Pizza Party!!!

The day I was looking forward too came and went. I think any time you entice a young man with food, they will come. I had 3 of 4 boys come tonight and I invited a young man that will be turning 14 in January to this meeting for two reasons: #1- I wanted to know what he wanted to do. #2- His troop had nothing to do that night.

When we got started and started to eat, I talked to the young men about Varsity Scouting and  explained it as "Boy Scouting on Steroids." I showed them some of the activities they could do and we came up with a white board full of activities. I simply asked them what they wanted to do and told them there is no wrong answer (this will lead into a teaching point later on the Guide to Safe Scouting and activities they approve on). I could see their excitement. Some were disappointed because they will be leaving for Venturing in the next couple of months.

Our next goal is to narrow these down to 4. I am wanting to have a major Varsity event/activity each quarter and tie in the 5 Fields of Emphasis around these big activities. Our council has a Varsity Turkey Shoot in November. Since most of these boys have never had to plan for any activity (most have been done by the leaders or no plan at all), I am using this activity to show them how to make a three month calendar with this major even as the focus. There are some things that fell into place that allows us to make this happen. My boys worked on the Communications Merit Badge at camp and everyone receive a partial. They have two requirements left:

#4- Interview someone you know fairly well, like, or respect because of his or her position, talent, career or life experiences. Listen actively to learn as much as you can about the person. Then prepare and deliver to your counselor an introduction of the person as though this person were to be a guest speaker, and include reasons why the audience would want to hear this person speak. Show how you would call to invite this person to speak.

#5- Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor

This will tie in perfectly into out three month calender along with the other fields of emphasis. We should get 2-3 Scout nights out of this to finish the merit badge. It will all come into place, especially since I'll be using the E.D.G.E. method on this.