The Scout Association of Jamaica Newsletter for January 2015.
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Page 1 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015 Volume VI Issue 2D Camp Road, Kingston 5 Jamaica JANUARY 2015 NEWSLETTER The Scout Association of Jamaica WHAT’S INSIDE ? New Wood Bagde Holders Page 2 Centenary of Guiding in Jamaica Page 2 National Training Team Highlights Page 3 Alexia Walter’s International training experiences. Page 4 National Leaders Conference Page 5 Scouts to get new badges and uniform Page 5 National Leaders Conference photo highlights Pages 6 & 7 National Founder’s Day Service Pages 8 Adult Leaders to be conferred with awards Page 9 Upcoming Events Pages 10 Scouts tasked to raise Commonwealth Flag Monday March 9, 2015, will go down in history for several members of the Scout Association of Jamaica, as the Association has been tasked with the responsibility of raising the Commonwealth Flag in celebration of Commonwealth Day. The Association received an invitation from the United Kingdom to lead the process of raising the Commonwealth Flag during a worldwide event dubbed “Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth” to celebrate Com- monwealth Day. Chief Commissioner Maurice Brown said he, along with his members, is delighted and honoured to be asked to participate in the celebration. According to Commissioner Brown, the ceremony will be held at the Scout Headquarters on Camp Road, and that invitations have been sent to several Government and Opposition members of the House of Representatives to attend the ceremony. Commissioner Brown also said the opportunity to participate in the celebrations will further expose the skills and talents of the members of the Association in carrying out flag-raising ceremonies, which come natu- rally, as it forms part of the culture and civic pride which is embedded in our programmes. Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Transcript
Page 1 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Volume VI Issue 2D Camp Road, Kingston 5 Jamaica JANUARY 2015
NEWSLETTER
The Scout Association of Jamaica
WHAT’S INSIDE ? New Wood Bagde Holders Page 2
Centenary of Guiding in Jamaica Page 2
National Training Team Highlights Page 3
Alexia Walter’s International training experiences. Page 4
National Leaders Conference Page 5
Scouts to get new badges and uniform Page 5
National Leaders Conference photo highlights Pages 6 & 7
National Founder’s Day Service Pages 8
Adult Leaders to be conferred with awards Page 9
Upcoming Events Pages 10
Scouts tasked to raise Commonwealth Flag
Monday March 9, 2015, will go down in history for
several members of the Scout Association of Jamaica, as the Association has been tasked with the responsibility of raising the Commonwealth Flag in
celebration of Commonwealth Day. The Association received an invitation from the
United Kingdom to lead the process of raising the Commonwealth Flag during a worldwide event dubbed “Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth” to celebrate Com-monwealth Day.
Chief Commissioner Maurice Brown said he, along with his members, is delighted and honoured to be asked to participate in the celebration. According to Commissioner Brown, the ceremony will be held at the Scout
Headquarters on Camp Road, and that invitations have been sent to several Government and Opposition members of the House of Representatives to attend the ceremony. Commissioner Brown also said the opportunity to participate in the celebrations will further expose the
skills and talents of the members of the Association in carrying out flag-raising ceremonies, which come natu-rally, as it forms part of the culture and civic pride which is embedded in our programmes.
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Page 2 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
L-R Cynthia Anderson, Marlon Howell, Joycinth
Malcolm (National Training Commissioner) Bever-
ley Miller and Robin Sinclair.
Gilwelleans at meal
New Wood Badge Holders
Four Leaders/Commissioners (Cynthia Anderson, Robin Sinclair, Marlon Howell and Beverly Miller) be-
came members of Gilwell Pack 1 or Gilwell Troop 1 at Scout Jamaica Gilwell Reunion with the presentation of their Scarf and Beads. The Reunion was held at the National Headquarters on Saturday, November 22, 2014.
Eleven other Commissioners who were on hand at the reunion congratulated the new Wood Badgers. Part of the evening’s activities was the sharing of the experiences at persons’ Wood Badge Course and words of encouragement were given to new Wood Badgers.
