Troop 1191 Program Development

Per stated BSA policy; one of the goals of each Troop is to guide the Scouts in taking responsibility for the development and implementation of their Program.  The Program consists of several parts including weekly meetings, monthly outings & special events such as service projects.  The purpose of having the Scouts do this is obviously to give them a foundation and level of confidence to carry on with this type of process in their day to day lives and after they leave Scouting as independent adults.

The Senior Patrol Leader is the Scout who is overall responsible for the Program.  He is assisted by Scouts with various positions of responsibility, including the Patrol Leaders who pass information and ideas between his Patrol members and the Senior Patrol Leader.

On the adult side the Scoutmaster followed by the Program Chairman and the various other members of the Committee, Leaders and Active Adults assist the Scouts by overseeing their progress during the Program process.

The Senior Patrol Leader meets with his Patrol Leaders Council, which consists of himself, the Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Patrol Leaders, Scribe, Quartermaster, Scout Co-Chairs as needed and the Scoutmaster and Program Chairman on an ongoing basis to fully develop, refine and implement the Program.  This is done yearly (in September) to come up with the following years schedule, monthly to review the overall program, make adjustments and plan future monthly meetings and weekly to review the weekly program and make adjustments.

The Co-Chair is an additional position in the Program Process.  Co-Chairs are asked to volunteer to commit themselves in sharing the responsibilities of this process to help ensure its success.

The Co-Chair responsibilities have been broken down into three parts.  The Merit Badge Co-Chairs, The Activity Co-Chairs and The Special Event Co-Chairs.  Scouts and Adults sign on to one or more of the individual aspects of each of these parts.  These Co-Chairs report back to and coordinate with the PLC.  The Scout Co-Chairs must be First Class Scouts or above.

The following are their duties:

Merit Badge Co-Chairs:  On the Scout side, one Scout is responsible each month for contacting a Merit Badge Counselor for that months merit badge theme and coordinate meeting times with them, preferably to meet during the regular weekly meetings.  When coordinating meeting times, they must remember to allow time for the other parts of the regular meeting, such as Scout Skills, Patrol Corners and the Scout Game.

On the Adult side, one Adult is responsible for assisting with this process at the request of the Scout.  This may or may not be the actual Merit Badge Counselor for that Merit Badge.

Activity Co-Chairs:  Two Scouts share the duties of developing and implementing each monthly activity or activities. This is to include making advance reservations if necessary, while anticipating how many participants there may be.  They are to decide on the day to day activities during the event and what equipment is necessary, while getting feedback from the other Scouts.  They must keep a record of the participants.  They must also get detailed information out to the Troop.  They also must commit fully to participating in the event.

On the Adult side, two adults are responsible for assisting the Scouts.  During the reservation process, an adult signature may be required as well as payment of reservation fees.  These fees will be recovered either by collection from the participants or via payment from the Troop's General Fund as decided by the Troop Committee with assistance from the Troop Treasurer.  They are responsible for the Parental Permission Forms and for submitting the Council Tour Permit at least two weeks prior to the event.  These two adults must fully commit to participating in the event.  BSA policy requires two adults minimum to participate on each outing due to safety issues.  Obviously three or more are actually needed to be present at all times, in case someone has to leave during an emergency or other reason.  The Troop strongly needs all parents support and assistance with this commitment.

Special Event Co-Chairs:  Two Adults are responsible for all aspects of the Special Event, including tracking who participates and possible tracking the times that they participated as required.   They will be assisted or guided by the various other Adult members of the Troop Committee and Leadership and Active Adults as necessary.  Again, they must fully commit to participating in the Special Event. 

Document modified 05/29/01 WCE