We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Archives for March 2021

Astronaut, NASA, Out of this World, Nova

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Brian Hoffer is a Den Leader of Pack 129 in NCAC as well as a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. In other words, he went to the same academy as Astronaut Charlie Duke! How cool is that?! Even cooler, Brian reached out to NCAC in February to suggest that we invite Astronaut Duke to STEM Speaker Series. We did, Astronaut Duke agreed to participate, and on March 18th STEM Speaker Series hosted a great chat with Astronaut Duke and a few thousand scouts.

In case you’re wondering, astronauts have a strong connection to scouting. In fact, all but one astronaut to walk on the moon were in BSA at some rank or another (ranging from Cub Scout, to Tenderfoot… to Eagle Scout). Only two of those astronauts earned the rank of Eagle and they are Astronaut Charlie Duke and Astronaut Neil Armstrong.

STEM Speaker Series

Needless to say, we were delighted to host Astronaut Duke in STEM Speaker Series. This webinar series was designed by the NCAC STEM Committee in spring 2020 as a way to encourage youth to learn about STEM careers during the pandemic. We invite STEM professionals to present about their career and education, and to then answer questions live from the youth.

This special edition featuring Astronaut Duke was even broadcast across National BSA’s channels! You can rewatch the talk here, and check out the NCAC STEM Facebook page for future STEM Speaker Series.

 

Brian Hoffer’s Den from Pack 129 tuned in for the chat, and even submit a few questions for Astronaut Duke! This wasn’t their first interaction with the incredible world of space exploration. These cubs earned a Nova Award, “Out of this World” during the past year.

Nova Awards

Each Nova Award generally follows a format that encourages a myriad of activities: read/watch an hour on the topic, do some hands-on activities in the subject area, visit a museum/laboratory, talk to an expert, discuss what you learned.

The requirements of the Out of this World Nova Award included a field trip. Thus, for requirement 4A, Brian had organized a field trip for his den to visit the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.  They were lucky to have visited pre-pandemic, but NASA offers some interactive virtual tours even now.

For another requirement, one of the webelos created this vibrant digital  art of a Mars base.

Congratulations to the following Webelos in Pack 129, in National Capital Area Council, for earning the Out of this World Nova Award:

Ben
Bastian
Xavi
Murphy
Sam
Max

Here’s the photo of them at the NASA Goddard Space Center eating Astronaut Ice Cream. All in all, what a cool way to learn about space, and have a capstone event!

Norm Augustine Receives 75 Year Veteran Award

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Norm Augustine receives his 75 Year Veteran Award from NCAC Scout Executive Craig Poland
Norm Augustine receives his 75 Year Veteran Award from NCAC Scout Executive Craig Poland

Norman Augustine has done many amazing things in his life. He graduated from Princeton University magna cum laude, he was the CEO of Lockheed Martin, he has received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Award, and much, much more.

But before he did any of that he did one other very amazing thing: he became a Scout.

“Scouting had a profound impact on my life and the lives of many top business leaders I worked with over my career,” said Mr. Augustine. “I will never forget the extraordinary times I had in Scouting, particularly at summer camp.”

Earlier this year Mr. Augustine reached a milestone not many Scouting volunteers achieve; he reached 75 years of continuous and active membership in the Scouts. During that time he served as BSA’s National President, received the Silver Buffalo Award for his work in service to young people, and was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

And Mr. Augustine is not the only Eagle in his family. Since earning his Eagle Scout Award in 1952 he has been joined by every other man in his family. That’s right; every male member of the Augustine family is an Eagle Scout! It is inspiring to see the impact Scouting has had on one family.

Thank you, Mr. Augustine, for your many years of dedication and service to our Scouts and to our nation!

 

Pack 142 Scouts Rise to Challenging Times by being Cheerful Scouts and Bringing Cheer to Others

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The Scout Leaders, Scouts and Scouting Families of Pack 142 have been safely conducting outdoor Scouting adventures since the pandemic began. Despite the challenges of the last year, Pack 142 serves as a great example to others of what Lord Baden-Powell, the Founder of Scouting, said about the great classroom of the outdoors: “A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.”

For instance, last summer, Pack events included their annual Fishing Derby, socially-distanced hiking (all Scouts had 6-foot long styrofoam pool noodles to help remind fellow Scouts and adults when anyone was getting too close), and a geo-caching adventure. As Baden-Powell reminds us: “A [Scout] is not a sitting-down animal.”

