked him what kind.. “The Jet Boil SOL” he said. Now, I have said before that I am not a big fan of the Jet Boil… but these new units are much improved.. so I may be swayed a little. Then the little guy got me… he said he’d been cooking on his new stove at home. I said fantastic. His mom chimed in stating that he had made spaghetti and a few Mountain House meals.. then the Scouts told me.. “A MINUTE 45!” I said “Whats that?” He said he can do Hot Choco in 1:45! His smile was from ear to ear. Just then, I had a crowd of the new Scout patrol around me.. They were all sharing with me all the cool camping gear they had got at Christmas. I was smiling and laughing with them.. and of course shared the list of cool camping gear I got for Christmas too. One of the mom’s told me that I had created a gear monster! SCORE ONE FOR THE SCOUTMASTER!
These new kids are ready to go and pumped up! They are embracing the adventure and I look forward to many adventures with them!
Last night’s Troop meeting was the Scoutmaster Pay off!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Category Archives: Journey to Excellence
JTE revisited
As with many of us we wear multiple hats in Scouting. First and foremost we wear the Dad (or Mom) hat, then the hat appropriate to our unit, like Scoutmaster or Committee Chair. Then there often times is some District level hat, whether that is part of the District Training team, a District event, or serving on the District committee. Some are active within their Order of Arrow Chapters or Lodges, and so another hat is hung there. And for some, and the numbers narrow here, the Council comes a callin’ and more hats are added to the hat rack of Scouting. This is all well and good as long as the person wearing all of those hats can A. balance and manage the time, B. give full attention to all the positions that he or she has volunteered for, and finally C. Remember that this is Scouting and it is still a game with a purpose.
All of that to say… I am putting on my District hat right now for this post.
Thursday night at our District committee meeting I was asked to take on an additional responsibility, that of the District Committee Chair while we are looking to replace our retiring District Committee chairman. I currently serve as the District Program Chairman, so this was not to far a stretch and so I accepted the interim role.
That is neither here nor there when it comes to the subject of this post, other than to say that in the role of both the District Committee Chairman and the Program Chairman one of the reports that our District Commissioner gave disturbed me to no end and I am looking for solutions.
That report was on the Journey to Excellence status of units within our District. I’ll jump right in.
In November our Council wraps up it’s rechartering process. This way all units are good to go heading into the new year. If done right by the units, this is a nice way to end the year and start their Scouting calendar year off clean. Maybe it’s because I do not know anything else, but this works well for me.
In November we also close out our now Journey to Excellence (Former Honor unit, Quality unit, Centennial Quality unit) report. Now of all the programs listed in Parenthesis.. I like Journey to Excellence a lot. It is a fair way to rank and rate your unit. It is a good measure of how your program is delivering the promise of Scouting. In the Thunderbird District we have 129 units that rechartered this November.. well 124 actually turned them in on time.. we are still waiting on 6 of them… which will add to my point here real quick. Out of the 129 units only 35% of them turned in the paper work for their Journey to Excellence. That’s only 45 units (Packs, Troops, and Crews). 45!
So the question has to be WHY? The score card is easy to use, the goals are fair and offer a sliding scale from Bronze to Gold so that units have a way of stepping up their programs with rewards for small and large success’s. But why would only 45 out of 129 units report how they are offereing up the program?
Is it a lack of knowledge? A lack of training? A lack of buy in? Or does this tell us that the 84 units that did not report are not providing quality programs and do not want to tell that to the District and Council? I sincerely hope that this is not the case. I know that there are great Scouters out there in our District and I see the units around doing activities, service projects, and outings. So why not report.
My thoughts went back to the Good turn for America program. Our District struggled in getting units to report there also. We asked a volunteer to chase down units and assist with their reporting.. read.. do it for them. And amazingly, or not, the numbers went sky rocketing. Now I am not suggesting that this is all about numbers. I certainly am not, what I am hoping is that the Promise of Scouting is being delivered in the 84 units that have made the choice not to fill out the form.
In talking with one Scouter, I came to the conclusion that he just did not know how the process worked. So a lack of training on his part led him to not being able to go through this with his unit. I call BS on this to a certain degree. The program is not that tough to just figure out. He asked about tools that could be used to help with the process. I told him to go to Scouting.org and look up the Journey to Excellence. There he would find an easy way to set the goals of the unit, track the progress of the unit, and print the final report. Along with definitions, Frequently Asked questions, and support. I also reminded him that the number one function of the District is to support units and he could always call us.
