New Parent Guide

Purpose of this Guide 
This guide was prepared to provide one stop shopping for the type of information that is likely to be helpful to parents of new Boy Scouts, or parents of Boy Scouts new to Troop 32. Please read it, and keep it handy as a reference. You should also want to check out the Troop policy, available at the web site. 

Registration 

You’ll need to fill out a Boy Scout application for your boy, which must be signed by the Scoutmaster and turned into the Advancement Chairperson. This is necessary whether your boy is new to Scouting or is bridging over from a Cub Scout Pack. 

Cost 

It costs you nothing for your boy to join Troop 32, for the remainder of the calendar year.   Annual dues are payable in November, and were $80 last year. 


Meetings 

Regular meetings are shown in the table below. Other meetings are held for trip planning, training etc. as necessary. All meetings listed here are held at the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights (FPCAH), 302 N. Dunton in Arlington Heights. Most meetings are listed on the web site calendar. 

Troop Meeting 

All Scouts and adults that work with them 
FPCAH - Fellowship Hall (basement, enter on South side of building) 
7:15 PM every Monday   (with rare exceptions) 

Committee Meetings 

Committee Members, Scoutmaster 
FPCAH - end of hall on the right 
7:30 PM Usually 3rd Tuesday of each month, check calendar

Patrol Leader Council (PLC) 

All youth leaders, Scoutmaster 
FPCAH - end of hall on the left 
7:30 PM Usually 2nd Thursday of each month (changed to Wednesdays for the first half of 2016)

Program 
It would take a lot more room than we have here to tell you everything! The Troop 32 calendar, which is published at the beginning of each school year, includes the highlights of our planned program for the year. These, and more, are on the troop web site calendar also. Some of the primary components of the program are: 

  • Monday night troop meetings 
  • Campouts (the troop goes on an outing every month with few exceptions) 
  • Specialty outings (e.g. climbing campouts) 
  • District Activities 
  • Camporee (District-wide campout) 
  • Klondike (build a sled, race it in the snow, other Winter Scouting activities) 
  • Summer Camp at Napowan (a full week) 
  • Patrol meetings 
  • Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meetings 
  • High adventure trips (boys from the venture patrol go to the Boundary Waters and on a 50 mile hiking trip most years) 

Leaders and Roles 

The primary leadership roles in the troop are listed below.

Committee Chair
Responsible for chairing the committee, which, as in a Cub Scout Pack, is responsible for doing all the things necessary to make the Troop go (but note that the boys do much more in Boy Scouts than in Cub Scouts). 

Scoutmaster 
Responsible for program, mentors Senior Patrol Leader, trains youth leaders, performs Scoutmaster conferences, directs Assistant Scoutmasters (ASMs), reports to the committee.

Sr. Assistant Scoutmaster
The Sr. is a Troop 32 add-on. This role is usually assumed by the on-deck Scoutmaster. The Sr. ASM also can give Scoutmaster conferences to help offload some of this from the Scoutmaster. While this position is currently unfilled, we are fortunately to have several ASMs who attend campouts and step in for the Scoutmaster when needed.

ASM, New Boy Patrol 
Responsible for working with the first year Scout patrol(s). 

ASM, High Adventure  
Responsible for organizing high adventure trips.  Interested scouts are formed into crews to plan the trip specifics.  

Pitching In 
Everyone can help in some way, and ideally we would like to have at least one parent from each family helping out the troop. The committee chair has a list of roles that are currently unfilled, so the first thing to do would be to ask him or her what positions need to be filled. 

Please note that it is not necessary for you to attend the regular Troop meetings, unless you are in a role of working directly with the boys (assistant Scoutmaster, serving on board of review etc.). There is training and/or mentoring available for any role we have. 

Adult Leader Training 

We take our commitment to our boys seriously, and encourage all adult leaders to take part in the training that is offered for their role. To that end, it is Troop 32’s official policy to reimburse our adult leaders for the cost of certain official BSA courses upon successful completion. 

Communications 

With so many boys, and even more parents, it’s often a challenge to get the word out. Our troop employs a variety of methods help facilitate this, which are listed below. 

Google Group email distribution.  Email T32editor@gmail.com for access.
Web site troop32.info
Troop meetings 

The most important of these is the Google Group email list.  The Troop uses the email distribution list as a secure way to provide parents the most up to date information on campouts, meetings and upcoming troop activity.