We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

14 Local Scouts Are Part of Inaugural Female Eagle Scout Class

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BETHESDA, MD: Fourteen young women in the D.C. metro area are among the trailblazing young women in the Boy Scouts of America’s inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts. These Scouts were honored on February 21 at the ‘Be the Change’ event, a celebration of these young women and their achievements, and a call to action for all young people to continue working to make a positive impact on their communities and the nation.      

The local Scouts are members of National Capital Area Council, BSA (NCAC). They joined Scouting for various reasons, such as taking once-in-a-lifetime adventures, creating memories with their families, and paving the way for future generations of young women. While their reasons were different their goal was the same: to become one of the first female Eagle Scouts. Earning this award requires a Scout to hold leadership positions in her troop; earn 21 merit badges focusing on essential life skills such as first aid, camping, and personal finance; and lead a service project in her community. “Two years ago, BSA opened its doors to allow girls to join the organization. To see what these young ladies accomplished in that short amount of time is beyond impressive,” said Craig Poland, Scout Executive and CEO of the National Capital Area Council. “They represent the future of Scouting, and we are honored that they chose to be part of our organization.”  

In addition to the already challenging requirements, these Eagle Scouts had to find ways to complete their projects during a pandemic. This required them to display flexibility and adaptability in their leadership skills. Please join us in congratulating the local members of the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts:  

  • Emma Bazemore organized volunteers from her troop to make snuffle mats and blankets for a local animal shelter, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.  
  • Ashlyn Cooper of New Market, MD, built storage units to house donations for a charitable health facility.  
  • Vienna, VA resident Katie Hunter, supervised the construction and placement of 37 garden boxes for Bailey’s Elementary School in Falls Church.
  • Olivia Preston of Burke, VA, designed and constructed four boat racks for the Lake Braddock Community Association.
  • Clara Kelly partnered with an Islamic middle and high school to build an outdoor learning area. She specifically wanted to work with an Islamic school to bring an aspect of interfaith community building to her project.   

Emma Bazemore, Ashlyn Cooper, Katie Hunter, Olivia Preston, Clara Kelly, Tara Presnall, Maya Kessner, Emma Teichert, Samantha Rutherford, Lila Weir, Lauren Doring, Carolina Herrera Gago, and Elizabeth Clegg completed the requirements for the Inaugural class of female Eagle Scout.   

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About Boy Scouts of America & National Capital Area Council Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life. ™ The Scouting organization is composed of 2.6 million youth members between the ages of 6 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more, please visit www.Scouting.org. 

National Capital Area Council was organized in 1911 and today stands as one of the oldest and largest councils in America. The Council territory includes the District of Columbia; Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland; and in Virginia the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Stafford and Culpeper as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg in Virginia; and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, please visit www.NCACBSA.org. 

Save the Dates: Goshen Staff Alumni Service Weekends

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Goshen Staff Alumni, mark your calendars! The Goshen Staff Alumni Association is hosting two service weekends this spring to help get Goshen back into shape for Summer 2021!

The dates for the service weekends are April 30 – May 2 and May 14 – 16.

Service weekends are open to staff alumni from any Goshen camp and any of their friends and family, ages 21 and up. We’ll be working on all sorts of projects around the Reservation. These weekends are a great time to see the camps again and spend some socially distant time with other camp alumni!

Learn more and register at www.gotogoshen.org/gsaaww.

 

 

Bears Enjoy Their Baloo the Builder Adventure

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In February, Bears from Pack 1601 had a great time completing their Baloo the Builder Adventure in Michael’s Woodshop. This activity was specifically developed for Bear Dens and provided the Bears with the opportunity to complete all of the requirements of the adventure:

The Bears actively participated in a discussion about shop and tool safety. They also learned about many useful tools to have in their tool box. They were given the opportunity to practice using a number of tools including a clamp, sanding block, hammer and nail punch and then applied these skills while working on their projects. In addition to their newfound skills and knowledge, each Bear left the woodshop with a fun Golf Tee Tic-Tac-Toe Board and their very own Cub Scout Tool Box. It was definitely a fun and memorable adventure in Michael’s Woodshop!

Michael’s Woodshop at Camp William B. Snyder is a great place for Scouts to create and learn. The Baloo the Builder Workshop is just one of many activities available in the wood shop. All programs in Michael’s Woodshop are run by a group of dedicated volunteers. With increasing demand for use of the shop, we are currently seeking to expand our roster of volunteers. In particular, we are seeking to add registered female adult leaders to the team to help support the increasing number of female youth participating in activities in Michael’s Woodshop.

For more information about the Baloo the Builder Workshop and other shop activities or to learn more about volunteer roles available, please visit the Michael’s Woodshop webpage or email any questions and requests to the volunteer team at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com

Scout Builds Raspberry Pi Computers For Eagle Project

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Summitted by: Kellen Meymarian

For my Eagle Scout project, I wanted to encourage students to consider STEM jobs by exposing them to professionals they might otherwise not get to meet. My goal was to create a free publicly available STEM Video Library so that professionals can share their experiences and encourage today’s students to consider careers in STEM. My direct beneficiary was the After-School All-Stars, a program that provides comprehensive after-school programming to middle school students in neglected regions of Ward 8, which has the highest crime rates and lowest median incomes out of all wards within Washington DC. As part of this project, I also built Raspberry Pi computers for the beneficiaries.

