The third Tuesday of every month is our Troop’s Patrol Leaders Council (PLC). The PLC is the Scout’s opportunity to plan what to do in the upcoming months’ activities and assign responsibility to a Scout or Adult to help plan the activity. All Scouts in a Troop or Patrol Leadership position are required to attend, but all members are encouraged to attend to learn about the PLC process, provide input on upcoming activities, and stay up-to-date on Troop plans.
The Structure of the PLC Meeting
The PLC Meeting follows a standard agenda:
- Opening Flag Ceremony
- Review of meetings & events since the last PLC meeting: The Troop performs a “Stop, Start, Continue” review of the past month’s meetings and activities. This review asks Scouts to consider:
- Things that went well that we should CONTINUE doing from the event.
- Things that would be beneficial for us to START doing at similar events.
- Things we are currently doing that are not working and we should STOP doing at events.
- Patrol Leaders Report: During this portion of the meeting, the Patrol Leaders for each patrol present an update on his patrol’s activities. This can include:
- Progress toward ranks & requirements that the patrol needs to work on
- Upcoming patrol events
- Other updates on his patrol members
- Positions of Responsibilities Report: Similar to the Patrol Leaders report, each Scout holding a Troop position provides an update on their specific area of responsibility and brings any issues to the SPL / PLC’s attention.
- Upcoming event planning: Here is where the planning happens. The Troop tries to plan events 2 – 3 months in advance. During this section of the meeting, Scouts will review the specific plans for the upcoming month’s activities, brainstorm activities further out into the future, and assign planning responsibilities to a Scout or Patrol.
- Other business and Reminders and FYIs: During this section, the Troop discusses any additional information that needs to be covered as a Troop (e.g., providing the Scoutmaster input on how activities will be run, helping to design a Troop neckerchief)
- Closing benediction
The PLC meeting is one of the Scout’s opportunities to influence what we do as a Troop.
