Goals
We’re looking forward to another great year in 2018-19. The troop has grown by 30% this year! And enthusiasm is high. We’ve identified some new goals to make the coming years even better! Here are the key goals:
Get all our scouts up first class or higher by mid-2019
We have about 46 scouts ranging from Tenderfoot (just beginning) through Eagle Scout (the highest rank possible). The ranks from Scout through First class are about learning basic camping and follower/leadership skills. The higher ranks focus on personal exploration and development through merit badges and more extensive service projects.
Provide hands-on rank/skills/merit badge training every meeting that we’re not doing equipment inventory/repair, Courts of Honor, etc.
One Tuesday a month, we have troop business to do. The first Tuesday after campouts we inventory and maintain our equipment. Other Tuesdays, the meeting might be dedicated to a Court of Honor to recognize new rank awards. That leaves us about three Tuesdays to put together some hands-on training on topics like First Aid, Cooking, Emergency Preparedness, etc.
Establish a Venture Patrol for the more experienced scouts.
Venture, as in High Adventure! The idea is to let the senior scouts venture out by themselves every once in a while to do something special or a little more challenging. That might be short, it might be long. One time it might be a back-backing trip that uses the main camp as a base. Another it might be a bigger trip to one of the Boy Scout High Adventure Bases or somewhere else. It’s up to the scouts to decide what they want to do and how to get it done with the support of the adults.
Get the Blue Ribbon at this year’s Camporee.
It’s been a while since we earned a blue ribbon at Camporee. This year, we’re going for it!