Friday, May 18, 2012
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wood Badge Ticket #5 Focus on 3 units that have not participated in FOS and see if we can get them to participate this year.
- 11/28/2012 - Attached is the Family Friends of Scouting Excel Sheet I have been using to track presentations. I’ve cleaned it up and have new contact info for 2012. Right now we have 2 units scheduled for Dec., You can use this sheet to start contacting the contacts and find out when they are holding a B&G or COH (or some other event where there will be a large family attendance such as a Christmas Party).
- 12/12/2012 - I have as one of my Wood Badge tickets to try and get at least three units who did not do a Friends of Scouting Presentation (FOS) last year to agree to let us do one this year. It would be good for your parents to know where their money goes when they support scouting, I know it made a difference for me when I started. I understand some of you already make a standard donation to FOS, but we would still like to make the presentation as a thank you to your unit. This does not have to be at a banquet, it can be at a standard meeting, all we ask is that you invite the parents. If you are willing to do this, let me know by replying to this email. I will be following up later with some phone calls, please let me know as soon as possible and thanks.
- 12/23/2011 - I talked to K. K. yesterday and she said she would like to schedule a FOS presentation at the beginning of the year and that she would be contacting you shortly. She also asked if C. W. could make the presentation and I told her I did not think that would be a problem.
- 01/01/2012 - I talked to M. L. yesterday and he is going to talk to B., but he seemed to think that they would do FOS this year. I asked him to contact you and I with the details as soon as he could.
- 02/07/2012 - R.Y. is going to try to get a date but would rather you just give her the forms and let her pass them out to the parents, They are all 7 year veterans and know about FOS, she thinks that it would be enough.
Wood Badge Ticket #4 Welcome Packet for Dan River District Adult Leaders
04/05/2012
After many rough drafts of a 'packet' I decided to reduce the information to just a letter. This letter can be mailed as a single letter or as a draft letter to any new registered leaders. Below is a copy of the letter as written.
Some things you may need to
help you along the journey are listed below:
Training (“Every boy
deserves a trained leader”)
Ways for you to get
information about what is going on in Scouting in the Dan River District.
After many rough drafts of a 'packet' I decided to reduce the information to just a letter. This letter can be mailed as a single letter or as a draft letter to any new registered leaders. Below is a copy of the letter as written.
We in the Dan River District want to welcome you to the
Scouting adventure. You have decided to make a difference, not only in your
child’s life, but in the life of other young men in the community. You will be
overwhelmed at first with all the terminology, schedules and training that is
involved in Scouting, but we are confident that you will become a great Scout
Leader.
Some things you may need to
help you along the journey are listed below:
·
The Blue Ridge Mountains Council is how the
Scouting program is administered to our area. Our council has a website with a
plethora of information. The address for this website is: http://www.bsa-brmc.org.
·
The Dan River District is responsible for the
operation of Scouting units and is mostly staffed by volunteers. The voting
members of our district consist of volunteer representatives from each
chartered organization having at least one BSA unit. The only paid staff member
of our District is the District Executive, Bill Oswald.
o
The District Executive, Bill Oswald, (434) 429-6430
o
The District Commissioner, Bob Warren, (434)
836-9081
o
The District Committee Chairman, Chuck Wright,
·
The District Roundtable is a place for you to meet
with other Scout leaders, District leaders and sometimes even Council leaders.
You can talk to veterans Scouters and rookie Scouters, gleaning information and
ideas while doing so. Presentations are given every month to try and inspire
ideas that you can use in your own units. We are always looking for help with
Roundtable and if you are interested in this activity, please contact the
Roundtable Commissioner, David Hyler at (434) 710-4408.
·
The District Committee is the group of Scouters
that work for the District. They plan events, brainstorm ideas, raise funds,
schedule training and much, much more. There is always room on the District
Committee for one more Scouter, so if you are interested, contact the District
Committee Chairman.
Training (“Every boy
deserves a trained leader”)
1.
Sign up for online training at http://myscouting.scouting.org and
you can get the majority of your training done in the privacy of your own home.
2.
District offers many training opportunities, so watch
the Commissioners Corner Blog for these announcements.
Ways for you to get
information about what is going on in Scouting in the Dan River District.
