About the B.S.A.
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Scouting offers young men ADVENTURE! worldwide! You begin an exciting set of adventures. when you join the world of Scouting. With Scouting, you’ll hike along wooded trails, canoe down rushing streams, and camp under the open sky. At the end of a long nter>day, you’ll enjoy the unique taste of food that you cook yourself over a camping stove. As a Scout, you will travel the backcountry without leaving a trace, and live with only what you carry in your pockets and pack. Sound inviting? .
Scouting is also a doorway to friendship. Boys you know may already be in your troop, and you’ll meet lots of other scouts along the way. Scouting is a worldwide brotherhood many millions strong. Almost anywhere you go, you will find scouts excited about the same things you are. Friendships made in Boy Scouts last a lifetime!
Want to learn the skills that are used outdoors? Boy Scouts know how to find their way with a map and compass, stay warm and dry in stormy weather, and develop a respect for the environment. They observe wildlife up close and study nature all around them.
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To Find Out How To Join Troop 11 Click Here
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The Boy Scouts of America is a nation wide youth program committed to:
• Offer young people responsible fun and adventure;
• Instill in young people lifetime values and develop in them ethical character as expressed in the Scout Oath and Law;
• Train young people in citizenship, service, and leadership;
• Serve America’s communities and families with its quality, values-based program.
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AIMS AND METHODS OF THE SCOUTING PROGRAM
The Scouting program has three specific objectives, commonly referred to as the “Aims of Scouting.” They are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness.
The methods by which the aims are achieved are listed below in random order to emphasize the equal importance of each.
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Ideals
The ideals of Boy Scouting are spelled out in the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Scout motto, and the Scout slogan. The Boy Scout measures himself against these ideals and continually tries to improve. The goals are high, and, as he reaches for them, he has some control over what and who he becomes.
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Patrols
The patrol method gives Boy Scouts an experience in group living and participating citizenship. It places responsibility on young shoulders and teaches boys how to accept it. The patrol method allows Scouts to interact in small groups where they can easily relate to each other. These small groups determine troop activities through their elected representatives.
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Outdoor Programs
Boy Scouting is designed to take place outdoors. It is in the outdoor setting that Scouts share responsibilities and learn to live with one another. It is here that the skills and activities practiced at troop meetings come alive with purpose. Being close to nature helps Boy Scouts gain an appreciation for God’s handiwork and humankind’s place in it. The outdoors is the laboratory for Boy Scouts to learn ecology and practice conservation of nature’s resources.
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Advancement
Boy Scouting provides a series of surmountable obstacles and steps in overcoming them through the advancement method. The Boy Scout plans his advancement and progresses at his own pace as he meets each challenge. The Boy Scout is rewarded for each achievement, which helps him gain self-confidence. The steps in the advancement system help a Boy Scout grow in self-reliance and in the ability to help others.
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The Boy Scout Advancement Program is designed to be a progression of skills and abilities which build upon one another. Scouts start at the beginning with the Scout Rank and work up toward Eagle. Unlike in Cub Scouts, where all a Scout must do to get a requirement signed off is “do their best,” in Boy Scouts, the Scout must actually demonstrate that he has acquired a skill and can competently perform it. Scouts learn by doing and progress at their own rate.
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__Scout Rank
These are the very basics. Scouts learn the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan, as well as how to tie a square knot, and what the Scout badge represents.
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Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class Ranks
Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks teach Scouts foundations skills that they will need throughout their Scout journey. They learn camping, first aid, cooking, and orienteering skills and also participate in service projects, fitness exercises, and much more. Each of these ranks requires a scout to do a bit more than the one before it. These ranks are designed so that a Scout in an active troop can complete them all within his first year of joining.
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Star and Life Ranks
After First Class, the Star then Life Ranks turn away from foundation skills toward service, leadership, and more advanced skills. A Scout must hold a leadership position in his unit for a least six months for each rank, must take part in a service project totaling at least six hours for each rank, and must earn a number of “required” and “optional” merit badges for each rank.
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Eagle and Eagle Palms
The highest rank in the Boy Scout Program, the Eagle Scout is a great honor. Of every 100 boys who join the program, only three will achieve the Eagle Rank. For this honor, a Scout must earn a total of twenty-one merit badges, twelve of which are required. The Scout must also plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a significant service project for the community. All of this must be completed before a Scout turns eighteen. If a Scout reaches the Eagle Rank before eighteen and wishes to remain active as part of his Troop, he can earn Eagle Palms for earning more merit badges and continuing to serve in a leadership position. These Palms however do not denote a “higher rank of Eagle.” Palms simply recognize a boy who has continued to be an active Scout. Eagle is the highest rank of Boy Scouting.
