Meeting Review

After Meeting Review
January 12, 2009 Meeting

This meeting our SPL was gone due to a family medical emergency, so our ASPL had to step up and take charge of the meeting. For being in charge of a meeting in a serious sense for the first time by himself he did alright but I realize now that I need to work with him more in order to develop his execution, communication, and improvisation skills. Yes improvisation is a very important skill to learn when becoming a good leader because I leader must be able to react and take control of situations that come up or not going as planned. Learning how to react to these situations is one of the hardest skills to work on because the only way to really develop this skill is to put it in practice and let the leaders fail and succeed on their own. Yes in scouting we let our leaders fail because it teaches them that what will and will not work in that particular situation.

Overall his performance was adequate but he needs to work on trasnitioning activities and keeping control of the group. In order to keep control of a group of most 10 to 13 year olds, a leader must know how to work with this age group. Working with this age group requires lots of patience because this age group tends to be the group that always asks the "why" question. This "why" question should be only answered when it is convient for the leader and the group, sometimes a leader when dealing with this question has to say "because I said so" in a stern but nonthreatening tone to ensure the scout stops asking the question. Also in this age group you can yell until you are blue in the face and you will not make any progress. Instead of yelling just raise your scout sign to get their attention and use peer pressure to make the scouts stop talking. If the scouts waste your time you have the right to waste their time. The last thing is scouting is not suppose to be just a extension of school, so instead of asking perfection, ask and demand the scouts give a reasonable amount of appropriate behavior. Remember scouts are not in scouts to sit through boring classroom sessions, they are there to learn and socialize through the activities and events of the Troop.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
JASM
Troop 1616

NSJ 2010 Countdown

Only 558 Days Left to to the Start of the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

Don't Miss your opportunity to participate in this centennial Celebration.

Contact your local council as soon as possible.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
JASM
Troop 1616

NSJ 2010 January 2009 Bulletin

The Boy Scouts of America’s 100th Anniversary Jamboree—A Historic Event

It is exciting for all of us to be involved in the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. This historic event will always be remembered by those who attend.

The first Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree was scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., in 1935 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Scouting in America. Unfortunately, the jamboree was canceled due to a polio outbreak in Washington. When the first Jamboree was finally held in 1937, Dan Beard lit the opening campfire using flint and steel. Scouts from all 48 states brought the wood that was used in the campfire. There were some 27,232 Scouts camped on the National Mall under the Washington Monument. Since that time, 16 national jamborees have been held, the last in 2005.

All jamboree groups are currently planning programs and activities for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. Many are having a special recognition to mark the 100th Anniversary. The closing arena show will be unlike any other jamboree arena show in history. It will be big, bold, interactive, and unforgettable! You won’t want to miss it! Plans are to Web cast the show, allowing anyone with Internet access to virtually join in this huge celebration. Councils are already planning one or more gatherings at large local venues that evening to invite Scouts, Scouters, families, alumni, business and community leaders, and supporters to participate. More details on this are forthcoming, and more information on the jamboree celebration plans will be shared with councils in the near future.

A reminder: The first payment of $100 per person is due to the National Council by Jan. 31, 2009. Councils should continue approving youth and adult participants online. Contact the Jamboree Department at 2010jamboree@scouting.org if you have problems. Remember, the primary issue we are having with online registration is that parents are trying to use their son’s myscouting account to register their son for the jamboree. Parents must use their own myscouting account. BSA registration is not required to have a myscouting account.
As of Jan. 1, there will only be 570 days left before the jamboree. Let’s get ready!
Here are the dates of all the Jamborees held since 1937 and attendance.

