Passing the test

I am going to have to be honest. The last several months have really tested my resolve and commitment as an Adult Scout volunteer. I have often heard that “Scouting would be fun if it were not for the adults”. We kind of expect conflict and issues with kids since that is part of the growing up process and failures are really an important part of maturing. When conflict and frustrations come from adults it can be heart breaking.

I am the FOS chair so of course all Council financial complaints come my way. I have always felt we should give our time and our finances to things we believe. Is it such a big deal to give even $20 bucks?

I am an ASM for the 2013 National Scout Jamboree and have been shocked to have so few Scoutmasters and unit leaders return phone calls or e-mails. Our signups are low and I am convinced it is mostly due to Unit leaders not passing along the information to their Scouts. Really is it all that difficult to return a phone call or reply to an e-mail?

I am an ASM of a wonderful Scout Troop and have been frustrated by adult to adult conflicts, people driven by egos and personal agendas. Can’t we all just get along and have fun?

There have been times when I have started to question why I spend so much of my time, my money and my heart on this program.

Sunday I attended the Troop Court of Honor and once again had a chance to be reminded of the why. I saw the Scouts dressed in full uniform enjoying each other as friends. I saw proud parents beam as their sons celebrated rank advancements. In the row in front of me, saw a grandma shed tears throughout her grandson’s Eagle speech. Best of all, I heard two Eagle Scouts tell what the program has come to mean to them as they have journeyed to Eagle. It was a wow moment for sure.

Scouting is not a hobby or just something fun to do in the outdoors. For me, it is a mission that God has given me. It is my chance to show His love through the Oath, Law and Motto. It is my chance to maybe in the slightest possible way have a positive influence on a youth and perhaps even his parent.

To my core, I know there is a kid that will be different and better as a result of this program. Even if the investment only pays off for one person and even if that payoff only comes many years from now it will all be worth it.

Yes we may never see these results in person and we may never know the difference we made. That does not matter if you know in your heart why you are here. “On my honor I will do my best”

So—Bring it on! I am not going anywhere as long as there is any Scout out there that in even the smallest way may benefit from my mission. I know why I am here.

Do you?

Another weekend of Philmont training

I love running these! 

This weekend we met and walked the stairs again at the Chase building downtown. The goal for me this week was to walk the 38 stories of stairs four times. It is amazing to me how challenging stair walking is in comparison to other workouts. I am happy to say that my overall fitness and ability to do this has improved greatly from when we walked the first time a few months ago. I was able to complete the four round trips and felt pretty good the entire time.


Most of the Scouts are doing well with this too and there are a few that struggle each time. It seems most of the non-sports kids are not doing any exercise in between our meetings. The weather outside, conflicts with homework and motivation when not at a structured session with buddies are all challenges they are working to overcome. February is typically the coldest month of the year here in OKC and my hope is that as spring arrives in March we can get outside together more and add some weeknight walks when the time changes.

Showing treks on a Philmont map

The stair sessions have been followed by instruction time back at the Scout room. The boys have prioritized the activities they want to do at Philmont and used this as a filter to list the top five treks they plan to submit for in March when the official selection process begins. They have been lucky. With having been to Philmont several times and with a son that has worked there as a ranger, our Scoutmaster seems know every inch of the property and every program. This is really helping the Scouts make an informed decision about what they want to do. The Scoutmaster has made a real point to let them determine the choice and make the trek Scout run.

Our next training is going to be a full day with the Scouts introducing them to the gear they will be using.

I am looking forward to it.

2013 National Scout Jamboree

Last Frontier Council 2013 National Scout Jamboree

View more PowerPoint from dcopel01

I am excited to have been selected as one of the Assistant Scoutmasters for our 2013 National Scout Jamboree contingents. Now we just have to recruit a bunch of Scouts to join us for this great once every four year event. This is the first for the Summit and that makes it even more exciting!

The national and the Last Frontier Council Jamboree committees have worked to keep the costs at the lowest possible price point and as a result this year it is half the price of 2010!

What do you think is most exciting about the 2013 National Scout Jamboree?

Are you going?

Going to Philmont--This year!

The calendar has turned and now we are finally in 2012. This simple little change is making the reality of going to Philmont seem closer and more real. Our crew is continuing to prepare with winter training that includes a session of walking stairs at a downtown building follow by a learning session led by our Scoutmaster. We are fortunate that he has been to Philmont several times and has extensive knowledge.


