Troop Life - Kicking Off the Year
| Category: | Troop Life |
|---|---|
| Props: | Index cards and pencils (optional, for writing goals) |
| Notes: | For the first meeting of the scouting year, often in the fall when school starts. Works for troops and packs. Includes an optional goal-setting moment. Save the cards and hand them back at the end of the year (see troop-life-wrapping-up-the-year). Part of a Troop Life series - see the other minutes in this category. |
Welcome back, everybody. And to the new faces in the room: welcome, period. We're glad you're here.
Tonight is the first meeting of a brand-new scouting year. Think about that for a second. Everything on that calendar is still ahead of us. Every campout, every hike, every campfire, every rank and badge someone is going to earn. None of it has happened yet.
That means this year can be anything we make it.
Maybe last year you didn't make it to as many campouts as you wanted. Clean slate. Maybe you've been stuck on the same rank for a while. Clean slate. Maybe you've always wanted to try leading, or teaching, or something that scares you a little. This is the year.
So here's what I'd like you to do. (Hand out cards, if you have them.) Think of one thing you want to do this year in Scouting. Just one. A rank. A campout you won't miss. A skill you want to learn. A new friend you want to make. Write it down. I'm going to hang onto these, and at the end of the year, I'll give them back to you.
And to the older Scouts: look around at the new Scouts tonight. A year ago, a few years ago, you were them. Make sure every one of them goes home tonight knowing someone's glad they came.
Let's make it a great year.