How I built a Raspberry Pi for my Eagle Scout Project

BSA Troop works on STEM skills by building Raspberry Pi’s

Local Jains Celebrate Scout Sunday 2021

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Submitted by Raju Shah:

The Boy Scouts of America celebrates Scout Sunday, which recognizes the contributions of young people and adults to Scouting. Many of the scouting virtues align with our Jain principles and there are even Jain Religious Awards the scouts can earn.

The Jain Religion is about 6 Million people worldwide, and the US Jain population is around 150K. There is one umbrella organization of Jains in North America – JAINA, and there are many temples and societies across North America. In the DC/Baltimore metro area there is one primary organization, and several other smaller / localized organizations. JAINA has a Scouting Committee, and a number of years ago they created the BSA Approved / Recognized Jain Religious Award.

The Jain Society of Metropolitan DC, an organization around 40 years old with about 500 families as members, and the bulk of them live in the DC/Baltimore Metropolitan area (a range from about an hour west of DC to about an hour north of Baltimore). The organization has a religious school (a Sunday School equivalent) with about 160 students meeting on a bi-weekly basis.

Below are our many  JAIN SOCIETY OF METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON (JSMW) Scouting members. Congratulations Scouts!

Aagam J. – Wolf – Pack 944 – Ellicott City, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Jiten T. – Webelos – Pack 1702 – Fulton, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Raj U. – Webelos – Pack 1450 – Rockville, MD – National Capital Area Council
Devika S. – AOL – Pack 1127 – McLean, VA – National Capital Area Council
Jayen T. – 2nd Class – Troop 540 – Fulton, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Anuva M. – 1st Class – Troop 1444G – Silver Spring, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Jainam S. – 1st Class – Troop 1130 – McLean, VA – National Capital Area Council
Lay S. – Star – Troop 874 – Ellicott City, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Maneet M. – Star – Troop 540 – Fulton, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Ajay M. – Life – Troop 1444 – Silver Spring, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Abhay M. – Eagle – Troop 1444 – Silver Spring, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Samyak J – Eagle – Troop 1998 – Frederick, MD – National Capital Area Council
Moksh S. – Eagle – Troop 1941 – Ashburn, VA – National Capital Area Council
Prasant U. – DL – Pack 1450 – Rockville, MD – National Capital Area Council
Jhalak M. – ASM – Troop 540 – Fulton, MD – Baltimore Area Council
Raju S. – ASM – Troop 1130 – McLean, VA – National Capital Area Council

JSMW has created an email list scouting_families@jainsocietydc.org for JSMW members who are also in Scouting so they can collaborate and stay connected (e.g., if you need help on Jain-friendly diets during camping.)

Feel free to reach out and ask for advice and join the community!

About the Author:
Raju Shah has been in the Scouting since elementary school (Baltimore Area Council), and is probably the first Jain Eagle Scout in the DC/Baltimore Metro area, and is among the first Jains that are Eagle Scouts. As a Jain pioneer in the Scouting program, he is now a proud father of 2 Scouts, and has remained active in Scouting in his new council (National Capital Area Council).

March Council-wide Virtual Roundtable, Wednesday, March 17, 2021

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March is the time in the Scouting program year where we work on getting ready to get our youth back outdoors and to get them ready for the next adventures in the Scouting program. The Council-wide Virtual Roundtable will help you Be Prepared for the Spring and Summer ahead.

We will discuss Adult Leadership Training as our Group Topic before leaders go to their particular Program Breakout Sessions.

In the Cub Leader Roundtable session we will be joined by Justinian Dispenza from the Eastern Shore Permaculture Institute (ESPI), who will be talking about Bug Hotels.

Here is how Justinian and ESPI describe this fun Cub Den/Pack activity:

Bug hotels have grown in popularity over recent years, and it’s no wonder why. They’re fun to design, fun to build, and fun to observe as the seasons go by.

The session will cover:

  • -Why bug hotels are an important addition to habitat conservation,
  • -How to design, gather resources for, and build your bug hotel,
  • -Where to place it and what insects to look for,
  • -And How this little project can help protect your garden/flowers from pests.

As we’ve become more aware of the plight of pollinators and the need to protect and encourage them, solutions like insect hotels offer pollinators and beneficial insects a safe and protected place to winter-down in a world of perfectly manicured lawns and prolific pesticides.

The Scouts BSA breakout plans to cover three Interest topics:

  • Alan Deter, NCAC Advancement & Recognition Committee, “Current Eagle Rank Advancement Process”
  • Chris Cooper, NCAC Training Committee, “Powder Horn Training”
  • Lorrie Hartwell, NCAC Sea Scouts Advisor, “National Youth Leadership Training”

Each breakout session will also help you as leaders with your questions and concerns.

In the Main Room, we will offer “Ask A Commissioner” your opportunity to ask the NCAC Commissioner for help with a particular issue or insight on the Scouting movement.

We plan to offer these Council-wide Roundtables now and in the foreseeable future to supplement what you can get from your local District Roundtable – we look forward to seeing you and your fellow leaders on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.

George Costigan, Bill Desmond, and Dave Rockwell

Your NCAC ACCs for Roundtable

https://scoutingevent.com/?OrgKey=BSA082&calendarID=292858