BSA franchises

[OldGreyEagle]

I never thought I would be saying this, but here goes. CNYScouter, the things you are calling for already exist.

 

I share your observations about how some programs just "get it" and thive and carry on for years while other programs "don't get it", never rise much above 15 scouts and constantly struggle even with CO support. The BSA has somehthing called the "commisioner staff". These are the people who should be taking what works in the gung-ho thriving units and helping implement it in the struggling troops. If it's not being done, its an error at the Council/District level, because the BSA set up Commisioners to spread the word about "best practices" at least that's what I understand.

 

Sometimes rampant human nature is the culprit. I serve a large vigorous troop. There was (emphais on the WAS) smaller struggling troop nearby, they had a core of dedicated, but somewhat caustic adults. When talking to them, they always made sure of mentioning how huge we were and how they just didnt do scouting the way we did, as if what we did was wrong. Five years later, the troop I serve is rolling around and the other troop is gone. WHen the core's sons aged out they adults quit and no one took over. Was it because the leaders were always caustic? I dont know. I do know that the Congregation of St Lukes Lutheran Chuch might have a hard time accepting help from the Moravian Congregation, even though most of the leaders in the troop are neither Lutheran of Moravian. Either way, most humans object to being told what to do, especially when its something we perceive should be easy in the first place, but I might be digressing.

 

Its my understanding when a new unit starts, the DE and commisoner et al and the CO set up the leadership, should arrange traiing and assign a unit commisioner. If this is done, then franchise troops aernt needed, all the support is there already.

 

 

[Bob White]

But CNY hasn't the BSA already made that model available to every single scouter and scout unit?

 

The training, the manuals, Scouting magazine, Boys Life, Roundtables. The amount of modeling done by the BSA for leaders and Units is immense.

 

Whether of not leaders or units USE this information is dependent on the committment of the leaders an CO. It all caomes back tp selecting the right people, nothing else will make a good program for the scouts.

 

Again we seem to be turning to others for the answer rather than to the indicidual responsible and requiring them to do the job or make room for someone who will.

[CNYScouter]

I agree that the BSA does provide this model with training, the manuals, Scouting magazine, Boys Life, and Roundtables.

However, you are assuming that the training is well-done and you have good roundtables that actually discuss scouting topics like this. (in which we dont)

 

In addition, there are just some concepts, such as the boy-run unit and passive leadership that some people just cant grasp it until they see it in action.

Being in a scout unit as a youth with leaders that really understood the scouting program I saw this in action and after taking SM training I thought I had a good idea what this meant. But have to say when I saw a SM run his troop this way I really knew what these were.

 

I have also noticed that one thing that these successful units have in common is good fundraising and the use of individual scout accounts. These units do a good deal of fundraising and the majority of the money goes to the scouts. This was not talked about in training and there is only one sentence in the SM handbook that says some units use individual accounts. I can fully see that this is a great motivator to bring kids into a program.

 

I have to say that our district or at least the units I have been involved with does not have a good commissioner staff. In the 4 units I have been involved with the UC for the cub pack only came around to do FOS and when I went to him with an issue he sent me to the DE. The first troop did not have an UC (SM said they didnt need one) and have no idea who the UC for our new troop is.