Here is what I like about the JTE program. If you use the tracker, and I mean break it out monthly and see how you are, as a unit progressing through your program based on your goals. You will achieve success. The tracker allows the unit to see potential problems or short falls before they happen. It allows Troop committees to make adjustments, it is a nice tool for the Patrol Leaders Council to stay on track with their program. After all the main emphasis of the JTE is in program and participation. Most of us have a competitive gene in us. Our Scouts certainly do. So the Journey to Excellence plays on this part of the game. There are incentives within the unit to continuously improve. Better Performance means better Scouting for youth! Better Performance can earn a higher level of Recognition, and Key requirements are tracked and improvement can be quickly identified so they can see where they are on the field. It’s kind of like being in a 3rd and long and waiting to punt or 3rd and short and know you can score!
I also like that each year the requirements will change. Each year, the requirements will be reconsidered to reflect the improved performance by units. This is why it is important that ALL units report. Right now in my District 45 units will set the performance measurement for the rest of the District. New standards for 2012 are already out. You can see the Troop score card here.
So I am looking for solutions to this problem. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment or drop an email.
Share your Journey to Excellence success’s also in the comments section of this post.
Like I said. I know that there are good Scouters out there doing the right thing. But the Journey to Excellence program will help make Scouting better. Better for the main thing… Scouts.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
One Door Closes
It is said that when one door closes.. another door opens. Much as one chapter of a book leads to the next chapter we had a door closed last night opening the door or moving on to the next chapter in the history of our Troop.
Last night when I arrived at our Troop meeting, I was greeted by our Charter Organization Representative and another member of the Knights of Columbus. They were friendly and said that they were paying the Troop a visit. After I had met with a few Scouts that showed up early, they asked if I had a minute before the meeting started. “Certainly” I said. We went into a private meeting room. I thought this was a great time to talk about all the great things that the Troop has been doing and to give him an updated calender of the 2012 Troop events. So I started in with how we were doing on recruiting and advancement, then went on to talk about our run for “Troop of the Year” kind of going over our Journey to Excellence Score card.
About half way through my impromptu presentation, the COR asked if we could talk about recharter. “Of course, I would love to talk about recharter” after all, our recharter packet is due to the District on Wednesday. They said that the Knights had discussed and voted to renew our Charter. “That’s great I said.. we would hate to lose the charter partner after 8 great years”. Well, they said.. no problem, we are going to sign the charter.. HOWEVER… Yep.. here it comes.. the slamming of the door…
“The Knights” they started… “Voted to renew the charter, but you can no longer meet in the Knights Hall.” My jaw hit the floor.. “WHAT?”
“Well, we [the Knights] held a discussion, and the Knights felt like you [the Scouts] no longer needed the Hall.”
“What the heck does that mean?” I asked. I was completely dumbfounded. The more I asked why, the deeper and deeper the COR and Brother Knight hummed and Haa’d and danced around giving me an honest answer.
I think it is fair for me to say at this time, that I have been a Knight for 19 years. I loyally served the Knights of Columbus as Grand Knight for several terms and as District Deputy for a term, not to mention being the Scoutmaster for the most successful program the Knights Council has.
They went on to say that we could still use the basement to store “all our gear”.. to which I replied, “What gear?” They said, that this was the best they could do and unfortunately there was nothing else they could do for us. Then they said, but we really want to recharter you.
I asked them what for… if we have no place to meet, we don’t need you. As much as you are done with us, we also must be done with you…
Part of the responsibility of the CO is to “Provide adequate and secure facilities for Scouting units to meet on a regular schedule with time and place reserved” Here are the Chartered Organization Responsibilities”
By receiving a charter from the Boy Scouts of America, the chartered organization agrees to:
- Conduct Scouting in accordance with its own policies and guidelines as well as those of the BSA.
- Include Scouting as part of its overall program for youth and families.
- Appoint a chartered organization representative who is a member of the organization and will represent it to the Scouting district and council, serving as a voting member of each.
- Select a unit committee of parents and members of the organization who will screen and select unit leaders who meet the organization’s leadership standards as well as the BSA’s standards.
- Provide adequate and secure facilities for Scouting units to meet on a regular schedule with time and place reserved.
- Encourage the units to participate in outdoor experiences.
