At Camp

Since opening in 2018, Michael’s Woodshop has become one of the most popular activity venues at Camp William B. Snyder, offering fun, hands-on activities for all NCAC Scouting youth. Activities in Michael’s Woodshop attracted over 1,800 youth participants in 2022 and is expected to exceed that number in 2023. In order to accommodate the increasing demand, Michael’s Woodshop has begun the renovation and outfitting of additional space in the STEM Shack. In August, Michael’s Woodshop Volunteers teamed up with volunteers supporting Camp Snyder’s monthly Sawdust Saturdays to remove a large volume of unneeded “clutter” and removed a partition to ready the space for renovations. Track our progress: Watch Slideshow

The success of Michael’s Woodshop is attributable to the incredible support from the NCAC Scouting community in the form of shop volunteers, tool donations and of course, the time and effort of all the leaders who coordinate shop events for their units. We are excited about the expansion and ongoing support will be critical to our continued success.

Become a Volunteer: Since its inception, Michael’s Woodshop has been operated and maintained by a team of dedicated volunteers. We will need additional Shop Volunteers to support the expanded level of activity. Roles are available for adults and youth, from novices to experienced woodworkers. Adult volunteers must be BSA registered with current YPT. Youth volunteers need to be at least 14 years old and must have earned the First Aid and Woodwork merit badges. Please go to “Join the Woodshop Team” to learn more.

Donate Tools: If you are not able to volunteer, but wish to support the expansion, please consider donating tools or equipment to Michael’s Woodshop. To view our current tool needs as well as recent donations, please visit Support Michael’s Woodshop.

To learn more about the woodshop, please visit the Michael’s Woodshop Webpage or email questions to the volunteer team at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com.

Pack 257’s Webelos had an awesome summer camp adventure at NCAC’s Goshen Scout Reservation for a week in July. They jumped in the lake, they swam in the river, they shot BB guns and bows, they petted snakes and fished for the elusive cheese-moose! They sang, they danced, and they even saved the camp Phoenix! Camp Ross was totally ROSS-OME!!

While at Camp William B. Snyder on Friday, July 21, 2023 for its Merit Badge Specialty Week, Scouts in the National Capital Area Council talked with astronauts on the International Space Station via Amateur Radio. This activity complements the BSA’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program and is part of the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Program which promotes learning opportunities as part of its STEM initiative.

In the days leading up to the ISS interaction, nearly 200 Scouts attended the Specialty Week at Camp William B. Snyder.

During this week, Scouts:
• Practiced proper call signs and Morse code, drew charts of the electromagnetic spectrum and assembled dipole antennas as part of earning their Radio Badge
• Built, launched, and recovered model rockets as part of earning the Space Exploration Badge
• Read aeronautical charts, experimented with ailerons and propellers, and flew model airplanes as part of earning the Aviation Badge
• Made electromagnets to show magnetic attraction and repulsion as part of earning the Electricity Badge
• Programmed robots for autonomous tasks akin to Mars Rovers as part of earning the Robotics Badge

These are just a few of the many activities that the Scouts participated in during this fun week of learning. Of the 138 merit badges that Scouts are eligible to earn, over 50 are considered STEM merit badges. Nearly 35 subject matter experts volunteered to counsel the Scouts during this week, making this event possible.

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.

Scouts interviewed astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and had time to ask 13 questions. Astronaut Al Neyadi is an Emirati Astronaut who traveled to the ISS with NASA’s crew rotation flight, SpaceX Crew-6. Astronaut Al Neyadi is the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

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.

A dozen STEM Scouts had a first look and experience with the SATCOMM in May, as the Virginia Wireless Club welcomed our Scouts to their radio field day. These STEM Scouts had completed a module on software-defined radio in which they listened to FM broadcasts, tracked airplanes, built a HAM radio, and captured GPS data. STEM Scouts is a National Capital Area Council program for girls and boys in grades 3-8 that incorporates hands-on activities to inspire youth in STEM. The SDR module encouraged hands-on experimentation as a basis for understanding technical subjects, and exposes Scouts to potential careers in broadcast engineering, telecommunications, computer science, consumer electronics, and more. Three of these STEM Scouts will take part in asking Astronaut Al Neyadi questions during the International Space Station contact on Friday.

The event was livestreamed at www.facebook.com/NCACSTEM and a complete recording can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/NCACSTEM/videos/796657518531573