When the parents of a special-needs kid say ‘yes’ to Scouting, this happens…
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From an unthinkable tragedy, a lesson for your teenage drivers
Entrepreneur and Eagle Scout Ken Krogue.
Where do our values come from?
For Ken Krogue, the Eagle Scout and Forbes.com contributor, the idea of values first showed up in Scouts, were further developed at the U.S. Naval Academy, and even made an appearance in a classic John Wayne movie.
In this excellent article, posted today, Krogue takes us on his life’s journey. It all started, as it does for many of us who were Scouts as kids, with a great leader.
Krogue writes: Continue reading
The precious ring can be yours, if you complete a Messengers of Peace project.
You can’t promote world peace by sitting on your couch.
No, you’ve got to follow the lead of units like Venturing Crew 122 of North Carolina’s Tuscarora Council. The Venturers and advisors of Crew 122, along with some Scouts from Troop 33, cleaned a 9.5-mile portion of the Neuse River by canoe last month.
Over the 10-hour day, they collected more than 400 plastic bottles, 70 glass bottles, 52 toys, 37 aluminum cans, and 36 styrofoam/paper cups.
Almost as impressive as that garbage haul is the fact that the Venturers kept a count of what they had collected: almost a half-ton of trash in all. And remember they collected it all by canoe.
The conservation effort went beyond just a daily good turn, though. It was the crew’s Messengers of Peace service project, earning them the ring patch seen above.
Now THAT is a load of garbage. Nice job, Scouts!
You were first introduced to Messengers of Peace in a blog post last year. The global program, which launched in 2011, is “designed to inspire millions of young men and women in more than 220 countries and territories to work toward peace. The initiative lets Scouts from around the world share what they’ve done and inspire fellow Scouts to undertake similar efforts in their own communities.”
How do you participate and get one of those Messengers of Peace ring patches? Read on… Continue reading
You give a graduate a gift when he reaches the high point of his educational career, but what about when a boy reaches the pinnacle of Scouting? In other words: To gift or not to gift, that is the question.
An upcoming Eagle Scout Court of Honor was on Scouter Scott’s mind when he wrote:
What is the protocol for gifting an Eagle Scout at his Court of Honor? Is it expected and appropriate? What are some thoughtful gift ideas?
Great question. Our Facebook friends — now 30,000 strong — seem to have a consensus that a gift is never expected but certainly is appropriate and appreciated.
As for what to give, opinions vary. You can’t go wrong with gift cards, Scouting memorabilia, or cold, hard cash. But for some more-imaginative gift ideas, check out these ideas. I’ve included the submitter’s name in parentheses. Continue reading
Even the best-looking troop trailer designs can’t hide ugly insides. You know the ones I mean: cavernous, unorganized spaces into which gear is deposited and never seen again.
That’s why many troops add the Scouting touch to their trailers, installing shelving and other improvements to make storing and finding gear a breeze — even if it’s after dark on Friday night when you pull into camp.
So last month, I asked for troops to send me photos of the insides of their trailers. I wanted to know: How do troops keep things organized and avoid the all-too-familiar sight of 20 boys rummaging through a pile of backpacks, bags, and patrol boxes to find what’s theirs?
Here are five great examples: Continue reading
Perhaps your pack or troop meets Monday nights. Or maybe your family doesn’t have the National Geographic Channel.
Whatever your excuse for missing Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? — the six-episode reality series that matched Eagle Scouts against grown-ups who didn’t reach Eagle as boys — now’s your chance to see it all from the start.
Yes, Are You Tougher? is now available for purchase and download on iTunes, meaning you can watch on your computer, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
You can buy individual episodes in high definition for $2.99 each or in standard definition for $1.99 apiece. Or get the entire series for $13.99 in HD or $9.99 in SD.
Click here for the HD version or click here for the SD version and get ready to see who is Tougher. Continue reading
When tragedies strike — be it a major accident, natural disaster, or act of violence — Scouts quickly answer the call to respond. It’s in our DNA.
