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Team Meeting Overview PDF Print E-mail

  Meeting Overview

Since the Scouts themselves decide what activities to include in each meeting, every minute of every meeting counts - a Scout arriving just a few minutes late or leaving just a bit early will miss out on important information and FUN activities with their friends.

Each and every Scout should be able to participate in meetings.  If accommodations need to be made to ensure full participation, the Team Leader should strive to meet those needs.  Team meetings should always incorporate what each team's individual members find FUN and interesting.  Scouts should use meetings to build skills and fulfill their own curiosities  Each meeting should be approached with a sense of adventure, and Scouts should leave each meeting with a feeling of pride in what they have learned and accomplished.

Before the Meeting Begins

Scouts who arrive early can be outside playing a sport such as kickball or basketball.  Our aim is to keep our Scouts participating in activities they enjoy, rather than having them waste time sitting around.  Playing outside also allows them to use their physical energy in a constructive way before sitting down to a quiet meeting. 


Meeting Portions:
 
Each meeting is divided into several smaller portions.  While all of the following  represent important activities, they are not all mandatory in the case of an all-meeting activity or the opportunity to interact with someone with extraordinary talent during the Activity Buffet. Each meeting should include a Best of America portion and Announcements, but the other portions can be included or excluded. The ordering and time allotments below are approximate and can be altered. 

Jump-Start
3 min.

Jump Start is a first activity in a team meeting.  It is intended to "jump start" the meeting, by getting Scouts warmed up and thinking.  It provides our Scouts with the opportunity to break the ice, help our Scouts get to know each other, and develop public speaking skills in a safe, FUN environment.  Team Leaders, who are Scouts, toss out the topic and the discussion begins.  If your team does not yet have a Team Leader, an adult Team Counselor can toss out the topic.  The topic jumps from Scout to Scout quickly, "Hot Potato"-style.  A discussion topic is chosen at random, then Scouts who want to talk about that topic will each have a brief amount of time (approx. 30 seconds) to do so.  Transitions between speakers should be rapid and efficient, and periods of silence should be avoided.  This may take some practice.  The main goal of this activity is to foster enthusiasm and energy from the very beginning of the meeting.   Not every Scout will speak on every topic. 

We do not advocate interrupting a Scout or ending a discussion quickly that they are enjoying simply because the one to two minutes are up however.  We also not advocate correcting or stopping a Scout because they have a made mistake, or because they may have said something inappropriate.  There is time to handle that with the Scout later.  A shy Scout who is interrupted or corrected may be even less likely to contribute next time if they feel judged. 

The total number of topics discussed will depend on the size of the group; the more people, the more topics to keep things moving, but Jump Start is intended to be brief and should not exceed four topics.

Examples of topics to discuss include, but are not limited to:  Do you have a pet and what kind of pet is it?  What was the last movie you saw and did you like?  What was the last book you read and did you like it?


Best of America
5 min.

These are brief presentations about what our Scouts think is the Best of America.   A Scout volunteered at the prior meeting to be the Scout who presents the Best of America portion of the meeting.  Each Scout gets a turn, and when everyone has presented once, start over from the beginning.

A Scout can tell a story, read a poem, act out a story, sing a song, or express themselves personally regarding what the believe is the Best of America.

Again, we do not advocate correcting or stopping a Scout because they have a made mistake, or because they may have said something inappropriate.  There is time to handle that with the Scout later.  A shy Scout who is interrupted or corrected may be even less likely to contribute next time if they feel judged.  Topics should promote inclusion and celebration of all Americans.  Each and every Scout should enjoy and be enriched by every Best of America portion.

Examples: history of the American flag, I Am The Flag, the Emancipation Proclamation, Women's Suffrage, the Santa Fe Trail.  One Scout will present each week in a round-robin format to ensure that everyone has a turn. 
 
Team Time
10 min.

Team Time is the traditional part of a meeting.  It is the portion of the meeting in which Scouts discuss information applicable to the entire team or participate in activities with the entire team.

During Team Time, Scouts vote and decide via consensus which Guests to invite to the Activity Buffet.  Consensus means the Scouts discuss the issue until they all agree.  Scouts volunteer to contact potential Guests.  A Scout with an interest in a particular area is free to volunteer to contact those Guests.  For example, a Scout who loves to skateboard could volunteer to contact a Guests who an expert skateboarder.

A Scout also volunteers to give the Best of America presentation at the next meeting.

This is also the time to discuss upcoming activities and camping trips, and also to participate in team activities and games.  For example, if the Scouts decide to build  soap box derby cars for a weekend activity, Scouts would begin preparing during Team Time, discussing what parts they are going to need to bring along to the weekend activity to order to build the cars and what day the event should be held on.

Scouts also participate in team building games such as:

Untie-Yourself - in this game all the Scouts stand in a circle and with their left hands reach out and take someone's hand across the circle from them.  Then with their right hand, they take someone else's hand.  The Scouts then try to untie and untangle themselves without ever letting of anyone else's hand as try to find a solution as a group.

The Island Survivor Game - Scouts are given a list of 30 items they have while stranded on a desert island.  They choose which 10 items they want to salvage and bring along with them.  This also serves as a values-enhancement game and Scouts may be surprised by the correct answers.

