Older Scouts

[SMT376Richmond KY]

In getting ready for summer camp this year I'm hearing a lot of "same old stuff" from 4 of the orginal boys from the Troops start up 3 years ago. One was a 10.5 YO AOL (Star) tranfser the other 3 are turning 13 this year (FC and 2 SC).

Anyway when is a good time for "older scout" activities? These boys have over 50 days camping in the past 2 years and the Star and FC were voted into OA by their peers at the elections this year (ordeal next week). I don't want them to get bored if they think they are ready for more challenging activity.

 

Thanks

[SMT376Richmond KY]

OOOOO just noticed I've moved to senior forum member. And a good o bear too!

[TheScout]

Ask them, dont ask us. Let them decide what they want to do and plan it too!

[SeattlePioneer]

That's the right answer, Scout.

 

 

I had the opposite surprise when I was asked to conduct a PLC, and then only two 14 year old star scouts showed up. I supposed they'd be interested in some ambitious canoeing or backpacking trip, but instead they said they'd like to do a four or five day bicycle camping trip ----but only if it didn't involve too much bicycling!

 

So the plan is to do a four day car camping style camping trip with day trips by bicycle. This will be on Lopez Island in Washington State's San Juan Islands, accessable only by ferry.

 

Should be fun. If interested, you can Google Lopex Island or Odlin County Park to get an idea of the lay of the land.

 

 

 

Seattle Pioneer

 

 

[Lynda J]

Our older boys are doing High Adventure. In council this year but next year going out of council. Also have these boys staffed at summer camp? We have three boys that will staff this year. All are Star or Life. One thing you do have to do is let them decide. But there are lots of challenging adventures out there for older boys.

 

[ScoutNut]

Do they like working with Cubs?

 

District Day Camps are all usually looking for volunteer help.

 

Have they been to JLT? If not sign them up for NYLT. If they have maybe they could be on staff for this years.

 

Are they interested in a COPE course? Many summer camps have them.

 

How about taking Den Chief training & working with a Cub Pack?

 

Form an older scout Venture Patrol.

 

Remind them that patrols can meet on their own & do activites on their own.

 

 

[SMT376Richmond KY]

Scout We asked them aside form "paint ball" wild cave exploring, hunting etc. you could hear the crickets in the silence when we asked for other suggestions that fit into G2SS. They didn't want to take a "guided cave tour" as they said that would be for "kids" told them of one that had 13 inch passageways that I didn't think that was very Kid like. They didn't want to do that one as "you get wet". They wanted to go to amusement park till they found out the cost. Told them they could backpack in the Red River Gorge or Daniel Boone National Forest and once again the crickets came out. The young guys loved these ideas but the 3 13 YO's didn't yet offered no other ideas.

I've told them many times to plan a patrol outing and submit their plan to me and if all is well with the plan I'd be happy to approve it. Well out came the crickets again!

 

It's as if they just want something to complain about. Like the one that hasn't made FC as he hasn't identified his plants or passed the swim test yet. Plan for June is to go the the viaferrata that was recently in Scouting Magazine but once again when they were informed of the cost associated the crickets came out. We are a small rural Troop and we barely make enough on popcorn to cover summer camp and two camporees per year. Our other big fundraiser our pancake breakfast we only made $35.00 so it's been a bad year for fundraising too much competition from school, church groups etc.

[Eamonn]

When I look around the District, I see the Troops that are doing activities that are fun and offer the Scouts adventure and challenges. There are also the Troops that do next to nothing. Some spend a week at Summer Camp and maybe attend the odd Camporee.

These Lads go to the same schools, live in the same area and have families that range from being poor to being at the other end of the scale. So while the Lads are all individuals, they are in many ways very much alike.

So what is the big difference?

I see that the Lads in the "Get Out and about there" Troops seem to have more Scout skills. This of course could because they get more practice. But they seem to be more comfortable doing Scout type stuff, I think that these guys were trained better on their way to becoming First Class Scouts. They have the basic skills down pat and don't hang back because they are going to be embarrassed or made to look silly. In fact they want to use the skills and maybe even show off a little.

They seem to have a plan and they work it.

As a Scoutmaster sitting in on a PLC meeting, I can kill an idea very quickly. I can say how expensive it is, I can make a point of telling them that it's going to be too hot, cold, wet, dry. Or I can help and support them in getting the idea off the ground.

Most councils have a High Adventure Committee. Councils get first dibs on Philmont and Sea Base. These trips are not cheap. Philmont from our Council costs about $1,000 and Sea Base close to $1,500. These trips are on a first come first served basis. Most times the families are given about two years notice. That works out at about $2.00 a day for Sea Base and less than $1.50 a day for Philmont. This goes a long way in teaching what this "A Scout is thrifty" thing is all about and helps Scouts learn a lot of skills that they will need later on in life.

I can sit in on a PLC meeting and challenge the Patrol leaders to go for bigger and better things, I can sell them on the idea of doing their best and not being lazy little toads or we can keep on doing very boring dull, no fun, no challenge six mile hikes.

I remember one PL who was crazy about fossils, he seemed to know a lot about them. I don't know a fossil from a lump of concrete. This one Lad somehow managed to talk the PLC into spending a week at half term camping in Sussex looking for fossils. They arranged for a local fossil club to show them how to get started and had a wonderful week (5 Days) Later that year during the summer vacation, they arranged a Patrol camp in Dorset, light weight camping hiking around looking for fossils. I wasn't able to go with them, but had asked the local District Commissioner to look in on them. They had a wonderful time. I still am not that up on fossils. They did come back with all sorts and I know more than I did before they went.

All of this because one little Lad expressed an interest in something. A couple of the Lads who went did get the fossil bug, a few just went to go camping and get out of the house.

They all worked hard on planning what they were doing, how to get where they were going (They went by train.) I required menus, equipment lists, program details and a few phone calls.

They came home minus a single burner camp stove. Stories about how nice the local District Commissioner was, he did take them out for Fish and Chips!! But more than anything they came home proud that they had done it. They had fun and the idea was theirs, they had "Ownership" of the entire activity from the idea stage through the planning stage it was all their work. Sure the QM was a little unhappy about the loss of a cheap stove and he did a little finger wagging. I think it was worth the cost.

Eamonn.