Training

Wow! We had a fast start training session last night at 5 of the 6 leaders showed up for training. Yippee!!!

Although 2 of my leaders were making jokes all the way through the meeting, I think they both learned something new and I think they will use what they learned. I am hoping to have the best trained YMP in the Stake. I think we are on track to make that happen. Unfortunately my Venture Crew Leader didn't make it. :-(

Anyway, we are on our way.

The Talk

I finally decided that I would need to sit down with our Venture Crew Advisor and talk about his responsibilities after 2 un-organized activities. I went right over to his house after one of our activities and we talked.

I found out that he really wasn't sure what his responsibilities were and he didn't want to step on my toes because of my "YMP" calling. I told him that I really didn't want to step on his toes either but things really weren't being organized. So, as we discussed it, I told him that I would like him to take charge of Wednesday activities and that I am a resource he can use. I told him that I wanted him to plan the activities and then I handed him a worksheet that helped him plan what he needed to do. This worksheet is a 2 year plan that a Priests Quorum/Venture Crew can follow that will make sure that each member earns their DTG award and earn the Religious Life Bronze award. So, after giving that plan to the Venture Crew Advisor he started so see what was expected. He started almost immediately to plan the next few activities. We talked about many different ideas and many plans for the future. In a matter of a half an hour we had all of the Wednesday activities scheduled all the way to June. It was great.

At the end, I offered him assistance with his children during our scheduled Wednesday activities. He declined the help and I think he got the message that he really shouldn't bring them along to our meetings. So, all in all, it was successful.

We had a "low-adventure" activity this last weekend. It was in my backyard but we had a lot of fun. It gave us a chance, again, to get to know the boys and for them to get to know us. The activity was a success but we didn't get anything "important" accomplished. We will plan our next campout better so that we get some of those "important" things scheduled and completed. For example, we should work in some DTG requirement or some Venturing requirement and we should have a spiritual message prepared. We will do better next time.

Tough Love

Over the last few weeks I have started to notice that our Venture Crew Advisor has not been planning any activities for our Venture Crew on Wednesday. He is even bringing one of his kids to the Venture Crew meeting. He usually sits in the back of the room and watch the activity unfold. He is fairly young (10 years older than the YM) and that may be part of the issue. He may feel more like a YM than one of the leaders.

This Wednesday I didn't have anything planned so I emailed the VCA to see what he had planned. He really didn't have any good ideas. So, I told him to talk to some of the crew members and see if they could work on some merit badges.

I arrived at the Wednesday activity with a backup plan but I was going to sit back and see what he did. Usually I had something planned just in case nothing else was planned and I usually ran the activities. This time, I wasn't going to do anything.

The time was turned to the Crew President and he sat there and asked what we were doing. They all looked to me and I looked to the Crew Advisor and asked him what he had planned. He just sat there with his child on his lap and shrugged his shoulders. There was a awkward pause as everyone could see that nothing was planned for today. The President actually did a great job of saving the silence by deciding to plan our next campout. He turned the time over to the Crew member in charge of the campout and they planned what they were going to eat and stuff.

After they were done, again, there was a pause on what we were going to do. I asked the Crew Advisor again and asked if he had anything. Again, a shrug.

I finished by going over a bunch of activities that were coming up that I thought they could participate in such as the "Fathers and Sons" activity and the "Scout - O - Rama". We then finalized the "Snow Sports" merit badge with a couple of the YM that were working on the badge.

Anyway, I hope he felt awkward and embarrassed that he didn't have anything planned. As bad as it went, I really still don't think he understands his roll as the Crew Advisor. I really feel that I am going to have to go over to his house and talk to him about his duties and how a Wednesday activity should be run. Then, I'll make sure he knows that he is in charge and that I'm not going to be planning the Wednesday activities any more.

Anyway, I tried "Tough Love" by letting the activity flop but I don't think he felt that it was his fault. We will see.

Goals

I have decided to start setting specific goal for our leaders. By doing this I hope to install a sense of urgency in their callings as leaders.

The first goal was to have each leader become a merit badge counselor for at least 3 required Merit Badges. That way we could cover 21 merit badges if all 7 of us are counselors. There are only 15 required so this should make it much easier to pass off the merit badges for the scouts in our Troop. When I asked how many of them were signed up as Merit Badge Counselors only 2 of us raised our hands. WOW!!!!! I explained that it was an easy process and it would do a lot to help our YM advance in Scouting. Each said they would get this done. I set the goal to have this completed by the end of March.

The second goal was to make sure each boy would receive 1 merit badge by our next Court of Honor. That is at the end of March as well. So, two goals that are both challenging but both possible. We will see how they do in trying to meet those goals. I think we will weed out those that are willing to put forth some effort and those that are along for the ride.

