Jim Robertson's website for Scouting information

Seminole Springs District

Seminole Springs District Calendar including ICAL and XML links.

Seminole Springs District website

Seminole Springs District Newsletter archives

Central Florida Council

Central Florida Council Calendar including Seminole Springs Events

Central Florida Council website

Central Florida Council Newsletter archives

Camp LaNoChe website and information

Commissioner Information

2015 Commissioner Conference presentations

Commissioner Information

National BSA links

Updates - Changes to Venturing (2014), Cub Scouting (2015), and Scouting (2016)

Program Resources website with meeting planning and event/activity ideas

       

Scout Training sponsored by LDS/BSA Relations Committee

Kickstarting a Troop/Varsity/Venturing Program

A few people asked, now that I have this training where do I start? We recommend you do the following (not necessarily in this order)

  1. Teach Leadership. Teach the Introduction to Leadership Skills course to the youth: Troop Version, Crew Version
  2. Interest Surveys. Have the youth take an Interest Survey - see below for examples
  3. Use Ward Resources. Based on youth surveys, ask adults in the ward to fill out a Program Capability Inventory - see below
  4. Have a Committee. Have bishopric make calls (or assignments) to parents to serve on committee - should be in addition to other callings
  5. Youth Planning. Have an "Annual" Planning Meeting - map out themes for mutual and camping/outdoor activities - try to plan 9 months or to end of school year
  6. Accountability. Hold youth accountable for their activities - txt constant reminders
  7. Backup. Have back up plan of something that is good for them but that they may not like as much - give them incentive to do what they planned

Resoures for implementing the above list

There are many example interest surveys available on the internet if you search for them - here are the ones I created for use with our ward

  • Youth Interest Survey example - Boy Scouts (MS Word)
  • Youth Interest Survey example - Venturers/Varsity (MS Word)
  • Survey for Ward Adults aka Program Capability Inventory example (MS Word)

Online Resources for Program Planning

Program Features (BSA published book) is a valuable resource for helping youth plan their own activities Old versions of Program Features available online: for free:

Contact Jim