The scouts in the troop have come to love our annual lock-in. At first, I wasn't a big fan of the idea of a lock-in. I mean, it doesn't exactly achieve the goals of scouting. For us, the annual lock-in at Northwoods Software is targeted at a fun, exhausting one-day trip. The scouts play video games on the big screen theater, watch DVDs, play dodgeball in the gymnasium, play some ping pong, eat a little, and stay up all night. Like I said, not really part of the scout oath and law.
Our third annual lock-in is coming up this weekend, and it was time to reflect on what the scouts said they wanted to do this year: "the same stuff as last year, Mr. P."
What I realized is that the lock-in is, in a strange way, a great way to encourage the goals of scouting. What the scouts get in 24 hours at Northwoods is worth a dozen weekends of great scout campouts. They grow together as a patrol and troop. And because they grow closer, they become much better at using the patrol method to run their troop. Because they're just busy having fun, they don't even know it.
I'm just along for the ride.
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