Senior Patrol Leader

When I was in Boy Scouts, back when dinosaurs roamed the savannah plains, I was awkward, not beloved, and so never even got elected to Patrol Leader; I remember being upset at not being named an Assistant Patrol Leader even.  The Senior Patrol Leader, the SPL, the chief Scout--that, I knew, was never to be me.  More likely John Hagen or one of the other really good Scouts.  I'm sure that fed into my decision to step out of Scouting as a freshman, having made only First Class.

Last Monday, when picking up David (the Life Scout) from his Troop meeting, he announced he'd thrown his name into contention to be SPL for his Troop at their elections.  He was one of four candidates, including his best-friend John; the top vote getter this week would be SPL, and the #s 2 and 3 would be Assistant SPLs; the fourth-place finisher was out of a job.  I remember being a little cautious: after all, his attendance over the fall hadn't been stellar, would folks want to elect him if his commitment wasn't there?

This week, he climbed into the car and said he had one of the jobs, but didn't know which yet.  They announced one boy had lost, but since the Scoutmaster himself wasn't there, they were going to let Mr Sciacca announce the name when he returned.  I was relieved; at least he wasn't fourth.  On the strength of that alone, we got Dairy Queen for the family on the way home, to celebrate.

Tuesday morning came the e-mail from Mr Sciacca: David had won.  He will be responsible for leading his Troop of 90-some Scouts, including welcoming this year's crop of Brownseas as the new boys rise from Cub Scouts in the later winter.  His pride was palpable last night.  When I came home, he came upstairs without being called, to show me the message from Mr Sciacca.  We hugged and I told him how happy I was and proud I was.

He immediately started settling into his new role.  Mr Sciacca said there were two boys who needed staff jobs; David jumped right in and gave them each a call to offer them the job.  He's started thinking of meetings he can have, and activities to do, and how he wants to go to each of the Cub Scout crossing-over ceremonies to welcome his new Scouts personally.  If he can keep up this level of commitment, I think he'll do a great job.

I'm beginning to see a theme for the year--the meaning of adolescence, the one-foot-in-one-foot-out aspect of this stage of life.  Here he is, honored and elected and chosen by his Troop as the one they want to see him as a leader for the next six months; here I am awash in pride for what he's been able to earn, in terms of respect and trust, over the past nearly five years in the Troop.  And in the next minute, as we try to salvage the wreckage of homework and prepare for the Geometry midterm today (oy…), we see the, um, still-developing nature of his maturity.  I suppose I had my own similar stage.  I suppose his sister will have hers, in her own unique way.

Today, though, is all about David and the honor he's achieved.  This coming Monday he goes to a merit badge day to earn two more of the last badges he needs for Eagle; at the winter court of honor he could earn as many as four of them, leaving only two to go (one of which he's in the middle of).  This could be a truly great year for him; I hope and pray the one-foot-in nature prevails.