New here..

[SueM]

Hi..I'm new here but looking forward to learning more from everyone. I am a 20 yr Navy Spouse...a mother of 5 and after spending 3+ years as the Troop Secretary in my oldest sons' troop, I became the Scoutmaster last fall..the first female Scoutmaster in our District! Our former Scoutmaster had announced that he intended to step down well over a year before this and we talked him into staying on while we searched for someone to take over. I started at that point doing everything that I could to help him in anyway that I could with admin and whatever else needed to be done. However, after 18 months of searching and no -willing- candidates found, either from within the troop or on the outside, I decided that since I was doing much of the work anyway, I might as well be doing it OFFICALLY and took over! I did face some opposition from a few boys who dropped out, and there are still a few passive/agressive parents who don't think I should be in the role, but for most part, all the other adults, our Chartered Org. & the district have been very supportive. I had alredy done BSLT and was trained and went through Wood Badge last fall.

 

What I inherited though was basically an Adult led troop! I am working towards changing that, but since all the boys who were in the troop had never experienced anything else, it's been a hard struggle. I gained a full new scout patrol in March and slso an enthusiastic trained adult leader with them, who has been a tremendous help! He has taken on the patrol and is doing a great job of developing and guiding them. I've decided that that we will rebuild from the ground up with the new boys, instead of trying to remould the older ones. It's kind of neat though to see the older boys starting to try to imitate what they see happening in the new scout patrol.

 

Anyway...I am not sure that I am the BEST possible Scoutmaster that this troop has had...or could have...but I was the only one WILLING to do it and I am giving it my best shot. It has been a tremendous personal challenge for me to do this all, especially when I get parents who deliberately circumvent me and go to the adult MALE leaders when they have questions or problems! When I start to have my doubts about things, I try to remind myself that I am not there doing this for myself or my own ego...I'm doing this for the BOYS!

 

I have also ventured into doing Adult training this year and have enjoyed doing that more than I thought I would...I have a difficult time being center stage, so it was very scary at first. I'm looking forward to continuing on this path in the future too.

 

Sorry this is so long...

 

Sue

"I used to be a Beaver"

[AK-Eagle]

Sue,

 

Congrats and thank you for taking on the irksome tasks and boundless joys of Scoutmaster. Dont let the jerks get you down the majority out there are glad to see you around. If your hiking trail finds its way here to Juneau you'll find a campfire with a boiling kettle waiting.

 

AK-Eagle

aka

Phillip Martin

Scoutmaster Troop 21

Juneau Alaska

[SueM]

AK Eagle,

 

Thanks for the welcome! I try not to take things too seriously when I deal with these people..I "consider the source" and figure that that if they didn't have the..umm..err.."guts" to step up and take on the job, then they have no right to criticize me for the job I do either!

 

When I was on staff at BSLT last year, (we were a small staff 2 men & 2 women) one of the first questions that came up from one of the trainees during the Scoutmaster Specific training was "When did women start to play such a prominent role in Scouting??" There are still plenty of "old school" scouters out there who don't believe that women should be leaders. My answer to them was that one of the reason why I got my son involved was to give him other male role models in his life, since as a military family we have never had other family around to help influence him in that sense, that I understood his views and concerns...but that has nothing to do with my LEADERSHIP ability! There are plenty of other male leaders to act as role models and I make adjustments in the troops so that if there are things that the scouts don't feel comfortable with discussing or doing with me, that the men can deal with them. When I go on camping trips with them..I am a leader first and then a leader who just happens to be female.

 

When I was deciding to take on the job, one of the committee members said "I wonder how the boys will feel about having a woman scoutmaster??" and one of my ASM's immediately said "What does it really matter WHAT they think!! First of all, they don't get a say in who the leader is and if Scouts can't deal with a woman in a position of authority as a 12..13..14 yr old, what are they going to do when they're adults and have to deal with them in their work places??" It is good for scouts to have to deal with diversity of ALL kinds in order to grow...but unfortunately, living in the south as I do, when I talk about embracing diversity, everyone jumps to the conclusion that that is only a black/white issue!

[rpushies]

Hi Sue,

 

Congratulations on your new position as Scoutmaster. I envy you! Being a Scoutmaster is probably the best job in the whole wide world! Well, that's the way I remember things. All the trials and tribulations seem to fade away over time. My last service at Scoutmaster ended in '91. Since then my Scouting involvement has been through training, district committee and troop committee. But, if my body would let me, a Scoutmaster I would be. In a heart beat!

 

Keep your focus on doing your best. Train your Scouts to run their troop. Demonstrate, explain, guide and empower your youth leaders. Help them see the possibilities in life, the joy of a job well done, and most of all help them experience the adventure of Scouting. Your Scouts, parents and other nay-Sayers will either support you or not. I'm betting that a lot more will be supportive as you show your commitment to a vision of success.

 

Have some fun! Fun has gotten me through a lot of rough times, give it a try. If you get to a point that you can't see a possibility of fun. Send me an email, I'll share some ideas and possibilities. To illustrate my point, think of a bald man having a topographical map drawn on his head to show Scouts how to get to the top of full dome! Pictures are available, but imagination is better.

 

Yours Truly in Scouting,

Rick Pushies