Team Member roles & responsibilitiesEach BCM trip is comprised of five adults and five teens. One adult comes with the teens from the youth program; the other four are BCM volunteers. Three of these four are the Team Members and one is the Team Leader. Each person brings different experiences to the trip, each one vital to the success of a unique, enriching, eight-day experience! The common bond between every volunteer on the trail is a desire to help our teens. Some bring a wealth of backcountry experience to the trail while others have experience working with at-risk teens. It is very important for the five adults and five teens work together as a cohesive team on the trail and off. This takes a large degree of respect for each other. Each teen has something to offer the adults and each adult can reach the teens on a different level. For older volunteers, the experience is more akin to being with their children or grandchildren. The teens relate to younger volunteers more like older siblings thus creating a different platform for communication. It is not uncommon for volunteers to have their expectations for the trip and teens changed within the first few hours. Those who take the most from their trip are able to adapt to the uniqueness of the experience. The best advice is to bring all of your knowledge and enthusiasm to the trip in place of your expectations.
Team Leader: The Team Leader is the person in charge both on the trail and off, but this person is never a dictator. The specific responsibilities of the Team Leader include: Pre-trip:
During the trip:
Post-trip:
Team Medic: The Team Medic is the individual with the most medical training of all the team members. This person MUST provide proof of current valid certification at a minimum level of First Aid/CPR, with preferred training being Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, EMT, or MD. This person MAY also be the Team Leader, but does not have to be. As a team medic who serves in an advisory role to the team leader, in instances of medical emergencies, for the health and safety of the group and the individual, final medical decisions lie with the team medic. Youth Group Leader: The youth group leader is BCM’s main contact at the youth agency. He/she is also considered a Team Member, as this person is the main liaison between the BCM volunteer team and the youth. The youth group leader is responsible for youth selection, pre-trip orientation, paperwork, and other logistical aspects of ensuring preparation of the youth agency for their BCM experience. Team Photographer: One member of the team will be taking photos of the trip using a digital camera. These photos may be sent to donors after the season. Team Cook: Depending on the preference of the team, this position can be either assigned to one person or it can rotate among all adult Team Members (this needs to be decided on prior to your BCM trip). If one of the Adult Team members would like to be the designated Team Cook throughout the entire trip, they need to present any menu items that deviate from the freeze dried food to their Team Leader so these can be purchased with the team funds. This person is in charge of preparing the water and food for the team at breakfast and dinner. This can be a really creative and fun role which involves the teens in the food preparation process. Team Journal Writer: One member of the team will be asked to record the daily activities and RR discussions for the group. These journals are important for many reasons; they are often sent to donors at the end of the season to show them what kind of experience they contributed to, and they are also used to help further develop the BCM curriculum for future seasons. Click here to downlaod BCM adult roles as a PDF
Scout: Will be at the front of the group setting the pace, therefore this person will have to check with the group periodically so they can adjust the pace appropriately. The scout is also responsible for finding a nice flat, shaded area for the group to break. Cooks Assistant: Assist the Team Chef in preparing dinner each evening and breakfast the following morning on the trail (day 3 dinner, day 4 breakfast). The Adult Team needs to decide who will be preparing the meals; will there be one Team Chef or will this position rotate throughout the five days on the trail? Either way the teen needs to know that when they get into camp that evening they need to start dinner and will have minimum time for personal issues due to the time it takes to set up the kitchen, boil water, eat, clean and bear bag. The Cooks Assistant will also have to get up earlier than the rest of the group in order to boil water, get the bear bags down, help sterilize dishes etc. Scribe: This duty involves recording the daily events of the group when on trail. The scribe should be given the small booklet that was distributed with the group materials (the same envelope this journal was in) and the team leaders stop watch. The group members need to discuss how often they would like to stop for scheduled breaks and how long those breaks will be. All scheduled breaks will be with packs off. A good pace to start with is stopping every ½ hour for five minutes: enough time to get some water, use the bathroom, or have a quick snack. Schedule a lunch break that will last for a ½ hour approximately. The Scribe will let the group know when a break is coming up and the scout can keep an eye out for a nice place to set their packs down. The scribe will time the breaks and let the group know when to start getting their packs on (this only takes about a minute or two). Do not start timing a break until all packs are off. Record all times in the scribe journal. The scribe needs to report all information recorded at the nightly debriefing. This information, if recorded thoroughly and accurately, will help to set a pace and goals for the travel days to follow. The Scribe Journal will be handed into BCM at the end of the trip. *Try to really promote this position so the scribe takes pride in his or her entries. It can be really fun to hear some of the entries in the evening that can make the daily scribes very proud of themselves. Photographers Assistant: A teen will be chosen to assist the photographer in capturing the day’s events on film. Try to monitor the amount of pictures taken by the teens every day; the battery wears out quickly! Another battery saving tip is to limit scrolling through the pictures after they have been taken. The teens love to do this so it may be hard! Sweep: An adult and a teen are assigned to this position due to the fact a teen cannot be the last person in line on the trail. The duties for this position are to make sure nothing (trash, gear etc.) and no one get left behind, make sure the group does not get to spread out and the traveling pace is appropriate for everyone in the group. Click here to download BCM teen roles as a PDF |
