We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

Cryptology and Codes in STEM@Home

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On February 6, NCAC kicked off the first STEM@Home of 2021! STEM@Home is a online Nova program that enables Cub Scouts to learn Novas from the comforts of their homes! To start off the year we had two cub scout Nova classes:

Nova 1-2-3 Go!

Cub scouts had the tremendous opportunity to learn about secret codes with the NSA National Cryptologic Museum. Ms. Jen Wilcox and cameraman Mr. Craig taught live from the museum, demonstrating the NSA cipher, Navajo Joe, and railroad codes. The NSA National Cryptologic Museum in Annapolis Junction in MD has taught the 1-2-3 Go Nova on-site pre-pandemic.  Thankfully NCAC Nova Counselor Ms. Plano-Faber made the connection to Ms. Wilcox who practiced and tweaked the museum’s program for our STEM@Home virtual format, and together they guided cubs through a fantastic worksheet deciphering codes! (Have you ever heard of a rail fence cipher? ) We can’t wait to visit once the museum reopens!

In another section, the Senior Director of Innovation Research & Development from Intelligent Waves LLC, Mr. John Hammes taught cub scouts about the history of secret codes. Mr. Hammes was a cub scout as a youth and volunteered to give back as a SME (subject matter expert) guiding these cubs through the emergences and industry uses of codes.

NCAC Nova Counselor Dr. Jason Kralj then met with the combined cub scout group to teach the other elements of the 1-2-3 Go Nova Award: statistics! Cub scouts had submit survey questions in advance, which we ran as a poll in ZOOM so everyone could collect data from their peers to meet requirement 2 of the Nova. They then learned how to display the results before moving into the fun coin toss experiment!

 

Cub Scouts Can Code

In another class, cub scouts learned to code with NCAC Nova Counselor Mr. Mark Bruno. This is the second time Mr. Bruno taught this class in STEM@Home and the screenshot is from a step-coding game that he created and facilitated for the whole group! As you might imagine, this Nova Award covers a different type of codes than those in 1-2-3 Go. These cub scouts walked away with a better understanding of binary codes and algorithms; and those who completed the post-requisites even earned their full Nova Award!

Thank you to our guests, Mr. Hammes, Ms. Wilcox and Cameraman Craig as well as our very own NCAC Nova Counselors Dr. Kralj, Ms. Plano-Faber and Mr. Bruno for putting on this excellent event! 


The next STEM@Home will be on April 17, 2021. This event will include Novas for Cub Scouts as well as Scouts BSA — be sure to check it out! https://scoutingevent.com/082-stemnova

Heater Stack: Goshen’s Curbside Pick Up

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There are a number of dining methods around the lake at Goshen Scout Reservation. The two Webelos Camps, Camps PMI and Ross, as well as Scouts BSA Camp, Camp Olmsted, all serve meals in a dining hall. Lenhok’sin High Adventure provides trail meals for their backpacking and canoeing crews. Camp Bowman and Camp Marriott offer Patrol Cooking. Using the Patrol Method, Scouts pick up ingredients and prepare and cook their meals in their campsites. In addition to Patrol Cooking, Camp Marriott also offers the Heater Stack dining option.

But what is Heater Stack? Heater Stack allows patrols to pick up pre-prepared meals and eat them in their site. It is the hybrid, for those looking for a dining experience that is not quite a Dining Hall, but not quite Patrol Cooking. Like a Dining Hall, you do not have to cook your food. Like Patrol Cooking, you get to eat meals in your campsite and hang out with your friends.

Meals in Heater Stack come family style, portioned by patrol. Patrols send a buddy pair the commissary to pick up each meal. Typically, lunch is sandwich fixings. Breakfast and dinner are hot meals that come in large insulated boxes, or “heater stacks”. The camp supplies basic condiments and serving utensils. Campers will need their own mess kits. After the meal is over, campers should make sure to wash their mess kits and serving utensils. The serving dishes from the heater stack as well as the box itself should be given a cursory clean and returned to the commissary so that they can be sanitized and used for the next meal.

Learn more about Camp Marriott at www.gotogoshen.org/marriott.

Upcoming Webinar Series: Summer Camp 2021

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Join the staff of the different NCAC Summer Camps & Programs for informational webinars and get all your summer camp questions answered! There will be representation from Goshen Scout Reservation, Camp Snyder, District Day & Twilight Camps, Camp Catoctin BSA, and the High Adventure Committee. Let’s get camping in Summer 2021!

March 4: Camping & COVID

Camp is going to look a little different this year. Learn what Goshen and Snyder are
doing to keep camp both safe and fun this summer.

