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3:11 pm
May 17, 2010
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SM Shawn
| | Green Bay, WI | |
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Post edited 2:17 pm – May 18, 2010 by SM Shawn
I am in the process of planning the troop structure…and before Jerry goes crazy, let me explain…
I have 4 boys on the roster right now…they are one patrol. They have a PL and APL. By year's end, I will have anywhere from 8-14 more boys, depending on how recruiting from other packs goes. I have 8 committments today, from scouts in the 4th grade. I will be ramping up my efforts, so there may be more…
So, at a minimum, barring any unforseen circumstances, I will be at 12-16 boys going into next year. I am not for certain, but I will imagine that one of the current boys, will be the SPL, and another may be the ASPL. The remaining 2 boys will be the sole members of that patrol.
I have a bunch of scenarios in my head as to what to do, but I think I need some non-paid, professional help. Ideally, I would like to see 2 patrols, each with a PL and APL, and the SPL, possibly an ASPL. I don't want to have to force the scouts to do it one way, but I need to make some suggestions to them.
What to do, what to do…
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9:44 am
May 18, 2010
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Scouter_Garry
| | SATX | |
| PTC Boy Scout | posts 106 |
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My son's troop is just coming out of a similar situation.
Last year they had 9 boys. So the scout master had it set up as a patrol with PL, APL, SPL and ASPL. (not my thought process, but I wasn't in the troop.) This year 7 boys joined. The 7 new boys formed a new patrol and elected a PL. So no the troop is formed of 2 patrols of 7 boys and the SPL and ASPL are the begining or a leadership or "Green Bar" patrol.
One of the issues we are struggling with is the older boys have functioned as a single patrol for so long, they continue to operate that way. The younger boys are a separate patrol and have their own needs of the program that are being lost.
My advice is to keep them as one patrol at twelve youth. If you get 14 or more consider splitting them, if you have high attendance. Only add the troop POR's as needed. I believe that at 14 boys the two patrols can swap the leadership of the troop. At 15 youth, you could add only the SPL. The boys can meet advancement requirements through a leadership project instead or a POR.
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8:41 am
May 19, 2010
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scoutmasterjerry
| | Troutdale, OR | |
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Here are my 2.5 cents.
Do not let your patrols get bigger than 8 to 10 Scouts. Anything larger is pretty tough to manage (so says Baden Powell).
Right now You don't need an SPL.. you have 4 Scouts. A Patrol leader can do the same thing.
When you get the "new batch" of Scouts let them form a Patrol and elect a Patrol leader and an APL. Have the troop hold an election which will elect one of the 4 "older" guys the SPL (I would not get to wrapped up about an ASPL right now, although if they are ready for it, by all means elect one).
The remaining 3 Scouts from the "older guys" can function as a Patrol.
But if your projections of 12 – 16 play out. You have the makings of at least two 5 Scout Patrols and all the Troop leadership to fill the SPL and ASPL positions.
Oh and just a comment on the POR for Advancement.
Shawn in your situation none of your Scouts will need a POR for at least a year is what I am guessing. Tenderfoot through First Class need no leadership positions for advancement. You will need to worry about those when your Scouts start edging toward Star…. so you can let it ride and develop a strong leadership program within your troop while they approach that benchmark.
Here is the bottom line.
Don't over think this. Keep it simple and allow the Scouts to decide how they will structure their unit. 10/10 times it will all work out and their leaders will rise up and take charge through elections and peer interaction.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
(and see.. I didn't go Crazy)
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8:45 am
May 19, 2010
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SM Shawn
| | Green Bay, WI | |
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What is a POR?
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Host of the True North Podcast
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8:46 am
May 19, 2010
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SM Shawn
| | Green Bay, WI | |
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SM Shawn said:What is a POR?
nevermind….duh, position of responsibility?
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7:53 am
October 19, 2010
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ag1024
| | Oklahoma | |
| PTC Bobcat | posts 5 | |
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Hi all,
I am new to this site, although I have listened to Jerry for over a year.
My troop has 10 registered scouts. Of those, 1 is a 17 year old Eagle, 2 are 17 year old life scouts working on the project, (They will be aged out in 6 months, they work, they don't camp much any more), 2 are 16 (attendance unpredictable), the rest are under 14. I am a Scoutmaster of 3 years.
We average 6 scouts at a troop meeting and 4 on campouts. I have tried to maintain a 2 patrol troop, but have taken it down to one patrol because of these numbers. My 13 year old SPL is really a PL presiding over a single patrol. I too need to increase membership. If I can recruit 5 Webelos in the spring I will bring the troop back to 2 patrols of 5 scouts with an SPL.
My biggest problem with my time as Scoutmaster is that I thought someone on the district level was coordinating the Webelos to Scout transition and feeding Webelos to troops. When I came in to the job with these numbers, I planned to contact packs and church youth groups for recruiting. Our district commissioner of the time told me I should concentrate my efforts on the scouts in my troop and let the troop committee and district committee work on recruiting. Since then, the district commissioner is new, the troop committee chairman was replaced, and I found out the hard way that there really is no plan at the district level for the transition process. The larger troops are the ones that saw this and made the efforts to reach 10 year olds.
I note that Mark Ray, in his book "The Scoutmasters Other Handbook", that patrols should be 12 members in size, due to the fact that a sizable number of scouts will have other commitments that take up time at various parts of the year, and a patrol of 12 will have 6 to 7 active members for any event. I think this is true. Sports and Band in my school district really take their tole on scouting, especially during football season. And I have lost the participation of several from soccer, which looks like a year round sport.
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9:01 am
October 19, 2010
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Veretax
| | Hinton, WV | |
| PTC Bear | posts 68 |
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having been through the program, I think honestly 12 members is way too large, Especially if the goal is to have everyone in the patrol have a leadership responsibility so they can grow, whether its the PL, APL, Patrol Scribe, Patrol Quartermaster, etc. If you have 12 boys, unless you rotate the positions regularly some boys might get left out. That's my opinion, and yes, you will have boys in sports or band, that effects just about every troop. In our area it was baseball. We eventually lost them to sports entirely.
Maybe I'm wrong on this, so someone with more current experience in the patrol system from an adult perspective may have some ideas, but As long as there are least 5-6 in a patrol, I'd imagine I'd leave them alone. I'm not currently working with a troop though, so my opinion may change when I finally am called upon to help our new troop out.
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3:57 pm
October 20, 2010
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SM Shawn
| | Green Bay, WI | |
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| posts 483 |
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After looking at this thread and re-reading it, I have something else to think about…
The fact that I used the word "I" in a lot of my conversations…this isn't about what I am going to do with the troop, it's about what the scouts are going to do with their troop.
It's not up to me on whether we have one patrol or 2 patrols or 3 patrols…it's up to the scouts. Whatever their decision, it's my job as the Scoutmaster to guide them with their decisions, and support them with whatever viable solution they come up with.
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Host of the True North Podcast
Co-Host of Scout Nation
Scoutmaster
Dad and Husband…
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5:27 pm
October 20, 2010
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Veretax
| | Hinton, WV | |
| PTC Bear | posts 68 |
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Its funny you'd say that Shawn, I was just thinking that maybe the scouts should decide LOL. Must be something in the air today :D
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