JosephMD

Do you want to know what is rough, observe this done at an OA National Leadership Seminar, with teenagers you know going through all the ups and downs that the game of life produces. If you think a bunch of middle aged adults shouting WIN ALL YOU CAN creates an atmosphere, imagine a bunch of 16-20 year olds, creating a lot of artificial pressure throughout the game. Their debrief was great though. I talked to each of the scouts that were at the course I attended about it and I think they learned what they needed to learn and realize that the entire point was for it to "go wrong". To lead you have to understand that not everyone is going to follow through, not everyone leaves the meeting with the same understanding of what success is, and you will probably run into someone who will tell you one thing and do another specifically because not only does it give them more points, but widens the spread. Scouting is often dealing with groups within groups. Sometimes, you get focused on your small group and the big group suffers because of it, this happens in scouting all the time, be it chapters & lodge in the OA, patrols & troop at the unit level, or any other combination, it happens. But, the look on a 16 year olds face when he was sure he knew everyone was on the same page and it didn't go the way he thought it would. In my course, our patrols figured it out fairly early on, but the score was already lopsided. We thought we could outsmart the system by agreeing on a couple of rounds to make it more even between us. Talk about a plan that didn't work, it only made it worse. Our biggest lesson wasn't even covered in the debrief, that sometimes, you just have to cut your losses and look forward, learn from past mistakes, but two wrongs don't make a right. I'm looking forward to being a staffer in the fall, and I'll get to experience the game of life from a third angle, the first being as a woodbadge participant & the second as an adult observer at NLS. Is Win All You Can the best part of the course, no, and, it isn't really a part that I'm looking forward to, but when we do it, I hope our participants learn the lessons it teaches, and I will do what I can in my role to make sure that happens.

@@ddubois did I run into you on reddit/r/bsa? I'm the advancement committee in my son's troop. I get all of the blue cards back from summer camp, completed or not. The completed ones I record and it is all good. The partial ones, I make a record of the progress (we use scoutbook.com) and return the blue card to the scout with instructions on finding a counselor and maybe a recommendation for a counselor if it is one I know. A lot of MBs remain partial, but some get done. We have a couple of outstanding cooking partials from before it was required! And one of the troop ASMs is a counselor for that merit badge!

It did seem like an AQM sort of role, but our course format puts it under the program. And I'm sure I'll be busy.

YPT & Pack Committe is the minimum. But who is OK with the minimum? Clearly, they should take every cub training, go to powwow, university of scouting, wood badge, philmont training center, + one supplemental. Ok, maybe, something in between would work! Each person and pack will be different, but one would hope that the pack trainer would lead by example and walk the walk. Attend the pow wow and university of scouting, hopefully with several of the pack's leaders. Trainers Edge completley slipped my mind. This, if for no other reason it gets you connected to your council training committee.

I think that is pretty standard. My comment was more along the lines of, I'm not ready. I'm not sure I'm the best fit for a TG or a QM. A lack of pizazz I guess you could say. I'm more focused and reserved. I'm sure they'll cure me of that eventually.

That is the job, and assembling slide shows, helping the historian and scribe, making sure projectors and audio systems work. I'm really looking forward to it.

Oh no, I'm not at that level. I'm doing what they call JASM Tech, way more my speed. Maybe one day I will be troop guide material.

In the NCAC, we have an awesome training course called Back Country Outdoor Leader Skills. BCOLS. I really wish that was available to all.

I used to be a staffer, a good old staffer too... It is quite an honor to be asked to serve on staff, when I looked at my calendar, I was amazed to only find one conflict with a unit camp out!