Here are the requirements for the new Venturing awards

Venturing changes 1Heads up, Venturers and Venturing advisors. It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for.

The requirements for the Venturing, Discovery, Pathfinder and Summit Awards were released today at the 2014 National Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

Venturers may begin earning them June 1, 2014. They have until the end of the year to finish up work on the rarely earned and soon-to-be-retired Bronze, Gold and Silver awards.

The new awards blend adventure, leadership, personal development and service to give Venturers a structure for developing their own personal vision into manageable goals. That’ll translate into recognition by peers, mentors and the larger community.

After looking over the requirements, I see awards that let Venturers have fun while challenging them to become better leaders. My only complaint is that I’m too old to earn them myself. But any Venturer, regardless of his or her crew’s specialty, will find the awards fit their program.

Each award has a focus. For the Venturing award, it’s joining; for Discovery, it’s participation; for Pathfinder, it’s leadership; and for the Summit award, it’s mentoring.

The requirements were posted this morning on the Program Updates page on scouting.org. Venturers and Venturing Advisors will want to bookmark that page to keep up with this and other changes to their program. Click here for the direct link to the PDF including the requirements.

Many Venturers and advisors have wondered how the transition from the Bronze, Gold and Silver awards will work. Here’s what you need to know:

Current Awards: Bronze, Gold and Silver

  • Venturers may continue working on these until Dec. 31, 2014
  • Current Venturers may convert to the new awards beginning June 1, 2014. They must begin with the Discovery award, regardless of whether they earned Bronze, Gold and Silver. That’s because the award requirements have very little overlap.
  • Venturers must use the new awards after Dec. 31, 2014

New Awards: Venturing, Discovery, Pathfinder and Summit

  • Venturers may convert to the new awards on June 1, 2014:
    • Current Venturers: Begin by working on the Discovery award
    • New Venturers: Begin by working on the Venturing award
  • All Venturers must use the new awards after Dec. 31, 2014

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Photo: A Scouter learns about the new Venturing awards from a Venturer. 


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