Cook-Out and Program Planning

Content

Submitted by Dr Waisanen on Mon, 08/24/2015 - 21:33
Identifier: 20070818-Cook-out
Purpose of outing: Pool Cook Out and Program Planning Lock In
Advancements: None
Mode of travel: N/A
Planning horizon: Annual (need to reserve pool cook area)
Capacity: 50 (depends on venue)
Fees: $1.50
Distance: Less than 3 miles
Location: Orange Hunt Community Pool, Springfield, VA (cook out) and Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Burke, Virginia (lock-in)
Contact: Troop 1501
Dates: 2007-08-18 - 2007-08-19
Description: 1st Event: Troop 1501 Pool Party - Friday 18 August, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Rolling Forest Pool. $1.50 per swimmer, paid that afternoon. The troop will provide burgers, hot dogs and paper products. Please bring a side item to share. There will be a sign up sheet at Tuesday's troop meeting. So that we can purchase accordingly, please let us know how many in your family will be eating. You may also e-mail us directly. Successful and low key, also a good time for folks to get used to each other before the season begins. 2nd Event: Program Planning Meeting - Friday 18 August, 8:30pm - 9am Saturday Morning. You've heard about the Program Planning lock-in at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. At this lock-in the scouts will plan out their year's program. I have received many good inputs for activities desired and strategies for the year. If I haven't heard from you, there's still time before Friday evening. The Assistant Scoutmasters and I have talked about how best to do this--think posters and post-it notes with the emphasis on scout participation. Permission slips are attached, and will be available at the lock-in. I encourage discussion of whether we want to continue the 1-2 punch technique versus getting together on a Saturday morning—I found the lock-in a bit chaotic. Despite this, the scheduling technique was a winner…an object oriented “stickie” system that allowed the boys to see and manage events as objects and physically move them while discussing them with each other. Outline:
  • Big Picture Briefing to PLC (SPL with PLs)—explain the tasks as listed below.
  • Tasks
    • Task 1: Make the monthly calendars. Label them and affix the Scout themes to each.
    • Task 2: Make the different event types: Required Events, Activity Events, Service Events. Discuss the different types of event and colors that each will be represented on the calendar. Write down all the events. Scoutmaster covers required events and incorporates accumulated feedback from advance parent queries for activities and service projects and fundraisers. Then, stimulate the boys’ interest with some sample activities and let them go.
    • Scoutmaster during Scout Break: Place School Calendar and other holiday considerations directly onto the Monthly calendar PRIOR to next task. SPL and PLs go ask their patrols what other events they are interested in and bring those back to queue them up for placement
    • Task 3: Put the events on the calendar (The more mature boys really had a sense for this)
      • Put Required Events first (run the troop), Activities next (keep it fun), Service last (leverage fun to outreach)
      • Revisit as necessary to achieve necessary balance in schedule
    • Task 4 (Adult Task) affix specific dates to each stickie as it makes sense during that month.
Assessment: Scouts tended to be over-tired from the activity at the simming pool. Recommend holding events on separate days.