Troop 719

I have called and called the Scoutmaster of Troop 17 and he hasn't returned my calls. I finally got a hold of the Assistant Scoutmaster today and talked to him about the Troop. One of the chief concerns is recruiting more scouts. I reviewed the Troop roster and found out they have five scouts, two have already earned their Eagle and one has earned Life. The Assistant Scoutmaster's concern was that the two Eagles would soon leave the Troop and he felt they needed replacements. True.
I know from experience and from Unit Commissioner training that if you want more members in your unit you need to have a quality Troop. A quality Troop will attact young men like a magnet. The first step to develop a quality Troop is training.
The roster showed that only two adults have completed training. I plan to remedy that immediately by asking the Troop to select a trainer. I found out that its usually best to select the person who resists training the most to be the trainer. Its hard to resist getting trained when you are scheduling other adult leaders for training classes, besides if you don't complete training as a trainer you look like a hypocrite. :)
The second thing a Troop needs to do is to have the year all planned out and a way to get the money to accomplish the plan. You also need to communicate the plan with the rest of the Troop. The yearly plan is a vision for future success that will get everyone excited about being in the Troop and it gives the Scouts something to look forward to. Fortunately, our Council has a great money making opportunity with popcorn sales. I haven't officially met with the Troop yet but I have a feeling they just shoot from the hip.
The final thing to have a quality Troop is to implement the yearly plan and stick to the budget! I don't know how many times I have seen a unit's yearly plan go to crap when the committee overspends on just one project.
I plan on meeting with the Troop on the 26th. I have already talked to parents of two scout aged boys to bring with me as new recruits.