At that point I heard the Scout Oath being recited, so I thanked them for the 8 good years and told them I had to get out to the meeting. They asked me not to be mad or upset. I told them that I was not mad, nor was I upset, I was disappointed in them, in the organization that I thought had a dedication to both youth and community. I was disappointed that they could feel that this was the “right thing to do”. I am disappointed in the Knights for displacing their Troop. I told them that I was not mad and that this would be all that needs to be said. They told me that we had till the 1st of the year. I told them that in 24 hours we will have another Chartering Partner and they could rest assured that nothing will slow our program down and the Scouts will not be impacted by their decision.
One door closes… another door opens.
Today, I received many phone calls discussing the situation and it appears we already have a new place. A bigger, better facility, and a Chartering Partner that values the Scouting Program.
We have not locked anything in yet, we have feelers out to two other organizations so we want to keep the options open. After all we have 30 days to make the move. We did have the Knights sign to get the charter in on time, but the Council knows we will be changing in the very near future.
Another door opens.
I am amazed at how our Troop committee mobilized in this effort. Last night before the end of the meeting, they had a plan of action in place and things were on the move. The Assistant Scoutmasters were already making calls and seeking the new location. Today calls went out and we spent a good amount of time exchanging notes and discussions. We are the move and not looking back.
One of the mom’s of the Troop has already volunteered to take the Charter Organization name off the flag. Yes, they said we take everything with us. They want nothing.
So the door is open, another chapter begins in the life of our Troop.
Last night I have to admit I was mad, disappointed, and upset that this chapter had closed. But today is a new day and a new chapter, a fork in the trail.. the path to a new adventure.
One Door closed.. another Opened Wide!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Knowing who you work with
It is not enough as a Scoutmaster these days to take boys camping, teach them a few skills, and hand out merit badges. Kids today, like kids in the past, and certainly this will apply in the future as society changes, kids grow up differently, and attitudes and norms change, are different.
I think that it is important to know why are the way they are to best be of service to them. Is this above and beyond? I don’t think so, I think that we need to do our best to know who we work with. How else can we be of service.
We are experts at backpacking, or knot tying, or model rockets, but what are we doing to become experts at understanding young men.
I found this set of 5 videos that will help. I am going to post the first one here.. then just follow the links to the other 4. Or you can find all 5 video’s at the BSA Internal Communication You Tube Channel. It is worth your time to watch these two ladies tell the Scout executives about young people. I learned a lot, I am sure this will help you to.
Enjoy.
Be sure to watch the other 4.. I promise there is interesting information that will make you (and me) better Scout Leaders.
BSA Internal Communication You Tube Channel
Have a Great Scouting Day!
PTC and not the Podcast…
Yesterday I had the opportunity to be a trainer at our Councils Program and Training Conference.. PTC. I was asked to help teach a class on using Social Media and Websites with my Wood Badge buddy Adam. Then Jackie this years Coordinator asked if I would want to teach something else. I taught two sessions on the Scoutmaster Conference. A subject that I am not only familiar with, but passionate about. My good friend Larry helped me out with that, in all honesty, all I did was the talking. He did a great job getting the material from the National syllabus and putting it all together in a Powerpoint presentation.
Both of the classes went real well and were very well received. The social media class went a lot better than I thought. It seems that as we discussed the options out there and how we use social media the audience seemed to warm up to the idea that social media and electronic communication is here to stay.
When it comes to social media and electronic communication I always go back to what Bob Mazzuca, our Chief Scout Executive said, ” We have to take Scouting where the Scouts are.” And they are on the internet, on their smart phones, and communicating rather effectively with other media outlets.
Our media class centered on communication to and within the unit. It was nice that Adam is a Cub Scouter and so he brought the Pack perspective to the discussion. I on the other hand represented Boy leadership and how the Scouts use social media in the daily function of the Troop.
We talked about the Do’s and Don’ts of using Web sites, Twitter, Google + and Facebook focusing a lot of attention on who should and should not use these outlets. Most of this discussion came down to permissions and monitoring of the communications being sent at every level.
We did two sessions of this class and in both, the participants had great questions and moved the discussion along with enthusiasm and interest. It was nice to see the diversity of the groups meaning, participants from every level of Scouting, ages, and genders. I hope that we made everyone comfortable with social media and how it can be used in Scouting to not only communicate to each other, but to tell Scouting’s Story in a positive light.
The class on the Scoutmaster Conference was equally received. A lot of interest among the Scoutmasters and soon to be Scoutmasters that attended. I recorded one of the sessions, so I will see how that turned out and post it as a podcast.
