National Scouting News
New Online: Theme-Based Pack Meeting Plans
To help Cubmasters and roundtable commissioners develop rewarding, theme-based Cub Scout pack meetings each month, the National Council has created a series of meeting plans centered around the program’s 12 core values that use various themes to enhance the meeting environment.
The plans—which contain several pages of program suggestions, stories, puzzles, and more, compiled into a downloadable PDF file—are being rolled out between now and next May. The first three, centered around the values of cooperation, responsibility, and citizenship, are already online at the Pack Meeting Plans site on scouting.org/cubscouts.
When all the meeting plans are developed, there will be a total of 48 theme-related resources—four for each core value. The Cubmaster can simply go online and choose which theme he/she would like to use for the pack meeting that focuses on that core value. Cub Scout roundtable commissioners also will be able to select a theme to present each month to help prepare Cubmasters.
Please send all questions or comments regarding Cub Scout resources or program delivery to program.content@scouting.org.
New Advancement and Life to Eagle policies for 2012
The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America has recently published a revised copy of the “Guide to Advancement 2011”. This new publication covers, in great detail, the aims and processes of the Boy Scout Advancement program. Additionally, starting on January 1, 2012, the Boy Scouts of America will be using a new “Eagle Scout Project Workbook” and “Eagle Scout Rank Application”. All of these documents are currently available online at www.scouting.org.
In accordance with the recommendations of the National Council of the BSA, our Chickasaw Council Advancement Committee has established a working group of volunteers to review the new “Guide to Advancement 2011” as well as the new “Eagle Scout Project Workbook” and “Eagle Scout Rank Application.” Members of this group will include past Scoutmasters with a history of Eagle Scouts under their leadership, parents of Eagle Scout award recipients, Chickasaw Council Executive Board Members, and tenured Scouters with a working knowledge of the Boy Scout advancement program and Life to Eagle process.
This group will field questions from parents and volunteers through the end of 2011 and will make recommendations to Council Advancement Committee as to any local Council policies and procedures needed to help comply with the new Life to Eagle process.
The goal is to have these local policies and procedures in place and to begin conducting orientation sessions for Scouts, volunteers and parents on or before the University of Scouting training conference in early 2012. Chickasaw Council Advancement Committee has asked Ken Kimble to serve as the Chairman of this project. Ken is an Eagle Scout with a detailed knowledge of the BSA advancement program. You can forward questions regarding the new Life to Eagle and Eagle Scout Project Workbook to Mr. Kimble at Ken.kimble@wolfriver.org
In the meantime, Scouts may use either the 2011 or 2012 “Guide to Advancement”, “Eagle Scout Project Workbook” or “Eagle Scout Rank Application” through December 31, 2011. Any Life Scout who starts his Life to Eagle process after December 31, 2011 must use the 2012 publication and requirements.
‘Scouting’ Magazine Launches New Website
Have you checked out the new Scouting magazine website?
Scoutingmagazine.org has recently been redesigned to better suit the fast-paced world of the BSA volunteer. They’re busy people—with work, family, and Scouting. That’s why they need more than just the award-winning stories and photographs that appear five times a year in the print version of Scouting magazine. They need relevant information that’s easy to access and better helps them serve their Scouts.
On the new site, volunteers are just a click away from everything they need to know to offer a quality Scouting program to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers, including up-to-date policy information, outdoor tips and techniques, health-and-safety procedures, expert advice from Scouting professionals and longtime leaders, and much more. And, when they want it, they can still find the same useful and exciting articles that appear in every issue of Scouting magazine.
Built on wisdom from longtime Scouters and authorities in a variety of disciplines, the information provided on the new Scouting magazine website draws from many great sources: recent and archival issues of the magazine, scouting.org, and diverse online sites related to the BSA. It’s a virtual “one-stop shop” for all things Scouting.
Volunteers will enjoy the brief video clip by Tico Perez, national commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America, who offers his thoughts on why everyone should bookmark scoutingmagazine.org and keep coming back for more. And for those who want daily updates on the latest news from Scouting, they can always check the magazine’s official blog: Bryan on Scouting, at blog.scoutingmagazine.org.
The BSA’s newest merit badge, Robotics, officially launched this week as part of our new curriculum emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), which takes a fun, adventurous approach to helping Scouts develop critical skills that are relevant and needed in today’s competitive world. Robotics is the BSA’s 126th currently available merit badge, joining the recently introduced (and STEM-related) Inventing and Geocaching merit badges.
The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) will be carrying a special cargo when they take off April 29 on their 14-day journey—100 Robotics merit badge patches, which will journey into space on the last scheduled mission of the Space Shuttle program. Once they return to Earth, the badges will be given away to a few lucky Boys’ Life readers via contests announced at the Boys’ Life Robotics page.
Robotics Resources
A variety of resources are now available in Scout shops and online:
For youth:
* Interactive merit badge on the
Boys’ Life Robotics page
* Robotics kits available at
www.scoutstuff.org and local Scout shops
For adults:
*
Merit badge counselor information
Patrol Z
The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve has a story to tell, and they want Scouts to be the ones to tell it. That’s
Patrol Z. This campaign needs digital storytellers: Kids who blog, shoot video, make podcasts, build photostreams, and more are needed to get the word out about The Summit. Prize packages (really good ones) await the 12 Scouts who make it, and 50 other Scouts will be named Patrol Z ambassadors.
Please encourage your unit volunteers to have their Scouts participate by going to the
Summit website to apply. Here’s a glimpse of what they’ll be getting themselves into.
In addition to Patrol Z, a prize pack for an entire troop could be
waiting for Scouts who fill out a survey and help Shape the Summit.
Why? As we build the Summit, we want Scouts—today’s Scouts—to tell us
what they want the Summit to be. This is an integral piece in bringing
Scouting into the next 100 years. Please take a moment to ask all of
your unit volunteers to have their Scouts go to the Shape the Summit survey and give us their two cents.