Re: [Philmont]: What makes a good crew?

I have taken crews to Philmont in 1992, 1996, and 2000. I had an
absolute dream crew in 2004. We were granted permission to increase
the number to 14 since we only had 2 adults and 11 of the 12 scouts had
never been before. We had one 18-year-old who had been in 2000 and
went as our emergency back up adult (fortunately not needed as such
although we encountered a number of crews that had had to borrow
rangers to serve as one or both adults).. We did 5 weekend shakedowns,
trying to do things as we would do them at Philmont, emphasizing
working as a team and that while there was a duty roster, everything
was everyone's job until the work was done; covered map and compass;
and discussed cleaning own dish along with compacting. I told them
that during the shakedowns the adults would do nothing but train them
and set up our own equipment, but that at Philmont we would be happy to
work in a shift. Actually they did everything without us, and the last
night as a reward and treat the two adults cooked and cleaned. The
crew chief was our SPL who was a terrific leader. The boys really
worked together as a team. The first day without a ranger they set a
goal of having camp set up within 30 minutes which I thought was
dooming them to failure, but fortunately said nothing. At the end of
23 minutes the tents were set up with the sleeping gear in them, the
cooking equipment was set up at the sump, the dining fly was up with
the appropriate items in it, and the bear bags were hung. This
occurred pretty consistently after that. Getting on the trail was a
bit slower taking about an hour an 15 minutes. However, toward the end
the boys decided to have a crew meeting without adults present and set
a goal of being on the trail much quicker. After that we were on the
trail in 46 and 47 minutes.

Why did it work? I hope that preparation helped some, but these were
well-motivated boys with a lot of leadership ability. We do run a
4-day Troop Leadership and Scout Skills Camp each summer which the
scouts teach after the first year as a participant. There is an SPL,
and the Course Director is the previous year's SPL. We also try to
emphasize leading by initiative with any scout who sees a problem and
knows how to fix it to do so without needing to check with an adult.

Charles Goodwin, Scoutmaster Troop 236 Kettering, OH

-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Fri Apr 8 21:23:51 2005