·
Roundtable
o
Meeting is the FIRST Thursday of every month
from September through May.
o
7pm at Saint Luke’s United Methodist Church
behind the Squire Amory
o
Attendees can include all registered Adult
Scouters, Boy Scout Patrol Leaders, Parents of any registered Scout.
o
Information about the District is given out at
least one month in advance.
o
Opportunities to talk to District Leaders
o
Learn about learning opportunities in the
Danville Area.
·
Email list
o
If something needs to be distributed to the
District, it is done via email. To receive these emails, you must be on the
list with a valid email address. You can get on the list by sending an email to
bsroundtablecommssioner@gmail.com
with ‘Add me to Scout email list’ in the subject line.
·
District Newsletter
o
Newsletter that will have information in it
about our District.
o
A word from our District Executive, District
Commissioner and District Committee Chairman.
o
Find out about needs and opportunities in the
Dan River District
·
Commissioners Corner Blog
o
Calendar of Events for Dan River District
o
Roundtable notes
o
Email District Officers
o
Web Resource Links
o
Training Links
o
Shopping Links
o
Forms
o
Much, much more.
·
Facebook Group
o
Place for scouts, leaders and families to post
comments, pictures and experiences.
There is so much involved in Scouting that it cannot be
covered in one letter, but we hope this information will spark you to
investigate on your own. Scouting is an adventure that is never ending and ever
growing. If you have any questions about what is in this letter, please contact
the Roundtable Commissioner by email: bsroundtablecommissioner@gmail.com
Yours in Scouting,
Wood Badge Ticket #3 Attend Commissioner College and earn my Doctorate
Date: 01/28/2012
Place: Patrick Henry Community College
Project: Attending the College and presented my project for my Doctorate. Project was on how to improve communications. Received Doctorate at end of day.
Place: Patrick Henry Community College
Project: Attending the College and presented my project for my Doctorate. Project was on how to improve communications. Received Doctorate at end of day.
Roundtable is supposed to be time for adult scouters, Patrol
Leaders and Committee members to come together in fellowship and to gain
knowledge from their peers. It allows the District to give out information to
those whom it serves and listen to ideas or grievances from its Scouters. The
problem was how to get more than 7 Scouters to show up for Roundtable and keep
them there and how to get the District Leadership more involved in the
Roundtable discussions.
1.
Leaders
were not excited about coming to another monthly meeting and were getting bored
or dissatisfied with the meeting.
2.
The
format for the current meeting was not interactive. It was 7 men sitting around
a table listening to the moderator make the same announcements that were heard
in the general meeting and then relate to them about the merit badge for the
month.
3.
How
do we do about getting word out to these people about the meeting? You ask
someone about Roundtable and the reply most often was “what’s that?”
4.
The
District Leadership would often be late for Roundtable or not come at all
because their meeting was immediately before Roundtable. This is a problem
because they needed to be at the Roundtable to answer any questions that might
be directed at them.
5.
There
was no Roundtable staff, which would need to be changed to keep Roundtable
running smoothly.
1.
Had
to come up with a meeting format that was different than the current one and
that would allow for interaction, information and interest.
a.
There
has to be interaction between adults scouters so they can;
i.
Learn from each other
ii.
Lean
on each other
iii.
Laugh
with each other.
b.
There
has to be information given out
i.
Define
upcoming events in the area
ii.
District
Executive would be able to give information from the Council
iii.
District
Commissioner and Committee members would be able to interact with unit leaders
to see how things are going
iv.
Distribute
handouts and learning materials that could be a benefit to units.
c.
There
has to be interest in what was being discussed and in the meetings
i.
For
retention of unit leaders in coming back to future meetings
ii.
For
relations between unit and district leaders
iii.
For
reward opportunities
2.
Had
to come up with ways to communicate with those in the District so that meetings
could be remembered.
a.
Register
the importance of the meetings with unit leaders so that they would see the
need to attend
b.
Retain
the memory of the meetings by having them constantly reminded
c.
Retrieve
that memory with reminders 7-10 days before the meeting was scheduled.
3.
Discuss
with District Committee Chairman, District Commissioner and District Executive
about rescheduling the District Committee meeting or the Roundtable.
a.
Benefit
attendance to both meetings
b.
Better
planning could be done because more time for both meetings.
4.
Recruit
a staff that would be able to help with Roundtable.
a.
Scouters
that would be willing to help others
b.
Scouters
that would be willing to offer ideas and then implement them
c.
