How the Troop Works
Troop 533 - How things work
Mission Statement “Assisting parents in raising Godly young men”
· Goal: Help our boys grow into able and respectful young men by
o Learning the skills to be self-sufficient (ranks: Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class)
o Leaning to be helpful to others (all ranks)
o Learning leadership skills (ranks: Star, Life, Eagle)
· Who are the adult leaders
o Tom Majors Executive Sponsor
o Jim Carman Committee Chairman Merit badge coordinator
o Mark Clark Scoutmaster
o Bob McDaniel Treasurer
o Tom Williams Assistant Scoutmaster
o Ray Barrett Assistant Scoutmaster
o David Dotson Assistant Scoutmaster Life to Eagle
o Bill Rice Assistant Scoutmaster Database manager
o Trey Fitzpatrick Assistant Scoutmaster
o Tim Johns Assistant Scoutmaster
o Wayne Jones Assistant Scoutmaster
o Chuck White Assistant Scoutmaster
We have other parents helping with ongoing activities and we welcome you to join in and help as well.
The troop is led by the boys; however it is the responsibility of the troop leaders to make sure things run smoothly.
· Advancement
o Merit Badges (21 required for Eagle Scout of which 12 must be from the Eagle required MBs)
§ Jim Carman is the merit badge guru. If a scout is interested in a merit badge he should contact Mr. Carman and let him know so that the scout can get some direction on how to proceed.
§ When finished with the merit badge the scout should reach out to Mr. Carman and make sure all is finished. Mr. Carman will then send the scout to an assistant Scoutmaster to get the work signed off.
§ The absolute best time to work on merit badges are Summer Camp and Merit Badge Days. I cannot stress the importance of these two opportunities enough.
· Most Merit Badges are earned during Summer Camp and on Merit Badge Day events. There are two council sponsored merit badge days per year on in winter and one in summer, try to make these a priority.
· A great online resource is the link below. It lists the particular requirement and has worksheets for each MB that can be printed and filled out which helps the scouts organize their work on the MBs http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Merit_Badge_Worksheets
o Rank Advancement
§ Each patrol has an assistant scout master assigned to the patrol, in addition each patrol has a troop guide(older Scout) that will assist the (younger) scouts in reaching the next rank
§ Can I work on advancement with my son?
· Yes but a scoutmaster or assistant scout master will need to sign off on the work.
§ If the scout has any questions he or the parents can reach out to Mr. Clark for assistance or direction at any time
· However, all the rank advancement requirements are listed in the back of the scout handbook
§ When completing a rank advancement the scout should get the advancement signed off in his scout book by a scoutmaster or assistant scout master. Then he is to go to Mr. Rice to have the items added into the computer. (this must happen so that we know what to purchase for courts of honor)
§ When all items are completed for rank advancement the scout should go see Mr. Rice and fill out a form for a scout master conference
· The scout should let Mr. Clark know that he has filled out a form and is ready for a conference.
§ After the scout master conference is completed Mr. Clark will sign off the form and send the scout to Mr. Rice to fill out a board of review request form
· Boards of review are usually done monthly and when sufficient adults are available to conduct the board of review.
§ Life to Eagle
· David Dotson Is the Life to Eagle Guru. When a scout reaches the Life rank he will be directed to Mr. Dotson.
o Information on Events
§ Outings are listed on the troop calendar on the troop web site (we plan for an outing every 4-6 weeks on average)
· https://sites.google.com/site/bstroop533/
§ Each week announcements are made during the opening of the scout meeting.
· Each scout should bring a notebook to make notes about upcoming events, these events and minutes are written on a whiteboard, some scouts make a photo of the white board to give to parents.
§ Before an outing the scout will receive an LOI (letter of instruction) this will have all information regarding the upcoming outing.
· What happens in a scout meeting
o 6:30 Mr. Clark meets with the Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) and the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (ASPL) and they go over the plans for the meeting and future outings
o 6:45 The SPL and ASPL meet with the Boy Scout leaders for patrols and discuss the meetings and plans for patrol time and make plans.
o 7:00 Opening and announcements
§ Our Troop Chaplin leads the Troop in a devotion and prayer
§ This is an important time for the troop. Information is shared with the scouts. Notes should be taken at this time to be shared with parents. If a scout comes home without notes this should signal a problem
· If you as a parent would like to be the most informed stay for the first 15 minutes of the troop meeting and you can get a great idea of what is going on.
o 7:15 Patrol time
§ During patrol time the scouts work on advancement, plan menus for upcoming campouts, work on merit badges, or participate in board of review.
§ This is the time when the troop guides (scouts) and the assistant scoutmasters work with the younger scouts on advancement
o 8:00 Game time
o 8:25 Closing and cleanup
§ We clean the building and make sure it is at least in the same condition we found it.
Court of Honor (COR) meetings
· These are held quarterly during a regularly scheduled Scout meeting to present all advancements and awards since the previous COR. CORs are roughly held in the following time frames:
o End of March
o End of June
o End of September
o Mid December
· All family, friends and others are encouraged to come and show support for the boys as they advance in their ranks and awards.
· After the ceremony portion we typically have simple treats, provided by the scouts’ families, to celebrate their accomplishments.
Typical yearly scout expenses (costs are only for those who participate, unless noted):
· Jan - $ 50 Annual dues (all)
· Jan - $ 10 Merit Badge Day
· Jan – Mar - $ 290 total (broken into 2 payments) Summer Camp (held 1st or 2nd week in June)
· Outings costs vary – a rough estimate is provided below
o Typical camping outing $ 25 for food, gas, misc. (7-10 per year)
o Special trips/outings, i.e. Yorktown, whitewater rafting, etc. $ 100 – 200 (1-2 per year)
o Philmont / high adventure $ 1800 +/- (planning for 1 trip every other year)
· Make all checks out to ‘Troop 533’. Different adults will collect the fees depending on the particular payment, so separate checks are appreciated.