curious_scouter

Earmark weekends and "big" themes (canoe trip, campsgiving, district camporee) at annual planning conference. At APC they come up with a prioritized list of locations they want to camp. Outdoor activities chair and I (adults) work off that list to get sites booked throughout the year. PLC meets monthly and plans specifics based on where we land for campsite. We used to try to earmark specific sites for specific months, but found the popular sites were often hard to get. So we just try month after month until we get it. Then that's where we'll be and the PLC determines the theme/activities for the campout based on all the facts. We are (now) strictly Patrols on campouts. Cooking included. No exception and I NEVER split patrols. Either they just deal with the fact there's only 2 or 3 of their patrol going or the Patrol decides to team up with anther Patrol. But it's the entire patrol teaming up. I don't permit patrol mates to be separated. And I usually encourage them NOT to team up and to just roll with it. It's not perfect, but it's youth lead and Patrol method and IMO that's the way.

Good time to practice using the most important gear a leader has: Your chair. And, a close second, working on your coffee (or perhaps tea) skills.

Another suggestion is ask the SM if it's okay if you plan and host ILST. They might just be overwhelmed, maybe they are even unaware it needs to be done annually and is a pre-req for scouts wanting to do NYLT. Or that it's their job to do it. I know my first year as a SM was super overwhelming and I had been an adult scouter and ASM for many years before taking on the job. The first year I was SM we didn't have OA elections - I didn't know I was supposed to request them and no one told me lol. Oops! Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance! Make the direct offer with a case. Once they let you do one thing and you do it well, you will find they have no problems letting you do more! Probably. Hopefully! I empathize with your position. It's not an easy spot to be in or to get out of. You seem like a good leader, but sometimes that means feeling lonely and having the weight. This too shall pass and things will gradually get better. Scouting is also generational. It's a blessing and a curse. Next year you'll have new crossovers (probably) with new adults and you may find your people then. Or someone presenting a headwind to you today find themselves busier with work in a few months and their absence means the bad habits they championed also fade a bit.

It's tough to turn a ship, it takes a lot of work. It can also be risky to turn it too quickly: Bad habits take time to correct and Scouting moves at Scouting speed - which can be frustratingly slow when you see that a lot of change is needed and your energy level for it exceeds those around you. SPLs serve for 6 months. Start working with prospective future SPLs now. Get them to NYLT. Then THEY will ask for ILST, THEY will come to PLCs with agenda. It's going to be tough to change things today. But you have to start planting seeds. If you like the unit otherwise, keep going. It takes TIME and PERSEVERANCE and REPETITION to change things like this but it'll come. If you don't have the time or tenacity to see it through, you might not be happy there long term and you owe it to yourself and your son to find a place where you can enjoy scouting. Or if your son is enjoying it in all its chaotic glory - maybe that's enough, you might be happier just being 'parent'.

If you like, you can probably still send feedback to: commissionerserviceteam@scouting.org

https://forms.gle/L5pHray2RdD4Xt2R9 for those interested n/m - no longer accepting input.

Those are all great ideas. I'd add: Form an adult patrol. Act like a patrol. Make a yell. A flag. Camp apart. Have your own kitchen, just like theirs. Do your menu, just like they do. Have your own grubmaster. Plan your own patrol activities when it's patrol time. Set the example.

We have revitalized our committee this year. I would like to provide a meaningful Scoutmaster report for them at committee meetings. Soliciting any ideas. I want to use this as an opportunity to inform, motivate and seek help where needed. Here is what I have so far Key dates for next quarter for program (campouts, COH, etc) Roster overview (registered vs. active, rank breakdown) Summary of report from IA on ranks, badges, awards earned this year Summary of campouts since last meeting Overview of summer activities Key news (we have an Eagle getting a special award for example) Scoutmaster asks to committee for new business section later, mostly gear that needs replacing Intention is to give a 'state of the union' to the committee who are active parents but not necessarily in the loop on all these things. Would like it to be one pager I can print and hand out so I can spend under 5 minutes doing overview during meeting.

they are/were available on scoutshop.org. I did break down and buy one to see it in person and have plans to work it up into a new uniform using old interesting patches off ebay.