Congratulations to them as they have worked their ticket back to Gilwell; a job well done.
The Girl Guides Association of Jamaica is celebrating 100 years as an Association in 2015. Chief Commissioner for The Scout Association of Jamaica Maurice Brown attended their Thanksgiving Service which was held at the Cathedral of De la Vega on Sunday, January 18, 2015. The Service was held at the same location where the first Guide Company in Jamaica was formed.
They will be hosting a number of events to celebrate their centenary.
GUIDING HISTORY Clare Messias was the daughter of Mr. Fitz Herbert Messias, a Scout Master. Having heard about the Girl Guide Movement and the exciting activities of Girl Guides around the world and Scouting in Jamaica, Clare wanted to get involved. On Thursday, March 11, 1915, at her home “ETHELHOME” Spanish Town, she had a meeting with some of her friends where they decided to form a troop of Girl Scouts. In a letter dated March 16, 1915, Clare Messias informed her teacher Miss Daisy Jeffrey Smith of the proposed formation of the group and asked her to be the Scout Master. Miss Daisy accepted the call and Guiding began in Jamaica with Miss Daisy Jeffrey Smith as Captain and Miss Marguerite Atkins as Lieutenant. They held their meetings at ‘Durham House’ the home of the Jef-frey Smiths in Spanish Town.
Centenary of Guiding in Jamaica
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Page 3 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
National Training Team Highlights
GENERAL INFORMATION COURSE (GIC)
On Saturday, November 15, 2014, twenty-three prospective leaders and Local Association members partici-
pated in a General Information Course conducted by members of the National Training Team. This was
held at the Scout Headquarters. Topics covered were inclusive of the Child Protection Policy Guide, Uniform,
Aims and Basis of the Association, Mission Statement and the formation of Group Committees and Local
Associations
BASIC ‘A’ COURSE
The National Training Team conducted a Basic A Course during the weekend of January 23 – 25, 2015.
This was held at the Scout Headquarters and saw thirteen participants from the Scouting Districts of
Kingston, St. Andrew, Western Kingston and Western St. Andrew, and Westmoreland.
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Page 4 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Alexia Walters, speaks of her Inter-American Leadership Training
experiences by the sea
Alexia Walters
As a group we decided to bond before the actual camp by utilizing social media via Facebook and WhatsApp. The camp started on Saturday, December 27, 2014, and ended on January 2, 2015.
Day 1 of the Inter-American Leadership training by the sea started with an overview of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), which provided for me a greater understanding of WOSM, the support and resources its provides to international scouting regions, the role of Inter-American Region in supporting National Scout Organizations (NSOs) along with the levels of support and resources the region makes available to NSOs and scouting units.
The support to NSO and scouting units from the IAR ranges from “Youth Engagement, Educational Methods, Diversity and Inclusion, Social Impact, Communications and Relations”. We all spent the rest of day on learning different cultures, this was fun for me because I was able to learn and understand several other cultures while sharing my rich Jamaican culture.
Day 2: Messengers of Peace (MoP) and Global Citizens. In this session understanding of the MoP across the world grew stronger than when I first heard about it in Jamaica. Additionally, I realized I could be a MoP anywhere I live, worship, play or work. On the matter of Global Citizen, I understand that it’s all about critical thinking on all issues, positive relationships in our communi-ties.
In relation to the MoP project, I learnt it had to reach local membership, reach our communities, telling our story and ex-tending the global reach. Moreover, the values of scouting were expanded in relation to Messengers of Peace.
This included learning the origin of scouting values, also how and why personal values differ and are similar and finally, how the scouting values should guide our decisions and actions, the similarities and differences between the countries in relation to the Scout motto along with effective team leadership.
I learnt about the foundation in self-leadership and how others judge my leadership qualification based on my self-leadership. In this I learnt what self-leadership is and the ways to identify the six skills and attributes of a good leader.
