From mfbowman@CapAccess.org Wed Jul 16 19:24:10 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 19:24:09 -0400 (EDT) From: "Michael F. Bowman" To: SCOUTS-L - Youth Groups Discussion List Subject: Train with Enthusiasm Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: Ron, There are books and books about how to train people, how to motivate people, etc. All of these do little good unless the trainer or training team are the right people for the job. Sometimes we have to step back and look at this as more than an exercise to get willing people to volunteer to train. In fact we need to go a step further and seek out -- recruit the best people for the job - folks that understand how to generate enthusiasm and do so by their own example. If your trainers are not pumped, they aren't going to be nearly as effective. It may be nice that a Scouter has given X years to the movement, but that doesn't mean he/she is any good at training. It may be that a younger person is much better, if they have the charisma for the job. Don't settle for less than the best you can get - go for someone who can by his/her own enthusiasm generate it in others. Go for someone who believes in Keep It Simple Make It Fun (KISMIF). Go for someone who has some much energy that it electrifies the group. Go for someone who will add variety and keep it interesting. And finally, go for someone who will build a team and doesn't have to be a one-man show. Speaking only for myself in the Scouting Spirit, Michael F. Bowman E-mail: mfbowman@capaccess.org Visit: ftp1.scouter.com/usscouts U. S. Scouting Service Project FTP Site Administrator (PC Area) Helping to deliver the promise of Scouting from Alexandria, Virginia From mfbowman@CapAccess.org Wed Jul 16 19:35:03 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 19:35:02 -0400 (EDT) From: "Michael F. Bowman" To: Jan Mussler cc: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Subject: Re: Former Boy Scouts who don't volunteer In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: Jan, When my son started Tigers and then Cubs, I was one of those former Boy Scouts who refused to volunteer! I had been active in Scouting from 1961 to 1982. I quit because it was taking too much time and I was getting mad at local politics in the district I was in. When my son joined, I resolved not to get involved again and argued with my wife that she would be a Scouting widow, if ever I started again. She was the Wolf Den Leader and after a year (our son was a corker) threatened me with all manner of dire consequences, if I didn't volunteer and promised never to get mad. He he. Next year I was a Bear Den Leader. That was in '89. Well eight years later I'm still at it. And my wife, I think she was kinda proud when I was honored with a Silver Beaver last year. ;-) The moral of the story is get you frying pans out and give them old Scouts a hint of what's expected. ;-))) Speaking only for myself in the Scouting Spirit, Michael F. Bowman E-mail: mfbowman@capaccess.org Visit: ftp1.scouter.com/usscouts U. S. Scouting Service Project FTP Site Administrator (PC Area) Helping to deliver the promise of Scouting from Alexandria, Virginia From mfbowman@CapAccess.org Wed Jul 16 20:00:10 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 20:00:09 -0400 (EDT) From: "Michael F. Bowman" To: "Hudy, Keith" cc: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Subject: Re: Scoutmaster Problem In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: Keith, > rank and merit badges, except two. These two boys are the Scoutmaster's > sons. It seems that they do not have to complete all of the requirements > for their rank (he just signs it off). When it comes to merit badges, he > gives them to his sons even though the merit badge counselor advises him > that they have not completed all of the requirements. The sad part of What seems to be happening may not be an accurate assessment of what is going on. Do you know for a fact that the sons have not completed their requirements? How did they get through six and in the other's case five Boards of Review, if they weren't doing their requirements? Who signed the merit badge cards? Was it signed by a registerred merit badge counselor? If the Board of Review members and Merit Badge Counselors are all signing off that the boys have completed the requirements, then it would suggest either that your perceptions are not accurate; e.g., the boys have earned their ranks,or that the problem is much deeper than the Scoutmaster and involves many more people - none willing to speak up over the course of time, which is unusual but not impossible. You mentioned that the SM listened to you say your piece and then went on as before. Did he explain himself or what was going on? Or was he allowing you all to vent and not taking it seriously enough to believe any explanation was required? You may have a situation where he didn't feel he owed an explanation and gave none or less than the full story. Not so many years ago I had a woman tell me at a meeting that the only reason my son got an award was that I was on the District staff. I was too angry to respond and said nothing to her for fear of what I might say and from the realization that I didn't owe her any explanation. She had made an assumption and built a story on that without ever realizing that I had nothing to do with the award at all. And this was in Cub Scouts, where parents are supposed to work with their sons to see that they complete their work. If I sound defensive of your SM, it is only because it is often hard to know the whole situation until you've walked a mile in the moccasins of both sides. If your SM is passing off awards to his sons without them earning them, he is cheating his own children and cruely, because for the rest of their lives they will know they never deserved them. And if so all three will bear the guilt for the rest of their lives. No small price. As a practical matter, if things have gone this far, there is not much that can be done except to verify that the Life Scout has met all the requirements for Eagle. And it sounds like by the time the three of you form a new troop this may have happened already. Starting a new Troop at that point may not accomplish much or fix much. The damage will aready be done. How is this leader doing with the rest of the boys? Does the Troop have a good program? Are the boys getting a good experience? If you left would this cause you to have a weak unit and leave the remaining troop weak, so that in time both might be in danger of folding? It is a lot easier to fix a damaged but otherwise healthy unit, than to start new one. Finally, if you all leave, will this be better for the boys? Speaking only for myself in the Scouting Spirit, Michael F. Bowman E-mail: mfbowman@capaccess.org Visit: ftp1.scouter.com/usscouts U. S. Scouting Service Project FTP Site Administrator (PC Area) Helping to deliver the promise of Scouting from Alexandria, Virginia