Friendship
10min.

The Friendship portion of the meeting is intended to help our Scouts to get to know each other better and help them develop the skill of fostering friendship. 

The Friendship Portion of meeting consists of games to help our Scouts get to know each other.  The games are specifically designed to encourage interaction between our Scouts, allowing even the shiest Scouts to interact comfortably.  A couple of examples are below:

Find a Scout - The  name of an animal is written on a piece of paper and taped to the back of each Scout.  Every animal is taped on the back of two different Scouts.  Scouts walk up to each other and imitate the animal on the back of the Scout they are speaking with.  Scouts match themselves up with their partner who has the same animal, based on the imitation other Scouts do.

Scout Bingo - Scouts create a bingo game board out of construction paper with a grid a empty boxes on it.  In each box, Scouts write a series of ten facts , such as "has a little brother", or "favorite color is blue."  They then go around the room interviewing each other, trying to fill in as many spaces with a Scout's name as possible.


Scout Spirit !
3 min.

The Scout Spirit! portion of the meeting provides our Scouts to better understand and appreciate the guideposts they have been provided i n our Scout Programs.

A Scout can volunteer to present this section.  The chosen Scout will then lead the other Scouts in saying the portion of the Scout Program they have chosen and will then personally comment on what those words mean to them.  Scouts are expected to memorize and appreciation how the Scout Promise, Scout Code, Scout Motto, and Scout Spirit are relevant to their daily life soon as they are able. 

  The Scout can choose from the following:
* the Scout Promise
* Scout Code
* Scout Motto
* Scout Spirit
* the history of Adventure Scouts USA (can be read)
* the history of the Scout Movement (can be read)

This portion of the meeting is also intended to serve as a full orientation to new Scouts, sibling, parents, and family members of Scouts, and visitors.  Activity Buffet Guests can receive a shorter orientation.


Crew Meetings
10 min.
 Crew Time:  The purpose of the Crew Time portion of the meeting should be explained to Scouts.  The Crew Time portion of the meeting is for Crews to get together and discuss Crew information and activities such as camping trips or which Challenges can be accomplished together. Crews can also play Crew-building games.

Options for group building activities include but are not limited to: 

Untie-Yourself - in this game all the Scouts stand in a circle and with their left hands reach out and take someone's hand across the circle from them.  Then with their right hand, they take someone else's hand.  The Scouts then try to untie and untangle themselves without ever letting of anyone else's hand as try to find a solution as a group.

Find a Scout - The  name of an animal is written on a piece of paper and taped to the back of each Scout.  Every animal is taped on the back of two different Scouts.  Scouts walk up to each other and imitate the animal on the back of the Scout they are speaking with.  Scouts match themselves up with their partner who has the same animal, based on the imitation other Scouts do.

Activity Buffet
45 min.

The activity buffet is the portion of team meetings in which invited Guests interract with our Scouts during  practical interactive sessions.  Our Scouts may choose to attend whichever session they want and to interract with whichever Guest they want.  Example subjects include designing video games, illustrating comic books, and packing a backpack.

The Guests will talk about or demonstrate subjects chosen by the Scouts themselves.  Example subjects include creating and designing video games, writing and illustrating comic books, and packing a backpack for a camping trip.  The number of Guests should allow for an average of 6-7 Scouts per .  Smaller groups are acceptable, but larger groups should be avoided to maximize individualized attention.  The Scouts will research potential Guests and are ultimately responsible for the quality of each one.

Every Scout should make decisions for him or herself and be able to provide input in the selection process.  Full participation will ensure that Guests will appeal to the Scouts and address subjects that interest them. 

Smaller  groups are acceptable if the Guests is informed of the possibility and is willing to speak to a smaller group.  Subjects that might cater to smaller groups include poetry, classical music, and computer programming.  Before a  can be invited to a meeting, a minimum of two Scouts must firmly commit to attend that 's group.  This policy saves Guests the embarrassment of speaking to an audience of zero.
 

Did and Do
15 min.
 
Scouts who have completed a Challenge will use this time to display their new skills, explain what they have learned, and share the results of their experience with other Scouts. 

The fellow Scouts in the audience, ideally including a few Scouts with experience related to the Challenge being presented, will evaluate the presentations and decide whether the Scout has achieved the Challenge or not.  A Scout who obviously spent several hours and put forth considerable effort in their Challenge will be more likely to be approved than one who did the bare minimum and produced mediocre results. 

Announcements
1 min.
 
Announce the next meeting and time and remind those Scouts who have been given a responsibility such as telephoning potential Guests, or presenting the Best of America segment next time of what they should be doing.

Anything else that the Scouts will need to know should be gone over during this time.

Closing Activity
5 min.
 
The Closing of a meeting is important.  It is the beginning and end that people remembers, so like the beginning, the team meeting should end on an up note. 

Scouts can participate in games or projects.  The Closing activity should be FUN and should give Scouts an opportunity to reflect on what they liked most about the meeting.  An example:

Scouts can a draw a tree and each Scout get a paper "leaf" upon which they write what they liked best about the meeting and the leaves attached to the tree and hung up for all the Scouts to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Adventure Scouts USA