Tiger Scout collecting food for Scouting for Food from members of Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church
Articles
RECHARTERING NOW OPEN!
The annual unit rechartering process has begun!
Rechartering is an important part of a unit’s annual process. It helps ensure that your member rosters and contact info are up to date. It is also a good opportunity to review your unit’s volunteer leadership and make plans for the future.
Recharter applications are to be submitted in November 2020. To help with this process, the Internet Recharter application is now available online. Further information can be obtained from http://www.ncacbsa.org/recharter.
A Brand New Gaga
David W. of Troop 291 in Gaithersburg, MD, has always loved playing Gaga, a type of dodgeball game. He especially enjoyed playing at Westleigh pool, but when he heard that they were losing members, he wanted to help improve the facility to help attract new members. So after consulting some board members David began work on creating a new Gaga pit.
Just as David was about to begin, COVID-19 struck and he had to put his plans on hold. So David and his dad decided to prep some of the work needed for the pit, doing as much as they were able to in their garage. Once he could back out to the pool, he was able to touch up the paint on the wood for the pit and begin digging and filling holes to place the sixteen posts that would outline the pit. Unfortunately, once they got near the end three of the posts did not line up. He had to adjust all three beams so they’d be aligned properly.
Once the entire project was completed, David was glad to see everything fall into place and to have had the chance to work with all his volunteers. He felt as if he learned quite a bit, saying, “I learned I am a lot more equipped from my time at Scouting than I thought. Leading up to it, I was very nervous, but once Scouts arrived and we began working, everything fell into place and was extremely rewarding.”
NCAC Service Areas Will Realign Jan. 1, 2021
NCAC is committed to providing a quality Scouting experience for all of our youth members and adult volunteers. Due to a recent vacancy on our management team and recent promotion of one of our Field Directors, the National Capital Area Council volunteer and staff leadership discussed an opportunity to streamline our professional organizational chart. The leadership of National Capital Area Council strongly believed in maintaining the size of our professional staff during COVID-19 to ensure our member families continue to receive excellent support in Scouting activities. To this end, we will be realigning our service areas over the next several weeks effective Jan 1, 2021. This change will not impact program at the unit or district levels, so most of our volunteers will not see any disruption, but it will allow the professional staff to align around naturally occurring groupings in our community. This is will also help support both volunteer and staff development with the creation of a natural pipeline of leaders that can assume larger roles in our Council in the years to come.
Effective January 1, 2021, NCAC’s districts will be arranged into the following Service Areas:
Maryland Service Area:
- Francis Scott Key
- Potomac
- Seneca
- Patuxent
- Western Shore
- White Oak
- USVI/Direct Service
Virginia Central:
- Chain Bridge
- Colonial
- George Mason
- Old Dominion
- Patriot
- Washington DC
- Scouting CARES
Virginia South:
- Goose Creek
- Powhatan
- Sully
- Piedmont
- Prince William
- Aquia
- Mattaponi
To find your District Executive please go to http://ncacbsa.org/staff. Our cheerful, friendly team of professionals are always happy to be of service!
Scouting For Food Promotional Poster
Is your unit running a Scouting for Food drive this month? Help spread the word with this eye-catching poster! Print them out and use to let your neighborhood know when and where to bring their donations.
Once you get it posted, be sure to take a picture and share it with us on Instagram!
Maryland Teen Joins First Female Inaugural Class of Eagles
On October 28th 2020, BSA Troop 1268 of New Market, MD celebrated its first female Eagle Scout. Ashlyn Cooper of New Market, MD became one of the first class of female Eagle Scouts in the country after successfully completing her Eagle Scout board of review. She joined BSA the very first day that BSA opened up their Scouting program to female youth in February 2019 and completed her Eagle rank work in Sept 2020. She has embraced the program with 100% passion, having logged 48 camping nights, 160 miles of hiking, 200 service hours, 39 merit badges, 5 summer camps, serving as the troop’s first Senior Patrol Leader, attending and then joining staff for the BSA’s National Youth Leadership Training, and being inducted into the Order of the Arrow. Through all of this, Ashlyn’s excitement about sScouting only continues to grow and become infectious to others in the troop. This journey for Ashlyn is not over at Eagle. She plans to continue to earn Eagle Palms, having already earned 3 and has a goal of 60 merit badges by the time she turns 18. She will also now be taking on a bigger role within the Troop as a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and will be encouraged to become an even stronger leader.
Ashlyn comes from a long lineage of Scouting. Her grandmother was the first female leader for her uncle’s BSA Troop many years ago when he was in Scouts, her grandfather was a Sea Scout leader, her father is Scout Master of the Scouts BSA troop 268 linked to her Scouts BSA Troop 1268G and her older brother is also an Eagle Scout.
We congratulate Ashlyn on all she has achieved and will continue to help her to achieve more.
For more information on our program, please visit www.troop1268.org.