Home.6 March 1999
Greetings, Projectoree Staff Member!
- and Thank You for assisting with this year's Projectoree. This event could not take place without you, and we are grateful that you chose to assist us over your many other conflicting activities.
Hopefully, most of you have either acted as Staff members at previous Projectorees, or at least participated in a previous Projectoree on a Patrol basis. Either way, this guide will help you understand what's going on, and your role for the weekend. In the past, we discussed all this after the Friday night PLC, which made for an extremely long evening for the staff members (especially when it was freezing cold out, like in 1997.) We are still holding a Friday night PLC/Staff meeting, but it will be a much shorter affair (especially if everyone has already read this guide!)
Note that we are once again expecting to be "short" of staff members this year - this means that we'll probably ask you to help for both morning and afternoon events, if you're present. As in the past, a fair number of staff members will only be coming for just part of Saturday, so we'll have to use whoever's around in order to make everything work.
Before we go any further, you should take the time to first read the Projectoree Patrol Leader's Guide, which partially explains to the Patrol Leaders what's going on; this will be excellent background for you as well.
OK, back already? Great! Now that you know what the Patrol Leader's roles are, you also have a better idea what your roles are. In essence, we try to make the Projectoree a fairly unique experience in that we give you many of the jobs normally held by Adults at most camporees - that is, "real" responsibility. In some cases, you will be involved in basic organizational positions - registrar, rovers, campfire staff, flag ceremonies, etc.; in other (and to be honest, most) cases, you will be acting as staff to run one of the 10 scored competitions which represent the guts of the Projectoree. Regardless of what position you hold, a detailed description of your job is included on the Projectoree page of the Troop 111 website, and you are strongly encouraged to read it before you come down to the Projectoree, especially if you're coming down at the last possible second on Saturday, and have to "jump right in."
Since the Staff job position descriptions are fairly detailed, I will concentrate on the competition Staff instructions. First, you will need to set up the event in accordance with the provided instructions. Each Troop is responsible for bringing everything they need to run their event, and also to train their staff members in how to run it. As noted in the Patrol Leader's Guide, we are setting up four separate runs per event, in order to handle four Patrols simultaneously. It is possible - but not likely - that we will have 18 or fewer Patrols, in which case we'll cut back to three runs per event, but right now it's four. Although there will be a "shadow Adult" to monitor and assist setup and execution, most of the work is the job of the Senior Scout Staff. It is an excellent idea to set up the event with sufficient time remaining that the staff can get together and review how to run and score the event. CONSISTENCY IS VITAL!!! You must score all four runs identically, and the first Patrol of the day must be scored the same way as the last Patrol of the day. If you don't do this, the competitive scoring becomes inconsistent and unfair.
As noted in the PL's Guide, each PL's will have his own yellow scoring sheet, while your event will have a blue scoring sheet. In some (but not all) of the events, there are also secondary scoring sheets to assist "on the fly" scoring of Patrols - the data from which are transferred to the yellow and blue sheets when everyone is done. The shadow Adults for each event will have these secondary scoring sheets (they were provided at the last Projectoree meeting, and are also available on the website under the detailed competition instructions.) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write legibly!!! I beg the staff every year on this point, and every year we end up tossing an event because the scoring is unreadable. Note that we will use the blue sheets as the primary scoring source, with the yellow sheets as backup; therefore, you need to be most careful on the Blue Sheets.
Review of the weekend schedule
With the exception of the registrar, there are really no Senior Scout jobs on Friday night except event setup as required. Staff members are welcome to camp in the Staff area (beyond and behind the comfort station), or can stay with their Troops if they prefer. Staff camping in the staff area can eat Staff food if they have paid for it; we will be serving a snack at the Friday night PLC, all three meals on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday. Staff members are expected to assist the Staff Food Troop as time allows in prepping and cleaning up the meals.
The Friday night PLC will (hopefully) be a very quick affair this year - just a quick intro, handing out of scoring and competition schedule sheets, and a few pointers and reminders on what's happening. We will try to assign free staff after the PLC, if any are present, starting with the morning events. All staff members will then get together with their shadow adults and discuss event set-up and time coordination.
On Saturday, you'll have to assist in your event setup as soon as possible after breakfast (but completed by no later than 9am) Please wear either your Staff T-Shirt or a full Scout Uniform. As previously discussed, you'll need to practice the event once or twice among the staff members to get everyone up to speed before you start. Make sure you have all the needed equipment, especially pens, stopwatches and scoring sheets, before you start.
