When we visit our Scouts BSA troops and marvel at the excellent program that they put on every week, we know their success is not by accident. It is the result of planning that happens at countless PLC and troop committee meetings. The Scouts BSA program is uniquely positioned to expose youth for the first time in their lives to make a plan and execute it. From monthly campouts, long-term summer camps, and service projects, our youth should lead these and many more. As commissioners, we can help make this happen by encouraging Scouters to have the youth leadership of the troop engaged in their annual planning process. You can incentivize them by reminding them that they will get a higher Journey to Excellence (JTE) score when having youth involved.

To have youth engaged, it is important to make sure they feel that they belong. One of the ways we do this is by holding youth leadership elections. Do the units you serve hold elections for all youth leadership positions? Even if it is a relatively new troop, the youth must select their peers that will serve as senior patrol leader, patrol leaders, and other positions of responsibility. We should encourage our Scoutmasters to promote diversity among those in youth leadership and ensure all members get the experience to lead in their Scouting journey. With our Scouts engaged in selecting their leaders and involved in the troop planning process, you will see how our program changes lives.

Besides ensuring that Scouters have youth involved in their unit’s planning process, ask them:

• How is your camping schedule?
• How many Scouts advanced a new rank in the last year?
• When was the last time the unit did a service project in your community?

These program aspects are measured in JTE and are important because they are proven to keep Scouts in the program, driving retention in our Scouts BSA troops. If you see a unit struggling to keep up with a quality program, what do you do? Connect them with the right resources. It might be providing training opportunities or assigning a mentor for first-time unit leaders or counseling long-time leaders on how to adapt to new changes.

The planning process will lead to a quality program, which will attract youth and retain them as Scouts; the Scouts truly leading their troops will carry on our movement.

Planning for Sea Scouts Should be Familiar

By T.W. Cooke, Program Support Group, Scouts BSA

So you’ve been a commissioner for a while, have it pretty well figured out, and suddenly you find yourself assigned as unit commissioner for a Sea Scout ship. Your first reaction is probably “whoa, I don’t know anything about Sea Scouts, I can’t do this” – but, before you panic, think about it for a minute. Sea Scouts is just a Scouting program with specialized technical content – the Scouting part, and especially the part that the unit probably needs help with, isn’t very different from what you know, and with the right perspective, you can add a lot of value. Chances are you’re not providing technical program assistance in rock climbing or backpacking either (but good for you if you are able to do that) yet you are providing useful help for your units. The things that most ships need our help with are things like navigating the shoals of rechartering, figuring out how to fundraise, maintaining good relations with their charter organization, seeing that their leaders are trained, and organizing succession planning. So, take a deep breath and jump in – you’ll feel at home in no time, because Sea Scouts are just Scouts (with boats!).