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Personal Growth
As Boy Scouts plan their activities and progress toward their goals, they experience personal growth. The Good Turn concept is a major part of the personal growth method of Boy Scouting. Boys grow as they participate in community service projects and do Good Turns for others. Probably no device is so successful in developing a basis for personal growth as the daily Good Turn. The religious emblems program also is a large part of the personal growth method. Frequent personal conferences with his Scoutmaster help each Boy Scout to determine his growth toward Scouting’s aims.
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_Leadership Development
The Boy Scout program encourages boys to learn and practice leadership skills. Every Boy Scout has the opportunity to participate in both shared and total leadership situations. Understanding the concepts of leadership helps a boy accept the leadership role of others and guides him toward the citizenship aim of Scouting.
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_Uniform.
The uniform makes the Boy Scout troop visible as a force for good and creates a positive youth image in the community. Boy Scouting is an action program, and wearing the uniform is an action that shows each Boy Scout’s commitment to the aims and purposes of Scouting. The uniform gives the Boy Scout identity in a world brotherhood of youth who believe in the same ideals. The uniform is practical attire for Boy Scout activities and provides a way for Boy Scouts to wear the badges that show what they have accomplished.
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_Merit Badges
With over 120 different merit badges, Scouts can explore almost any trade, skill, or hobby interest that they have. To earn the Eagle Rank, a Scout must earn at least twenty-one merit badges, twelve of which are considered “required.” Merit Badges exist for three important reasons:
- To introduce a Scout to a skill or hobby that they may turn into a career or hobby for the rest of their life.
- To teach a Scout how to contact an approved adult “merit badge counselor,” set up a meeting, and meet a goal.
- To have Scouts interact with professionals or skilled amateurs in a field.
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Other Awards
There are a great number of other awards that Scouts may earn. For more information on these, go to the National BSA website by clicking here.
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Scouting Opportunities
What a Scout is able to do is really only limited by his imagination and his drive to succeed. Some of the opportunities that await scouts include:
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High Adventure
The Boy Scouts of America operates three National High Adventure Bases. Each offers a unique challenging experience. They are:
- Philmont Scout Ranch-Located in Chimarron, New Mexico, this 200 square mile ranch offers multi-day backcountry backpacking and horse-packing excursions. Scouts can pan for gold, throw tomahawks, ride pack mules, ascend the Tooth of Time, and do much more. Philmont has been described as the greatest experience a Scout can have.
- Florida Sea Base-Located in the Flordia Keys, Scouts have the opportunity here to sail, deep sea fish, scuba dive, snorkel, live on an island, and bask in the Florida sun.
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National and World Jamborees
Every few years, the Boy Scouts of America hold a National Scout Jamboree. Scouts from across the country come together (often totaling well over 30,000 individuals) to experience fellowship and every aspect of Scouting. The 2010 National Jamboree will be held at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.
Just as the National Jamboree brings Scouts from across the United States, the World Jamboree brings Scouts from around the world together to celebrate the Scouting movement. Scouts can join contingents sent from the United States which make their way to the site of the world gathering and see the sites along the way. The next World Scout Jamboree is going to be held in Sweden.
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Scholarships
Scouts, especially Eagle Scouts, become eligible for a number of different scholarships to help them through college. This tells us that Scouting is still highly looked upon as a producer of proven leaders.
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_FACTS ABOUT SCOUTING
- At the end of 1995, the Boy Scouts of America had more than 93 million alumni. If they were all alive today, they would comprise the eleventh largest country in population in the world.
- Of men who were Scouts for five years or more, 98 percent graduated from high school, compared to 83 percent of non-Scouts.
- Of men who were Scouts for five years or more, 40 percent graduated from high school, compared to 16 percent of non-Scouts.
- Of men who were members of the Boy Scouts of America as youth, 94 percent agree that Scouting helps develop character.
- If a Boy Scout attends his weekly patrol and troop meeting, participates in a monthly weekend troop outing, and attends long-term summer camp with his troop, he will have spent about as much time with Scouting in a year as he spends in the classroom
- Only 25 percent of our youth have been scouts and yet 65 percent of all college and university graduates were scouts.
- 2 of every 3 Rhodes Scholars and 53 astronauts were scouts.
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For every 100 boys who join scouting:
2 will become Eagle Scouts.
12 will have their first contact with a church.
5 will earn their church award, one will enter the clergy.
18 will develop hobbies used during their adult lives.
8 will enter a vocation that was learned through the merit badge program.
17 will be future scout volunteers,
1 will use his scouting skills to save a life.
1 will use his skills to save his own life.
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