Yearly Planning Help
Gaining focus for yearly planning sometimes can be very difficult. We all have such busy lives, that taking time out for a yearly planning meeting is often very difficult. Add to it parents walking in and out asking questions and the distractions become compounded.
One possible help is to have your yearly planning meeting be an outing. Have the Parents cook for the scouts on this outing (no distractions). Our council has many cabins at various camps to help with this.
The Scouts that are there, will be there for the weekend. The parents that are there will be busy doing the cooking and cleaning for them. This will allow an outdoor setting with less distractions for the Scouts to decide on the activities in which they want to take part in for the year.
Random Thoughts on Surviving as a Scoutmaster
- Keep the parents involved. Don't just ask them to be on the troop committee, make specific requests such as to arrange transportation for a trip, organize the troop gear, keep notes at committee meetings, organize the troop's finances, set up the hall for a court of honor, or come along on a camping trip.
- Annual program planning is a must - it establishes a commitment from the leaders and a promise of good things to come for the scouts. Be sure to include Courts of Honor, camping weekends, summer camp and some opportunities for High Adventure. Those things require long-range planning or they never happen.
- Older Scouts have many other commitments besides the troop; I would never "fire" an older boy for lack of attendance as long as he expresses interest in being a member of the troop and has paid the annual costs of being a member. I was always willing to keep on the charter any boy who was willing to pay his fair share at charter renewal time. It often paid off with renewed participation after sports season or when high adventure time came along.
- Use patrol competition, even if you have too few scouts for several patrols; it's better to have two four-boy patrols than one eight-boy one. Then you can organize the troop program around inter-patrol activities (games, contests) and give the SPL a role in running the Patrol Leaders Council. Think big!
- Keep the troop meeting moving! Train the boys to run a series of brief but meaningful activities in each troop meeting - instruction, competition, fun things too.
- Establish traditions - always have a ceremonial opening to troop meetings (flag salute and Scout Oath, for example) and a ceremonial closing (Scoutmaster's Benediction, sing taps, Scout Vesper Song, etc.)
- Become a "singing troop" ; our troop often ended the troop meeting with a ten-minute "campfire" in which the boys took turns leading a song, doing a skit, or leading a cheer. Before long everyone knew enough songs to take part. This often lead right into the closing with a closing song. The Boy Scout Songbook contains many of the songs sung at camp and lots of old favorites.