So until I get that cleaned up and ready, I think I will leave that subject for another post.
All in all I had a great time at the PTC this year and will be an instructor again next year. It was really great to see all my Wood Badge friends… almost like going to a family reunion. We had dinner together last night and my head still hurts from laughing so much.
I like the idea of combining the Cub Scout Pow Wow and the Advancement extravaganza. I don’t know what the turn out in numbers was yesterday, but at a glance it seemed as if there were at least 400 participants yesterday. As this program grows I can see the numbers go up also. It is a great venue for training, fun, seeing program ideas, and fellowship.
Good job Cascade Pacific council! We’ll do it again next year!
You can read another perspective on this at Scouter Adams Blog. He’s my Troop Guide buddy and we had a ball yesterday together teaching fellow Scouters!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
When did things change?
I just came home from the High School. I volunteer to work the concession stand during the JV Football games so the parents of JV players can watch their sons play. There were a couple other Dads working with me and during the slow periods of the game, we had a chance to watch the game. The JV player played their collective hearts out, but still came up short when the last tick of the clock passed.
The discussion that I had with the other Dads though was priceless. The other night at our Troop meeting I talked during my Scoutmaster Minute about having heart… About never giving up and never letting failure get the best of you.
Today, those Dads and I asked each other when things changed. Not that “when I was a kid” it was harder… but when I was kids giving up was not an option. And it should never be an option now. Our Varsity Football team has had a rough couple years, and I can see why there is frustration and bitter feelings, but this year they are 2-2 and have a promising schedule. So why give up? They got down in the last game and many of the players just gave up. Lost cause? Never. Going to lose anyway? Then go down with a fight!
You see failure is something that is easy. It becomes an attitude and once you fail and do nothing about it.. it is so much easier to allow it again. The next thing you know it is a habit. With teenagers this needs to be nipped before it gets out of hand.
Life is hard and the sooner we expect our kids to be winners the better. Failure is not an option in life. Winning is everything.
OK…. SEND HATE MAIL NOW.
Or let me explain.
Winning comes in many forms. The Score is not always the measure of a win. Follow me here. The JV team lost the game today 38-34. They were down with 9 minutes left in the game. They could have given up. But they stayed in the game and played until the whistle blew signaling the end of the game. They had the ball with 14 seconds left and were driving down the field. One more play and they had a chance to win the game. They fell short on the score board, but they did not get beat. They walked into the locker room knowing that they played the game well and in the end… had a chance to win. This chance will become the building block that will lead them to victories in the future. The point here is that those players will not go away without learning from a missed tackle, a dropped ball, or a bad throw. Yes ladies and gentlemen… when you make mistakes you live with the results. A missed tackle leads to a score for the other team or a much-needed first down that leads to your loss.
That is life. Not everyone gets a participation ribbon, and not everyone wins every game, but failing to try will lead to failure.
So when did things change? When did it become ok to quit? When did it become ok not to give 100%? When did “Doing your best” not really mean your best? Think about that… what does BEST mean? It dies not mean I gave it a shot.. it does not mean I tried, but it got to hard so I quit. It means BEST.
Here is how Best is defined:
adj. Superlative of good.
1. Surpassing all others in excellence, achievement, or quality; most excellent: the best performer.
2. Most satisfactory, suitable, or useful; most desirable: the best solution; the best time for planting.
3. Greatest; most: He spoke for the best part of an hour.
4. Most highly skilled: the best doctor in town.
adv. Superlative of well2.
1. In a most excellent way; most creditably or advantageously.
2. To the greatest degree or extent; most: “He was certainly the best hated man in the ship” (W. Somerset Maugham).
n.
1. One that surpasses all others.
2. The best part, moment, or value: The best is still to come. Let’s get the best out of life.
3. The optimum condition or quality: look your best. She was at her best in the freestyle competition.
4. One’s nicest or most formal clothing.
5. The supreme effort one can make: doing our best.
6. One’s warmest wishes or regards: Give them my best
I think that it would serve our young people to look at that definition and see if they, when they say they did their best are they at least within the definition?
So I wonder when things changed. No one would ever dare give up when I played ball in school. Our team mates were our friends, they were the guys that we knew we could count on, we knew they would never give up. I don’t see that in all the kids today. They are more concerned about themselves and not their team mates. Life lessons missed. In life they will need to be dependable, they will need to be counted on. Giving up now will set them up for quitting later.
