Diverstiy Ticket Ideas

[Scoutmaster Ron]

My original diversity ticket idea is not working out, and I'm drawing a complete blank on what to use instead. What have you woodbadgers done for your units, just to spark some ideas.

[OldGreyEagle]

Our Council has quite a well developed Scout Reach branch, if yours does, ask the exec what could be done, ours has plenty to do

[Eamonn]

I suppose I could post a lot of the ideas that other people have used, but that isn't how the system works.

The person you need to contact is your Ticket Counselor.

However, you might do well to look over your Wood Badge stuff.

Start with the pre-course assignment (the 20 questions.) Think about the answers you come up with. It might be that you see things in a different light now, after the course then you did when you first looked at them or answered them? If so that is OK. Looking at this ought to make you think about your values.

Take a minute to look over your Vision and mission. If you are a little unsure about these look over your notes from the very first Troop Presentation. Your ticket items are just goals that will bring you one step nearer to meeting your mission. Try not to look at them as chores that have to be done.

My Vision for our Scout District is to deliver the programs of the BSA to as many youth of Scout age as possible.

My mission Is to develop and implement plans that will recruit and retain youth membership in our district.

I have looked at training.

I have looked at membership and recruiting.

I have made changes to the way that we recruit.

I have contacted parts of the community that are under served either because of geographical or economic concerns.

The District has looked at the programs offered at District Camporees.

We are looking at ways of improving communications in the district.

Many of these can be broken down into "Bite Sized." pieces that could become goals by themselves. Communications could be just developing a district E-Mail list or finding someone to take charge of a web page or even me learning how to go about making a web page.

At the end of the day YOU need to look at YOUR vision and YOUR mission, which is based on YOUR values the goals are YOUR goals and it's YOUR ticket.

Eamonn.

 

[Scoutmaster Ron]

Eamon,

 

How were you able to reach out to the parts of the community that are under served by scouting? What organizations did you contact in order to present what scouting is and what it can do for youth?

[Eamonn]

Ron,

I can't help but feel that I'm hijacking your thread. But that's never prevented me in the past.

Our District is made up of three school districts. One area (School District) is fairly affluent.One is really poor and the other is a mixed bag, only it goes up into the mountains. You can get details from Schools about what percentage of the students receive or qualify for the free lunch program to find out the social economic situation in the area. But most of us who live in an area can guess that anyway. I use the numbers to help raise money!!

The District has 3 towns. They range in size from a little under 5,000 to about 13,000. Most of our units are all huddled together in these 3 towns. So we didn't need to be Mastermind to work out that we were not reaching all the rural areas. I live in the small town of under 5,000. We have 2 crews,4 packs and 5 troops. Along with 14 churches. Not bad for an area with an aging population!!

When we looked at where we needed to go we held a meeting that was a Brain Storming session. No idea was too dumb or too silly we listed everything that was brought up.

Out of this meeting we came to realize that even though we only have a very small Black population, we have 3 churches that serve that community. I just made a phone call to the church, in fact I called all 3 and took 2 of the Ministers out to dinner. We now have a Morningstar Baptist Church pack and troop and one of the Ministers now serves on the Council Executive Board.

Someone at the meeting remembered that a long time ago we had a Special Needs Pack. We called the teacher, had a meeting with the parents, got the green light from the Superintendent of Schools for that School District and we were up and running.

We are still working with the Wild Turkey Federation about a Crew in a rural area.

Our District Membership Committee has a list of people and Organizations that they are working on or with. (People are easier to work with,) The list has Fire stations, gun clubs, the Salvation Army, a golf course, 2 VFW's and an American Legion Post, which is located in a very run down neighborhood. The Club is willing to bend over back-wards to get the young people in that area into Scouts and Scouting.

When I meet with these people I try to get them on neutral ground and I sell them the Values of Scouting. I try not to get into the mechanics about what each program does. I don't lie, but do dwell on the fun of Scouting and the end product.

If you get stuck for ideas look in the phone book. Tell them where you are from and make a appointment, you might want to take someone from the District that you know and who knows you. I once had a real idiot come with me. He spent ten minutes telling a Catholic Priest that both the BSA and the church believed in families. It got so bad that the Priest looked at me as if to say "Where did you get him?" It could be that the idiot wasn't used to drinking Black Bushmills? Or it could have been the wine?

Eamonn

[Scoutmaster Ron]

Eamonn, tks for the input..when all else fails pull out the book I'll be doing that to see if that stirs any ideas

[NeilLup]

Hello SM Ron,

 

Check out the 21st Century Pioneer Award offered by the Boston Minuteman Council. This is a diversity award intended for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and is offered at several different age/ability levels.

 

www.bsaboston.org

 

then go to resources, then to 21st Century Pioneer Award.

 

If several of your Scouts earned this award, it would be a definite diversity item.