Using a Venture Patrol

[OldGrayOwl]

The only thing that I would add to jblake47''s honor patrol is being at least an OA member. After all, they are the "honor society" of Boy Scouts.

 

[EagleInKY]

We''re contemplating starting an "honors" patrol. I''ve got concerns, but I also can see some potential value.

 

Our troop is still relatively young. We''re in our 5th year. Our oldest scout is a senior, 4 sophomores, 6 Freshmen. 28 scouts total. The largest population are 8-9 graders. The last two recruiting classes have been smaller (5 6th graders, 3 7th graders).

 

Our PLs of our "regular" patrols are 8th & 9th graders. SPL & ASPLs are 9th & 10th graders. We have elections and job assignments every six months.

 

Two of our oldest scouts have recently finished lengthy "tours of duty" in the senior positions - SPL, ASPL, Troop Guide, etc. For the past 2+ years they''ve served in these senior positions. Now they are Instructors. Both are working on Eagle Projects. Both are still active - as much as their extra-curricular activities allow. They also do a good job of teaching & mentoring the younger scouts.

 

One thing we''ve noticed, in very limited scenarios, is that it''s awkward for these 16-17 year old Life (almost Eagle) scouts to go back into regular patrols with 7th-9th graders. The PL and the younger scouts are sort of intimidated and often will sit back and wait for these older scouts to decide what to do. These scouts, recognizing this, try to sit back and let the PL run the show... and you get a virtual stale-mate of no action.

 

The idea we''re contemplating is similar to jblake''s. It would be limited to scouts that have served in senior leadership capacity and want to continue being active and value-adding members of the troop. We want them to model what a good patrol looks like and we want them to mentor the PLs and other youth leaders to be successful. While I want it to be a little "elitist" (as in, it''s an honor to be a part of it), I certainly don''t want it to be separate from the rest of the patrols.

 

The other option we''ve considered is to just wait for them to make Eagle and make them JASMs instead. But then you run into the question of where to put them.

 

The SPL, ASPLs (2) and Troop Guide would also function as members of this patrol while they are in office.

 

[EagleInKY]

Duplicate post.(This message has been edited by EagleInKY)