October Forum Topic: Venturing Activities - What's Working for You?

You are invited to the Hobble Creek District Venturing Forum next Thursday, October 9, 2013 at 7 p.m.  We'll be discussing the following:

• Venturing Annual Program Flow (Chart 14, page 73 of the Venturing Leader Specific Training Manual)

• Invite discussion on what is working and what is not working in your crews.

• Review rechartering and the opportunity to register youth of all faiths and activity levels into your unit.

We might even play a GAME!  Hope to see you there.

Venturing Program Announcement

Lots of changes are coming to Venturing in 2014.  It looks like the former general Young Men's president of the LDS church, Charles Dahlquist, had a hand in the new format.  Advancement and recognition look simplified.  Venturing will use the scout oath and law, including the scout sign.  Look into the details here.

See all of you at Roundtable this Thursday!

Balloon Ball and the Crew Officer's Seminar

Thursday's Venturing Forum centered on "How to conduct a Crew Officer's Seminar."  We started out by playing a game called "balloon ball."  The object of this game is to score as many goals as possible
in the time allowed.  We had 3 minutes to blow up balloons and touch the the opposite wall with the balloons.  After the first balloon was popped by one of the opposing teams, we started keeping score and then it got competitive.  We got kind of noisy, but no one poked their heads in our room when we started popping each other's balloons to see what was happening.

How did a simple activity turn into such a competition and how does a game of balloons relate to conducting a Crew Officer's Seminar?  We took time to reflect on the activity and share our thoughts.  I'll leave it up to you if you want to try similar games to get conversations going or to help facilitate a seminar, a.k.a. a Yearly Planning Retreat, but activities like this are extremely simple, inexpensive and effective ways of enabling young men to lead.

We were reminded that yearly planning is driven by interests.  Interests can be discovered through the Venturing Activity Interests Survey.  Busy young men with jobs and other interests are drawn to activities that meet their needs and interests.  Needs may be met by less frequent but better planned activities planned and led by the young men.

Venturing and the BSA's Tour and Activity Plan

Last evening's Venturing Forum was sponsored by the Hobble Creek West Stake and focused on some of the FAQ's in the BSA's Tour and Activity Plan.  We had the opportunity to take a Tour and Activity Plan Quiz that provided excellent reminders and created an opportunity for learning and discussion.  We were reminded that the purpose of the Tour and Activity Plan is to be a "planning tool for best practices to be prepared for safe and fun adventure."  We observed how easy it is to use the online Tour and Activity Plan and were encouraged to use the plan for the benefit  of our units.

2013 Venturing Forum Schedule

The November Venturing Forum was our final forum for 2012.  Have a wonderful Christmas break with your families.

The Hobble Creek District will begin a new roundtable schedule beginning January 2013.  The Venturing Forum will still be held in conjunction with Roundtable on the 2nd Thursday of each month (except December), but the location will change depending on where your sub-district (stake) meets during February, May and November.  The net result is that you (by virtue of your assignment in your sub-district) may get the opportunity to lead a discussion on Venturing in the very near future!  Stay tuned for updates.

Steve

November Venturing Forum

The topic for Thursday will be "Leadership - Division of Responsibilities".  A typical Crew organization can be found in appendix L of the Venturing Monthly Program Forum.  A description of Crew leadership responsibilities can be found in pages 11-23 of the Venturing Leader Manual (pdf or html).  

We look forward to the conversation on Thursday.
Steve

Recent counsel from David Pack

On Saturday I had the chance to attend Commissioner College where the scout executive for the Utah National Parks Council and former director of LDS-BSA relations, David Pack, spoke to us about our responsibilities as commissioners.  His comments are applicable to all adult scouters.

Brother Pack attended a national BSA meeting with President Thomas S. Monson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Texas.  President Monson has served on the board of the BSA since the year I was born, in 1969 (that's 42 years if you are counting).  During the conversation as policies and procedures were being discussed, President Monson leaned over to Brother Pack and said, "We need to save each boy one at a time."

Interestingly, Robert Baden Powell, the founder of Scouting also said, "Scoutmasters deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass."

He then cited some statistics related to the late age in which young men in our council receive their Eagle scout award.

• 33% of Eagle Scout boards of review happen after the young man has turned 18
• 64% of Eagle Scouts are registered to a Venturing crew.

What do these statistics tell us about how we as adults are focusing on our young men?  Are these good stats or bad stats?  I'll leave it up to you to decide, but brother Pack's point centers around what the new Duty to God handbook for the LDS Church counsels us to do with our young men, to "focus on what they are becoming."

He then asked, "Why is scouting in the LDS church?"  It's because in the ACTIVITIES of the Aaronic Priesthood is where young men learn their duties.  Scouting is the ACTIVITY arm of the Aaronic Priesthood.

He then challenged us to let the young men perform their duties and lead.  He reminded us that there are four people in an LDS ward that hold priesthood keys.  Two of those are young men and one is the Bishop.  If those three are not receiving revelation (or are not given the opportunity to fully exercise their priesthood), then NO ONE in the quorum is receiving revelation for that quorum.

He then ended with his familiar story of why he loves 50-mile hikes from the June 2012 Ensign and how "on the second night around the campfire, you have the most teachable, ready-to-learn, ready-to-listen-to-the-Spirit young men you will ever see."

Great words of encouragement from our council executive, glad I was there.