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Archives for March 2020

Troop 976 Take Virtual Meetings in Stride

March 27, 2020 by Dagny Shiells

Following the words of the Boy Scout motto to “Be Prepared”, Troop 976 of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna, Va did just that and more this week. In this time of uncertainty and social-distancing due to the coronavirus, the leadership and scouts of Troop 976 rallied to continue with their regularly scheduled Wednesday evening Troop meetings. Instead of holding a meeting as they usually do in the Counsel Room at OLGC they took it online!

On Wednesday March 11th 27 Scouts of Troop 976 utilized online video teleconferencing via Zoom to participate in their meeting. This inaugural approach went extremely well keeping the Troop not only on schedule but connected with one another. Scoutmaster Abe Bacarra set up the teleconference and laid out ground rules with the Scouts at the start to help the boys understand Zoom’s features and to also help in keeping the meeting under control. For example, virtual handraising was one of the many areas instituted with the boys to insure a forum where each boy could follow the discussion and also participate.

As moderator, Mr. Bacarra had planned initially for a 10 -15 minute virtual Troop meeting to see if the approach was even viable but their meeting lasted for 45 minutes and could have gone longer. The Scouts were not only engaged but excited to be continuing in some format with their normal routines. The Scouts followed a pre-set agenda that was listed on screen. An unexpected side benefit emerged in that there was even more participation than usual from the younger scouts as the format seemed to help with any hesitation to participate.

“The Scouts took the virtual meeting in stride,” Scoutmaster Abe Bacarra said. “I think this is indicative of their generation where they have been exposed to computing/mobile devices from an early age. The virtual meeting is in line with current distance learning efforts. The boys are so adept with this technology that they may be helping their parents setup Webex and Zoom sessions for their office meetings.”

Due to the great success of the meeting last Wednesday the Troop plans to continue using the online format for their weekly Troop meetings as long as social distancing is necessary. In fact, Troop elections for Scout leadership positions are scheduled for next week and will continue now online. The Scouts are not the only ones going online. On the same night the Troop’s adult comprised Committee meeting led by Committee Chair Pete Thiringer took place via teleconference as well. Even more, there are plans already in process to hold virtual scout Boards of Review (needed for rank advancement) next week. Troop 976 is not only remaining “Prepared” but keeping their close connections during these unprecedented times.

Filed Under: Scouting At Home Tagged With: scouting, ScoutMeIn, Scouts BSA

Pack 1859’s Journey to Earn the NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award

March 26, 2020 by Sara Holtz

Cubs in Pack 1859 from Sully District are earning the NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness award for Cubs. Before the recommendations to suspend all in-person Scouting events, they dedicated their last pack meeting to Outdoor Ethics and Leave No Trace!

Pack 1859 holding Leave No Trace reference cards.

The NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award has 4 requirements.
1. Cubs and Scouters recited the Outdoor Code together as a pack. The Outdoor Code captures the essence of the Scouting Outdoor Ethic and establishes our aspirations and commitment.

2. They viewed the Leave No Trace video, produced by the National Park Service and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. This video introduces the 7 principles of Leave No Trace.

3. Cubs and Scouters learned some of the principles by playing interactive games with a person who has taken the Outdoor Ethics Orientation, the Leave No Trace Trainer course, or the Leave No Trace Master Educator course. They played the trash timeline, the durable surface game, a wildlife habitat matching game, the animal vault game, and the thumb trick.

Cub Scouts determining whether surfaces are durable for hiking.
Learning the Thumb Trick to respect wildlife by keeping a safe distance.

4. At home with an adult they will take the Leave No Trace online awareness course. This online course can be tricky, even for adults, so do your best.

The NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award for Cub Scouts .

To learn more about LNT check out their online awareness course!

Filed Under: Scouting Programs Tagged With: Awards, Cub Scouts, outdoor ethics

Life Scout Donates to Fisher House Foundation

March 25, 2020 by Juanita E. Jackson

My son, Andre Jackson is a Life Scout with Troop 29 (Patuxent District) has recently donated greatly needed items to the Fisher House Foundation at Andrews Joint Airforce Base on Friday, March 13th. His Eagle Service Project campaign, “Helping Those Who Help Others” for the benefit of the Fisher House Foundation, collection drive ran from January 31, 2020, and ended on March 13th, 2020. He collected donations from his Troop family, neighbors, his classmates at the Lab School of Washington and his church member at Largo Community Church. He collected and donated the following items:

