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BACK TO BROWNSEA!
Leadership is not about who is smarter
or tougher. It's about qualities we all have, or can work to improve upon.
LET ME BEGIN BY ENCOURAGING YOU TO POST MESSAGES ON THE
BULLETINBOARD WHICH IS LINED FORM THE MAIN JLTC PAGE. I WOULD ENCOURAGE
YOU TO UTILIZE THAT FEATURE AS A WAY FOR YOU TO SHARE WITH OTHERS YOUR OWN
TROOP JLT EXPERIENCE AND IDEAS YOU MAY WANT TO SHARE. I AM FINDING THAT
THERE ARE MANY OF YOU WHO SHARE THE PASSION FOR A GOOD TROOP JLT SO LET'S
USE THIS SITE TOGETHER TO HELP AND INSPIRE OTHERS! --- ALSO, I AM WORKING
ON A PERSONAL GROUP EMAIL TO INCLUDE NEW IDEAS AND RESOURCES FOR JUNIOR
LEADER TRAINING. IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THAT LIST, EMAIL ME AND LET ME KNOW!
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I never really thought of the internet as a deeply personal experience
but in my case it has sort of turned into that. What I would like this site to
do for those who navigate it is to feel a "sharing of experience" with me as I
guide Scouts through our style of Junior Leader Training. As you "click" through
this site, you may find little odds-n-ends of quotes and phrases and paragraphs
here and there all about leadership that you wouldn't expect to find. Scouters
know how time can be a precious commodity especially when one has to work for
a living so let me THANK YOU in advance for taking a look at this JLT site and
I hope it can help you in some way towards a mutually beneficial endeavor.
I'm an active Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 659, Cheektowaga,
NY. My personal passion is Junior Leader Training. Our course runs throughout
the entire 'Scout-Year' from October through early June. We hold Leadership classes
once a month at regular meetings & two classes each month at our regularly scheduled
campouts. We then hold a 'Graduation' weekend campout in early June. To my knowledge,
it is the most comprehensive and elaborate system of Junior Leader Training done
by any individual Boy Scout Troop. 
Please Keep This In Mind:
As a personal project, I have been building a "Travelling JLT
Memorabilia" display. This is now an ongoing project for me. I will soon include
a recent picture of it somewhere in the site so I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile
if you or anyone you know is willing to part with any type of JLT patch or neckerchief,
I would be very interested in purchasing those items. Please get a hold of me
by way of my "Contact Page" to let me know the details.
Thank you very much!
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HOW DOES A SCOUT QUALIFY TO TAKE OUR COURSE?
The Troop JLT course is mainly for 2nd-Year Scouts who are at least 12 yrs old.
They must be active and must have attended at least one week of Summer Camp. Sometimes
we'll have boys who come into the Troop other than transitioning from ours or
another Cub Pack or even a 'transfer' Scout who may be a little older. Those Scouts
would also qualify for the course as long as they have been active and have attended
Summer Camp. The basic philosophy of this is that we feel that they have already
made at least a year and a half committment to being in the program. We are primarily
interested in working with active Scouts. We put a great deal of work into the
course and do everything we can to make sure that, at this point, they are 'serious'
about Scouting.
Just an interesting note about a tradition we
seemed to have started
Upon arrival into our JLT Camp the boys enter one at a time &
recite the Scout Law. They stand in the middle of a 3-flame configuration (buddy
burner stoves provide the flames) and are given a JLT totem which is worn around
their necks. It is a small 1/2" diameter & 2" long piece of wood on a twine-type
string which they are told to wear throughout the weekend. At the graduation ceremoney
Saturday night, they receive a letter which explains;
Every time they do something to perform a point of the Scout Law they may ask
any adult leader to carve a notch in the totem and can get a 13th for doing a
'good turn'. They can only get one notch per day so that the concept is like a
personal goal to which they should aspire to. It's interesting to see how excited
they get when they finally receive that totem after seeing other boys who have
completed the course wearing it. Then it's even more interesting to see their
reaction when they have to wait another 24 hours until they can fully realize
its meaning.
If you do a course in your Troop, try this and you'll see how, over time, some
of the boys have the true meaning of the law 'sink-in' to their heads. You can
see a boy receiving his on the photo page.
