Shining Waters Council Newsletter - Jan 2019
|
|
Happy New Year, Shining Waters Council!
It’s January in Shining Waters. It’s time for winter camps, tobogganing, and hikes in the snow.
Being the new year, it’s also a time of renewal and reflection. 2019 welcomes our new Council Commissioner, Kit Cheng, and we say farewell (sort of) to Dave Williams, whose term ends in February (Dave has some awesome plans up his sleeve. Hint: summer is going to be extra special this year for our council…).
We welcome in three new Area Youth Commissioners and two new Area Commissioners to our Council leadership team. With so many new faces bringing new experiences and perspectives to our team, it’s hard not to feel a sense of renewal or excitement.
This January we look forward to our Bring a Friend campaign events planned in all areas across the council (see below for more). We hope to introduce more and more youth to the fun and adventure that only Scouting can bring and to growing our movement through this endeavour.
Yours in Scouting,
Shining Waters Council Key 4
Jason, Dave, Kit and Nikki
|
Third Edition -- And We Still Need Your Help!
|
Well, this is the third edition of our Council newsletter. It's a new year and I received an article submission! I knew 2019 would see an avalanche of contributions from groups and sections wanting to tell us about the great adventures they've been having.
Would you like to contribute? Send us an email along with 2 or 3 pictures to our email address (Shining Waters Council Marketing and Communications):
swcMarCom@scouts.ca. Of course, you must have permission to publish the picture (everyone in the picture must have their Photo Release set to Yes). The article is 2 or 3 paragraphs long and best if written primarily by a youth. Scouters can contribute but we want to see credit given to the youth who plan, do and review. We need the author's name and group so credit is given. Submissions are due the first of each month so they can be published mid-month.
Yours in Scouting,
Wayne Morrison, DCC Marketing & Communications, Shining Waters Council
|
|
York Headwaters (YHW) Area recently teamed up with South Lake Simcoe (SLS) Area to provide a few workshops for youth/ adult Scouters who would like to improve their Scouting skills in contribution with their groups. The Volunteer Survey shows that Scouters want more training experiences but they would prefer episodic workshops rather than the week-long or multi-weekend training events that have traditionally been offered.
The revitalized approach to Wood Badge II allows training to be offered in a more flexible manner. Workshops can be built into Council/ Area camps, workshops, Scouters’ Clubs or Scouting Conferences. Courses designed to cover sets of Scouter Development Cards or anyone interested topic Scouters would like to share their experiences. All of these learning experiences will count towards Scouters’ Wood Badge II progression.
We had success of these workshops in 2018.
- Winter Camping & Safety Workshop
- Campfire Song Along & Craft Workshop
- Backwoods Cooking Workshop
- Knotting 101 Workshop
- Scouter Development Card Workshop – Volunteer Support
We have even more exciting workshops coming in 2019.
|
|
STEM Workshop
Date: Saturday, January 19, 2019
Time: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Location: Thornhill United Church - Basement
Big or Small? Go Small! Advance knotting / Lashing Workshop
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2019
Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: Woodland Trails Scout Camp – Maple Wood Lodge
Scouter Development Card Workshop – Program Facilitation
Date: May 3-5, 2019
Location: Woodland Trails Scout Camp – Leathem Scouting Centre
Scouter Development Card Workshop – Outdoor Skills
Date: May 24-26, 2019
Location: Blue Spring Scout Reserve - Ridley Lodge
Macgyver Scouting Workshop – Coming in spring
For more information, contact Elwick Tang at elwick@rogers.com.
|
|
Happy Scouters = Great Programs
|
How can you spot a Scouting section with a terrific program? Take a look at the Scouter Happiness indicator.
The measure of a group's success and program quality is directly aligned with the Scouter Happiness Key Performance Indicator (KPI). Ok, there isn't such a metric. I just made it up. However, I can tell from years of experience that a group with Scouters who are laughing and really enjoying the program are almost always guaranteed to be running a quality program. They're the sections that return from an event, an outing or a camp excited about how things went and are talking about the next event. In fact, when everyone is contributing to the conversation about how the last event can be made even better, you're definitely along the Canadian Path and clearly working the Plan, Do, Review fundamental.
How can you increase the Scouter Happiness KPI? Recruit lots of volunteers. Leverage everything in the Canadian Path to ensure the youth are deeply involved in the planning, take ownership of the adventures and are helping to teach and lead others in new skills. Involve all your parents. No matter how small the task, ask a parent to contribute to the section's success. Perhaps you've noticed the Scouters in the best operating Scout sections appear to be doing very little. It's not that they're lazy, it's that they've figured out how delegating leadership, enabling youth to lead and using the parent help means they can sit back and observe. They focus on the program quality instead of the items that typically consume your day.
|
|
|
Please note that our registration fees for the 2018/2019 scouting year dropped from $230 to
$180
as of January 1st, 2019.
The winter months might be a good time to hold a
Bring-A-Friend
event. If you need materials, contact your Area Commissioner, your local Scouting Relationship Manager (SRM) or Council Relationship Manager (CRM),
Nikki Donadio
, or contact the Council. We can set you up.
|
|
Plan, Do and Review!
Have you talked to your youth yet about what they liked, didn't like and given them the chance to provide their feedback?
Great, now all you need to do is add it into
myscouts
and you've completed your fall PQA!
Also, on the note of Program Quality Assessments a new tool is on its way to you... Stay tuned for more information! In the meantime, refer to the
Program Quality Guide
for help in conducting your seasonal reviews.
|
|
Preparing for Winter Camp (& Fun!)
|
The success of winter camp is often tied to how prepared everyone is to deal with the cold and dampness.
This means reviewing in advance what good equipment and clothing looks like. It doesn't make much sense to state "you should have brought your snow pants" after the parents have dropped off.
Enjoy this article in
Scouting Life
by Kate Lau, Ryan Mark, Pamely Woo, Clif Yu, 5th Unionville, 3rd prize Endless Adventure Contest Winners.
|
|
|
|
|
Saying Thanks to a Scouts Canada Volunteer for their outstanding contributions to Scouting is this easy:
- Any stakeholder to Scouting (volunteers, youth, parents, the community at large) can fill out a simple form to commend a Scouter for their outstanding act or service to Scouting.
- Scouters (or contributing youth participants) will receive a certificate every time they are commended by a stakeholder and it will be presented within the Scouter’s section or group.
- As Scouters accumulate commendations, they will become eligible for Outstanding Service Awards and will be recognized with a medal and uniform insignia for each award.
Would you like to thank a Scouter or a youth for their impact on you, your child or your community? Just hit the
Thank You
here … it’s that easy!
You'll be asked for the Council. We're part of Shining Waters Council. You'll be asked for your Area and Group. You may need to ask your section Scouter for this information otherwise selection an Area then search the Group dropdown for your Group.
|
|
Not on the Council Newsletter Distribution List?
|
|
If you are not receiving this newsletter directly or wish to subscribe via an email other than the one identified in the MyScouts registration system, you can do so by clicking the button below and filling in the form. The options for the last couple of entries are described at the top of the form.
|
|
Scouts Canada 1345 Baseline Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada K2C 0A7
© Scouts Canada
If you no longer wish to recieve emails from Scouts Canada, you can unsubscribe below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
