Patrol Leaders, Buddies, and Hiking Safety

Our September 24th meeting went incredibly well!

TK showed up a half hour early to catch up on the requirements from the previous week. He was enthusiastic and very athletic. Here you can see him powering through his sit-ups:

Above: TK hammering out sit-ups while Ben helps him out.

Everyone showed up, but sadly we only had three of the six in uniform. We began the meeting outside since the chapel was all locked up. The patrol broke up in to groups of two to read about the buddy system and bullies. Each group was given two questions to answer regarding the reading.

Above: Ben laying down next to his partner, TK. Joey and Dallen in the background.

Above: Brandi keeps Tamanui and Christian company while they read.

As soon as they were done with their reading, Dallen and Joey ran inside to prepare the room for us by setting up chairs and turning on the air conditioner. The rest of the group followed close behind.

Inside, we started by voting in our new patrol leader and assistant patrol leader. It was an incredibly close vote and I'm sure any of the boys would have made great patrol leaders. The group voted Dallen Akita to be our Patrol Leader and Joey Chowen to be our Assistant Patrol Leader. Congratulations to both of them! I have no doubt they will be inspiring motivators for the rest of the group and will lead them toward the tightly-bonded group of do-gooders they are to become.

Above: Joey, our Assistant Patrol leader, on the left and Dallen, our patrol leader, on the right.

Above: patrol members mark their books with the patrol's new information.

After the elections, each scout answered a question from their reading aloud. We discussed each answer and how it can help us to stay safe. We followed this by reading pages 38 to 41 in our manuals. This section describes how to hike safely and what to do if we get lost. Each scout read a portion out loud while the others followed along. All six boys are excellent readers and the patrol was very attentive during the reading. We discussed each portion of the reading and expanded with our understanding of the subjects. This is an important topic for us since we will be hiking in the coming weeks to complete some rank requirements.

The patrol completed two different requirements during this meeting and marked them off on our poster.

The last remaining thing to do was to record TK's running time. To support TK, the other scouts decided to run with him, even though we made it clear they did not have to. The boys ran very well and seem to be improving already.

As has become tradition, we ended the night with sweets. The boys had cupcakes and requested doughnuts for next time (I thought we were supposed to be getting fit). Maybe I'll see how they respond to veggies and dip next week :)

Athletic Champions

Our second meeting was held on September 17, 2008.

Our patrol has a new member! Tamanui Nagy joined our troop. I have no doubt he will be a valuable resource in helping the patrol to progress.

Pictured above: Dallan and Tamanui with Ben in the background.

We began our meeting by reciting the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. The scouts remembered them perfectly. Tamanui caught up with the others by memorizing the words by the end of the evening, reciting them perfectly, and describing how each one related to him personally.

We then moved forward with creating a patrol name, yell, and flag. There were many suggestions for our patrol name. Some included the Cougars, Rabbit Scouts, Kitty Warriors, and Rowan Warriors. After holding a vote, we became known as the Champions. Our yell immediately flooded from the patrol as they followed Dallen's lead in singing the famous Queen song, "We are the champions, my friends." This will be our auditory signal whenever we meet a collective goal or want to show support for each other. The scouts then drew their ideas for the flag on pieces of paper. We have many incredibly creative ideas that I will spend the next couple weeks piecing together in to our flag. This marked off another requirement for the Tenderfoot rank.

Pictured above: Joey marking another requirement on our poster.

Next, we began exercise in various athletic fields. As a requirement for the Tenderfoot Rank, each scout must be recorded doing their best in push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, the standing long jump, and running. To complete the requirement, they must work on each of these areas and show improvement in one month. The boys did fantastically well, supporting each other all along the way.

Pictured above: Christian doing a pull-up.

Pictured above: Ben doing a pull-up.

Pictured above: Dallen doing a pull-up as Ben watches from above.

Pictured above: Tamanui doing a pull-up with Joey in the background.

We concluded the night by rewarding the scout's efforts with three small brownies. They were told that they would receive another if they gave one to somebody outside. Even though it involved no additional gain for themselves, each of the boys ran out of the room enthusiastic to share their bounty with those around them. What great scouts :)

Our First Patrol Meeting (Under My Command)

Our first meeting under my lead was held on September 10, 2008. We had our existing five members in attendance and my wife, Brandi, was there to assist us. We want to make sure that every scout shows up in a uniform with their scout handbook each time we meet, but only two boys owned them at this time. The handbook contains pages that record their personal progress toward each rank.

We spent our time learning about and memorizing the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto, Scout Slogan, Outdoor Code, Scout Sign, and Scout Handshake. By the end of our hour meeting, each scout was able to repeatedly recite each of these and describe what it meant in their lives. That was a requirement for the Tenderfoot Scout rank, so the boys each marked off on the poster.

Pictured above from left to right: TK, Joey, Christian, Ben, Dallen, and myself.

The patrol did a wonderful job staying on task and Brandi was an immeasurable help in motivating them. As she promised, Brandi gave them her famous chocolate chip cookies as a reward for their diligence.

Introduction and Preparations

Aloha to all interested in the happenings of our patrol. I am our patrol's Assistant Scoutmaster. My name is Ryan Wooden. Our Scoutmaster is Zion Hallenbeck. Zion works for the Navy on our submarines and is often gone to sea for extended periods of time. Shortly after being called to be Scoutmaster, Zion was required to serve at sea and is scheduled to be back in November. During times while Zion is away, my wife and I will be leading the program. My wife's name is Brandi. She's the greatest blessing in my life and a better supporter of my efforts than I could ever have hoped for. She's also an excellent cookie baker, as the boys will confirm :)

It is a great blessing to be asked to aid this troop in their progression. It has been placed in my charge to help them attain the ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class before they turn twelve. This is an easy task to accomplish over a year's time. However, some of our boys will be turning twelve as early as November and all the boys came under our aid without any requirements met. So dust of your boots 'cause it's time to get running!

Prior to our first meeting with the boys, Brandi and I thought it would be helful to the boys if they could see their progress each time we met. We decided to make a poster that tracks their progress toward each rank.


Sammy, our kitten, wanted to help, but she was easily distracted by the camera.


The poster is laid out in three sections, one for each rank.



We're hoping that seeing their progress will be a source of motivation for the patrol. Pretty soon, it will be all marked up and our boys will be ever more prepared for the life ahead of them.

The Adventure Begins

Here you will witness the efforts and progress of America's greatest group of young men, troop 226 of the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

As of this writing, our patrol consists of six members. They are (listed by age, starting at the eldest): Joseph Chowen (Nov '96), Christian Chowen (Nov '96), TK Ford (Jun '97), Dallen Akita (Jun '97), Ben Lowe (Aug '97), and Tamanui Nagy (Oct '97).

Keep checking back to see our accomplishments. We will try to post at least once each week to show you what we did at our meetings and outings.