Frequently asked questions
How many Scouts are in the troop?
We have 20-25 active scouts in the troop spread over 3 patrols.
How are leadership roles distributed among Scouts?
We have elections twice a year: Early December and early June. The troop elects the SPL during the June elections and he serves one year. The patrols elect their PL in June and December (for a 6 month term). The other troop positions: ASPL, Librarian, Historian, Instructor, Chaplain's Aid are appointed by the SPL. The PLs choose their APL and patrol QM.
Where and when do you meet?
We meet on Monday nights at 7pm in the "Scout Hut" behind The Gathering at Scott United Methodist Church
How often do you hold meetings and events?
We meet pretty much every week unless there is a Monday night where there is no school; e.g. Labor Day, Memorial Day. We have our Patrol Leader's Council meetings the Monday night after an outing and only the PLC shows up on those nights. We generally have one outing a month. In the past June and August outings have been dropped because everyone has so much going on. July is generally summer camp. That being said, October and November sometimes have two outings to take advantage of the weather and days off of school which allow us to easily go farther away. Courts of Honor are generally 3-4 times a year: December and August being pretty consistent and then depending on the schedule 1-2 to fill in the gap between those months
What types of activities does the troop do throughout the year?
Quite the range actually. This year we are: camping on the eastern shore of Virginia where we can fish/canoe/kayak; backpacking; particapating in the Blue Ridge Mountains Council's trout fishing tournament; "regular" camping; visiting the Naval Academy for Scout weekend; doing a council camporee at our local camp; winter camping (hopefully snow); skiing; winter camping (hopefully snow again); going to Valley Forge for their camporee; waterfall hiking or caving (not fully determined yet); beach camping in the Outer Banks, canoe trip, summer camp at Camp Powhatan. Also, we have a crew of 8 scouts and 4 adults going to Philmont in June that will have a couple extra practice backpacking trips thrown in.
How often do you go camping or have outdoor adventures?
See above
How involved are adult leaders?
We are there to provide safety oversight and to coach/mentor the scout leadership. During meetings we try to stay out of it as much as possible. We will chat with the PLC right before a meeting and right after a meeting to try and help them remember their plan and to review what went well and what did not go well. On camping trips, in a perfect world, we would only get updates from the SPL and ASPL at breakfast and dinner (they eat with the adults). Different outings will result in different interactions. I often tell/remind the scouts that the only scouts that should enter the adult area are the SPL and ASPL. I am ok with a PL coming along, but that should only be if the PL and SPL cannot agree on something. We should never have the need to see another scout in our area unless he feels that his PL or SPL is not supporting them.
What is the experience level of the adult leaders?
I was a scout growing up, and I have been SM for about two years, prior to that was an ASM for 3 years. For cubs I was my oldest son's Den Leader from Tiger to AOL. I have 4 ASMs, experience ranging from 2-4 years.
How are merit badges and rank advancement supported?
We will take them on the camping trips, we will even point out (eventually) that they should read their rank requirements and compare it to the weekend of stuff they just did, but we will not chase them down and say, "let me sign this for you". This applies to both rank and required merit badges. I will talk to them individually about merit badges and for example try to encourage a scout who has 175 miles of backpacking on the books that he should probably look into how many of the backpacking merit badge requirements he has finished. This so far has been unsuccessful (this is my oldest son that I am referencing). On the other hand, our SPL has become somewhat of a badge hunter, and I have to slow him down, so he focuses on the troop instead of the fingerprinting merit badge. Each scout is different. We have one scout who has been sitting on scout for 3 years. No interest in advancing, just likes coming on trips. Still working on how to help him along.
What is the troop’s culture and how do Scouts interact?
We pride ourselves on being scout led and even when I think we aren't as scout led as we could be, I see other troops at camps or other events and am reminded that we have that one down. I think an important note is that we are not "scout defined". If the scouts decided they wanted to do nothing but play kickball during a meeting I would step in and veto. We do cool stuff in the woods with our friends. I have no issue with playing games during meetings as a break, but meetings are intended to prepare us to do that cool stuff.
We are not going to show up in a Normal Rockwell painting and I have yet to be able to spend the entire meeting or outing in my chair taking a nap. Probably not going to happen either. We have a range of 12 to almost 18 year old boys from a spread of socio-economic backgrounds. It is messy at times. I have only been Scoutmaster for a year now, and while the past two Scoutmasters did a fantastic job of re-creating a scout-led troop from what was not one at the time we have room for improvement on understanding that "Help other people at all times", means helping your fellow scout too. While yes, you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, sometimes your fellow scout making a mistake is your fault for not working with him during a meeting. I am focusing on the patrol method more as a way to remedy this.
What are your expectations of Scouts and parents?
For parents, I think this statement sums it up best: "Don't do anything for a scout he is capable of doing for himself." And they are capable of doing a lot. For the scouts, I expect them to try and follow the scout oath and law and to take ownership of their path and responsibility for their choices.
How do patrols work in your troop?
We have always cooked and tented as patrols, but we are working on improving our use of the Patrol Method. In the past our troop has operated as one giant patrol even though they were administratively in smaller patrols. It has been one of my goals as Scoutmaster to try and get them to do more of their daily business at the patrol level. We are getting better. One of the patrols has been pretty good at the "patrol spirit", one is in the middle, and the one that has most of the older scouts is coming around. Trying to break old habits.
How large are the patrols, and how do you ensure Scouts are active in their patrols?
The three patrols vary in size from 4-8 (the SPL and ASPL are not in patrols). I cannot ensure that individual Scouts are active nor do I want that to be my job. It is the Patrol Leader's job. What I try to do is get the PLs to understand their level of responsibility and to hold them accountable when things aren't being done. He needs to ensure his scouts are active, otherwise he ends up holding the bag by himself. We end up having a mix of abilities in our PL positions based on who wants to take it on at the time of elections. I have one scout in particular who is a PL every other term. Watching him get better and better each time has been rewarding. But when they start it can be a challenge and I end up needing to work with them more; for example, I encourage them to continue to use duty rosters on camping trips other than just to check the box on the 2nd class requirement.
What types of community service projects does the troop participate in?
Our regularly schedule activity is food bank assistance with the Methodist Church. Other than that, it varies on opportunities which we have a committee member on the lookout for. I am trying to get us to do more conservation work than has been done in the past. This year the scouts have done a number of trail maintenance/trash pickup events. We deliver food to needy families during the holidays.
What are the typical costs associated with being in the troop?
Our annual dues are $200. This covers national, council, Boys Life, and unit dues for awards, etc. We charge additional fees for outings depending on what we do and where we are going. Recently not every scout has done every activity. Our ski trip isn't cheap and sometimes the canoe expedition isn't either. I had considered trying to get the scouts to get rid of the ski trip, but there are a handful that go every year, I know it's their only chance to ski, and they are the ones that say it is their favorite trip of the year, so we keep it. We are working towards offering additional trips in those months that are cheaper to still provide opportunities to the scouts who don't ski. That being said, ignoring the ski trip and summer camp, which are the two consistent big tickets, I think our annual costs if you were to do everything are around $360 (average of $30 per outing 12 times a year). This estimate is for gas, fees, paying the "Grubmaster" for food, etc.
How long has this troop been active?
The troop is the oldest continuously run troop in the Tidewater Council. We have been here since 1943.