Adults are the worst enemy to patrol method. We apply our sensibilities and biases to a process that the youth see no issue with. Last campout we had 5 patrols. 1 patrol was two scouts. 1 patrol was four scouts. They had a great time, they cooked and enjoyed their meals and were happy to have only their own dishes to contend with. I subscribe completely the B-P's POV: "The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the only method." There is another tenant of B-P I fully subscribe to: "My ideal camp is where everyone is cheery and busy, where the patrols are kept intact under all circumstances, and where every patrol leader and Scout takes a genuine pride in his camp and his gadgets." So, in my unit - Patrols cook. Patrol Leaders have the perogative to team up with other patrols if they feel their patrol attendance is too low to justify standing alone. That is a Patrol Leader decision - not an adult decision. But if the Eagle Patrol leader decides with only 2 people coming to the next campout they would like to partner with the Owl Patrol who has 4 - to make 6 total - the entire Eagle Patrol teams up with the entire Owl Patrol in partnership for cooking and KP and activities. We once did this thing where adults would decide something like "With 16 scouts going, we should split into two patrols." This was misguided. This is leadership, problem solving, negotiating opportunities lost if adults get in the mix.

not to mention the registration fee is just the tip of a very large expense iceberg in scouting. Fundraising can help, but it's still very expensive to scout. Uniform is easily $100+, book $25, unit dues $100-150, campouts @$20 ea is $200+ a year, summer camp is $350+ a lot of places. And that's before any other clothes or gear they need. So like $700-1000 in ongoing annual fees easily. A Scouting career can cost a family as much as a year of in state college tuition. It's a big choice, but I also think it has major benefits to the youth that justify the expense. There truly is no better place in the world for a young person to learn leadership, gain and learn to manage independence, learn to interact with people different from them (background, ethnicity, even age/generational spans), learn problem solving skills, etc. Scouting exposes youth to a diversity of experience no other program can and it can lead youth to lifelong healthy habits, help them find their passions for hobbies and professions and a lot more. It is worth it, but I worry it is progressively becoming a 'country club' activity and that youth who might benefit the most are losing access to it over the increased costs, the heavy parental involvement it is starting to demand, etc.

Get involved or get informed is my mantra. Serious concerns for safety or logistics are always welcome, but nit picking the plan the scouts create isn't something I tolerate if you weren't willing to make the time to participate

I live nearby. Toyed with the idea of going, until I saw the registration fee. Is the content really worth that much? I could send 3 adults to Wood Badge for that.

100%. I had the performance uniform and loved it. Lost a buncha weight (yay) so needed a new shirt. No more of those, bought the cotton one. Miserable. Just awful. I mean it looks good. You can really crisp it up with the iron, but wearing it in FL is rough. So hot. Just soaks up the sweat around the neck and pits and stays super moist. Strong excitement about the re-introduction of performance options except I suspect it'll take our council shop years to cycle through current stock to where it is available locally and I like... JUST bought this cotton one so will have to stick with it for now. Hot and gross as it is.

We follow a similar process to @InquisitiveScouter's. SM and CC conference ahead of annual planning, align on any fundamental shifts in year-to-year policies (similar to IS's notes: We have standing expectation of 1 outing per month, 1 in-state / 1 out-of-state summer camp, and certain other activities we pre-commit to each year like helping with pack crossover weekend, etc.) This seed the "parameters" for annual planning. SM and PLC conduct annual planning. CC is invited to participate. We review school, council, district, and OA calendars so we can participate and avoid conflicts PLC selects Choice A and Choice B for outing sites for each month of the year PLC "swags" in themes for each month as a guideline - these tend to align with the outing... going canoing? Monthly theme will be aligned to help prep for the outing. But... these often change in our monthly PLCs. Annual planning concludes with list of destinations and other activities SM and SPL present annual plan to Committee over the summer, get their approval (this feels more symbolic but technically they could tell us to go back to the drawing board) and then the Committee sets about budgeting, assigning the outdoor chair to start booking reservations for outing locales, etc. Throughout the program year we meet every 1st Thursday and the SPL leads detailed planning for the month and sometimes into the next month if there will not be a PLC before a meeting occurs. I love the note from IS about re-doing annual planning midway through. It makes a ton of sense to at least have the incoming "administration" look over the remainder of the plan and provide input. By then, a lot of things are committed. But I have also seen that by then, a lot of plans have fallen through (places we wanted to book were too popular and we didn't get, things we planned to do got canceled, etc.) and it would be a good way to set the tone with the new SPL as well as revisit "the plan" more holistically. The committee operates on their own schedule. I attend at SM but again - this is symbolic. I'm not on the committee of our unit, I'm there to give the committee an update about the program, make any asks for support and gear, etc. We try to keep the committee like the wizard of oz - busy but invisible to the youth. I do not run that meeting and I only speak when asked to or when it's my part of the agenda.