Commissioners Retention Project

Summer Camp Scoutmaster Discussion Sessions (June, July)

(Two 90-minute sessions each week of summer camp)

Course convener: Steve Myers, Assistant Council Commissioner, Great Trail Council and Scoutmaster, 1992-2017.

Part I: Tuesday 9:30 am to 11:00 am – Keeping your Older Scouts 

Are you are Manatoc this summer? Come on down and talk with us about best practices for building a strong troop. Tuesday will focus on how to keep older scouts in the Scouts BSA engaged and in Scouting. Bring your coffee and join in the discussion. 

Course Description: Learn about building and enhancing an older scout program in your troop to meet the needs of your older scouts. Retaining a scout is easier than recruiting a new one, but it takes being intentional. By the end of this class, you will know what the Great Trail Commissioners Retention Project is, whether you are Delivering the Promise, and what has happened in membership trends in both Scouts BSA boy and girl troops. You will learn when and why scouts leave, what is a quality program, and how to set goals to improve your troop. You will learn strategies to build an explicit Older Scout Program, and how to treat scouts differently due to their age and stage of development. You will leave encouraged to create a program that will allow your scouts to flourish, will upsize your troop, and increase the quality of your program. 

Part II: Thursday 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Building a Stronger Troop

Course Description: In part II we will discuss what the commissioner team can do for your troop, the importance of Collaborative Assessments among your key 3 and a commissioner to improve your program. We will focus on the mission and delegate the rest. We will focus on thinking strategically and setting goals with your scouts. You will hear of the critical importance of the patrol method and the Patrol Leaders Council in both small and larger troops. We will emphasize the importance of regular elections with follow-on training and the role of advanced training for youth and adults. We will discuss how to structure your patrols to organically create the basis of an older youth program and how to interconnect with other units for programming not otherwise possible. We will cover both recruiting and continue the retention talk of Part I. You will learn an assessment technique you can do with your scouts to get their feedback on your program.