INTENSIVE TRAINING IN THE GREEN BAR PATROL
First Training Meeting
THEME: Patrol Spirit and Patrol Organization
Preliminary Reading Assignments:
(Older Scoutmaster and Patrol Leader Handbooks contained three to five times more information, so those original chapter titles have been retained to give an idea of what was covered. Pages where similar topic is mentioned in the current editions appears in parentheses. Hyperlinks provide some additional material, and see also The BSA's Boy Scout Handbook.)
For Scoutmaster and adult leaders:
Scoutmaster
Handbook:
Why the Patrol Method?: (Pages 11-17)
Setting Up the Patrol Method: (Pages 19-22)
Other Leaders & Helpers: (Pages 156-157, 165-170)
For Patrol Leaders:
Patrol
Leader Handbook
Patrol Spirit: (Pages 23-32)
Patrol Organization: (Pages 115-121)
The Boys in the Patrol*: (Replaced with "Leadership Skills,"
Pages 89-112)
*old HPL, Pages 41-48
Needed Material:
 | Paper and pencils. |
| Copy of Patrol Record Book. |
| One three-foot length of rope for each participant. |
| Several short lengths of rope. |
| String. |
Program:
(a) Simple Opening Ceremony: Recitation of the Second Point of the Scout Law in full. Reading by Senior Patrol Leader of "A Patrol Leader's Creed"
(b) Purpose of Training and Establishing Patrol: Tell briefly what you expect to accomplish, based the Introduction to Green Bar Patrol Training. Declare the Patrol officially formed with you as its Patrol Leader, the Senior Patrol Leader as Assistant Patrol Leader, Assistant Scoutmasters and Junior Assistants as special instructors, judges in contest, leaders of games and handicraft activities, and the boy leaders as the members of the Patrol.
(c) Make Notebooks: Fold letter-head sized sheets in half, or use a cheap composition book for each member in member in which he can take notes. Insist that a sufficient amount of notes be taken by all boy leaders.
(d) Discussion of Patrol Name: The why and how of selecting a name that will have a definite significance to the Patrol. Talk over various names. Make a preliminary selection of a few, then put them to popular vote. Decide upon the Patrol Cry and Call to fit the name.
(e) Call and Yell Contest: Have each pair of buddies get up a rousing Patrol call and develop a short yell, incorporating the Patrol name. Vote for best yell.
(f) Patrol Flag Contest: Using the same buddies, have teams prepare a rough sketch of a flag for the Patrol. The idea counts more than artistic execution. Hold short Art Gallery session, and vote for best design to be made into permanent flag.
(g) Instruction Games: such as Signal Winks, Buddy Knotting, Buddy Slings, Scout Law Acting. Use buddy teams throughout. Winners give Patrol Call.
(h) Election of Members: to fill the jobs of Patrol Treasurer, Scribe, Quartermaster, Hikemaster, Grubmaster, Cheermaster. In case of a large group, turn a single job over to a buddy team to handle. Rotate these jobs monthly to give each boy a chance.
(i) Work Session: With the "job-holders" chosen, get them busy right away. Have a short session to get them started on their responsibilities-the Treasurer developing a budget, the Scribe filling in pages of the Patrol Record Book; the Hikemaster working out a route to a camp site; the Grubmaster making up a Patrol menu; the Cheermaster producing a list of songs popular with the Patrol members.
(j) Handicraft Project: Have each boy draw from a hat the name of a Tenderfoot knot and provide him with the necessary pieces of rope to produce the knot for a knot-board. Main project is to whip rope ends, and the finished knots to be turned over to volunteering buddy team for mounting.
(k) Recreational Games: Two or three, such as Bean Race, Hot Air, Laughing Handkerchief, or Artist's Menagerie. If time is short, run game only until the Scouts have caught on to the rules, then shift to another. The object should always be to give the boy leaders a variety of program material for their Patrol meetings, rather than to play each game to its completion.
(l) Simple Closing Ceremony: Singing of Taps (See Also: Taps in Indian Sign Language).
After Meeting:
Before dismissing the Training Patrol, give a short summary of the ground covered. Tell the leaders to make use of the material in their next Patrol meetings, and ask each Patrol Leader to make a short talk on how the material worked out at next training meeting.
Follow this procedure after all future training meetings.
SECOND TRAINING MEETING THEME: Patrol Meetings
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