boy-led troop

[510spl]

six months ago, I was elected to be the spl of quite possibly the most adult-led troop in the country. our PLC was a homework club that met half an hour prior to meetings, our TLC and Committee planed everything and chose which campouts we went on, and troop meetings were basically announcements, hour-long patrol meetings (which consisted of card games, talking, possibly more homework), and then a closing ceremony.

a few months into my term i decided something was wrong and, after learning what a boy-led troop was, began to make the conversion myself (the SM and CC agreed but some of the old guard was unwilling to be actively supportive for a few months). first off, i moved the PLC to a sunday (the day before our monthly TLC) so that 1) the descisions made here would directly influence the TLC and 2) we would have a few hours to plan out our monthly campout. i also am encouraging more participation in troop jobs and made them more accountable by designing "job journals" which keep record of what every scout does for his job.

something that still bothers me is the lack of following the patrol method. last week i was reelected and for the next six months i want to use this time to patrol-methodize the troop; that is, i would like to put more emphasis on the individuality, spirit, and freedom of the patrols, encourage our PLs to actually plan patrol meetings and activities, etc., but at the same time i dont want to move too fast and loose the support of anyone in my troop. what is the best way to go about this? how can i implement a more boy-led/patrol-method style troop? any feedback would be wonderful. thank you.

 

[Eamonn]

I must have the wrong thinking cap on!!

What is a TLC?

And I'm unsure what you mean by homework??

It does sound like you have some great ideas.

Eamonn.

[BSAChaplain]

!!!!WAY TO GO!!!

 

First of all you should consider that fact that you were re-elected as a really good sign. They must think you are doing something good.

 

Second, you probably don't need the rest of this e-mail you're doing great. But I wrote it anyway. Take what you can use.

 

I'd like you to share with you about change.

2% of your group are innovators, they make things change

18% will be quick to change and follow the innovators.

60% will reject it at first, but with enough time and reason they will change.

18% will be very slow to change.

2% will never change.

 

Unfortunately, this means you will "lose the support" of some the 2%) and others will appear to have been lost (as you wrote "the SM and CC agreed but some of the old guard was unwilling to be actively supportive for a few months"). However, you will have gained the respect and admiration of many. Once you've won over the slow to change, they will keep it going (remember, they are slow to change, good or bad). Plus, you will have given yourself and the boys a program worth having.

 

You probably already know who your quick changers are. Now with them at your side, focus on the 60%. Give them time and a lot of reasons for the change. Use any resources you may have including handbooks (Scout, PL, SPL or SM) don't expect immediate agreement, but keep casting vision. Tell them what it will be like as patrols.

 

Celebrate the small victories. Tell them what a great job they did as a patrol unit on a campout or with a cheer. Assign partols a task as a group for the meeting, Blazing Arrows do the opening, Roadrunners, the closing, and Eagles, clean up. Rotate the tasks and continually praise them for their work.

 

Do they have a strong sense of identity? Do they have flags and patches, cheers, yells, and songs?

 

Have you looked at Honor Patrol award, or inter-patrol competitions. Maybe have a patrol spirit contest for a month, with Rootbeer floats for the winners. Or have a knot tying relay with 3 boxes of "Peeps" for the winning patrol.

 

The job journal is a great idea. Will they pass a copy of it on to their successors or present it at their Scoutmaster conferences and Board of Reviews?

 

Do you as SPL attend the Committe meetings. Perhaps you could suggest a 90 minute long meeting. Tell them about your ideas and how you'd like to have real patrol meetings during the troop meetings. If the PLC doesn't have PL handbooks, ask the troop to buy them. Use them and their templates.

 

How many of your adults are "Trained" meaning have they been to the council offered training for their role as leaders. Youth Protection Guidlines (YPG) New Leader Essentials (NLE) Introduction to Ourdoor Leadership are for everyone. Plus, SM/ASM specific training or Troop Committe Training as well. Of course then there's Woodbadge. These programs will help them catch the vision you have. (Getting them to go might not be easy see the threads about adult training if you want to know more.)

 

It may not happen in your six months, but stay with it. Find a job that keeps you in the PLC. Find someone to carry on as the next SPL that will keep the ball rolling and help him to get elected. it will be worth it.

 

Keep us posted on your progress, I for one will be cheering you on from cyberspace.

 

 

[captnkirk]

Frist off, congratulations on taking on such a monumental task with limited support from your adult leaders. This is a task that adults struggle with (as many of the other posts here will show you) as well. I'm glad to hear you've had the success you've had.