I wanted to make the third goal of having each boy pass a DTG requirement by the end of March as well but we ran out of time in our meeting. I will bring it up in our next meeting that we will be having, which will probably be sooner rather than later.

Dropping like flies

The campout was last weekend to some caves nearby. As the days got closer I was having more and more leaders dropping out of the activity. Even my Venture Crew Advisor dropped out. I was a breath away from canceling the campout altogether but I knew I couldn't do it. The leader before me would cancel campouts all of the time and I didn't want to be like that. So, no matter what, we were going to have a campout even if we only had one Young Man.

As it turned out, our Varsity Team Leader stuck it out and came with me. We had 2 leaders and 5 young men on the Campout. It was bitter cold outside and a nice 55 degrees inside.

I really didn't get a chance to run the campout they way it should be done because of the lack of leaders but the YM had fun and got to know me a little better. I guess that counts for something.

I think it was also a test for me to see if I would break under pressure and I think the other leaders saw that I was going to have this campout with them or without them. They now see that these activities are important to me.

Campout

This coming weekend we will go on our first Campout. We want to make it some sort of "High Adventure". The Venture Crew has decided to make a trip to some Caves nearby. So, we are hiking into the caves and using out GPS units to find it.

I really hope that this campout pulls our Crew together a little more. Hopefully they will get to know me a little better and our other Crew Advisor.

I have found it frustrating how little time we have to organize. Each Wednesday we have an activity planned so it is hard to sit down and organize how we are going to accomplish our goals. If fact, I don't think we have even decided on goals. Maybe that is what we need to talk about on our campout. I know what I think their goals should be but that is probably different than what they want it to be. I guess I had better start now on that stuff so that we don't waste this great teaching moment while we are walking to the caves.

I have also decided that I need to meet with our Crew Advisor much more. We really need to sit down and talk about activities, merit badges and lessons that need to be taught so that our young men are able to get their Eagle and DTG. I sure have a lot of work to do.

Training

I just found out that there is more and more training that I can go to now that I am a venture leader. I thought that once I had been through "Basic", that I was trained but I guess there is a "Basic" Training for Venture leaders as well. So, I need to attend Basic Training for Ventures and I need to attend "Leader Specific Training for Venture Leaders". Wow, training never ends...... As it should be.

I was a little disappointed in my "RoundTable" meeting this last week. I am a new venture leader and was ready to learn about the Venturing program and two weeks in a row we ended up making weave bottle holders in our meeting. I think I will be calling the Venture Trainer for Round Table and ask him to give us some real training about what we should be doing in Venturing and how we can get our Crew to Advance.

I have noticed some subtle direction from my priesthood leaders not to get into Venturing unless all of the Crew has received their Eagle Scout Award. I'm not sure how I should handle and work with this idea.

Quorum Meetings

Last week the Bishop and I talked about Quorum meetings. I voiced the concern that we needed to have each presidency of each quorum start to have Quorum Presidency Meetings. I suggested that the Bishop call his first "Priest Quorum" meeting (since he is the president of the Priest's quorum). Anyway, he did and last Wednesday we had our first meeting. It was a little awkward but the first meeting usually is.

Anyway, we had a Stake Conference Priesthood meeting yesterday and what did the General Authority talk about? Yes, the need for Presidency Meetings for each quorum. We found out that each quorum should have a Presidency Meeting once a week. It was a great lesson and I think the Bishop and I both got the message that we need to be doing better. It was great to have the Young Men at this meeting so that we all heard the message.

It was great to receive such "specific" direction from a GA.

Discovered new challenge

I discovered today in one of our meetings that our Crew doesn't know the Bishop very will. I was really expecting to see a good communication with the Bishop and the young men but I saw a lot of awkward moments and silence. I need to find ways that the Crew can be with the Bishop in a roll outside of church. I am really hoping that the Bishop can come on our next campout. Maybe that will create a little more friendship. I am hoping that I get to know the crew better as well so that they see me as a leader as well as a friend.

We talked about Eagle Projects today. I think we were able to motivate our 4 guys to start on their Eagle Projects. I know that I walked away feeling like an Eagle Project was not as hard as I thought it would be. One problem I do see is that our Crew seems to have big ambitions for their projects. One wants to put in an electric sign for a auditorium which will cost 4 thousand dollars. Another wants to put in a Basketball court as a public park. I thought we could convince some of them to just put up a sign in a park or paint a bathroom in a park or something but they all seemed to want to do these gigantic projects. I think it is ok to be ambitious but if it is going to stop you from progressing you should look at fulfilling the requirements and look at an easier project.

Anyway, our Venture leader showed up in his Class B uniform but non of the Crew came wearing their shirts. :-(

They all can't be great days. I am ready for the new challenge of having the crew get to know the Bishop better.