Among the many highlights for 2020 was having the whole Pack participate in the annual Stafford Christmas Parade. The Scouts turned out to celebrate life! This was their way of putting the horrible year 2020 behind by “celebrating” some of the disasters we have survived and are overcoming – COVID, wildfires, hurricanes, toilet paper shortages, etc. This year, the Pack’s participation in the Stafford Christmas Parade was motivated, in part, because the Scouts and their Scouting Families wanted to remind the community that while things are currently challenging, they are not hopeless.

Their cheerful attitude brought cheer to others in exactly the way Baden-Powell meant when he said: “A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.” Scouts should set the example always, but especially when things are not going well. The Scouts’ positive and fun-loving, goofy attitudes were infectious – leading to their parade float and team being recognized as the Overall Winners of the 2020 Parade! This followed the Scouts’ memorable participation in the 2019 Stafford Christmas Parade, where they were awarded 2nd place, and did a silly skit themed with flying cardboard airplanes, since the parade was held at the Stafford Airport.

Lord Baden-Powell, the Founder of Scouting, liked to say: “The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” And the Scouts from Pack 142 are certainly bringing cheer to the world around them, despite being few in numbers and only in their fifth year as a Pack. Pack 142 is chartered by the Stafford Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA). The IWLA supports the Pack with plenty of outdoor resources including multiple fishing ponds, campgrounds, open fields for rocket launches (which the Pack does at many campouts because the Scouts just love it!), lots of hiking trails, and a clubhouse with amenities.

Typically, the Pack meets on Thursdays 6:30-7:30pm at the IWLA Clubhouse, but since there’s an on-going COVID-induced hiatus from indoor activities, they have been meeting individually as Dens or doing outdoor activities until restrictions are relaxed.

Pack 142 is a very small and tight-knit Pack with Scouting Families who want to keep their Scouts involved in outdoor activities as well as “Helping Other People at All Times” by doing plenty of community service projects. Since the pandemic began, the Pack has successfully recruited new Scouts, due in part to word-of-mouth that the Pack continues to keep Scouts engaged with fun outdoor events. Despite all the challenges this past year, Pack 142 is certainly keeping faith with the idea that “Scouting is Outing and Outing is Fun!”

Troop 1550B Scout Earns the EPA 50th Anniversary Award

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My name is Matthew Christman from Troop 1550B in Leesburg, VA which is part of Goose Creek District, National Capital Area Council. I earned the 50th Anniversary Environmental Protection Agency Award on March 6, 2021.

About the award: To commemorate the Environmental Protection Agency’s 50th anniversary in 2020, the Boy Scouts of America and the EPA created an award that encourages youth in the Scouts BSA program to learn about and protect the environment. The award is a patch and can only be awarded in 2021.

To earn the award scouts must earn the Public Health merit badge and one merit badge from each of three following groups: Animal Study, Outdoor Activity & Earth Sciences. A scout could have earned the merit badges before the award came out but they must do their conservation service project hours in 2021.

There’s a form to fill out with the dates you earned the merit badges and the date you completed your conservation service project. Your Unit Leader signs the form for approval. You take this to a scout shop and they will give you your award patch.

I completed a lot of merit badges before the award came out that I could choose from. Here’s the ones I submitted with my paperwork.
1: Animal Science group: I chose Animal Science- I earned this merit badge in March 2017 at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, VA
2: Outdoor Activity group: I chose Fly Fishing- I did most of the work for this at a merit badge class at The Virginia Wine and Fly-Fishing Festival. My counselor for this was Pete Adams who’s on the BSAs Fishing Committee. I went to Orvis for their Fly Fishing 101 class. I also participated in their Fly Fishing 201 outing and did some fly-fishing. I finished the “catch a fish while fly-fishing” requirement & emailed Mr. Adams a picture of my catch to complete the merit badge in May 2017.
3: Earth Science group: I chose Oceanography- I did this merit badge with Sea Scout Ship 1942 in Alexandria, VA during one of their Sea Scouts Afloat weekends in April 2018.
4: Public Health is a required merit badge that you have to earn to receive this award. I completed this merit badge at the Fairfax County Health Department in January 2018.