When the Patrols arrive, don't start them without an intro. Make sure you have the "right" Patrols (sometimes, they get mixed up as to where they're supposed to be); check it using your copies of the Competition schedule. Once that's straightened out, each Patrol should be "run through" the event so they know what they're supposed to do, how to do it, and the penalties for doing it wrong; always be positive about what a good time they will have doing the event! Work primarily with the Patrol Leader when explaining the event!!! When you're done, let them brainstorm for a minute or two, then start. Don't let them waste a lot of time practicing - we have to keep everyone moving. Remember that everyone is to participate - no exceptions (unless a Scout has an obvious physical disability; in the latter case, you should do everything you can to help the Scout participate, without penalizing the Patrol.) We do not want to see 3 or 4 Scouts doing the event twice while everyone else sits off to the side and watches them. As noted in the PL's Guide, each event is normalized to ensure equal scores for everyone regardless of Patrol size - you will need to monitor this carefully, in accordance with the detailed event instructions. Note that whatever score the Patrol gets the first time is it - if they have time, they can repeat the event "for fun," but not for score. Make sure you mark the Patrol Leader's yellow scoresheet, and the event blue sheet, before the Patrol leaves for the next event (and again, please write legibly!) Encourage the Patrol to get to the next event quickly when the double air-horn blast marks the end of the event.There is really only one thing that can ruin the Projectoree spirit (other than bad weather), and that's intentionally mis-scoring your Troop's Patrols. Please treat all Patrols equally, including "your" Patrols. Note that even joking about it can be misinterpreted and cause some really hard feelings.
Both the morning and afternoon sessions are two and a half hours of non-stop action. Listen for the air-horn blasts, watch your schedules, and keep an eye on your watches. If you need a break, you can ask one of the "rovers" to spell you. Don't forget to drink plenty of water, and protect yourself from the sun if it's really bright outside; you don't need to go home with a vicious sunburn. Also encourage each Patrol to drink water while at your event site, and warn them if you see a bad sunburn starting to develop.
At the lunch break, the morning event blue sheets need to be turned in to the First Aid Station. Lunch runs from 11:57 to 12:50, but the staff will have to be quicker in order to first break down the morning events, and then set up the afternoon events. This doesn't leave a lot of time for lunch, unless you're very efficient. And again, we'll probably need "all hands" for afternoon events, too.
By late in the afternoon, many of the Scouts will be dehydrated, tired and cranky; especially if it's hot and sunny; please monitor for problems within and between Patrols. The Adults ASM's accompanying (most) Patrols should be able to handle this, but you are encouraged to step in if you see developing problems. Likewise, you are the Health and Safety Monitors for all events (and really, all weekend) - keep things safe!
After the scored events are over, you should work to take the afternoon events down while the Patrols are doing the Scoutmaster Chariot race. Remember to turn the blue scoring sheets in, and remind your final Patrols of the day to likewise turn in their yellow scoring sheets. Once the race is over, we're trying to run a bunch of special "fun" or advancement events, as detailed in the PL's Guide, in order to prevent "free time chaos" from breaking out again (a problem at several previous Projectorees.) You are welcome to participate in any of these, and also to help out in any of these. We haven't yet assigned these events, so things are still pretty gray on this right now.
After dinner and Religious Services, we'll have a closing flag ceremony and a campfire. The staff is strongly encouraged to sit in small groups throughout the crowd, and not stay bunched all together behind the campfire (a problem in the past.) In addition, please maintain absolute quiet during skits, and cheer all skits and songs loudly, both good and bad. Finally, when the awards are given out, please cheer all winners, not just your Troop. Remember, the rest of the Scouts will take their cues from your behavior. After the Closing Song, feel free to head back to Staff area or your own campsites for your Troop's campfire. Some years, the Staff holds their own campfire in the Staff Area - this is perfectly acceptable, and you are encouraged to do so.
On Sunday morning, we'll need some help in breaking down the Staff Food area; if you're still around, please assist in that task BEFORE tending to your Troop's needs.
ABOVE ALL - STAY BUSY and HAVE A GREAT TIME!
Thank you for all your assistance. I know many of you skipped other activities to be here, and I truly appreciate your participation. The Projectoree could not work without you. Hang in there - it's going to be a great weekend.
- Dr. Bob
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