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Train all you can

untrainedIf you’re a regular reader of Ask Andy, the Net Commissioner, you might have seen this week’s column and you may have been nodding your head as you read along.

(If you haven’t seen it, please go read it now.)

TLDR: There was only one question – a lengthy one – from an enlightened assistant Scoutmaster whose son stumbled into a troop that was run by adults – something they called the “Troop Method”. He, and a few others, knew it was wrong, tried to change things to the Scouts’ benefit, but the old guard put their foot down. The ASM was wondering how to proceed.

You are more likely than not to have encountered some form of the method by which this troop operated. Continue reading “Train all you can”

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Present the colors – but what next?

scoutsalutesflag_stevendepoloIn this election season, we’re all immersed and bombarded with campaign activity. We see signs everywhere, hear and see ads on radio and television, get lots of mail, and the phone sometimes won’t stop ringing.

Often, Scouts participate as well. After all, what Duty to Country is more important than selecting those who lead and represent us?

But there’s a limit to what we can do as Scouts and Scouters. Continue reading “Present the colors – but what next?”

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2017 Journey to Excellence

jte_gold_250It’s rechartering time for just about everybody, and with it comes our annual self-evaluation, the Journey to Excellence.

With us since 2011. this program allows units to assess how they are doing compared to how high-performing units operate. It’s a set of eleven guidelines (nine for Venturing crews) along with a means to evaluate each item from basic to outstanding.

Each year, we look back on how we served our Scouts in the previous twelve months. It’s also a good time to look ahead to the next twelve and see where we can tweak and improve. The 2017 scorecards are available now. Continue reading “2017 Journey to Excellence”

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Patterns of character

charactercounts_200If you are a civics aficionado, this is a very interesting time. We are in the midst of one of the most notable and volatile presidential campaigns in our country’s history. Much is being said on both sides of the debate, and it’s hard to imagine that anyone could not have formed an opinion by now.

But how do we form our opinions on matters of such great importance as electing our leaders?

As we prepare to choose who will represent us, in offices ranging from city council to the presidency, each of us looks for many factors in deciding who to support.

Undoubtedly, character is one of the most important of these factors, as it is probably the most reliable predictor of what a person would do in office. It’s not easy to gauge someone else’s character – you have to look for the outward signs that give a glimpse of inner traits. Sometimes these are fairly obvious but they can be quite obscure.

Perhaps the most important thing to examine is our own character, and for us Scouters, what better way is there than to hold character up to the light of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The twelve points give us some solid benchmarks for comparison and judgment. Continue reading “Patterns of character”

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Make training more interesting

training_300It’s fall and our newest recruits are joining us. Not just the boys, but the adults as well, stepping into Scouting leadership for the first time, moving to new positions within their units or making the transition from program to program.

Any time we start something new, it helps to learn a bit about it before we take the plunge. In Scouting, we have plenty of training courses to help adult leaders get off on the right foot when it comes to performing their duties. Continue reading “Make training more interesting”