For the 6 conservation hours needed for this award: My parents, Jim and Sandra Christman and I met Sara Holtz, who volunteers with Fairfax County Park Authority Invasive Management Area Program at Difficult Run Stream Valley Park on Oakton, VA three different Saturdays to pull Japanese barberry, multi floral rose and wineberry. These are all invasive species that grow and kill off native species. Removing these will help native species start to grow again which will help wildlife return to an area as well.

 

Pack 888 to earn 4 years of Hornaday Unit awards!

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Over three working days, 35 Scouts from Pack 888 in Colonial District led an invasive plant removal project, with 15 boys and girls from BSA Troop 993, Troop 876 and Troop 680, one Girl Scout from Troop 874, 40 adults and nine siblings, 101 people total to combine for 223.5 total service hours. They completed a sustainable environmental service project to apply for their fourth Hornaday Unit Award. This is the sixth time any unit will earn the award four times. The project in 2017 involved removing invasive Bradford Pear Trees; the project in 2018 was planting native trees, shrubs and perennials at the Mount Vernon Government Center; and in 2019 the project was building a pollinator garden at Hollin Meadows Elementary School.

When their annual spring service project was postponed by COVID-19, Pack 888 worked with Hornaday Advisor Sara Holtz to identify a project in their community, which offered space to gather scouts safely. They found a park in Fairfax County Park Authority’s (FCPA) Invasive Management Area Program (IMA) (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/invasive-management-area), and with IMA site leader Tim Resch, worked remove invasive plants such as English ivy, Japanese stiltgrass, Bush Honeysuckle, Oriental Bittersweet and Japanese Holly, from Hollin Meadows Park in Alexandria.

A big change from previous environmental service projects was the goal – instead of building pollinator gardens or planting native species, this project’s goal was destruction and removal of non-native plants. Mr. Resch began each work day with an information session on identifying specific invasive plants and how to properly remove them.

Safety was a top priority, and in compliance with BSA guidelines and FCPA IMA guidelines, wearing masks was required, and physical distance was achieved by breaking down into small groups, each assigned to a specific area, to allow individuals to spread out.

Webelos Rosie Edwards said “We had just been doing zoom meetings and things this summer, but at the service project I actually got to see my Den in person. It was really nice!”

Webelos Zoe Runnels said what she liked most was “doing it with other people and seeing how big the pile was that we made.”

Arrow of Light Carson Latimer said “It felt good to do something that was helping the Earth. And I could all see the progress we made.”

And Wolf Jakob Bongiovanni really enjoyed the vine cutting, and enjoyed the destruction.

Arrow of Light Leonardo S. Arevalo wrote a summary of the project, how the purpose was “to remove invasive plants, like English Ivy, which damages trees’ bark, later it will overtake the tree to kill it. The leader who made this task told us the strategy, to roll the English Ivy like a carpet. Pack 888 enjoyed helping Mother Nature to protect the trees to receive pure oxygen. I hope people are helping to protect this planet.”

“It is an incredible honor to receive the Hornaday award four times,” said Pack Cubmaster, Tom Scala. “Pack 888 has a longstanding commitment to conservation and preserving the integrity of local landmarks and natural settings. Our conservation service projects are an important part of our commitment in giving back to our local community, and we are humbled to receive this prestigious award that recognizes the importance of that commitment.”

Picture by Jennifer Scala

Let’s Get Camping Webinar Series: Cub Scouts Go To Camp

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March 18, 2021: Cub Scouts Go To Camp Webinar

Missed the webinar? You can view a recording of it below.

You can also download the slides from the webinar here: Cub Scouts Go To Camp slides [PPTX]

Get more information on the various Cub Scout camps at their respective websites:

Keep up to date with the latest information on 2021 summer camp and COVID-19 protocols at www.gotogoshen.org/coronavirus for Goshen Scout Reservation camps and www.gotosnyder.org/coronavirus for Camp Snyder.

You can find the whole series of Let’s Get Camping Webinar recordings on our playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5x999ziTZaU6Kr1lqS6tbNqgYTzjcBRf.

Upcoming webinars in the series include High Adventure at Summer Camp on March 25 and Scouts BSA Camping Options on April 1. All webinars begin at 6pm EST. Register in advance at https://ncacbsa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K297JI5zTrOSqIcHr9mpVw.