March 11: Scouts BSA Camping Options

Get information about programs for both Troops and individuals at Goshen’s Camps
Bowman, Marriott, and Olmsted; Goshen’s Provisional Camp program; Snyder’s new
Specialty Week; and Camp Catoctin BSA.

March 18: Cub Scouts Go to Camp

Get all the details on day camps and overnight camps at Camp Snyder, Camp PMI,
Camp Ross, and District Day & Twilight Camps.

March 25: High Adventure at Summer Camp

Looking for adventure? Check out Goshen’s Lenhok’sin High Adventure or one of the
High Adventure Committee’s trips to a National High Adventure Base.

Webinars will begin at 6pm EST.

Register in advance at: https://ncacbsa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K297JI5zTrOSqIcHr9mpVw

BSA CEO and President Roger Mosby to Keynote the 2021 NCAC College of Commissioner Service

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Commissioner College 

This year’s Commissioner College will be held virtually via Zoom on Saturday, March 13, 2021 from 7:30am – 5:30pm and Sunday, March 14, 2021 from 2:30pm – 5:00pm.

The college is open to everyone interested in learning how to help units better serve more youth through Scouting. This year’s theme is “Rebound Through Resilience.” Registration is now open!

Registration is open to NCAC Scouters only until February 23 at which time it will be opened up to Scouters nationwide. Further information is available at http://www.ncacbsa.org/college or https://scoutingevent.com/082-42919 .

 

Keynote Speaker

Photo from: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/01/28/getting-to-know-roger-c-mosby-the-new-president-and-ceo-of-the-boy-scouts-of-america/

On Saturday, March 13, the Keynote Speaker is Roger C. Mosby, CEO and President of the Boy Scouts of America, headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Roger Mosby most recently ran his own consulting firm focused on executive coaching, following his retirement from leading energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan in 2015. During nearly two decades with the company, he served as HR lead and was one of the original six officers. During his tenure, Kinder Morgan grew from 175 to more than 11,000 employees, with Mosby leading extensive change management and cultural transformation efforts.

Roger was a Scout as a youth and served for more than 33 years as a volunteer in the Mid-America and Sam Houston Area councils, in addition to positions with the Southern Region and National Committees of the Boy Scouts of America, as well as the World Organization of the Scout Movement. He has received the Silver Antelope Award and the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honors for volunteers at the regional and local levels, respectively, and is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s honor society.

 

Article by Jeffrey Schweiger

Assistant Council Commissioner (Exploring, STEM, Communications and Resources), NCAC. Registrar, NCAC CCS 2021

SIGN UP – Seeking Counselors for March 2021 NCAC MB@Home

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NCAC is looking for Merit Badge Counselors for the March 2021 session of the MeritBadges@Home program.

Counselors will conduct remote instruction for Scouts through the Zoom and collaborate through the Basecamp platform between a period of March 15-April 3, 2021.

If you are interested in serving as a counselor, please follow the link below to learn more and sign up. The counselor registration deadline is Monday, February 22.

March 2021 MB@Home Counselor Registration Form (https://forms.gle/TsvZK1PuFhnQTay88)

Feel free to share these links with your Scouting and professional colleagues.

Camp Snyder Scouts BSA Merit Badge Week Is Coming!

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Join us at Camp Snyder for the FIRST EVER MERIT BADGE week for Scouts BSA for the week July 18 – 24, 2021!

We will offer a wide range of Trail-to-Eagle and Outdoor Merit Badges (like Cooking, Swimming, Soil and Water Conservation, First Aid, Archery, Rifle Shooting, Geocaching and more) and Specialty Merit Badges (like Woodworking, Aviation, Search and Rescue, Photography, Weather, Archeology and more). Classes will be small (10 scouts maximum) and up to 50 Merit Badges will be offered.

There are two ways to participate. Individual Scouts or Units can:

  1. stay at Camp Snyder all week and camp overnight or
  2. be a day-only participant while staying overnight at home.

The entire program, to include dining, camping, merit badge classes and fun activities (like the swimming pool, climbing tower, air rifles, craftwork and campfires) will be conducted using strict COVID-19 virus precautions.

Sign up now at https://www.gotosnyder.org/summer-camp/specialty-week/ to RESERVE YOUR PLACE, since the number of participants will be LIMITED to 100 campers and 50 day-only participants. Units can sign up one adult leader for FREE for every 5 paying Scouts. Sign-up for specific Merit Badges classes will be later, during Spring 2021 once the class schedule is finalized!