NCAC Scouts are featured on the front page of The Washington Post Style section today in an article about the 2023 National Jamboree and how Scouting benefits girls. The writer, Anne Branigin, followed Audrey Perez, daughter of NCAC Scout Executive Mario Perez, Mia Strouder, and Lucy Hurd as they “flew down zip lines, played one-armed volleyball, shot laser guns, ate pizza and posed with Regis, a 17-year-old bald eagle with a busted wing” among a whole lot of other experiences!
Noting that the past three years had been a downer for all of the girls, the article explains, “Scouting, a 113-year-old rite of passage for generations of American boys, helped save the girls from total boredom and staved off loneliness in the pandemic years. They know the myriad opportunities being a Scout affords them, benefits adults extolled all the time: the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout; a network they can lean on; an edge during the competitive college application process; life and leadership skills.”
Read the full article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/10/girlhood-boy-scouts-jamboree/
The BSA has licensed the recent Washington Post article about Scouting, and a copy of the article is available in the BSA Brand Center for download and additional use. Download the article from the BSA Brand Center here: https://scouting.webdamdb.com/bp/#/folder/4731610/152075105
The ARISS contact was performed using the Amateur Radio telebridge network, a world-wide network of amateur radio ground stations that enable students to contact the ISS. The amateur radio ground station operated by Claudio Ariotti established contact with the ISS is IK1SLD in, Casale Monferrato, Italy, The ARISS mentor, Charlie Sufana AJ9N, was based in Florida and served as the ARISS Radio moderator for the event.
The “ground” radio experts at Camp William B. Snyder were Pete Collat KI4YBH (Radio Merit Badge Counselor), Mike Aimone WA8AHZ (Virginia Radio Club coordinator) and Joe Porcelli KT3I (Virginia Wireless Club HAM). Porcelli set up a SATCOMM for Scouts to experience satellite chasing before and after the ISS contact.
Tristan Torabi of Troop 255 in Chevy Chase, MD led the design and build of a two-level training structure for firefighters and other emergency responders to practice real-world emergency scenarios at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Bethesda, MD. The structure houses two training props. Prop 1: A trap door for firefighters to experience a floor collapse followed by the need to squeeze through a tube to escape. And Prop 2: the upper story allows responders to practice repelling down an elevator shaft, with a reinforced bailout window. Staff at BCCRS told Tristan this project may save lives by providing real-world training for firefighters to practice infrequent, yet life threatening scenarios they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to experience. The project involved over 560 volunteer hours and the labor and materials is valued at $55,000.
this. It will have tremendous benefits to training which ultimately allow us to perform on emergency incidents in a more effective way for the community and a safer way to protect ourselves from the dangers of the emergency environment. I have worked with many Scouts over the years on different Eagle projects and I know this is a tremendous undertaking and accomplishment.”