Troop Open House. tool to reach youth who have never tried Scouting.

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2 Troop Open House The Boy Sout troop open house llows troop to swing open its doors nd roll out the red rpet to welome guests. It provides forum to show off Souting tivities nd the troop s omplishments. It is n effetive tool to reh youth who hve never tried Souting. Hosting troop open house is five-step proess tht hs een tried nd proven in troops throughout the ntion. Eh of the following five steps is vitl to the event s suess: 1. Present shool rlly to fifth- nd sixth-grders. 2. Mil the prents of interested youth personl invittion to the troop open house. 3. Follow the invittion with telephone ll to the prents. 4. Host the troop open house for youth nd their prents. 5. Orgnize troop or distrit tivity to involve new Souts right wy. Youth join Souting for the fun nd outdoor dventure. Prents wnt them to join for ompletely different resons hrter uilding nd ledership trining. Following this pln for onduting troop open house will help you ddress the wnts nd needs of oth youth nd their prents. Use the Troop Open House Plnning Sheet in this rohure to trk your progress. STEP I d e f Present the Shool Rlly The Boy Souts of Ameri reommends tht reruitment efforts e onentrted on fifth- nd sixth-grders in erly spring, s they pproh Boy Sout ge. Severl resoures n e used to sprk their interest, inluding introduing youth to Souting with n intertive presenttion. Coopertion of shools is essentil to gin ess to S out-ge youth. Contt shool dministrtion to shedule presenttion time during shool with smll groups of oys. Pln the presenttion to highlight Souting s tivities, high dventure, nd outdoor experienes. Disply hnds-on visuls suh s kpks, noes, nd tents, nd llow the youth to hek them out up lose. Dress in outdoor wer to omplete the setting. Allowing some experiened Souts to ssist in the presenttion ould help the youth visulize themselves s Souts. The presenttion should e no more thn five minutes. Following the introdutory presenttion, give eh youth High- Adventure Survey, Ask them to hek the high-dventure experienes tht interest them. Explin tht Sout troops do the kinds of tivities listed on the survey. While the youth re working on their surveys, nnoune tht you would like to invite them to join Sout troop. Explin tht they will reeive n invittion to join Sout troop in their ommunity if they mrk tht they re interested in joining. Collet every survey, nd hek to ensure tht eh is omplete with the youth s full nme nd ontt informtion. If the shool nnot llow ssemlies with youth, suggest the lterntive pln of hving the shool distriute the High-Adventure Survey. Be sure to pik up the ompleted surveys soon fter their distriution. The High-Adventure Survey hs shown tht 30 to 60 perent of non- Souts would like to join troop. High-Adventure Survey, Aville from your lol ounil servie enter.

3 STEP II Mil the Invittion The next step involves following up on the initil ontt with youth who indited their desire to join troop. The Soutmster should send personl letter or e-mil to the prents of eh interested youth, spelling out the vlues of Souting nd extending n invittion for the youth nd his prents to visit the troop t its upoming open house. Inlude Time Well Spent rohure, , or nother rohure tht desries Souting s vlues, to provide further informtion. Timing is importnt. Mil or e-mil the letter, or e-mil the e-invite s soon s possile fter the survey is ompleted; shedule the troop open house for the week fter the fmily reeives the invittion letter. Model your letter fter the following smple: Time Well Spent rohure, Aville from your lol ounil servie enter. Der prent: Your son hs tken step towrd uilding solid future; re you willing to support his growth? Reently, your son indited his desire to try his hnd t suh high-dventure tivities s kpking, yling, mping, swimming, noeing, rok liming, nd horsek riding. Our Sout troop will prtiipte in these tivities nd even more in the oming yer, nd we would like to invite him to join the Boy Souts of Ameri. Souting hs reputtion for helping youth develop self-reline, strong hrter, respet for others, good itizenship skills, nd physil nd mentl fitness. For lmost entury, our progrms hve instilled in young men the vlues nd knowledge tht they need to eome leders in their ommunities nd in their ountries. Plese join our troop for our open house t (time) on (dte) t (ple). You ll get firsthnd look t some of our troop tivities, nd you n visit with our Souts nd their dult leders. Tke some time to look over the enlosed rohure, nd ring ny questions or onerns to the meeting. I look forwrd to meeting you! Sinerely, Soutmster, Troop Telephone no.

