DDC learn the true essence of being a Scout: Triangular Leadership, Responsible Citizenry, and Camping Skills

As mentors debriefed an excellent outing under drizzly, dripping Douglas firs at Fairhaven Park, we reflected about the true meaning of a Scout. It’s one of our most coveted “jobs” during BEC outings. In part, I think, because boys don’t have to carry any physical items. Also because they have the authority to be first, or the last—order matters so much to young people!

Daredevil’s Club Explorers may now start to realize, however, that the Scout has a much heavier burden than books or first aid kits. They are responsible for carrying the safety of the entire group. Often mentors play this role but our hope is to transfer this understanding and responsibility to the boys. They are pre-disposed to serving one another as evidenced in our service outings; being Scout for the group is the truest essence of service and safeguarding the well-being of the group.

Boys also learned this important phrase, “Everyone is safe and nobody was hurt…” So I’ll continue this blog post the same way. Everyone is safe and there is no cause for concern.

Five days before the outing, we received a link to this article that describes a recent danger found in Bellingham public parks. Though we often pick up trash during our outings, we were told to be aware of taped-up plastic bottles because they might contain hazardous materials.

So when we came across one, we were not keen to pick it up like we normally might have. Instead, we stopped our activities and shared about the danger with everyone so that no one would touch it AND that we would recognize this hazard in the future.

The next step was to alert the authorities. So we called 9-1-1 and boys were eager to hear how to speak with the emergency dispatch. What troubles me is that there was an aura that calling the authorities is a faux pas and should only be a last ditch resort. Whereas we shouldn’t bother the 9-1-1 dispatch with everything, it is crucial that we feel comfortable calling for help. I truly hope that boys got that point. We can call for help, declare our needs, and be served and protected by our community, in this case the Bellingham Police Department. Our group is no different: the Scout’s job is to recognize threats, alert the community, and move everyone to safer space.

At that point we moved to another place, well away from the potential threat, to finish our camping skills practice. Fortunately we were still able to watch as the various police units showed up to assess the risk and dispose of the item. How neat to see that HUGE Hazmat vehicle show up and the protective gear donned by the hazmat officer!

More impressively was the incredible progress we made with our camping skills too. EVERY boy knows how to set up an MSR white gas stove. EVERY boy (even our Branch Hoppers substitute) used a lighter and successfully ignited the stove. EVERY boy gained confidence in their “fire” ability. This builds on last season’s fire-by-friction skill as well as the recognition that boys can use a lighter. One year ago, boys learned how cold it is in the dark and rain when we can’t start a fire so it’s good that they all were able to use the lighter in the cold, damp, spring conditions.

EVERY boy had a chance to practice setting up a tarp shelter. Not everyone took advantage of it, but there will be more opportunity in our next outing as we hope to set up three different types at our service site. We saw the ease in tying and synching-down the taut-line hitch knot and saw how it is the best knot for tarp-tying. Please look at the link with your Explorer(s) and encourage them to practice tying this knot. For extra practice, you can send them outside with cordage and a tarp as it gets dark to see if they can set it up a structure. If it’s raining they’ll get extra credit :)

EVERY boy saw how easy it is to setup and use our new gravity water filter. It is so calming to know that we can go backpacking with these guys this summer (or in future years) and that we will most likely not come out with Giardia!

Mentors agreed that this outing was very successful. We took full advantage of each teachable moment and boys stayed committed to the hard skills required for over-night camping. In the end, we are happy with this introduction to “triangular leadership.” We mostly encourage “circular leadership” as boys are younger in order to encourage collaboration and compromise.

However, with the arriving adolescent behaviors in the DDC Explorers, it is vital that they begin to understand how to be more directive to others, how to take directives from others, and when this style is effective. This is what we mean by triangular leadership. In the safety situation with the bottle, in lighting a stove properly, and in setting up the water filter and tying-up tarps properly, the triangular leadership model made sense. To be a good Scout, a critical skill is being able to discern when to encourage collaborative leadership and when to command a directive, triangular approach.

To the Daredevil’s Club families: thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to be mentors for your sons. It is an honor and a privilege that we greatly respect. We are constantly scouting for their safety and will continue to do so. Our hope is that they will grow up and scout for the younger people in their communities. We’ll keep passing down the skills the best we can.

Please see more pictures from this outing in the photo gallery. We’ll see you on Saturday, April 25th at Connelly Creek at 11am for a day of service and big-brother-like mentorship.

Scouting Arroyo Park with the Daredevil’s Club

On a clear, frigid, nor’easter morning, the Daredevil’s Club met at North Chuckanut Trailhead for a scouting outing! In Explorers’ Club Scouting refers to an exploration during which we travel, or traverse, from one place to another. It involves dedicated supporters who can drop us one place and pick us up at another. Thank you parents and partners of mentors who helped facilitate this experience!

This was the day when we learned about and practiced the motto, Dance to the beat of your own drummer. We played a game that involved dancing, so that Asher could learn everyone’s name and we could simultaneously realize the value of being different. Asher is a member of the Firestalkers group and also involved in the Explorers Mentoring Apprentice (EMA) program. He joined us for the day and added tremendously to the DDC’s experience.

We started our hike up the hill and enjoyed a small lunch break at a quiet bend in the trail. Of course we played Hide and then Incoming because the surroundings were perfect areas to camouflage. Ask your Explorer the difference between these two games.

As we hiked onwards, Asher taught many Explorers about licorice root. The root is a part of the Licorice Fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza) which is a native plant to the Pacific Northwest. Many Daredevil’s Club Explorers can recognize this plant and how to successfully and responsibly harvest it. Next time you are outdoors with your Explorer, please ask him to identify this plant and maybe you too can taste the sweetness that our environment has to offer!

