Scoumastercg Newsletter

Hello and Welcome Back! Just when you think everything is going well, and you pat yourself on the back for being such an effective Scouter, you are confronted with a behavior problem. Oh for Pete’s sake! Not again! Yes, again… and again, and again. We get disappointed, then angry, then sad. There are times it all feels like we are pushing water uphill. You probably know what I am going to say next (and may find it as frustrating to hear as I often do); behavior problems are an opportunity, and a very important one at that....

Hello and Welcome Back! Scouting is camping with your patrol, and one of my favorite ways to go camping is backpacking. Reducing everything you will need to live for a couple of days to what you can comfortably carry on your back is a test of skill, and planning ; it challenges our moral, physical and mental abilities. Don’t be put off by the logistics, start with trips designed for success....

Hello and Welcome Back! Scouter Training is closer to employee training than active Scouting. Sitting through scripted sessions punctuated by unrealistic, often dated, videos is one way to learn, but it’s not the best way to learn Scouting. I’ve never been a good classroom student, I learn more by doing, so I tend to value hands on experience. Experiential, “on the job”, learning is more true to Scouting’s purposeful game than training administrators to deliver a scripted program....

Hello and Welcome Back! If you are reading this you are a volunteer, and probably not just for Scouting. Volunteering for Scouting returns more satisfaction and joy than we really deserve, but there’s always a danger of getting spread too thin. It’s a running joke among volunteers who keep running into each other at different activities there must only be about ten or twelve volunteers running every activity in town (this isn’t far from the truth sometimes!...

Hello and Welcome Back! Engaging youth leadership and helping them develop their skills is one of the most rewarding parts of our work. Scouting may have many things in common with other youth activities but it is unique. We apply what we know from our professions and our own experiences to training and mentoring youth, but often miss the unique opportunities Scouting presents. Start by laying aside what you know and see if the ideas I have collected here help you get a better handle on working with your Scouts....

Welcome to the ScoutmasterCG newsletter; selected posts and podcasts published every other Monday about a specific aspect of Scouting. We’ll get things rolling by asking an important question; why Scouting? During my first few years as a Scoutmaster I was just kind of sailing along without really thinking too much about why we were doing what we were doing. Volunteer training teaches rules, regulations, and procedures, but we don’t often ask ourselves exactly what Scouting is or why it is important....