Fun – Challenge – Reward

From Ask Andy

Fun, challenge, reward… Are we delivering these three key ingredients to our youth of all ages, every week, week after week? And how about our fellow volunteers? Are we providing the same for them as well?

I once knew a Scoutmaster whose nickname (given to him by the Scouts, of course) was “Mister Awful.” What would you guess his views on fun, challenge and reward might be? I knew a Den Leader who took pride in being “tough” on Cub Scout advancement. Tough…to what end? I’d always thought the requirements are the requirements.

When youth leave our units, or our fellow volunteers stop doing what they originally committed to, we’re often tempted to think, Well, they’ve just given up on Scouting. But have they? Are they really leaving Scouting? Or are they leaving us?

Did we somehow forget that fun, challenge, and reward are the three key ingredients we need to deliver, and keep on delivering, each and every time?

Most Scouters get it right, and then some. I well remember a Scoutmaster who knew more knots than I ever knew existed. Every week he would tie a new one and wrap a Scoutmaster’s Minute around it. His Scouts could hardly wait to see what knot he’d tie, and what story he’d tell, each week... ... Little things, perhaps, but it’s these little things, maybe, that make all the difference!

Fun, challenge, and reward. Pretty simple. Easy to remember. Sometimes tougher to deliver than we might think. But, that’s our job. We can do it. We just need to focus on it: Fun – Challenge – Reward.

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