Índex per November - December 2019 a Scouting

When Scouts hear about someone in need, they spring into service. That’s exactly what happened after a series of earthquakes shook Southern California last summer. A group of Cub Scouts, Scouts and Venturers from the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles rallied their community to help the hardest-hit victims. Over three days, the Scouts collected more than 20,000 pounds of bottled water and 8,000 pounds of nonperishable food and hygiene products. They worked with disaster relief officials to determine the best place to send the items — somewhere the donations would have the greatest impact. They settled on Trona, Calif., a town of 2,000 devastated by the earthquakes. Two earthquakes — magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 — “cracked the very foundations of the town,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The…

As a liver surgeon at one of the nation’s top hospitals, Dr. Nicholas Nissen spends his day fixing others’ problems. But 37 years ago, when Nissen was a Life Scout, he had his own problem: Nissen hadn’t yet completed his Eagle Scout requirements when his northern Minnesota troop folded just a few months before his 18th birthday. Nissen remained calm and proceeded with scalpel-like precision. He registered with the nearest troop, even though the nearest troop was in Minneapolis — some 100 miles south. He recruited friends and former troopmates to help with his Eagle project: building a barbecue and picnic area at a city park in Askov, Minn. Nissen has shown that same determination to his patients over a 28-year medical career. He’s now the surgical director of liver…

WHEN ERIN BLANK’S brother, Patrick, was a Cub Scout, she would play Akela for him and pretend to check off requirements. She became Akela for real years later when her son Ethan’s Wolf den leader quit unexpectedly. (Her younger son, Adin, is also a Cub Scout.) Blank served as den leader for two years and then became pack committee chair. Early on, she developed a detailed plan to work herself out of a job — a goal she met this year — and to leave the pack better than she found it. More leaders got training, membership tripled and every volunteer had a backup in place. At midnight on Feb. 1, Blank led 15 girls across a freezing covered bridge in Lancaster County, Pa. There, they became Troop 82, one…

The Dilemma Saralynn Poindexter has a sweet job — literally. She works part-time at her uncle’s ice-cream shop, the Dairy Delight, a job that offers a flexible schedule, decent money and a free scoop during every shift she works. Like many ice-cream shops, the Dairy Delight offers free birthday treats for people on its email list, which Uncle Dan says is a great way to build loyalty. All is well until Saralynn’s friend Dylan Garten comes in for his free scoop — even though she knows his birthday is six months away. When she challenges him, he explains that he gave a different date when he registered because he’s always at Scout camp on his birthday. Anyway, he says, that’s nothing compared with what fellow Scout Melky Forman does: He…

WHAT TYPE OF FIRE warms twice? The friction fire! A friction fire not only keeps you warm once you get it going, but it also gets you warm while you’re trying to make the fire. If you find yourself without matches, it’s important to know other fire-starting methods, including this friction-fire method: the bow drill. The Bow Drill The bow drill (or fire bow) is the most effective last-ditch fire-starting method; it involves four integral components: the baseboard, the spindle, the bearing block and the bow. The baseboard will produce a smoldering mound of wood dust that hopefully will start your fire. You can use different types of wood depending on where you are, but I prefer semisoft wood, such as cedar, poplar, aspen or basswood. I also like using…

Even though she had done it before in her home country, Lauren Noble still felt a little anxious strapping into her zip line harness. Those jitters for the 15-year-old English Explorer quickly dissipated as she sped down the 1,000-foot wire alongside her friends — some of whom she already knew, but many she had met during the nearly two weeks at the 24th World Scout Jamboree this past summer. “My favorite part is just meeting everyone,” Lauren says. “I’ve made great friends and hope we can stay in contact.” More than 41,000 Scouts, volunteers and leaders from 145 countries met at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia for the biggest World Scout Jamboree in history. There, they forged friendships and enjoyed high-adventure activities, such as zip-lining, scuba diving, rock…

You check the weather forecast a day before the troop’s campout this weekend: a 60% chance of thunderstorms with possible wind gusts of 30 mph. Should the campout be postponed until a weekend with fairer weather? It can be a tough call, and there are many factors to consider: What is the terrain where the campout will be? Will you be camping in a place susceptible to flash flooding or lightning strikes? What activities are planned? Would bad weather make those activities dangerous to do? What are the typical weather patterns for the area and that time of year? Are there permanent shelters available near the campsite? What are the capabilities and experiences of your unit? Bottom line: Safety and common sense should dictate whether or not you cancel or…

Sea Scouts, called Sea Explorers from 1949 to 1998, gives youth opportunities to explore and lead aquatic adventures. It gave Dawn Riley (at the helm) the foundational qualities of leadership and teamwork — qualities she relied upon when she sailed in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew. At the time, yachting was a male-dominated sport, and the crew’s achievement was an unprecedented endeavor met with media scrutiny and societal dismissal. The crew’s story is told in a Sony Pictures Classics documentary called Maiden. Yachts, with crews ranging in size from a dozen to more than 50, took off from Southampton, England, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean nearly 6,000 miles to Punta del Este, Uruguay. That’s the first leg of the six-leg race. They then headed…

