Hello Scouts and Parents,
This email is largely for new scouts and their parents, so if you are a veteran scout and their parents, just review the highlighted names and plans for the meeting tomorrow night.
So I have been recently reminded that there are a lot of new scouts and parents, which means that there are a lot of things you all will need to know. First off, the PLC is the Patrol Leaders Committee and they decide what happens at the upcoming meetings. This generally includes Patrol Leaders that are required to be there and Assistant Patrol Leaders if they wish to go.Tom usually sends out emails before them to let people know they are going on.
The normal layout for pretty much all meetings is as follows:
Opening Ceremony : a certain patrol is in charge of bringing the flags up to the front of the hall
5 things : 2 scouts will share 5 interesting things about themselves that not many people know. Bad examples are: "I go to Williamsburg". Good examples are "I am a licensed scuba diver and have been for 2 years".
Skill : A patrol has the responsibility to teach a specific skill given to them at the PLC meeting to the rest of the scouts. The patrol leader has the responsibility to talk, call or email the rest of the patrol to plan this before the meeting. My hope is that my mid-week emails will remind them to do so. Generally the scouts should be doing this without the help of a parent, although sometimes certain situations call for some help. It just so happens that this week the adult leaders are doing it. The skill is Leadership and is part of the 8 parts of scouting. This is the last section of these skills the adult leaders are doing but I'm sure if you talk to any of them they will be happy to talk to you about it.
Patrol Activities : Some meetings we do not have this, but most meetings we do. Sometimes it is on advancement, other times it is when we plan what meals we will be cooking on the upcoming campouts.
Game : This is as it sounds and is hopefully both successful and fun
Closing : Everyone gets in a giant circle and we have closing announcements and finish off the meeting.
Sometimes we have a guest speaker which usually takes place of the game, but can take the places of other things as well.
Just as a point of information, for the most part my emails are for the scouts. The parents job is to pass on the message to the scout, particularly if they do not have their own email. It is the scouts' job to act on the content of the email.
And for parents wondering what other two confusing acronyms SPL and ASPL are, they stand for Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. I am the SPL and Ben Gessel is the ASPL. We are the elected leaders of the meeting and PLC's of Troop 149. Sometimes I might reference other troop jobs such as Historian or Librarian. There are no new scouts in any of these positions because we want them to get used to the troop first. But as always, if anybody would like to know who holds any of these positions now or in the future, please email me.
And as for the March 24th Meeting:
Opening Ceremony - Flaming Arrows - (Theo Vargas is helping)
5 Things - This will be done by me and Ben this week
Skill - The skill will be done by the Adult Leaders and will be the final session of the 8 parts of scouting
Patrol Meetings - Troop Guides (Jared and Theo V.) will be helping the remaining new scouts reach the rank of Scout, and then to start requirements for Tenderfoot. 2 or 3 people from the Coffee Cup or Griffin patrolscould also help them. The rest of the scouts will also be working on advancement. This means if you are First Class and above and not helping the new scouts, you should be helping other scouts reach their respective ranks.
Game - Steal the Bacon
Closing
If any scouts or parents have any more questions, I am more than happy to address them.
Thanks,
Sam Atkins
SPL