YMP Meeting Success

What a surprise to have all of the Young Men's Presidency show up at a YMP meeting today. I was thrilled to have the Deacons Advisor, Scout Master, Teachers Advisor, Varsity Coach, Venture leader and yes, even a secretary. It was AWESOME!!!!

We talked about each quorum, each Scout, Activities, activation, Meetings, Future plans. It was great. I finally felt like we were a group that was working together for a common goal. I hope they felt the same way. I just need to keep up on these meetings and I think we will feel a brotherhood that I think has been missing.

It's been a great day. Don't get me wrong, we still have issues to overcome but at least all of the leaders are moving ahead.

Pinewood Derby

Before I came to this assignment the Venture Crew decided to build Pinewood Derby cars. When I heard about this activity I was perplexed at how we could use this activity to further their advancement in DTG and in Venturing. After some searching I found 2 requirements that would fit into this activity. Again, fun with a purpose. We made the Pinewood derby cars as an Art Project. I also found out when the Cub Scouts were going to race their cars and volunteered the Ventures to be the Officials and Judges. These two simple acts helped them pass off two DTG requirements.

Yesterday we fulfilled this task. I had 3 Crew members show up and help with the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Afterwards we raced our cars. I thought it was a great activity and the Venture Crew got to show off their uniforms at the Cub Scout activity. I was also impressed to see one of our Crew member saluting the flag correctly. It was the first time that I have saluted the flag with the full hand salute. I was also excited to see our Adult Crew Leader wearing his Crew uniform too. We looked sharp.

Fun with a Purpose

This last weekend we had a joint activity with young women in our ward. We went skiing. We were going to spend a lot of our budget on this activity so I wanted to make sure we used our time and money wisely. I suggested to all of the Venture Crew that we should be working on a scouting award while we were up there. Because it was a Crew/Scout activity I suggested they all work on the Snow Sports Merit Badge. I handed out the requirements that they would need to complete in order to get the badge. I told each Young Man to come and find me to pass off the award. We followed all of the scouting rules of buddy system and trip permit to make it all official.

On the ski trip I had to Ventures come up to me and ask if I could go up with them and pass off the requirements for the "downhill" ski portion of the Snow Sports Merit Badge. I was happy to go up with them and show them what they needed to do and pass them off. I was impressed that they worked hard to demonstrate each skill. I even took them on a difficult run to get them to work on going down a hill with moguls. They did great!

One day later I was talking with one of the Crew and I was teasing him that I didn't see him once on the hill and that he missed a chance to get that merit badge. The young man turned to me (in front of his parents) and said, "I was really more interested in just having fun". I quickly replied to him, "Wrong Answer".

I need to do a better job at teaching the members of our Crew that each activity has a purpose. We are not just doing this for "FUN", there is a purpose. Fun is a byproduct of the tasks that we are working on. If we do the correct requirements, you will automatically have fun. If you just have fun without a purpose then it will fade away. Fun with a purpose lasts much longer. I will work on getting that idea across on our next activity.

Incentive

This next week we will be demonstrating our Pinewood Derby cars at a Cub Scout activity. I am encouraging all of the Ventures to wear their new Crew Uniform to the event. I was really struggling with how I could get the Ventures to wear their uniform to activities. I was talking with my sister over the weekend and she gave me a suggestion. I know it sounds a little "sophmoric" but she thought I might be able to offer a reward for wearing our crew shirts. I don't know what the reward could be but it would have to be something significant to the ventures. Something they would all want to receive. It would also have to be inexpensive so that it would not be too much of a burden on the Crew budget.

So, I am trying to think of items that would motivate our Crew Members into action. Movie Tickets, ski lift tickets, a coin, a staff, a gps. Hummmm, I don't know. I'll keep thinking about it and see if I can come up with something that would fit perfectly into this situation.

Only Half

Well, only half of my leaders attended our meeting. I should have called them all to remind them. So, I didn't have any of the Boy Scout leaders, one Venture leader and 2 Varsity Leaders. I really wanted everyone to be there so we could feel power in numbers and it backfired. It felt more like we were working on our own. Bummer. I need to be better at following up on our meeting schedule. I know I did a good job of communicating te meeting but not on following up and reminding everyone.

The meeting went well otherwise. Not the awesome inspirational meeting I was hoping for. We did come out of it with some great ideas.

Next meeting I will be calling and talking to each leader several times, over and over again to remind them of the meeting. We will get everyone to the next meeting for sure.

Motivating the advisors

Today I will be having a meeting with the advisors to try and get us all marching in the same direction. I want them to catch the vision of how we could be organized and what we should be doing with these boys. Right now, I think we just need the leaders to start being a good example. There have been times when the advisors will not be on their best behavior which causes the boys to follow. I really want the boys to become great men so they need an example to follow. I'm not saying that we can't have fun, the boys will not stay in the program if they don't have fun, but there is a time to have fun and a time to be serious and mature. We just need the leaders to show when and where it is time to be mature.