Additionally, I learnt in detail information on communication. First, the blueprint of communication which includes: a mes-sage, sender and receiver. We were introduced to the acronym “E.D.G.E” which means, Explain, Demonstrate, Guide and Enable as one of several methods for teaching and teamwork. The edge provides the opportunity for leaders and teachers to explain how to do a skill, demonstrate, how to perform the skill or task, guide his or her charges in learning the skills and to enable others to use their skills and new knowledge. Finally, I learnt how to assess my team, this included how I should assess the stages of team devel-opment in enthusiasm and skills/abilities to successfully perform.
Day 3: Understanding the Group. In this session I learnt how to identify and maximise the skills and resources within any team, the importance of diverse skills on a team and aligning tasks with those who have the necessary skills, which also include the stages of team development and how to recognize the stages of team development, which are forming, storming, norming and performing.
In this session I learnt about the characteristics of four stages of team development to include how to understand con-cepts of productivity, morals and how they relate to team development stages. The session of the conference also included feed-back, setting examples, servant leadership and best practices in NSOs.
Day 5: Educational Methods Forum, where I learnt the 5 stages of Team-Based Project Planning. These include project overview, work breakdown structure, activity assignments, putting the plan into action and tracking its progress and project close-out. I also learnt in detail how to do each step to maximise outcome. The conferences also looked at educational methodology, assessment, digital communications and making ethical decisions.
Day 6: I learnt more in detail of diversity and inclusiveness in team. First, I learnt how to appreciate the value of diversity among team members; second, to understand that inclusion of new members bring fresh ideas and solutions and third, utilize the concept of making the right assignments for individual team members is crucial for success of project.
Following this, team development I learnt the importance of conflict management. This included a better understanding of conflicts from a leadership point of view and I acquired new tools for successfully managing conflict situations.
Page 5 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
National Leaders’ Conference of The Scout Association of Jamaica was held over a one day period on Sat-urday, January 31, 2015. Over 46 Leaders and Commissioners from 8 Districts were in attendance. The conference was chaired by National Training Commissioner/Executive Commissioner Mrs. Joycinth Malcolm, as-sisted by Chief Commissioner Mr. Maurice Brown. Participants at the conference were reminded of their roles and responsibilities as Leaders and Commis-
sioners. The Chief Commissioner shared his disappointment on the level of registration of Scouts, Leaders and
Commissioners in the Districts and also the Districts’ commitment to payment of their Affiliation Fee.
Presentations were made at the conference on the following. Commitment and Accountability Fundraising Job Description & Job Evaluation Centenary of Cubbing in Jamaica
Members of The Scout Association of Jamaica, hopefully by the end of the Scout year in August 2015 will
be wearing two new badges, representing the Caribbean and the Inter-American Scout Region of the worldwide
Scout movement. During the rescheduled National Leaders’ Conference held at the Baden-Powell Scout Headquarters in Kingston on Sat-urday, January 31; the conference moved three resolutions calling for The Association to accept and commence the wearing of the “Caribbean Scout Badge” and the “Inter-
American Scout Region Badge” as a form of identification for its members. The badges when approved will be worn on the right shoulder of the uniform and will identify members of
The Association as part of the worldwide family of scouting via the Caribbean and the Inter-American Region. The resolutions were moved by Garth Russell, Director of Messengers of Peace and seconded by Kevin
Richards, Director of Youth Network; and they were unanimously supported by the eight (8) Districts present. The membership voted and accepted to change the colour of the Venture Scout uniform from long sleeve
beige shirt to a short sleeve grey shirt; standard design of the Scout uniform. The membership also voted to accept a third resolution for the Rover Scout uniform; this section is being
revived in Jamaica. They will wear royal blue short sleeve shirt; standard design of the Scout uniform. These resolutions will be sent to the Headquarters’ Patrol and the Executive Committee of the Association
which is headed by Chief Commissioner Maurice Brown and Chairman John Leiba, respectively, for further discus-sion and ratification.
Following those two committee discussions and ratification the approved badges will be submitted to Assistant Chief Commissioner, Kenneth Elliot who has portfolio responsibilities for Programmes and Policies, to be entrenched in the Policy, Organization and Rules of the Scout Association of Jamaica.
