Thirty scouts with leadership positions in Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 175 participated in the troop’s annual Junior Leader Training weekend in March at the Lonesome Lake Hut in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is the fifth year since the troop began these focused leadership training trips as a way of building scout and life skills. These experienced scouts and 14 adult leaders hiked nearly 3,000 feet to the Lonesome Lake Hut, maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club, using snow shoes with full packs. Led by Senior Patrol Leader Rob C, and Asst Senior Patrol Leaders Keegan R, Jon E, Tommy A, Isaac P and Eric B, the scouts also brought up sleds of equipment necessary for the training sessions for the weekend as well as their food and other supplies. The theme of the training this year was "negotiation.”
According to Scoutmaster Brad Mead, negotiation is something that we do every day, but it is a skill that is not taught in school. We thought it was important enough to develop a program around.
Joining the group this year was Dr. George Gramatikas, an experienced international explorer, accomplished business executive who is skilled in the art of negotiation.
The group started the weekend with a negotiation game that required the scouts to acquire information from their fellow scouts by teaming and trading clues in order to decode a puzzle given to everyone at breakfast. During the hike up the mountain and all day long the scouts worked on finding a solution to the challenge. The adult leaders were also in possession of information that could be useful and negotiations were brisk in all directions. Just before dinner the Life Scout team of Eric B. Isaac P, John C, Nicholas C and Zack Z turned in the final solution. That evening after dinner scoutmaster Brad Mead went through a presentation on Meyers Briggs Personality Profile Indicators, which all the scouts and adults who have been part of the Leaders trips over the past five years have participated in. The scouts learned how different personalities create challenges and opportunities in negotiation. Dr. Gramatikas then conducted a survival game that required teams to work together and negotiate for better outcomes.
Check out photos from the trip in the Troop Photo Library.
