Worksheet for Meeting Seven

Prior to the Meeting

Call Scouts who volunteered to contact potential Guests for the Activity Buffet and the Scout who is presenting the Best of America to remind them ahead of time. 

At the Meeting

Teacher Night

If Scouts opted to come early and cook the meal at the meeting location, they can arrive an hour or two early and put the meal together.  If Scouts opted to bring the meal, they can bring the dishes in and set up the table.

Scouts voiced their preferences for how the room was set-up at the last meeting, just follow their instructions.

Set up the Good Time Candle.  The candle should be set where away from Scouts, where they can see it, but not play with it and get burned.

Early Arrivals

Scouts who arrive early can help get ready or play a game.  Preferably, Scouts can play outside, if weather permits, games like Frisbee or basketball.  This will help them work out their energy in a constructive way before sitting down to a quiet meeting.

The Meeting

This meeting must be FUN.  All meetings should be FUN, but it is vital that Scouts have FUN during their first several meeting because that is what is going to encourage them to come back.

Scouts and their teachers sit down to the meal.  Scouts should briefly introduce their teachers.  Such as, “This is my teacher, Mrs. Evans, and she teaches the fourth grade.”

Jump Start

Jump Start.  Possible Jump Start subjects include: 

Ideas for a first Jump Start Activity are: 

• What is your favorite TV show?
• Movie?
• Movie character?

Best of America

Best of America:   Possible options include explaining the Boston Tea Party, or other Revolutionary event (acting something out is not the best choice during dinner)

Personal Hero

During this portion of the meeting a Scout volunteers to name someone they consider a hero.  Scouts may choose anyone they want.  Popular choices include historical figures, athletes, mythic action heroes, or figures from the heritage of their faith.

Team Time

The purpose of the team time portion of the meeting should be explained to Scouts.  Team Time is the portion of the meeting in which Scouts discuss information or take part in activities are that are relevant to the entire team. 

• Orientation.  If new Scouts arrive, family or friends attend who had had the orientation.  A Scout volunteers or is chosen by their fellow Scouts to present the Best of America portion of the next meeting.

• Every Scout should be placed in a position in which they have some responsibility for the next meeting.  This will encourage them to return for then next meeting.

• Scouts vote and decide via consensus whom they want to be Activity Buffet Guests at the next couple of meetings, and Scouts volunteer to contact them. 

• Consensus means the Scouts discuss the issue until they all agree.  The concept of consensus should be explained to the Scouts and its relevance to team meetings.  The Knights of the Round Table used consensus to make decisions.  Detailed instructions can be found in the Consensus document included in your starter kit.

• Scouts need to choose which Guests to invite to the next meeting, and they will be doing it via consensus. Detailed instructions can be found in the document “How-To Hold an Activity Buffet”, included in your starter kit.  Choices for Guests include but are not limited to: (note:  if a Halloween party is planned and the next meeting will be eliminated, do not invite anyone to speak!)

• Someone who works at a local amusement park
• Local athlete
• Paleontologist from local Natural History museum
• Pilot

• Decide who will be bringing Snacks for next time

• Plan possible Halloween party, such as who will bring food, decorate, etc.

When Scouts and teachers are finished eating, Scouts should clear as soon as possible.  If time is running out, they are free to skip Friendship Activities.

Friendship Activities:  Possibilities include:

 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.

Bingo – Scouts make a game board from construction paper and make a grid of separate squares on it.  In each square they write a random fact, for example, “Favorite color is green”, or “Has a little brother”; they then go around the room interviewing each other trying to fill in as many squares as possible with a Scout’s name.

The Desert Island Game – Scouts meet in their groups and are given a list of things.  They decide if they were stranded on a desert island, which of these things they would bring along.  They are given a maximum of ten items they can bring and a list of around 30.

The Whistle Game:  Bury a whistle beneath a mound of whipped cream.  The first team to find the whistle and successfully blow it, wins.

Crew Time:  Scouts form their Crews.  Scouts can plan some Challenges they would like to accomplish together as a Crew. Games should be encouraged to help Scouts get to know each other.  Scouts can decide which activities they would like to do as a Crew, such as the Soap Box Derby Race, and can continue to plan their Challenges.  Crews can plan a weekend activity.

Activity Buffet:  This is the portion of the meeting where Scouts get to choose the Guests they would like to interact with invite those Guests to the meeting.  The Sheriff for a Meeting introduces the Guests.

Guests will present their learning-by-doing sessions during this period.

Did and Do: Scouts are starting to accomplish Challenges on their own and are ready to demonstrate them, therefore doing Challenges during meeting time can start to be eliminated.  Those who are on their way to achieving Challenges should be recognized.

Clean-Up:  The meeting location should be left cleaner than when the team arrived.  Scouts can play Beat the Clock while cleaning up.  Beat the Clock can make a game out of any activity and it is race to get the activity done well and done as quickly as possible.  See the Beat the Clock document for more information.

Announcements:  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.

Closing: The Closing Activity should be FUN and enjoyable. The Sheriff for a Meeting gets to choose and lead the closing activity. This is the grand finale and should be memorable.  People remember the beginning and the end of meetings, so we want it to be FUN! Choices include but are not limited to:

• Scouts can create an elaborate thank you to their teachers

Departure

Note to the Team Counselors:

At least one Counselor must stay until every Scout has been picked up, however everyone must be in a group of three at minimum – two adults to one Scout or two Scouts to one adult.  Under no circumstances is an adult ever alone with an individual Scout (unless they are the parent or guardian of that Scout). At least one Counselor must stay either with another Counselor or with another adult to meet our youth protection standards.  We know our Counselors have gone through a background check; it is inappropriate to leave a Scout with an adult who has not undergone a background check, such as a parent or guardian of another child.  This is true of every meeting, program, and activity.