Maybe it’s just me and those two other Dads in the snack shack today.. but hope was restored watching that JV team.
This is all just as relevant in Scouting. Quitting on a patrol, giving up when the challenge is to hard, not finishing when you are being counted on. All of these tests of character beg the question, when did things change?
“I’ll never give up; cause if I do; I give up on the ones beside me; I’ll never give up; cause if I do; I give up on the ones who believe in me; if the person next to me is down; I will pick him up; and he the same; I’ll never give up; I’ll believe in the cause; I’ll fight to the end; and WE WILL WIN!… THIS IS THE RAIDER PROMISE” -
This is the Raider Promise, they say this before and after ever game, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone made a promise to never give up, to help other people at all times, to live a set of values, to be a good member of a team or patrol. Wouldn’t it be nice?
And you wonder why I think sports are valuable…
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Where do we go now?
Its been a month since I posted my last podcast. I won’t go into too much detail here, but lets just say that “the tribe had spoken” and it looked like I was being voted off the island so to speak.
The good news is that my Scouting life is going great and some great local Scouting friends got me back on the right track.
So Show 94 is out and in the show we talk about my Troop getting the annual plan finished and things are looking up for Scouting around our area.
Take a listen to the show and let me know what you think. There are many ways to send us feedback. Leave a comment here, drop us an email, shoot us a voice mail and use PTCMedia.net to leave feedback.
I spent some of today making muffins on the backpacking stove, a video is coming soon on that. A real quick, easy, and yummy idea for the trail.
If you have never baked with your backpacking stove.. the time is now.
Listen to the podcast HERE
Have a Great Scouting Day!
The Light at the end of the Tunnel
Tonight, under the leadership of the new SPL and a handful of Patrol Leaders and interested Scouts, the Troop finalized its Annual Plan. This years planning seemed to take a bit longer, but looking back at the last few years, the goal has always been to get it completed by the end of September. The Committee chair sat in on this years plan, she gave the boys the nod at the end of the plan suggesting that it was all “doable”. As I guided the new SPL through the process, it became obvious that he is in need of more training.. and that’s a good thing, he is ready, but him and I will be spending some quality time together developing leadership skills.
Having said that the plan is outstanding! I am really happy with it and look forward to one heck of a year of adventurous Scouting!
Caving at Dead Horse cave, backpacking a section of the new Oregon Coast trail, a kayak float down the McKenzie river, making Pulk sleds and snowshoeing a section of the Historic Barlow trail, a sweet backpack trip up to Table Mountain in the Gorge just to name a few of the trips planned. By the end of the session the Scouts were on 9 foot hover and ready for the coming year. It was all I could do to keep them from not getting to deep into the weeds, but the excitement was clear.
We talked a little about our Journey to Excellence and what elements they would be helping with. Recruiting and retention will not be an issue. We have put 2 new Scouts in during September and 6 more will be crossing over in November. This on top of the group that will be crossing in February and March. We plan on dropping some Scouts that have decided to remain inactive, and we will be moving two young men into Assistant Scoutmaster positions as they are about to turn 18. I am glad that they are not taking their Eagle and running.
So now its up to the Scouts to work toward their next rank and keep camping. This will be a great year of Scouting.
With the trip to Philmont just around the corner and all the new Scouts in the Troop, the buzz is contagious, you can feel it in the room. We have 41 Scouts on the “active” roster and growing.
I suppose tonight the SPL and his PLC saw a light at the end of the planning tunnel. When they got the idea that what they were producing was going to a fantastic year of Scouting it became less a chore and more like seeing the camp ground after a long day on the trail.
I am real proud of those guys, they put in the work and are seeing the results of their dedication and persistance.
I am sure we will be talking a lot more about this in the coming months.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
The BigFoot Challenge
As we move into the Fall season Scout Troops everywhere are packing into the woods for great adventures. Winter will soon be here and so Fall is a great time to reinforce the Leave No Trace Principles with the Scouts (and Adults) of your unit.
No matter what style of camping your Troop does the principles of Leave No Trace apply.
LNT.org is a great resource for you if you are just learning Leave No Trace or just need to brush up or see whats going on in the organization.
One of the cool things that LNT.org has is the Bigfoot Challenge. Check it out using the link.
The idea of the program is reducing your footprint.
