Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Troop Elections
August 21, 2007
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

Tonight we held patrol elections and last week we had troop elections. As of next Tuesday, our troop will have an entirely new group of leaders. Next month we'll get together for Troop Leader Training so that you will all know what your duties and responsibilities are.

Scouting is a unique organization. It is one of the few places, if not the only place, where a lot of you guys can experience true leadership. All of you will get the opportunity within this troop. Some will take better advantage of this opportunity than others. The fact that leadership experience is such a big part of scouting really stuck with me once, when a friend of mine, a gradute of Berkeley, who is a high level manager at a local electronics company told me: "You know, everything I learned about leadership, I learned in scouting.". These things are just not taught elsewhere.

And a lot of the learning, especially in the case of boy scout leadership comes by doing and experimenting, not just reading about it. I don't expect everyone to be perfect, but I do expect you to try your best. I expect all patrols leaders to come to the PLC meetings for example. If you can't make it, call your assistant. But don't just - not show up. You might not always make the right decisions, but that's how you learn.

Looking over my list of new scout leaders, I think we're going to have a great 6 months ahead of us!