Year	Dates	Location	Attendance
1935	(Canceled)	Washington, D.C.
1937	Jun 30–Jul 9	Washington, D.C.	27,238
1950	Jun 27–Jul 6	Valley Forge, PA	47,163
1953	Jul 17–Jul 23	Irvine Ranch, CA	45,401
1957	Jul 12–Jul 18	Valley Forge, PA	52,580
1960	Jul 22–28	Colorado Springs, CO	56,377
1964	Jul 17–Jul 23	Valley Forge, PA	50,960
1969	Jul 16–Jul 22	Farragut State Park, ID	34,251
1973	Aug 1–Aug 7	Farragut State Park, ID (both jamborees)	73,610
1973	Aug 3–Aug 9	Moraine State Park, PA (both jamborees)	73,610
1977	Aug 3–Aug 9	Moraine State Park, PA	28,601
1981	Jul 29–Aug 4	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	29,765
1985	Jul 24–Aug 30	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	32,625
1989	Aug 3–Aug 9	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	32,717
1993	Aug 4–Aug 10	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	34,449
1997	Jul 28–Aug 6	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	36,015
2001	Jul 23–Aug 1	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	42,002
2005	Jul 25–Aug 3	Fort A.P. Hill, VA	43,000

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

NSJ 2010 December 2008 Bulletin

Jamboree Tours

Anything the Boy Scouts of America does requires promotional effort. Often, council and district activities are successful and well-attended, but many people register late and often try to register “at the door.” That seems to be common in our movement. Unfortunately, there is no “at the door” registration for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

Almost 11,880 youth members have signed up to join us at Fort A.P. Hill in 2010 for our 100th Anniversary Jamboree. That’s almost one-third of our 2010 allocation for youth members. We expect 925 troops, each with 36 youth members and four adult leaders. Encourage those interested to go online now and register.

Once again, the biggest issue with the jamboree application process is the way the MyScouting accounts are being created. As it states on the log-in page of MyScouting, all jamboree applications must be submitted from the account of a parent or guardian. (MyScouting accounts may be created by parents/guardians even if they are not registered with the BSA.) Some accounts are mistakenly being created with the youth’s BSA member ID number in the profile. This will result in an “invalid member ID number” error.

While some councils are close to completing their recruiting efforts, most have not. Council recruiting success stories often revolve around some type of jamboree rally to recruit new participants; however, nothing takes the place of recruiting “one on one” by jamboree adult leaders. The following are some ideas your council may want to use to promote the jamboree.
Use the jamboree promotion video. It’s short, has great pictures of the 2005 Jamboree, and is ideal for use at troop meetings and summer camp. In the video, Boys’ Life’s own Pee Wee Harris is talking to his friend about the jamboree while video highlights of the 2005 Jamboree are being shown. These DVDs were sent to councils in July.

Display or distribute the 2010 Jamboree brochures that were sent to councils in July. Give them to those individuals or parents interested in having their son participate in this great event.
Publish a monthly jamboree newsletter on your council Web page. Each Scout and troop leader should have timely communication about the jamboree. This way, each participant will be well-informed and be the best possible representative of your council and Scouting.

Emphasize program features of the jamboree. Talk about the 100th Anniversary program and how it ties in with the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. “Celebrate 100 years of Scouting.”

To quote Pee Wee Harris: “Come with me Dude! We’ll have a blast!

Information borrow from BSA Jamboree Website.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
JASM
Troop 1616

NSJ 2010

For those of you who don't know what NSJ is it is the National Scout jamboree. The National Scout Jamboree is hosted by National Council of the Boy Scouts of America is held held every 3 to 5 years. The Last one was held in 2005 at Fort AP Hill, Virginia. The next NSJ is going to be held at For AP Hill, Virginia, in 2010 from July 26 to August 4. This event will bring together approximately 40,000 Scouts and Leaders from across the nation with a few being from outside the United States. To be able to participate in this event you must by 12 years old by July 1, 2010 and not have reached your 18th birthday by August 4, 2010. Youth Staff members get a special staff rate in order to be able to participate in the event. Youth staff must have been born between July 26, 1984 and July 26, 1994. Adult Staff must have been born before July 26, 1984. The youth staff fee will be $397.50 while the adult staff fee will be $795. The participant fee for youth participants and contingent leadership will be determined by your local council. Contact your local council for further contingent information.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
JASM
Troop 1616