A bit further up the trail, we dropped our packs, made a base camp, and played a wild game of Spiders Web. With two flags and two spiders it was a challenging round, and only teamwork could save the flies. Though the flies were the winners, all Explorers learned about the natural world by hiding and crawling around in the underbrush.

We gathered round and heard a story about a professor at Western who has gone legally blind, but now leads groups of “sighted” folks out in the woods and teaches them about birds and trees.  He “sees” with his other senses and teaches others to see in this way.  We discussed how important it is to have people with different ways of seeing and being in a group.

We then decided to experience a different way of seeing with a drum stalk. In this activity, blindfolded Explorers learn to see with their feet and trust their ears while scampering about slowly in the forest. The goal is to walk toward the drum beats they hear and to patiently study a landscape they can’t see. In the end their environmental awareness increases because they engage with the land with more than just their eyes. Apples awaited our arrival at the drum!

As Explorers figuratively danced to their own drum beats throughout the day, there were times of discord. But these proved invaluable experiences as we explored the theme of “escalation” and how to create a discourse of listening, compassion, and forgiveness. We are on the road to creating space for others to move to their own beats as well. And the words, “I’m sorry,” have become a part of the DDC culture.

As light faded into grey, our traverse ended with a sit spot by Arroyo Creek. For a couple minutes at the end of a long outing, Explorers had more time to hear their beat and connect it with the music of the natural world too. When we all got back together it was clear that the rhythms of nature, self, and community were running through us and that were open to hearing it. Our ending Circle of Thanks brought us back to the motto,Attitude of Gratitude.

Again, thanks parents and supporters for facilitating this traverse. And a big thank you to you Explorers for the courage to dance to your own beat and to accept the dances of others.

Please check out more images from this outing in the photo gallery. And be prepared for the next outing too! To get a richer understanding of Explorers’ Club and the themes that guide our activities please look at our mottos.

Scouting North Galbraith with the Daredevil’s Club Explorers

As the Daredevil’s Club gathered for this Sunday’s Spring outing, the tumbling grey clouds above seemed to be saying, “we could if we wanted to…”  The nettles surrounding us seemed to be saying, “we will if you go there…”  The dog poo by Matt’s shoe waited patiently, confidently.  The whole living world saying, “if you dare to explore me, you’ll learn to respect me.”  And, like tripping a snare, the word Hide! was shouted, and the world exploded.  Nettles stung and poo nestled smugly in the treads of Matt’s shoe.  A raindrop splattered on an Explorer’s arm, as if the sky itself were mischievously winking at us.  It was a day where you don’t choose to ride the wave; the wave is taking you for whatever ride it wants to.

So, as good Explorers on a scouting, we went forward and experienced the full ride.  We started with a short walk in toward a meeting spot.  The Daredevil’s Club Explorers showed many signs of Spring Fever, a condition this Explorer is starting to recognize more and more adeptly.  Wiggles and laughs, darting in different directions, like long-cooped cats let out of their pens into a world of wiggling strings and fluttering things— the Explorers were bursting.

We gathered as best we could, and, with the aid of Steve, our most excellent new guide, we managed to form a circle (for a little while, at least.)  We brought our minds to the day.  Greeted.  Considered where we were and what our visions were.  We talked briefly about the rule of 3s for survival.  Any Explorers remember what the 3s were?  Hint (only if you need it): each three was a unit of time.  Then we played a little game of Head Honcho.  After a few rounds we were synched up a bit more and could focus on that ever-important topic of safety.  Super important.  Especially on Galbraith.  After a good focus, we handed out jobs and started exploring.

Not long into our adventure, the Explorers’ Club seemed more like the Exploders’ Club.  Oh yes, nettle stings and disputes, vying visions for the day, interesting things under rocks, curious questions, all came at once, but not as a group.  Strangely, many were directed at this one Explorer.  Bikes whizzed by in tight intervals, dividing us onto the sidelines again and again.  It became apparent that we needed to stop and recollect.  We brought our minds together about Explorers’ Club.  About circular leadership and how it is about giving the Explorers’ the tools to handle situations themselves.  We paused.  Took out our lunches and had some food.  Talked about nettles and ways the Explorers could handle the situation or help their friends do so.  We breathed.

Soon the cooped-up-cat syndrome resurfaced, and it was time to move.  But where?  Explorers had a difference of opinion.  They looked to their adult guides, but they did not get any directives.  It was time for our Daredevil’s Club to figure it out as a group.  A few little suggestions and a bit of help here and there from Steve and Matt helped them keep moving forward.  But it must be confessed, the process was long!  How apparent it was that group processing is a community skill born of necessity (and often born out of frustration.)  And, little by little, our Explorers found ways to solve their problem.  They went through the steps of communication, formation, compromise, and, finally, action.  Good Work, Explorers!  This will pay back in the long run!

We headed uphill and poked all about.  We found some great trails and finally came to an overlook of Bellingham.  Some spontaneous scouting and then some spontaneous stalking of the scouts lead to even more trail discovery.  But the day moved on and it was apparent that, after outings of Skills work and Service work it was time for a good game of Spider’s Web.  We traveled down and found a perfect spot.  Filled with old ramps and jumps and no bikers.  We considered safety and then explored.  The game, when it happened, was epic, of course.  We even stepped it up and tried a very hard challenge, and the Explorers responded with zest.

As it is prone to do, time slipped by and before we knew it we were having snack and closing up the day.  Overall, this was a great day for us, filled with a lot of lessons, some good fun, and the building blocks for further explorations.  Much thanks to all the Explorers for your great work!  Much thanks to all the parents for your enduring support!