During the meeting this week, he had several handouts for the Scouts about the various Trek offered and programs. Time was spent in detail discussing each option. Being Scout run, it is up to the guys to decide our Trek and they left with worksheets to prioritize what they would like to do. I like the point of the Scoutmaster---There are many great places to go hike but there is only one and the difference there is the programs. I know they will chose well.

Wrapping up Woodbadge

My time as a Troop Guide for Woodbadge Course 1017 officially came to a close a couple of weeks ago. In some ways it seems like eons ago since the actual course and in some ways it seems just like yesterday. I am proud to have had the great privilege to be the Troop Guide for the Owl Patrol and to have seen them grow together as a team during the course. Next, I saw the Owls put their learning into practice through the implementation of their goals (Tickets).


In my non- Scouting life I am a Human Resource Development manager (training) for Sprint. I therefore speak from many years of training experience when I say that Woodbadge is a leadership development course on par or better than any course you will find in corporate America. I wish that during my tenure as a leadership trainer I would have had at my disposal courses that teach theory(weekend one), practice application(weekend two) and then had the participants show effective use of the training out in the real world(Tickets) with accountability for successful completion. Scouters get all of this and more with Woodbadge.

I wonder if any other non-profit organization has as great and effective training as does the Boy Scouts of America. We are fortunate indeed.

It is my hope that the Owls and others of SR 1017 will take the many lessons from Woodbadge and will continue to apply them in practice to benefit Scouting, their family, and their professional life. I know as a Troop guide, I personally took away experiences that have helped me grow. Truly life is a process of continual learning.

Good Luck Owls and all the participants of SR 1017. Thank you for taking such a commitment for to improve your effectiveness as Scout volunteers and as mentors to the next generation.

They did it!

Wow they did it! Our Scouts participating in the hiking merit badge hiked 20 miles last week. This was their final hiking requirement for the merit badge and last Philmont urban training hike before moving on to winter stair climbing.

As we walked I thought back to the first 5 mile hike we did way back in summer. I know at that time the thought of going a full 20 in a single day seemed a little far-fetched. Heck I have run several marathons but the idea of walking that far seemed crazy and painful in my mind. There is power in youthful exuberance and the guys had so much fun on all the hikes that the time seemed to fly by. I especially enjoyed the variety of locations around OKC and Edmond they chose for us to walk. It was not very many years ago that walking these trails would have been impossible since they did not even exist.

I was shocked really to read in a Philmont Advisor guide “Rangers that we talked to say that, based on their experience, 80% of the adult advisors coming to Philmont are not adequately prepared for the physical demands of the backcountry and that 50% of the adult advisors had not exercised at all prior to their arrival at Philmont.” Ouch!

I know from my own miserable experience as a youth at Philmont that being physically prepared is a key to actually having fun. I was not in the right shape as a kid at Philmont and my memories now are mostly of blisters and pain on the trail. Our Scouts and adults will be ready.

Perhaps my favorite part of the hike was the look on the faces of folks we passed by as they stared at this group of 14 crazy folks walking with packs on through OKC. I guess it is pretty unusual to see youth hiking 10 -20 miles starting at 6AM. There were also the whoo hoos! from people that would yell “go Scouts!” or people that would say, “You guys must be Scouts!”. Kind of good to know that even out of uniform they can be recognizable by the community is such a positive way.

Now it is time to move on to stage two of the fitness training plan. Hiking stairs at a downtown high rise building. Now that is going to be hard. (well and a lot of fun I am sure)

Final Philmont 10 mile training hike...

Yesterday was our final 10 mile hike and next up is the super challenge of a 20 miler on Sunday. The hike this week around was a little more scenic thanks to some time on a short trail through a local wildlife refuge. All of our hikes have been urban walks on paved paths prior to this and it was kind of nice to get some dirt on our boots for a change. Trails for these hikes would be ideal of course but her in our part of the state we would be looking at a long drive to find such a thing. We are fortunate at least to have a wide variety of walking trails available.


Overall this 10 mile hike experience has been a good one. The boys have taken the lead on each of them with the adults hanging a few steps back. Next week is going to be a big challenge with a 20 miler. I have run marathons and done other distance events but walking 20 miles is something new and finishing this is going to be an accomplishment for everyone.

After we complete the hike, the boys will move on to winter training which will be walking up and down stairs at a building downtown. Whew that is going to fun too! We have backpacking campout weekends set for the spring in various location and there is no doubt that these guys will be as prepared as possible for a great experience when they take that first step on the trail at Philmont in July 2012.