 

If you don't already have one, get a copy of the Patrol Leader's Handbook. (If you can convince the troop to buy several copies, then you can lend them to your PLs.) That will help you out, especially with planning Patrol Meetings and such.

 

In my opinion, the best device for using the patrol method is during campouts. Have each patrol camp in seperate areas of the site, have them cook their own meals and plan their own menus. If you can, encourage the adults to camp as a patrol as well (if you have enough on a campout.) Nothing motivates a patrol better than when they're eating beans and franks, the patrol next to them is having chicken alfredo, and the adults are having a Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner.

 

Have them do every activity as a patrol. Run round-robin programs if you can so that each patrol can be working on different skills. (This also has the advantage of making smaller groups which are easier to control.) Try to think of competitions where they can work together against the other patrols. (First aid scenarios, string-burning contests, as well as regular games like relays and steal-the-bacon.)

 

Another big boost to patrol morale is to choose new patrol names, cheers and yells. (This also makes a good patrol meeting activity.) And then get them to use them regularly. (The patrol who can give their patrol yell the loudest gets to line up for dinner first.)

 

Generally speaking, the hardest part is often getting your PLs to take charge of the patrol. The best thing you can do is provide them a motivated patrol to lead. Have them come to PLCs, (bribing them with food works well for this) and ask them what their patrol thinks. Give them a heads-up the week before so they can bring it up at the Patrol Meeting. This A) prevents the PLC from becoming the only ones who decide what the troop does (much like what you're TLC was before) and B) makes the PL responsible for his patrol.

 

If your council or a nearby troop offers a Junior Leader Training Conference (JLTC), you should attend, and you should encourage your PLs to do the same. JLTC uses nothing but the patrol method.

 

I hope some of this helps you. Again, congratulations on doing a great job.

 

P.S. It's nice to see someone other than us "old farts" on these forums.

 

Eamonn, I think by "homework," he means homework from school, and I assume a TLC is simply an adults leaders meeting.

[troop251scout]

You seem alot like me and same with troops. except it wasnt as bad for me.

 

I got the patrols to do more things with out me leading them like day hikes, bowling, canoeing, bike rides, etc. For the most part, this works well. I have found that if the right patrol leaders are elected, they will do the job they are supposed to do. Right now, i am working with one of my patrol leaders to get his patrol back to at least having patrol meetings. At first he was great but now after 5 months, he is sort of slacking off and with only newer scouts in the patrol with him, there really isnt much room to change people around. But one other thing i do is at my plc meetings i ask them what trip they went on the previous month and what they are doing the next month. over the winter, both patrols met to design new patrol flags, discussed various summer trips and i am very proud of the leadership that the patrol leaders have taken.

 

From what i have seen, if the patrol members have fun on their patrol outings, then they will be sure to plan more. And if you attend as a participant not as the SPL and have a blast with them, they will understand that it is cool to do these things especially the kids younger then you that look up to you.

 

If you need anyother help please feel free to pm me anytime on any troop issues as i have experienced most of the same problems.

 

Good Luck to you!

 

-251scout

[510spl]

thanks for the feedback (i took notes!). the identity that our patrols have is basically planning food for the campouts (donuts, ez-cheese and crackers, and of course enough pop to fill the grand canyon) and setting up tents together. i never even thought to read the PL handbook!

tomorrow is the first meeting of my second term, we will elect new PLs and all scouts will get new jobs. i am going to try and outfit them with the PL handbook (and get one for myself) and distribute the job journals (now with expectations/ideas for the specific jobs). we are going to have a very interesting PLC- i was hoping to advnace some sort of interpatrol competition every other week or so and give prizes/food to winning patrols.

thanks again for the tips, i am excited for the upcoming six months. if there is anything else that might help introduce the ideals of the patrol method, please let me know!

[mdutch]

I too am/was in the a similar situation as 510SPL. Fourtaunatly, I had the full support of the adult leadership. Right now I am ASPL, although should I be elected SPL, one of my main goals will be to increase patrol identity.

2 years ago, the only purpuse to patrols, in our troop, was to elect patrol leaders. I have a good feeling that most people did not know what patrol they were in.

We implimented two different things to try and solve this.

1. Patrol competition. Whenever you do games, break up by patrols. Create a "Patrol Points System" where they compete by doing things (high attendence, planning a trip, wearing the uniform). At the end of the month (or year) the one with the highest score wins.

2. Use in camping trips. Cook by Patrol, shop by patrol, sleep by patrol. Do all activities by patrol.

3. Force all patrols to have one Patrol Campout (didn't work for us, only one patrol actually planned one).

 

Eric