Scoutmaster approved leadership projects

[155cc]

We have a few Scouts stuck at Star because they do not have an elected position. I understand an alternative is to have Scoutmaster approved leadership projects. Anyone have any suggestions on what troops have done with this? Would a project benefitting our sponsoring church be an option?

[JazerNorth]

Your troop can have more than one of the following:

assistant senior patrol leader,
troop guide,
den chief,
librarian,
bugler,
junior assistant Scoutmaster,
chaplain aide, or
instructor.

Have your SPL do the following:

create many new positions from the list,
hold a mid elections,
have everyone who needs leadership get nominated,
everyone votes or someone moves to accept non challenged positions,
everyone who needs a leadership position has one,
SPL reviews leadership responsiblity with each newly elected leader.

Now, every boy who needs to have a leadership position has one.

Enjoy.

JazerNorth

[Mrw]

Our SM had a boy in this position recently organize and run the next troop elections as a special project. (I personally don't think the boy did much of a job and I don't know if it was considered acceptable yet as he still needs a SM conference).

Maybe also to have the boy organize the next troop service project.

It would be generally better to keep track of which boys will be needing the positions and make sure they each have something.

[Lynda J]

Your SM can also assign a special project for POR. I troop in our district created a position for Service Projects. The SM approved the position and it counts. He came to the Advancement Committee to make sure he was able to show it as a POR. THe committee approved the position.

[Rick Tyler]

The only two elected postitions in a Boy Scout troop are Patrol Leader and Senior Patrol Leader. All of those other positions Jazer listed up there are appointed by the SPL with the advise and consent of the Scoutmaster. Most Scoutmasters will take advancement leadership requirements into consideration when giving advice to the SPL.

In a large troop of something like 50 or more Scouts, you may have trouble finding enough "jobs" for everyone that needs one. This is when the Scoutmaster can come up with special service projects for Scouts. Our Scoutmaster has made "Cheermaster" a special service project. To complete this project the Cheermaster has to coordinate campfire programs, learn and teach new skits and songs, help patrols create cheers, and act as Master of Ceremonies at Courts of Honor. Since "Cheermaster" isn't a valid leadership position in a troop and our Cheermaster does so much, the SM has defined it as a leadership project. I only mention this to give one example of how a Scoutmaster creatively helped the Scouts solve two problems: how to find enough leadership opportunities, and how to improve Scout spirit in the Troop.

[scoutchallenge]

If we need to assign a Scout a leadership project is it his responsibility to figure one out or does the Scoutmaster figure out and assign a project?

[FrankJ]

Advancement is ultimately the scouts responsibilty. He should talk to his SM and SPL and find out what is available. Some of the leadership positions are elected. Some of the positions should be assigned by the senior patrol leader. Some can be assigned by the SM. Leadership projects outside the list in the scout handbook have to be approved by the SM. The SM should have a pretty good idea what the scout can do and make suggestions based on the needs of the troop. One of the goals of scouting is to teach leadership so there should be plenty of options. Finding leadership opportunities is a shared responsibilty. If I was the SM approving a project I would want something on the same scale as the list.

[RWSmith]

Advancement is ultimately the scouts responsibilty.

Let me interject something here... Ultimately? Yes. Soley, however? No. (And I do not mean to imply that's what FrankJ meant; I'm just adding to the conversation.) We all, that is to say, the Scout's "family", have various responsibilities to lead (or show him) the way... from his PL to his SM, from his parents to his MBCs. We all have specific roles in sharing in each Scout's journey along the advancement trail. His success is our success. His success is also evidence to those who follow him that they can do it too.

If I was the SM approving a project I would want something on the same scale as the list.

Bingo. Even for the rank of Life, the SM assigns the "leadership project"* (in the absense of serving one of the already approved and established leadership positions). Life Scout, Rank Req. #5: While a Star Scout, serve actively for six months in one or more of the troop positions of responsibility listed in requirement 5 for Star Scout (or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the troop).

[Lynda J]

Another POR a boy can hold is Troop OA Rep. Kevin is our Troops Rep. He enjoys it and when we have elections next month is going to ask if he can keep that position. It works well since our OA meets the same night as Round Table and in a year he hasn't missed one meeting.

[longhorneagle]

The scoutmaster can only assign a leadership project to mee rank advancement requirments for Star and Life rank, not eagle.

[deweylure]

My question is how long have they been on the star rank? The requirement is known . /Our troop had a similar problem and it was handled by using the other positions like Scribe,Quarter master etc.

As I understand it the SM may give a project to complete which shows leadership.

If the troop does not have one how about a comprehensive phone /e-mail phone list for the parentsw and scouts.

Mid year elections are a viable alternative,or multiple assistants.

What I did see was a patrol where everyone was an assistant patrol leader. This was a fishy one and I do not advise it.

Dewey

[ICanCanoeCanU]

I saw this once in our troop - our SM asked the boy to come up with a list of all important information to put in folders for each current scout and all new scouts. He let the boy go for a week or two and come up with his own ideas, then he and the SM reviewed and added some more papers for the folders. Then he had the boy purchase (with troop money that had been approved by the committee) tons of folders, label them with a nice logo for our troop and print, copy pages to insert. This was the start of our current folders which all boys use. The info included: rosters (both adult and scouts), blank copies of duty rosters, patrol rosters, menu planners, phone tree outline, medical forms, permission slips and blank papers, cold & warm winter packing lists, suggested supplies for a new scout to purchase. Then the scout presented these folders to the troop during a COH night with all the parents present. It worked out to be a nice project for the scout and was a great benefit for the troop.

[mhjacobson]

It is important to remember that it is not the title of a POR that fulfills the requirement -- the scout actually has to do something with the position. For example:

Scout Instructor == teaching skills to members of the New Scout Patrol
Troop Historian == keep a log of what happens in the troop during the time of holding the POR, or cleaning up the Troop's old records'

QM -- should be obvious

[WVBeaver05]

What I did see was a patrol where everyone was an assistant patrol leader. This was a fishy one and I do not advise it.

Sounds strange, and I wouldn't advise it either. However, keep in mind that Assistant Patrol Leader does not qualify as a POR.

YiS