106 Rolls of Paper Towels 
40 Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
39 Hand Sanitizers ( 4 – 32-ounce bottles, 20 – 8-ounce bottles, 7 – 12-ounce bottles, and 8 – 2-ounce bottles) 
189 K-cups assorted coffees and teas
26 Hot Chocolate packets
45 Cheez-it Snacks
42 Snack Pack Assorted Chips
30 Frito Lay Baked Mix Chips
36 Pringles Variety Pack Chips
36 Quater Chewy Bars
64 Soft Chewy Granola Bars
18 Breakfast Bars
48 Nabisco Nutter Butter Cookies
24 Animal Cracker snack packs
4 packs of Reynolds wrap
2 20-bags Quart size storage
2 13-bags tall Kitchen
4 V05 Shampoos (15 oz/each)
2 Tides Liquid Detergent

In the middle of his service project, the Coronavirus 19 news broke here in America and affected the amounts of donations, especially the Clorox Disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizers. Ms. Veronica Harris, who is the house manager at Fisher House JAFB, was astonished at the amounts Clorox wipes and hand sanitizers Andre was able to collect. Her staff and she was so grateful to Andre achieving so much during the times when those items are sold out in the stores. I’m very proud of my son’s effort and dedication to helping others. He is a leader in his Troop and his school as the vice president of the student body at Lab School of Washington.

Today, he is adjusting to the new reality the Coronavirus 19 has caused such as distance learning from home and his plans to complete his Eagle Board of Review this next month. He has been a blessing helping out with cooking for his grandparents who live with us and keeping them calm during the pandemic. I wanted to share his completed service project and pictures of his journey towards his Eagle Rank to bring joy during these trying times. He cannot wait until this crisis is over so we can meet face-to-face with his troops, friends, classmates and other family members. Funny thing, yesterday he actually told me he misses going to school and seeing his classmates.

Filed Under: Leaders, Scouting Programs Tagged With: Patuxent, Scouts BSA

Try Your Orienteering Skills!

March 23, 2020 by Dave Linthicum

Troops & Venturing units are challenged to test (and learn!) map skills at the 44th Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Day Oct. 24, 2020 at Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro. Event cost is $4.00 per participant including patches, plus, if camping, an extra $2 per person per night.

Last year’s event had 69 units, 507 youth (60 girls), plus 160 adult orienteering participants. #myNCAC Scouts had their usual great results, with nine of the top twelve troop awards. Troop 111 from Chain Bridge District, Arlington, was the top NCAC troop. Scouts from 20 different troops nabbed spots in the top 23 individual awards. Nate Beardmore of Troop 347, Western Shores (Prince Frederick) was the overall winner.

Register online at www.BaltimoreBSA.org/orienteering by October 18, 2020. No Cubs, no Webelos. Come for the day, or camp one or two nights. Self-guided map instruction starts off the day, designed for beginners to this forest navigation map sport; intermediate and advanced levels are also included.

Filed Under: Scouting Programs Tagged With: Orienteering, scouting

Designate NCAC with Amazon Smile!

March 23, 2020 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Designate. Shop. Smile.

Have you been shopping online more? Then it’s a great time to join NCAC’s partnership with Amazon Smile to raise funds for local Scouting! How? By designating National Capital Area Council, BSA on smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate to #myNCAC with every purchase!

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support, but we hope you choose us!

It’s easy! Just follow these easy steps and support Scouting at NCAC in seconds.

How do I set up AmazonSmile?

Step 1: Go to smile.amazon.com

You’ll use this link to register and for all your future Amazon shopping.

Even after you’ve signed up for AmazonSmile and selected a charity, shopping through the regular amazon.com won’t benefit that charity. You need to use the smile.amazon.com link from now on. You can also use a browser extension (on example is Smile Always on Chrome) that will redirect you automatically.

Step 2: Sign in using your normal Amazon login.

Step 3: Search for “National Capital Area Council, Boy Scouts of America” and click the yellow “Select” button to the right of our council name.

Step 4: Check the top-left corner and start shopping.

If you see AmazonSmile in the top left corner and “Supporting: NCAC, BSA” in the charity line, you’ve done it right.

Step 5: Double-check that the product you’re buying is eligible.

Most items sold by Amazon qualify, but confirm that on the product page. It’ll say “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation.” And this is a good time to triple-check that you see AmazonSmile and “Supporting: National Capital Area Council Boy Scouts of America” at the top-left corner.

Step 6: Check out!

Purchase the item(s), and smile. You’ve just done a Good Turn for our Council!

For more information about the AmazonSmile program, go to http://smile.amazon.com/about.

Filed Under: Scouting At Home Tagged With: scouting, ScoutMeIn

Virtual Patrol Meetings Keep Scouts Happy, Healthy, and Active

March 20, 2020 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Scouts just like to interact with and talk to their buddies, especially in Patrol Meetings. Troop 581 in Gainesville, VA found out that Virtual Patrol Meetings give Scouts an opportunity to do just that, whether they are miles apart or just around the block. On-line patrol meetings can also provide a sense of normalcy and structure when the world seems out of control with school closures, event cancellations, extreme toilet paper buying, food stockpiling, and a general doubt of what the future holds during the pandemic.  This article will provide you with the tools and preparedness necessary to trek into the wilderness of on-line “Virtual Patrol Meetings” using any Smart Phone, Tablet, or PC; and any one of many free or inexpensive App and on-line video conferencing services.

