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| Welcome
to Troop 474 |
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Home
of the Wood Ducks |
We are an established
troop with a long and
proud history and we are glad that you have chosen to visit us.
The
adult leadership has put together this section as a resource for scouts and
parents. It includes information on who we are, our
policies and how we administer the scouting
program. It also has information on advancement, Scout Skills,
gear and equipment sources, trips, schedules, etc.
We hope that it will be helpful and that
it will be a place where you can organize and store handouts, schedules and
other information you will
be receiving as you participate in our program.
As
Troop Committee Chairman I'd like to welcome you with some information on the organization and
responsibilities of our adult leadership.
Robert Baden-Powell insisted that education could be fun.
And it should be. The Patrol System he founded is based on this principle. Scouters have known
for decades that Scouting is nothing less than a revolution in education.
While boys do not think of in in this way, a scout troop
is a
unique educational
unit. Look at some of the
things it offers
to prospective members.
A boy can join if he wants to, but he doesn't have to.
If he's not satisfied,
he can
quit anytime.
Or he can transfer to another troop if he thinks he can do better.
He will have many chances to learn and improve himself.
He can
accept them
or not;
it will not be held against
him if he
turns them down. He decides
what he will learn and how fast.
As he improves himself, he
will be recognized. Those
who do the most get the most recognition. Each
boy sets his own goals for personal growth.
The troop is governed by boys. They
make the rules and
plan
the program with the
guidance of the scoutmaster and assistant
scoutmasters.The will have chances to lead, and to learn how to lead.
The adult leaders give their services to boys
without charge. What they
do is
of such value that if the boys were charged
accordingly, few could afford to belong. So Scouting IS education.
And it looks like fun because it is
fun. Thus,
you have
two quick ways to judge your troop and
everything it does.
1. Is it fun for the boys? If
it's not, it's not Scouting.
2. Is it educational? Does
it lead boys to one
or more
of
Scouting';s aims? It may be fun, but if it lacks this
sense of
purpose, it is not Scouting.
Every Scouting activity and way of organizing and doing
things
has a purpose behind it.
Each has something to do with moving
boys from where they are toward some
basic goals.
We call
these goals the aims of Scouting. Here
they are in general.
Scouting works toward three aims.
One
is character.
We may
define character as what the boy is himself: his personal qualities, his values, his outlook.
A second aim is citizenship. Used
broadly, citizenship means
the boy's
relationship to
others. He comes to learn of
his
obligations to other people, to the society he lives in, to the
government that presides over that society.
A third aim of Scouting is fitness.
Fitness shows
itself in
four distinct
aspects: of the body
(well-tuned and healthy),
the mind (able to think and solve problems), the "moral
fiber"
(as shown
by courage, respect for
others, etc.) and the emotions (self-control and self-respect.
These aims are achieved in a Boy Scout Troop through the use of
eight methods;
The Ideals of the Patrol
Method, Advancement,
Uniform, Outdoors, Leadership Development,
Boy Scouts of America was chartered by Congress in 1916 to work
"...through organizations,
and in cooperation with other agencies, " in promoting the Scouting program.
Boy Scouts of Amer
ica was thus chartered to provide the program of scouting, they
cannot and do not operate a single Scout
troop. BSA
grants
charters to
community organizations, interested in
serving
youth, to administer the BSA
program to
troops that
these organizations own and operate.
Troop 474 's Chartered Organization is the First Congregational
Church of
Guilford. Our chartered
organization's representa
tive responsible for liasion with the troop, the Scouting Coor
dinator, is Mr. Richard Coe.
He is responsible for securing a
Troop Committee Chairman, encouraging
adult leader
training,
helping recruit adult
leadership, encouraging service, assisting with rechartering, representing the interests of the
troop and of the
council and district as well
as acting as liason with
the charter organization.
Troop 474 adult leadership is organized according to BSA
guidelines, into
two basic
units; the administrative body or the
Troop Committee and the "line officers" unit which is comprised
of the
Scoutmaster and the Assistant Scoutmasters.
The Troop
Committee has the responsibility of meeting the
administrative
needs of the troop. There
are eight positions on a troop com-mittee that are responsible for approximately ninety functions.
The Scoutmaster/Assistant
Scoutmasters are
responsible for
administering the BSA program.
In
our troop, like many other Scout troops,
there is
not a
clear distinction between troop committee members and assistant
scoutmasters. The Scoutmaster and assistant
scoutmasters, as
well as
interested parents
are considered part of the troop
committee. They are welcome at troop
committee meetings
and
t hey help cover the functions of the troop committee.
Although
there are some adult leaders that are officially registered
as
troop committee
members, all
adult leaders in the troop, at
times, serve as assistant scoutmasters and work
directly with
the boys.
The troop committee has far reaching responsibilities for
feeling the
needs of
the troop,
but it is not responsible for
administering the program. The
program is administered by the
Scoutmaster. His job description reads:
- Train and guide
boy leaders
to run
their troop.
- Work with
responsible adults to give Scouting
to boys.
- Help boys grow by encouraging them
to learn
for themselves.