The International Game Fish Association and the BSA have announced a new partnership focused on youth angling education. Both organizations share an objective of introducing youth to the joys of fishing while also educating them on how to be ethical anglers and stewards of the environment. “Establishing meaningful partnerships with longstanding and reputable organizations like the Boy Scouts of America provides us with a great opportunity to expand the reach and impact of our youth education initiatives,” says Nehl Horton, IGFA president. “We look forward to working closely with the BSA to accomplish the important work of developing the next generation of ethical anglers.” The IGFA was instrumental in launching the BSA’s Certified Angling Instructor program 10 years ago. A certified angling instructor is a volunteer who recruits Cub Scouts…

MERIT BADGE CLASSES, fairs and universities allow Scouts to pursue several badges in one day or weekend, often working with highly qualified counselors in unique settings. However, organizers and unit leaders must make sure Scouts and counselors aren’t taking shortcuts to boost badge counts. IS GROUP INSTRUCTION PERMITTED? Yes. It’s acceptable and even desirable at times. However, each Scout must actually and personally complete each requirement before the counselor signs off. WHAT DOES ‘ACTUALLY AND PERSONALLY’ MEAN? Each Scout must complete the requirements as written. If a requirement says “show,” the Scout can’t just watch a demonstration; if a requirement says “discuss,” the Scout can’t just listen to a discussion without participating. WHO CAN TEACH IN A GROUP SETTING? All instruction must be overseen by an adult member of the…

AS A PRACTICING psychologist, Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D., thought he understood all the physical and emotional changes that mark the beginning of adolescence. But then a 13-year-old patient taught him a lesson. When Pickhardt asked the boy how he knew adolescence had begun, he said, “Because of how my parents have changed!” That response transformed Pickhardt’s view of adolescence, as he explains in Who Stole My Child? Parenting Through the Four Stages of Adolescence (Central Recovery Press, 2018). “From then on, I have tried to remember that adolescence is not simply about how a child changes on the way to adulthood,” he writes. “It is also about how the parent changes in response, and how the parent/adolescent relationship alters as well.” Scouting magazine recently caught up with Pickhardt to learn how…

When Ray or Deborah Dillon of Little Rock, Ark., tells a story about Scouting, it rarely features just one member of the family. The Dillons’ Scouting stories are usually about an experience the family shared. From the day their only daughter, Amanda, attended her brothers’ Boy Scout meeting and told her mother she wanted to join, Scouting has been a family activity for the Dillons. That’s one reason Ray and Deborah are still enthusiastic supporters of family Scouting, even though their children are grown. “We were involved in family Scouting before family Scouting was cool,” says Ray. One memorable Scout trip included all four of the Dillon children — including Amanda — canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness along the U.S./Canadian border. “Participating in the Boundary Waters trip with…

The BSA has refreshed and retooled a pair of online resources for Scouts BSA volunteers. The first is the Program Resources page. Think of it as your quick-start guide to Scouts BSA. Here, you’ll find a collection of links for starting a Scouts BSA troop, helping Scouts earn merit badges, guiding youth leaders toward more effective troop meetings and more. The second is the Program Updates page. This one’s for both newcomers and veterans, and it’s where the National Scouts BSA Committee posts the latest information on any changes to the program. If there’s a new program initiative, updated requirement or any change to Scouts BSA printed material, you’ll find it there first. Learn more at go.scoutingmagazine.org/programresources…

A TECHNICAL GLITCH silenced the soundtrack for Pack 183’s crossover ceremony last winter. Despite the hiccup, the Scouts had a great time and the ceremony was a success, according to Laura Dombroski, committee chair for the Vernon, N.J., pack. “That’s when you know you’re doing something right,” she says. “It doesn’t need to be some big glitzy thing; it could just be simple.” That’s not to say you don’t need to plan ahead. In fact, Dombroski’s pack sets its crossover date during its annual planning meeting over the summer and begins serious planning a few months out. Pack 150 in nearby Sparta, N.J., does much the same thing, according to Assistant Cubmaster Bob Brady. As another crossover season approaches, Scouting magazine asked Brady and Dombroski to share their keys to…

The 1,440 minutes in each day disappear quickly. Let’s say you spend 480 of those minutes asleep and another 480 at work. That leaves one more chunk of 480 minutes — eight hours — for meals, commuting, after-school activities, exercise, chores, errands and perhaps some relaxation time. So where does Scouting fit in? We asked some highly effective Scouting leaders for their best tips to do more, faster, while staying energized and happy. Stoke Your Passion Alaina Jackson of Kalamazoo, Mich., sells cars 10 hours a day, six days a week. She also volunteers with two Scouts BSA troops — one for boys and one for girls. On top of that, she is her district’s finance chair, a unit commissioner and a council fundraising chair. “Sometimes it’s all Scouting, all…

VISIT go.scoutingmagazine.org/gear for links to all the gear shown here.…

THE BOY SCOUTS of America’s publications, policies, procedures, guidelines, rules and regulations are designed to provide a safe and consistent program for Scouts across the country. Trustworthy adult volunteer leaders would never knowingly allow their units to engage in prohibited activities. But what happens when leaders aren’t familiar with those policies? Not knowing the program can put everyone, including your membership and our participants, at risk. The Scouting program incorporates all kinds of activities — such as swimming, climbing, cycling, archery and snowboarding — that might include risks to participants. The key is that those risks are managed by guidelines that set limits and incorporate specific features, such as safety equipment or qualified supervision. When planning your next outing, ask this question: Is the activity in a handbook or other…