Scoutmaster Podcast 23

And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

So I sit down and I plug in the microphone and I record the podcast and then I put it online and I figure it goes out and Scoutmasters listen to it and maybe other Scout volunteers, you know. And this is wonderful. It's a great thing. Found out this week that Scouts are listening to the podcast as well. Not that they have any choice. No, these Scouts are in a van with Mr. Sipley and they're going on another outing with Troop 175 in Niles, Illinois. And Mr. Sipley is playing the podcast for them so they don't have any choice. They have to listen to it. Hey guys, thanks for listening. I found a little song that I understand is one of your favorites and so I'll play it for you. Why don't you sing along? I'm happy when I'm hiking Back upon my back With a real good friend To the journey's end 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 miles a day Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp At the break of day Singing on our way 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 miles a day Are we happy? Well, I guess Scout troop 24 Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

So, uh, that's Clifton Webb and the fellas in Mr. Scoutmaster. That movie from the 50s? Oh, man. Thanks again for listening once again, fellas. Make sure you sing that song a lot. It's a great song. Oh, well, this is podcast number 23. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. You'll find yourself in complete agreement. Seek professional help as soon as possible. I'm kidding. Thank you, Patrick. Kind words. In Scout Mastership, in seven minutes or less, we're going to talk about one of the tools in our toolbox, one of the parts of the program, and that's the uniform. Then we're going to do the first of a three-part series on starting your own high adventure program. Yeah, that's right. You can do that, actually. Yeah. I'll explain more later on in the podcast about it, but no troops should go without being able to participate in some kind of a high adventure activity. once a year is good. Once every other year is fine. If you can't afford to go out to one of the big high adventure bases or, you know, you can do something closer to home. You can do something that works in with your schedule a little bit better. And that's what we're going to be talking about over the next three podcasts. So part one of that will be coming up. Sounds like a pretty full slate, huh? Well, let's get at it. Scouts Mastership in seven minutes or less.

