We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

Orienteering Sept. 12

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The 44th Annual Balto. Area Council MD Scout Orienteering Day is at Broad Creek Scout Res. (Camp Oest, 35 mi. NE of Balto.) on Sat., Sept. 12. This is a changed date & location. This event is limited this year to MD units only and a minimum of six scouts per troop due to COVID mitigation rules (which will be sent to each unit registering, reinforced by a phone call from the event chair.)

Last year #myNCAC Scouts had their usual great results, with nine of the top twelve troop awards. Troop 111 from Chain Bridge District, Arlington, was the top NCAC troop. Nate Beardmore of Troop 347, Western Shores (Prince Frederick) was the overall winner. We had 70 units last year; this year we’ll cap registration at 24 units.

Register online by Sept. 3, $4 per person (patch, 2 color maps.) No Cubs, no Webelos. If interested in camping, contact Chris at CWetzel@BaltimoreBSA.org or 443-573-2523. Self-guided map instruction starts off this 3-hour program, designed for beginners to this forest navigation map sport. Before or after your 3-hour orienteering time slot (which we’ll arrange with you in advance) troops may chose to hike some of the camp’s nice creekside, lakeside, or old growth hemlocks trails.

And save the date: Oct 23, 2021 for next year’s event at Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro.

Will you build a crazy STEM contraption? Join STEMaTHON!

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The Great STEMaTHON Invitational includes a Rube Goldberg Challenge for all youth and adults. The aims of the Rube Goldberg Challenge are to apply STEM to create a series of chain reactions, in an over complicated invention, that performs one simple task: rolling a can of food a distance of at least 1 foot. Design yours and send it in to be featured – see below!

RUBE GOLDBERG CHALLENGE
Challenge:

• Design a RG contraption that rolls a can of food at least 1 foot.
• Bonus, incorporate as many of the below elements as you can:
o Points for each type of simple machine
o Points for each “step” in the “chain”
o Points for rolling multiple cans of food, or longer distances

Teaming:
• You can work with one friend/classmate/parent/grandparent, or with a team/unit.
• If submitting a video of a Rube Goldberg contraption with a team/unit, multiple videos stitched together are acceptable! However, each video clip must have at least 3 machine ‘steps’.

Submissions:
• Submissions are due by 9/2/2020 11:59PM EST.
• Submit your entry to 082stem@gmail.com via Google Photos or Dropbox. Please include the names of your RG team and grade levels (adult), so we can give due credit. If you’d like to submit your video another way, please send us an email!

Features:
• Your video will be featured in the STEMaTHON on September 5-6, 2020 (or bloopers reel!)

See more on STEMaTHON here.

Virtual Leave No Trace Trainer Course

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Written by: Scout Louis

The Leave No Trace Trainer course teaches Scouts and Scouters the 7 principles of Leave No Trace (LNT) at more than a basic level. This next step on learning outdoor ethics gives each of its participants and teachers a new and refreshing view that goes more in depth than the simpler, half day session that is available on a high adventure trip. The class helps its students better understand why LNT is important, how they can implement its teachings, and how to pass on the knowledge that they have learned to their home Units, Crews, Ships, and communities.

The course is traditionally taught in an outdoor environment, over the course of a weekend. However, due to restrictions with the current COVID-19 pandemic, a different approach was offered: an online Trainer course. The course was completed over the course of a week, from the homes of the participants and instructors over Zoom calls. This way, each of the participants could safely learn the material and still be trained in a timely manner.

While the experience lacked the luster of an outdoor setting, I still enjoyed the course. The spread of the information over several days allowed the messages to really sink in with me, and with the reduced group size I felt a close connection to both my fellow participants and the instructors that taught us. With this class I was able to broaden and strengthen my knowledge of LNT and its importance for protecting the natural environment.

LNT is an important part of Scouting that can be easily overlooked or forgotten. Learning to take care of the environment, for both ourselves and those who come after us, helps preserve the beauty and experiences people seek in the outdoors. With the new information acquired from this class, I am confident in bringing the material to my unit as an older Scout, to my OA Chapter as the Camping Promotions Chairman, and to everyone that I continue to meet in the future as a Leave No Trace Trainer. I continue to aim to protect the outdoors and improve the enjoyment of people- Scouts, Scouters, and the general public- while in nature.

