Forming Patrols

[mdutch]

My troop is concidering letting the scouts form there own patrols for this comming year (having the 20 2nd year scouts rearange themselves, into patrols that will last for the rest of eternity). Any advise on how to do this without making the less popular scouts feel left out?

[DugNevius]

Meamemg, my troop reforms patrols every six months. Here is how we do it.

 

At the end of a 6 mont term we hold troop-wide nominations. Any scout can nominate any scout to run as a patrol leader. If that nomination is seconded and accepted the naominated scout is running for the position. After nominations are closed we hold short speaches. The next meeting the canidates running give a prepared speech followed by a town hall in which they must answer questions.

 

Voting goes like this: If there are to be 3 patrols and lets say 6 scouts running each scout in the troop can put down 3,2,1 or none names on a ballet. If a scout doesnt feel that any running are quailified he can put zero names down, or as many names as he feels are qualified as long as it does not exceed the number of positions. The top three scouts in voting win elections.

 

Then follows the patrol picking. The winner with the most votes gets to pick first and will "invite" a scout to join his patrol. The invited scout then has the option of accepting and joining that patrol or declining. Most scouts will already make a deal before this with the guy they want to be in with. That way every scout going into a patrol can control which patrol he is in.

 

There you go.

[OldGreyEagle]

The troop I serve allows for patrol shake up once a year in the fall when the next SPL is elected and the New Scout Patrol disbands. The patrol will stand for the year. Now, the PLC tried to come up with rules about each patrol having so many life, star, first class scouts but that didnt last for one term. We designate spots in the meeting room for people to go to when the signal is given. WHen the signal is given, the boys go to the spots and go where they want. They already know who they want to be with. The "less popular scouts" usually end up in one patrol where they are accepted and usually become one of the strongest patrols going. After the boys form their patrol they elect a patrol leader and choose a name and cheet et al. Usually we find the same kids stay together but a few will change. We have a general guideline of at least 8 and no more than 12 in a patrol with some discretion. Scouts who dont show up will get drafted into a patrol unless they send a proxy vote in writing.

[Bob White]

meamemg

 

I am glad you are looking to follow the program. Since all the scouts in the group you are setting up are similar age and skill level this will be pretty simple. And, if you do it well they will stay together anbd grow as a team for years.

 

First I would give them a copuple opportunmities to get to know eacjh other. Have a hobby night where everyone sets a a table of thier favorite hobby, put name tents on each table so the scout scan see whatthe other slike and look for things that interest them as well.

 

Have a campout wher these twenty sit around tell jokes paly games and thenhave an open discussion on something that will help reveal something about the scouts to each other. Where do they want to go tho collefe, what profofession are they interested in, whose there favorite recording artist, what movies do they like.

 

Finally give them ballots have them put their name on top followed by 5 scouts they would like to be in a patrol with. Then write me at bobwhitebsa@hotmail.com and I will send you a table chart that will allow you to graph their choices. You will easily be able to establish 3 patrols of 6 to 7 scouts and each boy should end up in a patrol with at least 4 of the boys he wanted to be with.

 

Now you will have patrols of friends of similar age, skills and interests, and that should bond them quite nicely.

 

BW

 

 

[acco40]

Good advice about patrol forming BW. I'm a big believer in forming patrols of peers and not worrying about having one patrol whose average age is a few years more than another patrol.

 

Our Jamboree contingent troop consists of Scouts from many different troops who don't know each other very well. We do not have the luxury of doing what BW suggested due to time constraints. We did the following - each Scout picked a buddy. A Scout and his buddy (his future tent mate) were guaranteed to be in the same patrol. (This was done after the senior leadership was chosen - SPL, ASPL, QM and Scribe). So we now had 16 buddy pairs. Next, each buddy pair picked another buddy pair. That yielded 8 pairs of "buddy pairs." Next, each group picked another group yielding the four patrols of eight Scouts.

 

Now, I view a patrol as sort of like a marriage. While divorce is permitted, it should be rare and not taken lightly. I don't like rearranging patrols willy-nilly. Having one patrol of five and another of nine is no big deal. No calamity comes about if we don't force that into two patrols of seven. Let the kids pick their peer group, bond, develop cheers, flags, totems, etc. and then USE THE PATROL METHOD!

 

For those that follow military history, the lessons of Vietnam should be taken to heart. In that conflict, soldiers were rotated in and out based on an individual time-line. No real unit bonding took place. The boys (many really were boys!) squads/platoons etc. were constantly changing. Now look at what the Army does today. Units are rotated in and out as a group, not by individuals. Teamwork is enhanced. "Patrol" pride ensues. Of course it doesn't help that the Army is now dealing with volunteers vs. conscripts but it does give another example of how the patrol method works.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[eagle90]

Acco 40 -

 

What a great method of picking Jamboree patrols. That was our biggest mistake in 1997 - we just kind of randomly assigned scouts patrols by where they lived, their ages, etc. I will definitely remember that method should the need arise inthe future.

[orennoah]

acco40: That's a great method. I'll keep it in mind, should the need arise again.

 

In my troop, the need arose to re-align patrols a couple of years ago. We only had two and we needed to make sure that none of the younger Scouts felt the "last picked" syndrome. (I have not-so-fond memories of my own childhood when it came time to chose sides for sports!)

 

What we decided to do was to assign two of the middle level Scouts as the nuclei for the two patrols. They each picked one at a time, but had to chose up all of the younger Scouts first, then the older ones. It seemed to work out fine, with no one's feelings being hurt.

 

Just another method to consider.

 

- Oren