Just like beginning any expedition, planning is needed and you need to pack wisely. Your virtual Patrol Meeting essentials must include the following.

  1. A day and time; probably the same day and time of your Troop meetings since they have been cancelled, but any appropriate day and time will work.
  • Two Deep Leadership; I know, this should have been #1 but you only need Two Deep Leadership once you have set a day and time. Per current BSA policy you must provide Two Deep Leadership at all times, even on-line, for youth protection and Scout safety! Find another registered adult with current YPT training and have then join you for all virtual Patrol Meetings.  If they support a patrol, you may need to be their second leader for that Patrol’s meetings.  Remember, Teamwork makes the Dream Work.  Your Scoutmaster can probably also act as your second leader, if needed.
  • Approvals; yes you will need to obtain approval from your Scoutmaster.  He/she needs to make sure there are no conflicting Troop virtual activities planned and also ensure YPT is followed.  Your Scouts will also need their parents’ approval to go on-line and participate, they may also need to borrow their parents’ Smart Phone, Tablet, or PC.
  • Mentoring; as a Scout leader you will have to more closely mentor your Scouts, Patrol Leader, and Assistant Patrol Leader so they can successfully navigate their way through the virtual wilderness.  You will likely have to help coordinate the first few meetings and establish a basic agenda that includes a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting for the Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath/Law, Announcements, training/guidance; and few minutes at the end of the meeting for reflection, closure, and a Scoutmaster Minute if he/she attends the meeting. A Patrol needs to be Scout led, but an active adult mentor can turn a good patrol into a great Patrol!
  • A plan;  if possible work with your Patrol Leader and his/her parents to setup a plan and agenda for the next few meetings. Keep YPT requirements in mind when communicating with Scouts.  If it is not feasible to coordinate with them then come up with a basic plan and agenda that can be adjusted by the Scouts once they start the meetings. Plan for meetings to last 40-60 minutes, reserve the first 10-20 minutes as recommended in the mentoring section for gathering/opening activities, let Scouts use 20-30 minutes however they want or maybe for Patrol level merit badge sessions, and reserve the last 5 minutes for an appropriate closing prayer, reflection, and/or Scoutmaster Minute.    
  • Communications; Scouts will only attend a virtual patrol meeting if they know about it, so be sure to send an email to all the Scouts and their parents informing them of the meetings and provide them with all the information they need to join the meetings.  A well-organized and mentored Patrol Leader should be able to do this themselves.  Also, call the parents of the Scouts and encourage them to help their Scouts attend these meetings.  Post the virtual patrol meetings on the Troop calendar.
  • On-line/Virtual Meeting Tool or App; Troop 581 decided to use the “Zoom” App and on-line service because it met most of our needs, is free/inexpensive, and easy to use; but there are plenty of options available such as Google Hangouts, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Teams, and GoToMeeting.  Zoom’s free account does limit you to 40 minute meetings with no more than 100 attendees, but 40 minutes is plenty of time for an on-line patrol meeting and your patrol should be way less than 100 Scouts.  If you prefer additional features there are options for paid subscriptions too.  Zoom, and all these services, are easy to use and works on a broad range of devices.  Smart Phones and Tablets need to download an App; but PCs only need to have access to the internet.  Regardless of the service you decide to use, all attendees will join the meeting by clicking a link you send them via email and/or post on your Troop Calendar. 

The wilderness can be daunting, but keep on pioneering, once you plan and execute your first Virtual Patrol Meeting the rest will be easy.  If you decide to use Zoom, they have setup a special pandemic web page to help first time users get started.  Just click this link.  https://zoom.us/docs/en-us/covid19.html?_ga=2.15983094.1529393031.1584618073-1042641212.1584618073

Now that you are prepared, have a plan, and packed the essentials it’s time to start your expedition into the on-line wilderness!  Along the way you can easily play Kim’s Game, do an on-line in-home scavenger hunt, work on some advancement/merit badge requirements, plan your next outing for when the pandemic is over, and conduct start-stop-continue discussions as part of your “Virtual Patrol Meetings”.  You should encourage Scouts to wear their Class B Activity Uniforms during virtual meetings, or choose to follow the World Scout Organization’s example of just wearing their neckerchief and slide.  Don’t forget about Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) coming up the first weekend in April, it’s a great opportunity to communicate with Scouts all over the world.

Be safe and keep scouting!

David Adam Atwell

Assistant Scoutmaster

Troop 581 – Prince William District

Filed Under: Scouting At Home Tagged With: scouting, ScoutMeIn, Scouts BSA

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