We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

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Cub Scouts Award Local Chef “Hometown Hero” Award

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Saturday, Pack 104’s Den 7 Webelos met online to discuss “What makes a Hero.” We discussed the characteristics of heroes and how the recent COVID-19 situation has brought to light “new” community heroes and how everyday people are stepping up to make their communities a better place. Children also designed their own super heroes, discussed Scout heroes (in their age range 9-10 yo) who have been in the news, and decided to award local chef David Guas, of Bayou Bakery a Hometown Hero award on behalf of the den.

When Arlington schools announced their closure, Chef Guas committed to providing free, healthy meals to the community through the end of the school year. Two weeks later, Chef closed his restaurant to focus solely on feeding the community. On May 18th, two representatives from the Den presented the award and certificate to Chef.

Four Pack 1500 Cub Scouts Earn the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award Electronically!

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Four Wolf Cub Scouts in Pack 1500 spent the year working not only on regular advancements and standard NOVA awards, but also striving towards the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award. Already a tough award to achieve due to the level of effort required, these Wolf Scouts were on the verge of completing their supernova requirements when suddenly COVID-19 happened and everything was locked down.

Undeterred, the Scouts (and their fearless mentor) started doing meetings over google hangouts in order to discuss and complete the requirements. Eventually, each scout finished up the grind of the supernova requirements.

Each parent of these Scouts had originally been working hard with their Scouts and collecting everything the Scouts had worked on in a binder to mail to NCAC. After NCAC closed, however, physical submissions were impossible and instead they were starting to be accepted via email. The brave supernova mentor went and picked up each of the binders on the door steps of the scouts houses and brought them back to his house.

After getting the binders, the supernova mentor (it’s too late to go into first person at this point) solicited help from his wife, a teacher and a den leader, to help convert the binders of information into an electronic package for the NCAC STEM committee.

After a lot of scanning, collation, and formatting, each Scout’s binder was converted into a google document that included links to all of the required material, photos/videos of all the activities, and all scanned hand written artifacts that the Scouts had produced. Once it was all collected, the supernova mentor emailed it to the NCAC supernova address and waited.

After a period of time it was announced that the four Scouts had been awarded the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award and that the STEM committee had considered the digital applications exceptional! Truely, the Scouts hard work and determination exemplified the Scout motto, “Do your best.”

I would like to thank the parents for their support in helping their Scouts and my wife for supporting us all when we were all trapped inside.

As a bonus, I have created an example of our supernova submission with the PII removed (although a few photos of my son remain). You can find it here.

Congratulations to David Cohen, Olivia Cohen, Zander Collins, and Whit Stallings on their achievement!

NCAC Summer Camp 2020 Update

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As always, your safety and the safety of all our members, volunteers, and employees is the Boy Scouts of America’s top priority. As such, we have taken a careful and informed approach in evaluating whether to run summer camp this year.  Since the spread of this pandemic, we have been continually monitoring the situation, and consulting with health experts, government officials and other camp professionals.

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that, after a thorough review, the National Capital Area Council has decided to suspend our resident camp programs at Goshen Scout Reservation, Camp William B. Snyder, Camp Airy, and the Day Camp program for the 2020 summer season. We know camp is an important part of every Scout’s summer, and this decision was not made lightly. This is not the end of our summer programming, however; NCAC has assembled a team of volunteers who are designing a fun, exciting alternative program that provides advancement opportunities for our Scouts. More information on these programs will be coming soon.

As promised, we will be issuing refunds for any payments already made towards camp. Your unit will have the following options for your refund:

  1. Roll over some or all of your payments to Summer 2021.
    We look forward to getting our summer camp community back together as soon as possible; rolling your payment forward as a deposit for next year ensures you will be a part of that fun!
  2. Request a refund for your 2020 fees.
    We appreciate your patience as we determine how to make refunds available.

If you have already registered for summer camp, please discuss with your unit and inform us which option you would prefer by following this link. If we have not heard from you by June 30, 2020, we will roll your deposit to next year.

Our entire team is saddened that we will not be able to see you at camp this summer. This is an extraordinarily challenging time unlike anything we have experienced. Our hope is we all emerge from this challenging moment stronger than before.

Most importantly, we look forward to providing the full range of Scouting programs, including outdoor adventures, as soon as the situation allows. For Scouting At Home information and resources, please visit ncacbsa.org/scouting-at-home.

We hope all our Scouting families stay healthy and positive in our current environment and join us in preparing for future great summer camp experiences at Camp!

