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LATEST POSTS
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By curious_scouter · Posted
When I came in as SM I felt similar. We had patrols, but the cohesion within them seemed kind of weak. My observation was on a campout, there was a lot of intermingling when there shouldn't be. Like... some scouts from Patrol A were supposed to be cooking or KPing and just generally hanging out with Patrol A but instead were off at Patrol B's site hanging out because that's where their friends were. It caused problems within Patrol A (they should have been there helping but weren't) and at Patrol B (they were not helping there either - just kind of in the way or worse: eating their food). Those guys should have been in a patrol together already. Patrols got formed, then over time scouts just got "put in" Patrols and then it's obvious to me also that the bonds between youth change over time - some getting stronger, some getting weaker. So you may have started in the right patrol for you, but now a year or two later your better friends are not in your current patrol. This is compounded by the fact I think teenagers find it hard to say "Hey, I would rather be with those guys." It's true, but they don't want to feel like they are telling their current patrol "I don't like you" or that they are leaving them hanging. So they just hang on where they are at vs. where they ought to be patrol-wise. My proposed solution was a "Patrol Remix Night". I proposed it at the PLC and the PLC agreed it sounded like it was needed. At the next meeting, the SPL announced "Everyone is released from their patrols. Take the next 30 minutes and form new patrols." That was all the instruction we gave. We did not mandate a min/max size. Ages. Ranks. Nothing. We just let scouts group up how they wanted. We accepted all the patrols that night, there were 7. Then the next week there was some scout-initiated reshuffling and they ended up in 5 patrols. Some were a bit bigger, some smaller, but everyone in every patrol wanted to be in that patrol. It worked well and if you have a feeling the dynamics in your Patrols are off it could help. By doing it that way I feel like we took away the stigma of wanting to leave a patrol and go be with a different group since EVERYONE was told to go re-sort. Two patrols kept prior names, the rest rebranded with new names, flag, call, etc. which I feel like that helped a lot too. The names were the decision of the current group - not something they just walked in on and had to live with. This made it more their patrol not "A" patrol. We do have a "first year patrol" but I'm even considering doing away with that concept in our Troop. Our Troop Guides, ASMs and older scouts can find and help the younger scouts no matter what patrol they are in. But I will say that over the past 5 months or so, our youngest Patrol consistently sets the bar. They are up first. They are done their meals and KP first. They have the best menus. Their campsite looks the best. They are having the most fun too. I use them all the time to challenge the other patrols to do better - and it works lol. -
It was sad to come out of the woods and get this news. On the other hand, we can be grateful for such examples of life well lived. And, let’s not put politics aside. Carter’s ascent marked the rise in expectation of Federal resolution to clashes on social norms, the inexorable linking of the US with the fate of the Fertile Crescent, and the insufficiency of internal revenue to fuel military and civilian aspirations. -
By curious_scouter · Posted
We had no problem at all renewing people in batches and paying for them as a unit. We did this for about 6 youth who's parents couldn't sort it out (or be bothered to) so they would not expire. We did this for all adults as we currently pay the fees for adults. On Jan 1 we have full renewal of everyone we expected to renew - exactly as we would have if doing recharter. The scramble was honestly about the same. It should have been less and maybe it will be but we still had to chase the usual suspects. I do agree we should have auto renewal in place. I suspect they didn't want to over-commit to this process. You get people on a subscription using a service and you're stuck there. When something is very new, you want the freedom to pivot if needed. Not having auto renewal is a miss, but it avoids vendor lock in for payment services in a new process so it does have some merit. I hope they add the option by next renewal. -
Our Troop stopped by Jimmy Carter's boyhood Farm in January of 2024. We toured and had a Scouts Own Service there. Also stopped briefly in Plains. Reminded the Troop of this on Sunday that they had been there and to keep up with the news on Jimmy Carter and Plains. -
FYI, David Montgomery (#5) is an Eagle Scout. Detroit Lions Running Back and Eagle Scout David Montgomery signed as a Scouting Ambassador
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