New Alumni Award knot recognizes Scouters who help others reconnect

The BSA's Alumni Award

 

Millions of Americans—including several of your coworkers, friends, and family members—were involved in Scouting at one point in their lives.

The trick is tracking these former members down and asking them to reconnect with the Boy Scouts of America.

That’s where you come in. Ready for a challenge?

Help these one-time Scouts get back in touch with the Scouting program, and you’ll be eligible to earn the new Alumni Award square knot, seen above.

The award recognizes registered Scouters who help unregistered alumni rejoin the program. This task breaks down into four categories of requirements:

  • Alumni identification and promotion, such as contacting former members, planning alumni activities, and/or presenting to non-Scout groups.
  • Alumni engagement, including helping two former members become registered Scouters or recruiting alumni to volunteer at Scouting events.
  • Personal participation, which could mean serving on an alumni committee or sharing your experiences at the BSA Alumni Web site.
  • Personal education, such as completing the online alumni training or taking an alumni course at the Philmont Training Center.

If you’re an Eagle Scout, you’ll also need to become a registered member of NESA, the National Eagle Scout Association.

For the full requirements, check out the official application for the award (link opens PDF).

Before applying, here are three other factors to keep in mind:

  • All requirements must have been completed after June 1, 2009.
  • Applicants must be currently registered adult Scouters of the Boy Scouts of America.
  • All applicants must receive the approval of their local council’s alumni committee chair and Scout executive.

Know Your Knots

Has this post made you hungry to learn more about other square knots? Then browse my Knot of the Week posts from 2009 and 2010.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.