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INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT
(The following was sent to my email address from a fellow
Scouter)
HERE'S SEVEN WONDERS
A group of students were asked to list what they thought were
the present Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the
following got the most votes: 1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2. Taj Mahal 3. Grand
Canyon 4. Panama Canal 5. Empire State Building 6. St. Peter's Basilica 7. China's
Great Wall While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student
hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble
with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up
my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us
what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I
think the Seven Wonders of the World are: 1. to touch 2. to taste 3. to see 4.
to hear She hesitated a little, and then added 5. to feel 6. to laugh 7. and to
love The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop. Those things
we overlook as simple and "ordinary" are truly wondrous. A gentle reminder
that the most precious things in life cannot be bought.
JUNIOR LEADER TRAINING OVERVIEW
Many of the Leadership Skills and Attitudes you are learning
here can carry you further than you've ever dreamed, not just in Scouts but at
home & school too!
Be an organizational builder.
Really good Scout leaders see their job as creating an organization in which talented
people want to work and where younger and less experienced Scouts can get a quality
program. This job is not that different from the way you should function at home
and school. It requires you, the leader, to accomplish the following:
Determine and communicate your own vales and philosophies - Remember
Values & Ethics Create clarity in the organization; clarity of purpose, direction,
structure, measurement and consequences.
- Help others be successful
- Monitor the process.
- Make sure you focus on your values. Be self-motivated and concentrate
on your goals.
- Provide appropriate reward systems.
- Create an experimental learning attitude. THINK OUTSIDE OF
THE BOX
- Celebrate victories
- Anticipate change
Think ahead and help the Troop anticipate the transitions required
for moving to new stages of growth. Make these transitions, and make the necessary
changes in your own role and style, as soon as possible. Always keep the vision
in front of everyone; update it regularly with your team to make sure it is a
shared dream that is exciting and compelling for all of you. Create a plan that
includes mission, values, vision, strategies & structure. Being proactive
is essential to getting the job done.
Keep Scouts motivated
Delegate responsibilities to them, and encourage them to
be proactive in helping the Troop grow. It's not hard to let go if you have trusted
people ready to take on new responsibilities.
Reflect on your own Training to build leadership skills in others.
Recognize that your own characteristics as a leader in the Troop can be both strengths
and weaknesses. Be fully aware of their impact and apply them in appropriate ways
as your leadership role changes.
No matter what stage the Troop is in, the classic leadership strengths
you can count on are the ability to see new possibilities, take on new challenges,
and find creative solutions to meet those challenges. These strengths will help
you make the necessary personal transitions as you see new opportunities for growth,
create new visions for the Troop and yourself, and proactively develop new skills
required for your job.
Once you've gained the capabilities for planning, communicating,
listening, coaching, team building, resolving conflicts, integrating the ideas
of others, and building the organization, you can transform from the 'typical'
boy in a leadership position to a great Troop leader.
A Personal Observation Regarding Junior Leader
Training
As I learn more and more about what Baden Powell did at Brownsea
Island in 1907 the more amazed I am with regard to the vision this man had. My
son brought me into this great organization many years ago and I have gone through
many changes along the way on my path through adult leadership. Junior Leader
Training, though, is my passion and I'm happy to share the information in this
site with you. If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free
to send me an email...even if you just want to share some ideas regarding JLT.
Thank you in advance for visiting this site. I hope you find it useful, inspiring
and informative. Good Scouting to you all!
WHY SCOUTMASTERS NEED SCOUTING
From the 1930 Scoutmaster's Handbook
- His own youth is renewed through his association with youth
the real fountain of youth sought after by Ponce De Leon.
- The outdoor life reacts constructively on his own health.
- The outdoorcrafts becomes his own knowledge. He, too, comes
to Be Prepared.
- The Scout Oath and Law clarify his own ideals. He, too, does
Good Turns.
- It multiplies his influence in the lives of the Troop his
loyal friends and staunch supporters.
- It discovers to the Scoutmaster his own hidden qualities of
leadership making him a better human engineer in his business.
- Scouting provides the rare joy of tangible evidence and consciousness
of results results, too that are built into human life
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