Scouters
that would be willing to meet three more times a year with staff
1.
Change
always faces resistance, where would it
come from
2.
District
leaders may not want to change meeting place or times
3.
Scouter
still may not attend
4.
Getting
scouters that are already working hard for scouting to agree to do one more
thing.
1.
Send
out a survey to all scouters currently attending the meetings to see if they
would be willing to anonymously give suggestions on things they would like to
see changed.
2.
Send
out a survey to all scouter that are NOT attending the meetings to find out why
and what could be done to entice them to come
3.
Sit
down with leadership and see if we can make changes.
1.
Sat
down with District Executive and Committee Chairman to ask about changing the
format of Roundtable. At the same meeting I asked about changing the meeting
time and place for District Committee meeting.
a.
Decided
to keep Roundtable as it was but to be sure and start the meeting on time and
keep it to one hour.
b.
Move
the District Committee meeting to another night
2.
Made
a list of activities that unit leaders were interested in based on the survey
that had been sent out.
3.
Changed
the format for Roundtable to represent more of a Troop meeting than a
discussion session
a.
Open
with pledge
b.
All
attend
i.
Calendar
session where upcoming events could be announced and discussed.
ii.
District
Executive could make announcements he needed to make
iii.
District
Chairman could make announcements
iv.
District
Commissioner makes announcements
v.
Open
floor for any announcements or discussion for the benefit of the group.
c.
Breakout
session
i.
Cub
Scouts go with their group where they can learn about;
1.
Activities
coming up
2.
Areas
of training that are needed
a)
Skits
b)
Songs
c)
Ceremony
3.
Assist
with giving information that may be required
a)
How
to fill out Tour Permits
b)
How
to properly transport kids
ii.
Boy
Scouts go with their group where they can learn about;
1.
Merit
badges that can be earned in the area
2.
Menu
of food they can take back to their patrol leaders
3.
Music
and song they can teach their units
4.
Make
them aware of jokes that can be told
5.
Mention
stories to them that can be told during a time they may need the attention of
their scouts
6.
Mess
around with playing a game once and awhile
d.
End
the meeting with a Commissioners Minute to share an encouraging message with
all those in attendance.
4.
Setup
a schedule of reminders
a.
Contact
the local papers to see what the deadlines are for posting in the calendar
section of the paper
b.
Contact
local radio station to see if it could be put on the air.
c.
Contact
local cablevision station to see if meeting could be aired on local station.
d.
Email
reminders setup to go out a week and a day before meeting
e.
Text
reminders setup to go day before meeting.
5.
Setup
a website
a.
To
post meeting notes after Roundtable.
b.
To
post District calendar with District Events
c.
To
provide links to many sites that would be beneficial to unit leaders
d.
To
push forward with a Facebook page for the District where Scouters could post
things going on in their units.
6.
Selected
a Roundtable staff
a.
Former
Cub Scout leader to do Cub Scout breakouts
b.
Boy
Scout leader to substitute if someone was out.
7.
Sent
out invitations to local business people that would be willing to come in and
speak at roundtable about what they can provide to scouting.
a.
JR’s
Outdoor Gear, local scouting supply store and outdoor gear store
b.
O.F.
Newman Cycle Shop to talk about how to properly fit bike and local bike trails.
c.
X’treme
Sports run by J.D. Emerson which can certify people for scuba diving locally.
d.
City
of Danville to promote their canoe training and trips.
e.
Forestry
Service with information on trees
f.
Local
Woodworker to demonstrate wood working tools and safety
g.
Danville
Science Museum to talk about what they can offer.
8.
Talked
to District Executive about things people in the District were interested in
learning about.
a.
Adult
Recognition Awards
b.
Leave
No Trace
c.
What
to take on a camping trip or what to put in a chuck box
9.
Reward
unit leaders for attending
a.
Have
a recipe with a dish for tasting, but not every meeting.
b.
Have
free gifts from attending business owners whenever possible
c.
Hold
a potluck meal in place of the last Roundtable and use this to have a contest
on cooking and award those who have helped with Roundtable during the year.
1.
Attendance
went from 7-10 to 15-25 in one year.
2.
Interaction
with scout leaders and District leaders during the meeting instead of awkward
silence.
3.
Committee
meetings are starting to grow because of the change in meetings.
4.
I
hear people saying, ‘you need to come to Roundtable’ which is not something I
used to hear.
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