My Wood Badge Ticket

Vision

To create a repeatable onboarding process for new Scouts and their families that is welcoming and rooted in the deep heritage of Scouting.

Goals

1. Create and send a series of “New Member Bootcamp” emails and website posts: Joining a Troop (even from Cub Scouting) can be an overwhelming experience, especially in a Troop with over 80 years of history behind it. To complete this goal, I’ll continue sending monthly emails to our incoming AOL families sharing important information they’ll need to know when their Scout crosses over and make that same information (and more) available on a special “New Member Bootcamp” section of our Troop website.
2. Develop a plan with the AOL Den Leader to engaged Scouts from the Troop in the Den’s annual advancement: The Troop’s greatest recruiting tool is our Cub Scout Pack and we want our Cub Scouts to be excited to join our Troop. To complete this goal, I’ll work with our AOL Den Leader to a schedule for 2022-2023 and finding ways to get our Scouts to help the Den and Pack.
3. Offer a Scouting Heritage Merit Badge Class to Scouts in Troop 457 after crossover this spring: Scouting Heritage Merit Badge helps Scouts to learn the history of our program and gain a greater appreciation for this traditions and methods of Scouting. As a counselor for this Merit Badge, I hope our Patrol Leaders Council will allow me to present this merit badge class to all of the Scouts in our Troop.
4. Hold quarterly “Coffee with the Scoutmaster” sessions: Scout meetings can be chaotic affairs and sometimes there just isn’t enough time for leaders to address questions from Scouts and families. During these quarterly events, Scouts, their families, and the whole Zelienople Community will be invited to join me at a local Zelienople business to have your questions answered while also helping the Troop be more visible in the community. (Think of it as an in-person Reddit “Ask me Anything”)
5. Compile a “scholarship list” for youth who would like to participate in the program: Scouting can be an expensive activity, but I want to make sure that every youth who wants to participate in our program can. This scholarship list will allow us to proactively identify ways that we can help Scouts fund their participation when the costs can’t be covered through fundraising or family contributions. (This may include setting aside funds at a Troop level, identifying donors in the community willing to sponsor Scouts, or even finding groups that provide Scouts uniforms.)