- Guide boy in planning the troop program.
Notice the action words in this description
are train,
help,
work with,
and guide.
The troop program is actually planned
and run by the scouts. The
Scoutmaster and
his assistants
train, help, work with and
guide Scouts, but they do not actually perform many of
the Scout
tasks which
are generally
assigned to
individual Scouts.
Adult leaders are primarily
responsible for controlling the environment only to the
extent
that a safe environment is
maintained for all Scouts, while at
the same time creating an environment which enables
Scouts to
excercize sufficient responsiblity to learn from mistakes.
Boy
leadership and troop management are probably the most significant differences between the Boy Scouting and Cub Scouting pro-
grams.
As any parent knows, having kids do a job is usually not an
efficient way to get the job done. We
believe, however, that
having the Scouts plan and run the program is
the only
way
scouts will learn the leadership and
organizational skills that
are central to the scouting program.
The positive side of this approach is that it works.
If done
correctly, it develops
a troop
that attracts and keeps boy
interested in scouting. Perhaps
the most difficult aspect
of
accomplishing this is that it
requires adults to be cognizent
of the goals of guiding, training and
teaching, and to
keep
these goals
in the
forefront of
their programs. Guiding,
rather than doing, is usually more work for the
adult leadership. Teaching boy leaders
the skills of leadership while they
are concurrently leading other scouts is not a
very efficient
way to
run an organization. Consequently,
there is always a
certain level of confusion, miscommunication, and
inefficiency
in a
boy run Scout troop. This is
sometimes very frustrating
for both parents and adult leaders.
The boy run program also requires a lot of one on one
interaction between Scouts and adult leaders and the better troops are
the ones who have committed leadership.
We, who are responsible for both the administration and
safety
of troop
programs, feel very strongly that every Scout parent
should make a commitment to the following:
First, make sure your Scout shows up on time for all events and
that he
is properly prepared
for the activity. We do many
things that can be dangerous if the Scouts are
not adequately
prepared (
the Boy Scout Motto - "Be Prepared").
We go many
places where there is no shelter to get
dry if your
clothes
become wet,
or to
warm up if you get cold. There
may be no food to eat if yours is forgotten or destroyed.
An improperly
or poorly prepared Scout
along a trip is a danger, not only to
himself, but possibly for the remainder of the Troop.
Lack of
suitable preparation can
ruin a trip for all. If you are uncertain about the scope of any scouting activity, have your
son
find out, through his
patrol, what level of experience, training, equipment and preparation is required.
(Remember, its HIS
responsibility to find out, and we are trying to teach responsibility). If you are not comfortable with his answers, contact
the Scoutmaster or one of the Assistant Scoutmasters.
Second, read through the
official Boy
Scout Handbook,
and
become familiar with the
scout program. Know the
requirements
for advancement and encourage your son to aspire
to the next
rank. This will let your
scout know that Scouting is something
you consider important and it will keep him focused on
working
on advancement. Boy Scout
advancement requirements, unlike Cub
Scout requirements, are not signed off by
parents but rather
are signed
off by the Scoutmaster or a qualified leader.
Boy
Scouts are expected to take the initiative in their advancement
and participation in troop activities.
Considering the boy-run environment of our troop, parents
need
to make sure their Scouts are getting the information they need
and are actively participating in the
advancement process.
Advancement, by the way, is not important for advancement sake
only, it is how the boys learn the skills necessary to participate in
many of
our troop's more challenging outdoor adventures. Advancement is one of
the methods we
use to develop
character, citizenship and self-esteem.
Parents are strongly encouraged to participate
within any
of
the troop's
activities and at whatever
level with which they
are comfortable. This may
range from helping with fundraisers,
to becoming
and Assistant
Scoutmaster or
Troop Committee
member. Parents are always
welcome at outings and frequently,
many family members camp with the troop.
I think that many Scout parents, when
they are
new to
the
troop, look at the adult uniformed leadership as belonging to a
kind of "exclusive club" and that a prerequisite for
membership
into this "club"
requires a special kind of training or background. There is a good
sense of comaradery,
that has
come
from camping and working
together, but leadership in our troop
is not exclusive by any means. We
all got involved in scouting because of our boys, and we
came to scouting with various levels of scouting and outdoor experience; from
Eagle Scouts to
people with
little or no scouting or camping experience.
All
of the jobs we have require little experience, long hours,
and
the
pay
stinks. But
if you like kids and the outdoors, the rewards are without peer. We
all have and continue to
learn
from one
another and
there are
many adult leader training
opportunities available through BSA.
If you are new to Troop 474, I want to extend to you a
special
welcome, and
again emphasize how glad we
are that your chose
our troop. If you are a scout, we think you are going to
have
an exciting time in our troop and we are confident that you are
going to learn some things about yourself that you might
never
have known, and that you
will accomplish things that you never
thought possible.
Parents, we hope you will join our troop
also. Scouting
is
something that we get a great deal of pleasure from and we are
eager to share it with others. You
too, like the scouts, may
learn some things about yourself and accomplish some things you
never thought possible.
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BSA
Troop 474