There is alot of potential in my group of advisors. Two of them have expressed interest in Woodbadge this year. I think it would be a great thing to see them go. I would, however, like them to go with the right attitude and spirit or the experience could be ruined. They need to go with the attitute that they will make the best use of this time and to try and be the best while they are there. Again, have fun but know when to step up and be mature.

Anyway, I'll let you know what happens after the meeting.

Success and Failure

Well, I had some success and failure today. For some reason I am dwelling on the bad stuff more than the good.

Our President came through for us and brought pinewood derby cars for everyone. I was very happy and proud that he followed through for us. I do need to recognize him for his efforts. I thought he did great. That was a success.

One of our Venturing Crew finished his Duty to God for Deacons and Teachers and I asked him to bring his books and have them signed off and interviewed by the Bishop. He brought his books and the Bishop interviewed him and he is ready to receive it on Sunday. That was a success.

We didn't have much time after opening exercises to really do any Venturing. I wanted to talk about the Bronze Awards and more about our Crew. I wanted to hand out the Crew Shirts I made and have everyone commit to wearing them. We were so pressed for time I just handed out the shirts and we were off to make our Pinewood Derby Cars. What really was depressing was that one of the Young Men complained about having to wear the shirt. "Do we have to wear these shirts? I'm not wearing this shirt". AARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! I thought they would get with the program once we arrived at our activity to work on our cars. I was hoping that at least the Venture Crew Advisor would wear his. But no, it was just me and one other Venture that wore the shirt. Bummer!!!!

Anyway, I guess I need a little patience. This Venture Crew is starting from scratch so I guess I can't expect them to see the value of uniforms right off the bat. It is like turning the Titanic around. It takes time. I just wish they could see the vision I have of this Crew and what it could be. I just need to do a better job at selling the ideas to the Young Men.

Turn it over to the Young Men

Our Activity this week is to build pinewood derby cars. It was something that the Crew had planned before I became a leader so we will continue with this activity. We thought it would be appropriate to find someone in the "woodworking" field and have him show how to cut out the wood and also a little bit about his career. That way it would feel more like a Venturing activity instead of a cub scout activity.

I told our Crew President to pick up the pinewood derby cars and to find out what we need to get the pinewood derby track. I also talked to our Crew leader and he said he has someone in mind to talk us about woodworking. I'll give out our new Class B uniforms this week and hopefully we won't get them all dirty the first week.

I went and talked to our Crew President to find out how much he knows about Venturing and he really doesn't know anything, so I am thinking of asking someone from the Council to come and talk to the Young Men about Venturing and what awards they can receive.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that our Crew President had designed a couple of logos for our Crew. They were very rough but we can make it work. I'll make sure it happens.

Non of the boys have worked on their eagle projects yet. I was discouraged that non of them had even written down a brief description. I'll have to focus a little more on getting them started. Once they get started I think they will move along.

Class "B" Uniforms

I bought some iron-on's and some really cheap shirts so that we have a Class "B" Uniform. I am excited to give it to the Crew at our next meeting. I also detailed out some duties for the President of the Crew. Here are some of his duties.

Venture Crew President

Schedule Wednesday activities with Crew Advisors

Assign duties for Weekly activities

Review Venture activities with Leaders and Scout Committee

Decide on a Crew Focus

Decide on Crew Logo

Decide on Crew Uniforms and when to wear them

Assign Campout duties and High Adventure duties

Make sure each Crew Member reaches Eagle Scout Rank

Have each Crew member focus on one Venture Bronze Award IE:

• Arts and Hobbies
• Sports
• Religious Life
• Outdoor
• Sea Scout

So, I think we will talk about these duties at our next Crew Meeting. I hope it goes over well. I'll let you all know what happens. Well, I don't think anyone is reading this blog so I guess it is just for myself.

I have been called to be the new Young Men's President in our Ward. This means that I will be working with the Venturing Crew. I was the Assistant Scout Master before so I know how the Scouting program should be run but I need to learn what the Venturing program is all about.

In our first meeting I had the boys vote on a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. We also setup some activities for the year. I assigned two boys to come up with a logo for a Crew so we could start work on a uniform. We also need to decide what the focus of our Crew will be. The only thing that they all have in common is our religious beliefs. So, maybe we will have to go with that as our focus.

One other issue is that only one of our Crew has his Eagle Scout. So, we will really need to focus on finishing their Eagle stuff as well as trying to get them through the Venturing Program. I'll let you know how we progress from here.

My first blog.

Well, I'm not sure what I am going to post on my first blog but I have some ideas of what I want it to focus on. I hope some people will add to the discussion so that I am not out here talking to myself.