The ratification of the changes accepted by conference will take the same route as the badges mentioned above.
National Leaders Conference
Scouts to get new badges and uniforms
Garth Russell Kevin Richards
Page 6 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
National Leaders’ Conference Photo Highlights
Members of Headquarters Patrol L-R Chief Commissioner Maurice Brown
Executive Commissioner/ National Training
Commissioner Joycinth Malolm
Clarendon District Delegation St. Andrew District Delegation
Robin Sinclair, District Commissioner for Kingston Delegation from Western St. Catherine
Page 7 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
National Leaders’ Conference Photo Highlights
Patrick Campbell, District Cub Scout Leader Marlon Howell, Acting District
For Western Kingston & Western St. Andrew Commissioner for St. Thomas
St. Andrew District Nathalie L. Williams, Assistant Chief Commissioner
i/c Administration
St. Andrew District Delegation from Central St. Catherine
Page 8 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
National Founder’s Day Service
As The Scout Association of Jamaica embarks on its 105th anniversary of moulding and guid-
ing Jamaica’s youth, its members will pause to celebrate Scout week in honour of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scout Movement.
The celebration of Scout Week 2015, in memory of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, will see members of the Association drawn from its eighteen (18) Districts across the island exercis-
ing a part of their Scout promise “To love and serve God” in a Service of Thanksgiving at the Pentecostal Tabernacle at 72 Wildman Street in Kingston on Sunday, February 22, 2015. Custos Rotulorum Hon. Donna Parchment-Brown, Custos of St. Andrew representing the
Governor-General and Chief Scout Sir Patrick Allen, Youth and Culture Minister Hon. Lisa Hanna, and Minister of Education Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites will be among several other invited guests.
The national church service will serve as a climax to a week of activities which will
commence on Sunday, February 15, when District Commissioners will lead their charges in District Founder’s Day Services to be followed by several campfires across the island on Monday, February 16. Thursday, February 19 will be celebrated as Uniform Day.
Uniform Day will commence with a road march from Baden-Powell Headquarters on Camp Road, through New Kingston, and culminating with an Annual Public Meeting on the lawns of
King’s House, where several adult leaders will receive warrants permitting them to do scout-ing in their respective groups and awards for distinguished service to the Association.
Page 9 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Adult Leaders to be conferred with awards
Leaders from various ranks of The Scout Association of Jamaica will be conferred
with awards for distinguished service to The Association during its Annual Public Meeting on the lawns of King’s House.
The awards will be presented on February 19, which is being celebrated as Uniform Day. Selected adult leaders will receive awards ranging from Chief Scout Commen-
dation to Silver Crocodile from Governor-General and Chief Scout, His Excellency, the Most Honourable Sir Patrick Allen, ON, GCMG, CD.
According to a report from Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Oral Khan, Chairman of the
Warrants and Awards Committee of The scout Association of Jamaica, a number of leaders will receive Warrants at various levels of leadership to carry out the work of scouting in the respective Districts across the island.
“The Warrants and Awards Committee reviewed several recommendations for
awards and after careful examination approved the persons to be awarded this year.
The Warrants and Awards committee offers sincere congratulations to all recipi-
ents”.
Page 10 The Scout Association of Jamaica JANUARY 2015
Motto: “BE PREPARED”
Upcoming Events
Scout Week February 15-22, 2015 15 District Founder’s Day Service 16 Campfire 5:30pm Scout Headquarters 19 Uniform Day/ Road March & Annual Public Meeting at King’s House
22 National Founder’s Day Service & Parade
Fly a Flag for Commonwealth Countries Monday, March 9, at Baden-Powell Scout Headquarters
CUB SCOUT Centenary 2016 Watch this page for more details ...
Commissioners’ Professional Course Calling all Commissioners and prospective Commissioners, come and upgrade yourselves by learning and understanding the art of;
Public Speaking
Management
Public Relations and Marketing Skill,
Effective Planning
and many other useful and effective topics to pre-