So you volunteer, you become a scout leader, and you want to do things properly. You want to do things right. Now, maybe you're more detail-oriented than I am. I'm not a big detail guy. Because there are rules and regulations for things in scouting, sometimes we get a little bogged down in them. And we forget about the success of our scouts. Now, when I say we, I mean we. You and me. I have a tendency to get bogged down in little things sometimes. So what we're about to talk about is not intended to try and tell you that you're wrong and I'm right. It's just to say, let's examine exactly what goes on. Let's examine the policies and things like that. And then let's move on. Because the success of our scouts is our single goal. And we have a many-faceted program, one facet of which is the uniform. And there are a lot of urban legends and misunderstandings surrounding the wearing and application of the scout uniform. And I think it would be helpful to kind of clear things up. Here's what the founder, Baden Powell, had to say about scout uniforms in his little book on scout mastership. He said, I've often said, I don't care a fig whether a scout wears a uniform or not so long as his heart is in his work and he carries out the scout law. So Baden Powell's attitude when he was putting all this together was, what's really important is that guys are doing scouting. But the fact is, he goes on to say, is there's hardly a scout who does not wear a uniform. If he can afford to buy it, the spirit prompts him to it. The same rule applies naturally to those who carry on the scouting movement, the scout masters and commissioners. There's no obligation on them to wear a uniform if they don't like it. At the same time, they have in their positions to think of others rather than of themselves. Personally, I put on a uniform even if I only have a patrol to inspect because I am certain that it raises the moral tone of the boys. It heightens their estimation of the uniform when they see that it is not beneath a grown man to wear it. It heightens their estimation of themselves when they find themselves taken seriously by men who also count it of importance to be in the same brotherhood with them. So there's an answer to one question. Must a scout wear a uniform? And Baden Powell himself said, well, not really. No, hopefully we'll be inspired to wear uniforms as scouts. A Cub Scout is very interested in the uniform, isn't he? He's very anxious to get one and then as they get a little bit older, they're like, meh, I'm not really sure about this. You know, they're not really sure about anything at a certain age. And then they kind of make an uncomfortable piece with the uniform and they will wear it, sometimes begrudgingly. And then as they get a little bit older than that, you know, then they really appreciate the uniform and they're very proud of it. That's kind of the cycle that most of the scouts that I've ever worked with go through. A scout doesn't have to wear a uniform, but hopefully the spirit of the movement and the encouragement of his peers and his leaders will cause him to understand why we wear a uniform. One of the reasons is personal equality. Uniform represents a very democratic idea of equality and it will bring people from all different racial, economic, and religious, and national, and ethnic, and political, and geographical backgrounds together in the scouting tradition. One is identification. Hey, there's a scout. How do you know? Wearing a uniform. Oh, right. One is achievement because you can demonstrate your achievement on the uniform. And the other is personal commitment. Hey, I'm committed to this. I'm wearing this uniform. I was going to say I'm wearing this goofy uniform, but it's not. Yeah. Okay. All right. It's not goofy. All right. So how do we get scouts to wear uniforms? Well, we encourage them to do that. We don't castigate them for wearing an improper uniform. Here's an example. I have a scout, brand new scout. He joined the troop and then he was very anxious to get a uniform because he wanted to be like all the other guys. So the boy shows up and he's got a couple of patches misplaced. Now, I had two choices. First choice was to go up to the boy and say, hey, you got your uniform patches on all wrong and make a big deal over it and kind of embarrass him or make him feel bad. Or I could basically kind of look in the other direction and say, wow, you know, you look great in that uniform. I'm glad you got it. And it's great to have you as a member of the troop. And then I will have a quiet word with his patrol leader or our senior patrol leader and say, look, I don't want you to embarrass or castigate the scout, but, you know, he's a little confused about some of the patches and things like that. So why don't you help him out? And we'll get a needle and thread and you guys can take care of it. So as in all things, we're encouraging, coaching, we're being the good guys and we're helping instead of trying to be a drill sergeant and look at, you know, the state of the brass on the uniform and have they got everything just right and we'll get out a ruler to measure it. Hey, take it easy. All right. How about this question? What's a class A uniform? What's a class B uniform? I have even heard mentioned the rare class C uniform. What is all that about? Well, they don't exist. There's one uniform and that's it. You know, and it's described in the insignia guide. And that's it. Now, well, wait a minute. That doesn't sound right, does it? Because everybody talks about this. Everybody talks about, hey, wear your class A uniform. Hey, wear your class B uniform. Well, however that got started, you won't find them in scouting literature anywhere. Not in official BSA scouting literature. Now, it might be useful sometimes for guys to wear like a troop t-shirt and their scout shorts and socks and just as an identifier. And it might be a little more casual. And if you want to call it class B, that's fine with me. And if you want to call wearing the shirt and the hat and the sash and all that business class A, it doesn't really matter to me. We seem to spin our wheels a lot of times over insignificant details. And we miss the big picture, which is the success of our scouts. I've made an attempt here just to talk about uniforming in a very realistic way. And I've hit on, I know, what are our few hot button items. As always, we focus on the success of our scouts. And we use the methods of scouting, like uniforming, not to castigate or to browbeat our scouts, but to encourage them. Right? And that's what's really, really important. Over the next several podcasts, we're going to be talking about high adventure and high adventure trips. Now, I should start out by saying there's really no, like, set definition of what a high adventure trip is. I mean, there's no minimum number of days or minimum number of crew members or, you know, minimum number of miles that you have to cover or anything like that. What this is, is it's a trip that is aimed at more senior scouts. Most of the high adventure bases now require scouts to be at least 13. And it is a multi-day experience, maybe backpacking or canoeing or on a sailboat or something like that. So don't get tied up in there is a specific definition of a high adventure trip. But I'm just going to use that term to identify what we're talking about. I might talk about crews and I might talk about troops here. And, yes, there are some official definitions of what a Boy Scout troop and a venture crew is and what venturers are. I know that within our way of managing high adventure trips, when we get the people who are interested in the trip signed on, we form crews. So I'm going to be