Last year at the National Jamboree I made a commitment to do the Bigfoot challenge and have been teaching, coaching, and mentoring our Scouts to Leave No Trace. Part of our challenge was to get a Leave No Trace Trainer in the Troop… yes.. the youth position. The BSA has added a lot of Enhancements to its Leave No Trace Program and every unit should be taking advantage of it.
So back to the Bigfoot challenge… The challenge simply asks that we do simple acts of environmental activism.. now this does no mean that you have to wear tie die or sandles.. but it does mean, in a Scouting context, that we act responsibly in the outdoors and are good stewards of our environment, particularly the outdoors that we enjoy when we go camping.
Simple little things like teaching our Scouts how to better plan and prepare to reduce the amount of trace we take out into the woods, using the “Bearmuda” triangle when setting up camp to reduce impact and animal issues, better ways to clean up dishes and cookware, using the patrol method to reduce to impact of large groups.
The Bigfoot Challenge also offers the change to win prizes.. and wait for it… Yes there is a patch available at the LNT.org website.
So take the Bigfoot challenge…
Teach a Scout, Be an example, Join Leave No Trace and remember to reduce your footprint.. after all Bigfoot has been doing it for years!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
You have got to be kidding me???
Ok.. so fair warning.. I am going to rant in this post. I know that I try to keep this blog positive.. but this is something that I must get off my chest. Why you may be asking? Well its because what I am about rant about is a fundamental part of Scoutmastership. And when I hear what I heard while at Summer camp, well it flat out worries me that there are Scoutmasters out there that are failing their Scouts.
Let me explain…
BEGIN RANT
While at Summer Camp last week all of the Scoutmasters met daily at the program cabin. Each day the staff would give the Scoutmasters a run down of the days events and take any questions or concerns that we may have. On Tuesday night the Scouts would have to cook dinner in camp, so on Monday night, the commissioners gave the SPLs a meal order form. This form had all the basics on it, the SPL was to scratch off the items that they would not need, sign the form, have the Scoutmaster initial it, and then turn it in on Tuesday morning. Pretty simple.
So on Tuesday at the Scoutmaster meeting, the staff reminded us that the SPLs would be turning these forms in. As soon as the staff made the comment three Scoutmasters (well we will call them Scoutmasters.. after all they have the patch on their uniforms) began to laugh. The program director asked what was funny. The Scoutmaster in question stated “Not sure you can trust an SPL to get it done..hahaha” One of the other Scoutmasters suggested that he never saw the form and that the staff should had given the form to the Scoutmaster.. after all, he would be the one doing the cooking.
My jaw hit the deck and smoke began to appear from my ears. I told myself to just shut up and let it go. And then the following statement came ooozing out of this Scoutmasters mouth. “You can’t trust a boy to this stuff”. WHAT?
I looked at this dude and asked him if he ever heard of Youth Leadership? He looked at me and said.. uh yeah.
I asked him if he was embarrased? He said what for? I asked him if he ever trained the SPL.. I mean after all.. it is the Scoutmasters job to train the Senior Patrol Leader.. right? He replied its hopeless.. he’s just a kid. I asked again if he was embarrassed. Again he said what for? I shared with him that I would be embarrassed if I would have said something like that, especially on a deck full of Scoutmasters. He told me that I would not understand. I asked him to help me understand why he would not train a Scout to lead, I asked him to explain to me why he had no faith in the Scout. I asked him to share with me what he thought his responsibility was as a Scoutmaster when it came to training, coaching, and teaching the SPL. He looked at me with a puzzled look.. that was all could take. The staff at that point stepped in and said they would take care of it.
So there it is… This saddened me. I was dumbfounded at the lack of training this Adult offered his Scouts. I am saddened that the Scouts of his unit will not get opportunities or the trust of an adult allowing them to be successful. It is tragic that the Scouts of his unit are getting the benefit of the full Scouting program. I can only imagine how the rest of the program in that Troop is lacking. At the end of the day, it’s the Scouts that will suffer.. but then again.. what they don’t know.. well, yes it will hurt them in the long run.
They do not have a leader willing to Train them, Trust them, and let them lead.
An hour in the middle of the lake in a row-boat made me feel much better.
END OF RANT.
I apologize for the negative post. I try not to do this, but this one has been on my mind since Monday of last week and I could not let it go another day.
Please everyone.. Be a good Scoutmaster! Train them, Trust them, and Let the Boys lead!
Have a Great Scouting day!