That often manifests itself in drives for clothing, blood, and/or supplies. Nobody questions the value of these drives, but Scouters often wonder whether they’re acceptable as Eagle Scout service projects.
Take this email received yesterday from a Scouter who will remain anonymous:
A council has long-held that “drives” in general and blood drives in particular are verboten as Eagle service projects. The usual argument supporting this ban is that “other people do most of the work, including the leadership” and/or “there’s no way the Scout can ‘guarantee’ a particular outcome (e.g., a specific number of books collected, clothing collected, etc.).” Does the BSA have a written position on drives and their appropriateness as service projects for Eagle rank?
Great question. As usual, we turn to Advancement Team Leader Christopher Hunt for the official response. Chris says: Continue reading
Who doesn’t love a good sequel?
After last summer’s successful premiere of the BSA’s Visual Storytelling Workshops in Atlanta and at Philmont, the return engagement is almost upon us.
Two more workshops are scheduled for 2013, including one set for this weekend — May 3 to 5 — in St. Louis. If you hurry, there may still be spots available.
But there’s certainly time to register for the second workshop, held Aug. 4 to 10 at the Philmont Training Center in Cimarron, N.M.
Participants will learn the basics of editing photos with audio to create compelling Scouting stories to share via social media. You’ll leave ready to build an army of Scouting storytellers and get the word about our great movement to those who haven’t yet come aboard.
Go to this site for more information or to register for either workshop.
Photo by Greg Crenshaw
There’s just one problem with all that Tweeting, Facebooking, and Instagramming Scouts and Scouters will do at this summer’s national jamboree.
All those Web-connected devices can only go as far as the batteries inside them.
So, hook up with Samsung and AT&T, an official sponsor of the 2013 National Scout Jamboree.
Now, when you purchase a new Samsung smartphone or tablet and sign up for a two-year plan with AT&T, you’ll get a commemorative, jamboree-edition Goal Zero Switch 8 solar charging kit (a $100 value) for free.
The pocket-size kit will fully charge a smartphone and gets its juice from the sun’s rays, meaning you won’t be tethered to a charging station at the Summit all week — though those will be available for the non-solar Scouts and Scouters among us. Continue reading
Pay attention, because there’ll be a test later.
Boy Scout families — both current and former — can score $250 SAT or ACT test-prep computer programs for less than $20. That means the study materials, shipping, student support, and streaming content can be yours for less than half what it costs to take the actual tests themselves.
It’s $19.99 for either the SAT or ACT test-program, which includes 11 hours of video instruction, 3,000 files of supplemental test prep material, thousands of interactive diagnostic tools, sample questions, and practice tests.
Have a student who’s taking both tests? Grab both programs for $39.98 — a huge savings over the $499.98 list price.
Mac or PC? Doesn’t matter, because the software — available either as a DVD or streamed online — works on either platform.
Longtime blog readers might recognize this program as a continuation of the eKnowledge and the SAT/ACT Donation Project I mentioned a year ago and in 2010. In the years since it began, eKnowledge, which says its mission is helping Scouts and Venturers to Be Prepared for these important standardized tests, has sent more than 4,500 Scouting families this software. And it has received hundreds of thank-you notes from Scouting families, with comments such as: Continue reading
It’s a peculiar vision to see snow-capped mountains and dusty, hot sand all in the same line of sight. But these two geographic elements intertwine at the secret destination in the March-April “Where Am I?” contest.
The location? The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, 35 miles north of Alamosa, Colo.
We received 949 votes from readers, and we randomly selected number 585 as our winner.
Jonathan Alfaro (No. 585), a First Class Scout from Silver Spring, Md., submitted a correct guess, which means he will receive a $100 Supply Group gift card. Congratulations, Jonathan!
Want to try your luck on another round of geography trivia? Take a look at the photo and clues in our May-June contest.