using the word crew here within the context of what we do as a scout troop. But don't confuse it with the fact that you have to have a venture crew to be able to participate in high adventure or to have, you know, to have a high adventure crew. That's not necessarily so. It's something that you can create within a troop. Now, that doesn't mean that you're going to be able to get the insignia and the uniforming of a venture crew. But I think you're understanding what I'm saying. And I don't want to confuse you with these terms as we talk about the subject. Thousands of scouts participate and enjoy the big three high adventure bases each year. I'm talking about Philmont in New Mexico where there's backpacking. Our sea base in Florida where you're on a sailboat. And Northern Tier in Eli, Minnesota where it's canoeing. These are the three most familiar high adventure bases. And there are literally dozens of other council-based programs. They might be backpacking or canoeing or something like that. But there's a good many of them out there. I have colleagues in scouting who recommend these things highly. And I want to talk about more of the other end of the spectrum in this series. And that are troop and crew-based programs that explore a little bit less known territory. I will tell you this. I have led high adventure type experiences inside and outside of scouting. I've led and participated in a good many of them. They might be backpacking. They might be climbing. They might be canoeing or something like that. But they all have one thing in common. And this is it. The people who go and their level of preparation is always more important than the place that you go. So if you'll just lay aside the idea that you have to spend thousands of dollars to travel and thousands of dollars on equipment and things like that. And just think about the fact that you're going to take a group and you're going to have a certain set of goals and challenges. And you're going to go on this multi-day high adventure thing. That is what I really want you to center on. Because preparing your group to go, your crew to go, is the most important part of the entire thing. You know, here's an example. You're going to go to Philmont, the crown jewel of scout camps. And the skies are going to stay blue the whole time you're there. It's not going to rain. And the temperatures are going to be just right. It's going to be nice and warm during the day. It's going to be nice and cool at night. There's not going to be any bugs. You're going to have five-star meals. And it's just, you know, it looks like it's going to be a wonderful trip. Well, if you're not prepared properly and you go there with a dysfunctional crew, it's going to be like the Bataan Death March. I guarantee you. Likewise, if you spend a few days hiking in a state park somewhere, you know, maybe less inspiring an environment, and it rains every single day, and you're eating oatmeal and ramen, if you have a sharp crew who knows their stuff and who's able to get along together, it's a lifelong golden memory. Yeah, it is that important. High adventure should take a crew to a new level of experience in the outdoors and in developing those things that are the aim of scouting, the skills and the competencies that we want to develop as scouting. Growing confidence in their abilities and their ability to lead and their opportunity to follow and their appreciation for the abilities of others are all part of a successful high adventure trip. These trips don't have to be ambitious. They don't have to be expensive. They don't have to be far flung. I mean, they can be on the other side of the world or the other side of the state or an hour from your house. What really matters is the crew and the way it prepared for the trip. You know, good weather and good food and good surroundings are part of the picture, but the biggest part of the challenge and the satisfaction of accomplishing the goals is setting some good goals and knowing their importance to the trip and building on them by thoroughly preparing the crew to accomplish them. Now, here's a couple of things that figure into your rationale of building a high adventure program that's based in your troop or your crew. It's based on a few logistic and philosophic criteria. One of the most important considerations is time and money. Yeah, I know, it's not that romantic, but it is going to come down to time and money. A lot of high adventure trips involve, for us, where we live in the mid-Atlantic, involve air travel and ground fees when we get there. And the cost for participating in one of those is going to be well over $1,000 for us. It also requires 12 or 14 days, including travel time. Now, in comparison, the trips that we've put together as a troop cost about half as much, usually about $500 to $600. And they run from early Friday to the following Saturday night, and they only consume six vacation days. Now, this is a really important consideration because you're going to need adult leadership to participate in these trips. And a lot of people aren't going to be able to take the two-week vacation that is demanded of some of these more ambitious trips. The other thing is, here's an interesting way of thinking about your high adventure plans. You want to ride a roller coaster or you want to pedal a bike. What do I mean by that? Well, a lot of the national programs are pre-planned, pre-set programs, and they involve a minimal amount of flexibility. The dates and the activities, the equipment and the routes are pretty well predetermined. There's also a good deal of competition for the best routes and times. And that I liken to lining up for a roller coaster ride. I mean, you buy your ticket and you get in line. Troop-based or crew-based high adventure trips are a lot more flexible. And they're more like getting on your bike and heading out for a ride. Not that the roller coaster isn't fun and challenging, it's just a different approach. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, but this is the rationale that we went through when we were putting our high adventure troop program together. What does it take to put a troop high adventure program together? Well, it's not as difficult as you might think, and we'll begin next time talking about more of the details involved in putting together your Troop-based high adventure program. Well, that's it for podcast number 23. Thanks for listening. You can read the Scoutmaster blog at scoutmaster.typepad.com You can follow us at Scoutmaster blog on Facebook and Scoutmaster CG on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the Scoutmaster podcast on iTunes and do feel free to leave a comment or a review or rating and thanks to those of you who have. You can email me, Clark Green, with your comments and questions at clarkgreen at gmail.com That's C-L-A-R-K-E-G-R-E-E-N at gmail.com

So the Scoutmaster blog and the Scoutmaster podcast are not official publications of the Boy Scouts of America, nor are they endorsed or sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. No, it's just me talking into a microphone, trying to lend a hand to my fellow Scout leaders and perhaps have a bit of fun along the way.

And before we leave you, as always, here's the founder, Sir Robert. Good luck to you and good camping. Why, thank you, sir. Until next time. clean debris watch it. Sure was the way to do things and thenildur. And then, the gates will become great. Without it. We shall not achieve it. Fro&Ifillian are wonderful, not to own me, it will be done. We shall nearly the traz but never be gone. Since we lay down through theIG. So, we invest in music, we'll never tell you and have to come here. you