"Typical" Patrol Leader / SPL

[momma_bee]

What does your Patrol Leader do on a weekly basis? How long do they serve?

What about your SPL?

What do you wish they would do differently (or do you think you should have done differently)?

I am just looking for a general description of what you see at the troop level in your area.

I do have a quick question - is the SPL part of a patrol?

And, if you have a second, please visit my other thread "Typical" BOR.

Thanks, MBee

[DadScout]

Weekly -
At troop meetings the PL will take/report attendance for the patrol and lead the patrol in any activity that's split into patrols. The SPL "runs" the troop meeting. Once the troop is formed, have colors, and presented to the SM the SM will make a few general announcements. They'll then break into activities pre-planned (we hope) at the PLC meeting. Those activities might be led by the older scouts, SM/ASM, or another adult. Then the SPL runs the game that will end the night. The troop is formed up one last time, SM (and others) makes final announcements and the colors are retired. Patrols don't normally meet outside of troop meetings but there's nothing that says they can't and some have in the past.

Monthly theres the PLC meeting where the SPL, ASPL, PL, SM & ASM (advising) figure out what's what for the next month. SPL, ASPL, PL all serve for about 1 year. Elections are in June for the upcoming season.

The SPL, ASPLs (2), & JASM are part of the Green Bar patrol.

[FrankJ]

In our troop the positions are for 6 months. The PLC members & staff stay part of their current patrols.

SPL is elected directly with the only requirement is 1st class. We strongly suggest that they have completed Green Bar, but it not a rule. The SPL appoints the staff positions with the advise of the SM.

The troop meeting are planned is the monthly PLC meeting. The patrol leaders are responsible for bringing the wishes of the patrol to the PLC. This works with varying degrees of success.

The patrol leaders are responsible that their patrols accoplish their goals during patrol time.

Some weeks it is a nut house. Other weeks it make one proud.

[EagleBoy62204]

What does your Patrol Leader do on a weekly basis? How long do they serve?

In our troop, we usually change patrols, as often as the SPL serves. Depending on our activity, it usually lasts a year.


What about your SPL?

Generally, its usually from the month after summer camp, in August he picks up the title, and then at the end of summer camp his term ends. Myself, i was SPL for two years.

What do you wish they would do differently (or do you think you should have done differently)?

I think the SPL needs to be the boys best friend. You cant have them hate the boys, or have the boys hate him, or the troop will never work out.

For me, in my first year i was rocky as a spl. I was handed the reigns to a falling program, a activity record that was less than good, and tried very hard to pick the pieces up and glue them back to the wall. During the term i tried very hard to get the boys back into the program. Offering them merit badge work at the meetings, setting up activities as field trips instead of meetings, just trying to bring the activity back in. During the second term, my friend from another troop joined my troop and we went to work putting a solid program together in stone that other Senior Patrol leaders after us could follow without any problems. We got through most of it without any problem, however our troop has A LOT of boys who are in sports, so the activity remains a factor with us.

I do have a quick question - is the SPL part of a patrol?

Yes, and No. His leadership could technically a patrol. But no hes not part of the boys patrols.

To have some fun in my last year before i turned an adult, My aspl's and i started a Senior leadership patrol. We had a very nice flag, that costed a ton of money to put together. In patrol competitions we would stack our patrol to win the awards, all to set memories for the boys to talk about for years to come.

Our patrol flag is still encased in the schools display case, with our summer camp awards that we walked away with.

[momma_bee]

Thank you so much folks.

This is our poor SPL's 3rd year (I think).

As near as I can tell - year one he was SPL, his buddy was ASPL and there were no other active members in the troop. Moms planned the meetings.

Year two - his buddy stopped attending, and he had a patrol of 6 new boys, no PLC and Mom and SM planned meetings.

Year three, now - buddy still isn't attending, but mom insists he is a member. A patrol of 4 boys with one year under their belt and still noone is 1st class. A patrol of 5 new boys.

SM doesn't want to have an election until they know WHO is staying with the new patrol. I don't know if he will have a new SPL or not but this poor kid doesn't want to be there. The current PL believes his job is to start opening when the SPL isn't there. That is it.

I want to guide the troop to something better. I don't want to fall into trap of doing it for them or telling them how to do it. I do want to give them goals to reach for.

[cballman]

momma-bee I hate to say this but after reading some of your posts then I would have told you to try to change things a little bit at a time. but now that you last few posts have been a venting. I would suggest you find another troop so that you and your son could grow in scouting. I hate to see a troop lose boys but then again like i try to tell boys thinking about our troop like second year webelos , i would like everybody come to our troop but then ther are many other troops out there for you to visit and you need to be in a troop that you son and you feel most comfortable. if it is not ours then thats ok if you have visited a few and still havent found one to go to I tell the parents to call me and I will help them find a troop until we run out of troops to find. I want to keep kids in a troop as long as they want to be in scouting. it seems that your troop has been run by a few certain people without regards as to what the others want or need.

[momma_bee]

SPAM ALERT.

I checked with my boss. The only Scouter that outranks me.

We agreed that we took a bad (Scout) situation and made it better once and could do it again. We even agreed that it was possible that the boys and their parents chose this troop because they had certain expectations of us.

He pointed out that I tend to dwell on negative things; perhaps to the point of not mentioning the positives. He also mentioned that perhaps there was no perfect program, only folks who focus on the positive and quietly try to change the negatives.

We disagreed on whether or not this was the time or place to attempt a change.

I defer to his judgment.

MBee

My apologies to the board for my spam. I know that it is in poor form but chose to multi-post because I felt the same failing (in me) was addressed by other posters and I should answer them. And, I do truly apologize for attempting to validate my negative opinions here and hope that my posts are not considered indicative of Scouting everywhere.