Family Fun in Michael’s Woodshop

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The Summer Family Camping Program at Camp Snyder was a great success! This weekend program gave families an opportunity to visit Michael’s Woodshop. Four projects of varying skill levels were offered, providing opportunities for youth of all ages to enjoy a hands-on experience in the shop. The projects included a Golf Tee Tic-Tac-Toe Board (all ages), a Small Tool Box (Cub Scouts), a Wren House (Webelos & older youth) and a Standard Tool Box (older youth). The projects were designed to allow for both independent youth work as well as parent assisted work. All youth participants had the chance to learn some new skills and use a wide variety of tools. With some focus and a little effort, everyone walked away with a completed project!

Michael’s Woodshop has reopened and is currently available for unit use. The projects offered during the Family Camping event can be adapted for unit activities. Normal monthly offerings of Woodwork Merit Badge and Woodworking 101 sessions will resume in the coming weeks. As a part of the new safety protocols, attendance will be limited, face coverings are required and tools and other surfaces will be sanitized regularly. Volunteer Shop Stewards are available to help plan and carry out your event. For more information about upcoming events or reserving the shop, please visit the Michael’s Woodshop page on the Camp Snyder website or contact us via email at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com.

Goshen 2021: Save the Dates

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Save the dates for Summer Camp 2021 at Goshen Scout Reservation!

Next summer, we’ll be offering five weeks of summer camp at all our Webelos and Scouts BSA/Venturing resident camps and four weeks of backpacking program and river trekking program at Lenhok’sin High Adventure.

Week 1: June 27 – July 3, 2021
Week 2: July 4 – July 10, 2021
Week 3: July 11 – July 17, 2021
Week 4: July 18 – July 24, 2021
Week 5: July 25 – July 31, 2021

Unit registration opens September 8th. Mark your calendars!

Due to COVID-19, all Goshen camps will be in deposit phase until March 1, 2021. To reserve your unit’s spot, you’ll need to register and pay for one youth. Spaces for your unit will be reserved based on the number of spots you request during registration. Beginning March 1, units will be able to add and pay for their other youth and adult campers. Provisional scouts – individual Scouts BSA and Venturers (not Webelos) attending without their unit as part of the Provisional Camp program – will also be able to sign up beginning March 1, 2021.

Learn more about Goshen’s Webelos camps, Scouts BSA/Venturing camps, Lenhok’sin High Adventure, the Provisional Camp program, and Summer Camp 2021 at www.gotogoshen.org.

STEM Scouts Info Session

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Do you have a burgeoning engineer or scientist growing up in your house? Have you ever caught your kid taking apart the TV to “see how it works?” Does your carpet bear the marks of past chemistry experiments?

We have an outlet for that STEM energy: STEM Scouts! 

Find out more:

Join us for a presentation and Q&A about STEM Scouts on August 22, 2020! Register here!

  • Hear about the program from experienced STEM Scouts Lab Managers
  • Meet the STEM Scouts team and ask questions!
  • [Network with other prospective STEM Scouts leaders and families in an optional break-out session!

STEM Program

STEM Scouts is a BSA program originally developed out of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Just as Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA teach the Scout Oath and Scout Law in an outdoor setting, STEM Scouts teach those same values in a STEM-based setting. Youth interested in STEM topics are engaged with hands-on lab activities designed by a team of STEM experts, while volunteer leaders show applications of the lessons of the Oath and Law as they work together.

Each year, educators design and vet curriculum and activities, the materials of which are shipped to the youth.  Meeting planning is done for you within the curriculum, and leaders need only bring enthusiasm!

Who is it for?

The activities and curriculum are designed for girls and boys in grades 3-8, with activities for each division (elementary school and middle school). This is a fantastic program for anyone who enjoys hands-on activities and wants to be prepared for a future of STEM literacy!

Covid-19 Adaptation

This year, BSA’s curriculum anticipated the need for flexibility in meeting formats.  Meetings may need to change from in-person to virtual as local public health conditions change. BSA re-engineered lab materials to  allow for virtual delivery by packaging them into kits for individual Scouts.  This means that no matter whether you choose to meet together or virtually,  all the supplies will be available to all Scouts.

Modules Overview

When you sign up for STEM Scouts, you sign up for 5 modules this year, each with 4 activity meetings. That’s 20 sessions! This year’s modules include:

Junior Lab (elementary school youth): 

  • Anatomy
  • Animation (by WozEd)
  • Magnetism
  • Earth Science
  • Astronomy

Technology Lab (middle school youth):

  • Film/TV
  • Mobile App
  • Animation (by WozEd)
  • SnapCircuits
  • Simple Machines

Read the detailed descriptions in the attachment to the right. And join us on Aug 1 to learn more!

Learn More:

Visit: www.stemscouts.org

Can’t make it, but interested? Send us a note: stem@ncacbsa.org

Registration ends on July 31st!