Troop Life - Why We Plan Ahead
| Category: | Troop Life |
|---|---|
| Props: | The troop calendar, or a blank calendar page (optional) |
| Notes: | For the opening of a planning meeting, such as an annual planning conference, a quarterly Patrol Leaders' Council planning session, or whatever schedule your unit uses. Also works at the troop meeting before planning, to get Scouts thinking about what they want to do. Swap in your planning cycle where marked. Part of a Troop Life series - see the other minutes in this category. |
Tonight we plan the next (three / six / twelve) months. Some of you might be thinking, "Do we really need a whole meeting for this? Can't we just decide as we go?"
Here's why we can't.
That campout you want at the state park? Campsites there fill up months ahead. The canoe trip? Someone has to reserve the canoes and line up drivers. The merit badge you want to earn this spring? We need to find a counselor. And every one of your families has a calendar full of sports, school, and work. If we tell them about a campout two weeks before it happens, half the troop can't come.
Planning ahead is just "Be Prepared" with a calendar.
But there's a bigger reason too. This is your troop, and tonight is when you decide what it does. Not the adults. You. The campouts, the activities, the service projects, the high-adventure dreams: if you want them, tonight is when you speak up.
So here's how to make tonight count. Come with ideas, and don't be shy about them. Think about your patrol, not just yourself. Ask what the new Scouts would enjoy, and what would challenge the older ones. When it's time to vote, vote. And once we've decided, back the plan, even the parts you didn't pick.
A goal without a plan is just a wish. Tonight, let's turn some wishes into a calendar.