Troop 492, An Amazing Blessing During a Difficult Year

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A year ago today, Michael and I went to visit a Troop 492 Scout meeting. He wanted to join the Cub Scouts for years, but scheduling never worked out. But we decided that because he was going to be going to a magnet middle school, we’d let him join the BSA in the fall. His best friend’s dad was the Scoutmaster, so it was a way to keep him in touch with some of his friends.

Well, the terrific and very persuasive Scoutmaster convinced us that it made more sense to join right away. The Troop was brand new, so he’d be able to be involved in planning for the upcoming year, and could even go to Scout camp in July. We signed up that night. Little did we know what an incredible blessing that decision would turn out to be.

There was no way we could afford a week at Goshen at the time; we hadn’t budgeted for it, so the Troop worked with our sponsoring Rotary Club to pay Michael’s way. Michael’s best friend assured him that it was the BEST place in the world, and he’d love it.

A week and a half before camp, my dad passed away totally unexpectedly, shattering our world. Michael was with us that morning as my sister (recovering from surgery at our house) and I raced to our parents’ house after getting my mom’s call. Losing his beloved grandfather was devastating. We contemplated cancelling camp for him, but in the end decided to let him go, after getting assurances from his Scoutmaster that he’d be allowed to call us if needed. It was the best thing possible for him at the time. He had a phenomenal week and a break from the chaos at home.

And as our whole lives turned upside down this year – first with our move to live with and take care of my mom, through starting at a brand new middle school not knowing anyone, and then through this pandemic, his Scout Troop has been his lifeline.

Michael has thrived in Scouting, becoming the first in his Troop to promote to Tenderfoot, and then among the first three to promote to Second Class and then First Class. He sold a crazy amount of popcorn, and earned a free week at Goshen for this year. (Still hoping that will happen…) He’s earned a ton of merit badges – including several over Zoom from Councils all over the country! – and was just elected to be the new Patrol Leader. He was pretty nervous about taking on a leadership role, but his first (Zoom) meeting with the Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Patrol Leader this week convinced him that it’s pretty cool to be in ‘the room where it happens’!

I had no idea what we were signing up for a year ago. Now I’m the Assistant Scoutmaster, and a Merit Badge Counselor for several merit badges. I adore all the phenomenal kids in our Troop, and am excited to watch them progress, and to welcome in our new Scouts who will be bridging over from the Cub Pack in the next few weeks. The thing I’m actually missing most during this pandemic lockdown is getting to go camping with all those goofballs! But I’m so proud of all that we’re managing to accomplish despite the lockdown; we haven’t missed a beat.

We’ve had Troop meetings on Zoom every week, videoconferences for merit badge counseling, and even a virtual campout!

It’s been an amazing first year of scouting. I can’t wait to see what future years hold!

Thank You Merit Badge at Home Counselors!

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Shortly after our Council began #ScoutingAtHome a team of volunteers stepped up to form the program that has become the centerpiece of our online program – Merit Badges @Home. These leaders served as digital pioneers, teaching us through example how to offer high quality Scouting programs while practicing physical distancing.

Since the start of the program, nearly 1,000 Scouts have taken merit badge classes. They have earned 24 different badges in 59 classes taught by these amazing instructors:

  • Alexandra Galloway: Art
  • Alexis Owens: Law
  • Arden Dougan: Chemistry
  • Burt Wagner: Digital Technology
  • Carol Brown: Safety
  • Chris Marston: Pets, Genealogy
  • Cyndy Hogan: Citizenship in the World, Citizenship in the Nation
  • David Medvitz: Programming
  • Doug Goldring: Citizenship in the Nation, Hiking/Backpacking
  • Irwin Lazar: Citizenship in the Community
  • James Chaplin: Programming
  • Jim Sheeran: Citizenship in the Community
  • Joseph Bastian: Robotics
  • Kathryn Trolenberg: American Heritage, Music
  • Kevin Bills: Genealogy
  • Lola Arjona: Family Life
  • Marcie Calcagno: Pets
  • Mike Yearsley: Personal Management
  • Nina Hughes: American Culture, Genealogy, Reading, Communications
  • Richard Harrington: Animation, Photography, Moviemaking
  • Richard Morris: Public Health
  • Sara Holtz: Public Health
  • Scott Willey: Painting
  • Sri Sritharan: Programming
  • Susan Plano-Faber: Scholarship, Family Life, Hiking/Backpacking

Please join us in thanking these dedicated Scouters who have worked so hard to innovate these programs for our Scouts! Special thanks also go to the Council’s Advancement & Recognition Committee, Program Department and Marketing Committee for working out the details behind the scenes.

Got a Merit Badge you would like to teach online? Go here https://www.ncacbsa.org/merit-badges-at-home/ to get started.