4 STEP III Follow Up With Cll On the dy or evening efore the open house, eh prospetive Sout s household should reeive telephone ll from memer of the troop, idelly the Soutmster, who sent the letter. As you mke the ll, keep in mind tht the youth hs lredy expressed his interest, so diret the ll to prent. To help put the prents t ese, sk the following questions: Did the fmily reeive the Soutmster s letter or e-invite? Does nyone in the fmily hve previous Souting experiene? Do they hve ny questions out Souting or the troop open house? Do they know the time nd lotion of the troop open house? Ensure prents tht you look forwrd to meeting them nd will meet them t the door to greet everyone. STEP IV Host the Troop Open House d e The troop open house n e onduted s distritwide event for numer of troops, or n individul troop n ondut one independently. The importnt ide to rememer is tht Souting is showsed nd eh guest is mde to feel welome. Involve ll troop memers in the open house from the plnning stge. Remind eh Sout of the importne of uilding their troop; e reeptive to their ides. Begin mking plns for the open house s erly s possile, following these suggestions: Prior to the night of the open house, involve the troop in spruing up the meeting ple. Tret the tsk s spring lening sine the troop will e weloming guests. Prepre disply of troop tivities, photos, nd wrds tht the troop hs erned. Assign greeters to e t the door to welome guests s they rrive. Be sure to hve dequte seting. Hve printed gend nd opy of the troop s lendr t eh set. Mke ssignments for eh prt on the gend well in dvne. The senior ptrol leder should e the emee of the meeting. Prepre refreshments for your guests if you desire. The troop open house should follow n gend, suh s the one in this rohure, to help guests gther rod rnge of Souting informtion. The youth is introdued to si Souting skills while n dult troop leder informs the prents out Souting s vlues nd its positive effet on youth. During the open house, Souts nd Souters should do everything possile to mke their guests feel omfortle nd to nswer eh question s it rises. Be sure prents know they my sk questions t ny time. The guests should e llowed to prtiipte whenever possile. At some point, the Soutmster should explin tht oth the youth nd his prents my join the troop. Hve pplitions ville for oth Souts nd dults.

5 SAMPLE TROOP OPEN HOUSE AGENDA 1 Preopening Assign To 2 Condut simple tion gme for erly rrivls. Opening Hold the flg eremony. 3 Welome the guests. Ativity time A. Skill time for youth Hot sprk Knot rely Tent pithing B. Prent orienttion Explin the idels nd vlues of Souting. Introdue the troop ledership nd its orgniztion. Distriute the troop lendr. Explin the summer mp opportunity. Thoroughly explin the osts of troop memership. 4 Joining proess Youth nd prents omplete pplitions to join Souting. 5 Announe informtion out the next troop meeting. Closing Soutmster s Minute 6 Closing eremony Refreshments (optionl)

6 STEP V Orgnize Troop or Distrit Ativity During the initil ontt with Sout-ge youth, we promised tht Souting is tion-pked. Youth will expet tht dventure soon fter they eome Souts, so shedule n exiting tivity soon fter the troop open house. Here re few suggestions: Troop Cmpout New Souts joined with the expettion of going mping, nd they should e given this oppor tunity for outdoor tivity s soon s possile fter the troop open house. Begin plnning the tivity well efore the troop open house so tht the event is in ple when the new Souts join. Distritwide Overnighter Some distrits my hoose to host ll their troops for n overnighter t n re mp. The progrm ould inlude si Souting skills, mpfire, nd prepring simple mel. The experiene will quikly give new Souts sense of elonging nd fulfill their expettions of n exiting dventure. Lok-Ins Lok-in events lso hve proven suessful in some distrits. Lok-ins, whih re espeilly effetive in older limtes, re more like mp-ins rther thn the usul mpout. They n e set up t the lol YMCA or shool gymnsium. Progrm possiilities ould inlude swimming, sports, movies, refreshments, nd little sleeping. Two-Deep Ledership Aording to BSA Youth Protetion poliies, every BSA trip or outing involving Sout-ge youth should e supervised y two BSA-registered dult leders or one registered dult leder nd prent or gurdin of prtiipnt, one of whom must e t lest 21 yers of ge. The hrtered orgniztion is responsile for ensuring tht suffiient ledership is provided for ll tivities. For more informtion nd updtes on BSA Youth Protetion, onsult Get New Souts Involved New Souts should e introdued into the minstrem of troop tivities s soon s possile fter they join the troop. Assign them to new-sout ptrol nd get them strted on erning dvnement. The Soutmster, ssistnt Soutmster, or troop guide should tke responsi ility for helping new Souts get good strt. TROOP OPEN HOUSE PLANNING SHEET Distrit Troop Shool Dte of Shool Rlly Surveys Yes/No Dte Invittion Miled Dte Telephone Cll Mde Dte of Open House New Souts New Adults Boys Life susriptions SKU Boy Souts of Ameri 1325 West Wlnut Hill Lne P.O. Box Irving, TX Printing