We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Eagle of the Week

2023 NCAC Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year

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Ian pictured with this year’s recipients of the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Awards at Tuesday’s banquet

Each year, the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) sponsors council, regional and national level recognition of the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. This year, Ian Wallace of Troop 1523 was chosen as the NCAC receipient. Ian’s interest in technology, coding, and computers inspired him to teach students how to assemble PCs. For his project he reached out to his community and posted ads in the local paper for donations of computer hardware, then cleaned and made fixes to all the donated computers and took out the hard drives to be used in desktops. Ian then taught students at Annandale High School how to install the Motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive, graphics card, power supply, and fans for each computer. Annandale High School has a large population of ESOL students with English being their second language. Ian’s leadership skills and experience teaching other Scouts to assemble PCs allowed him to effectively communicate each part of the building process to the students who now have the ability to assemble computers for the rest of their lives. After completing the course, the students were gifted the computers they had learned to assemble.

On Tuesday night, Ian shared about his service project and other experiences at the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Awards (NOESA) Banquet where it was announced that he has been selected as the National Service Territory 12 recipient of the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award for 2023. His project was one of  111 council winners nationwide submitted to be reviewed at the National Service Territory (NST) level. He is now one of 16 NST winners being reviewed for national recognition and the winner will be announced in May. Congratulations Ian and thank you for your service to your community and in Scouting!

Potomac District Welcomes Four New Eagle Scouts

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Congratulations to the four new Eagle Scouts and their proud families from NCAC Potomac District who completed their Eagle Board of Review Saturday March 18th. Thank you for those who assisted these Scouts on their journey to reach the Eagle Rank!

The new Eagle Scouts and his/her proud family might find the following websites useful.

http://usscouts.org/eagle/eaglecongrats.asp

https://oa-bsa.org/resources/ucl-support/summit-award-congratulatory-letter

https://oa-bsa.org/resources/ucl-support/eagle-scout-congratulatory-letter

The Association of Top Achiever Scouts (ATAS) is a worldwide Scouting fellowship group, of Scouts and Scouters who have achieved the highest rank as a youth in their Scout associations such as King’s Scout, Queen’s Scout, President’s Scout, Fuji Scout, Tiger Scout, Eagle Scout, Summit, Quartermaster.
https://www.atasapr.org

Allison Sproles : 4th Generation Eagle Scout Legacy

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Allison Sproles stands on the shoulders of a family that deeply treasures the Eagle Scout program and BSA. She is 4th generation Eagle with all of the males in her family tree being Eagles since 1930. Her father, all her uncles and both Grandfathers were honored to hold the rank as well as her Great-Grandfather around 1930 when the program was still young. These generations know how impactful BSA is in young people’s lives and are grateful. Their legacy inspired her to engage in Scouting and achieving great things during her journey.
Allison shared:
I first joined Scouting, alongside my two sisters, when the organization first opened up to females. One in approximately 1,000 girls in the U.S. to join Scouts BSA, I was motivated to pave the way in a historically all-male organization. I wanted to be proof that girls are just as capable as boys- empowering girls everywhere. To me, Scouting is about being a leader in your community and with that, being an upstander, doing your best to abide by the Scouting ethics, and using your leadership and communication skills to bravely stand up against injustice. Although you may not notice it at the moment, as I reflect back on my Scouting journey, I realize how much I gained through Scouting. More than just wilderness survival and first aid, Scouting teaches you skills that you will utilize every day and your whole life. Through the ups and downs of Scouting, the difficult roles of leadership, and navigating how to properly communicate and write emails, you are learning the valuable skills of leadership, communication, mentorship, and ultimately, how to implement these skills in alignment with your values and Scouting ethics. Scouting made me into the person I am today, and although cliché, it is the honest truth. I like to say Scouting is what made me into the “girl boss” I am today- confident, a leader, an upstander, and a trailblazer.
For my Eagle Scout Project, I decided to build a pathway and erosion control ditch around my local park’s “Birds of Prey” enclosure. Essentially, the terrain surrounding the enclosure was extremely muddy, and uneven, which made it difficult for workers to care for and feed the birds. Furthermore, the back side of the enclosure was dealing with extreme erosion due to runoff water from the roof of the enclosure. The aim of my project was to address these concerns and make the workers’ commute to the enclosure safer and easier. 
Ultimately, I think this project was a great demonstration of all of the skills I have learned throughout my Scouting career. I would like to highlight a couple of skills, one of which is leadership. I think leadership is one of the most valuable skills you learn from Scouting and, furthermore, Scouting teaches you what it means to be a GOOD leader. Leadership is difficult. What’s more, being a GOOD leader is even harder. It is easy to boss everyone around and keep a frustrated attitude and let your angst control your behavior and outbursts toward others. To be honest, there were multiple times throughout my project I wanted to lash out as well. Tired, stressed, and overwhelmed, it is easy to become frustrated. Nonetheless, being a good leader, especially in times like this is imperative to the success of your project and the efficient ness of the work. Showing patience, care, and keeping a positive attitude reflects on your volunteers. Motivating and thanking your volunteers will make your volunteers more likely to follow and listen to you. Furthermore, being a good leader doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers. Part of being a good leader is admitting when you made a mistake and need help. Collaboration most of the time is the best way to problem solve. Putting on a façade of superiority is not a characteristic of good leadership- it is a characteristic of insecurity. Furthermore, I believe my Eagle Scout Project reiterated the importance of the Scout motto- “Be Prepared.” 
I think my favorite part of this project was the reward for the support I received from the volunteers. Seeing volunteers come early on a Sunday morning and stay hours, working hard in support of my project made me feel the utmost appreciation for everyone and impacted my attitude towards the volunteers- reiterating my thankfulness and appreciation. Furthermore, the teamwork we demonstrated throughout the project was also very rewarding and also empowering. Even though I was the leader, working alongside and collaborating with others for their input, insight, and feedback was very beneficial. It can be hard to listen or ask for help when you are the leader, but I learned that allowing yourself to be honest and ask for insight allows for the best ideas and great problem-solving!
Being an Eagle Scout is more than just a title, it is a recognition of what you have accomplished and the type of person you are- a leader, an upstander, a mentor, and a helper. With this title, comes a responsibility- to go forth and live your life abiding by the Scouting values you represent Scouting and therefore you should try your best to be your best self and continue to strive to be an upstander for good. Furthermore, being a female Eagle Scout brings with it the opportunity of empowerment- using your leadership and strength to pave a strong path for the girls who follow you.  The moment I joined Scouting, from the start I was ambitious and motivated to become an Eagle Scout. I wanted to prove to others and myself that I was just as capable as boys. I was willing to get dirty and learn to survive in the outdoors because ultimately my aim wasn’t necessarily the title but the ability to empower myself and other girls. I wanted to be an Eagle Scout and also to follow my family’s legacy of Eagle Scouts. However, ultimately, it’s not about the rank you earn, it’s about the skills you learn and your ability to live up to the Scout Law and Oath.

When asked what’s next in her journey Alison told NCAC ” I plan on pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and ultimately plan to pursue aerospace engineering or use engineering to help fight climate change! Similarly to Scouts, engineering is a predominately male field, however, Scouting has given me the power to keep my head high and be a leader despite the possible disadvantages or prejudices I might face.” 

NCAC celebrates Allison and the Sproles family legacy!!

 

 

 

Local Life Scout Mobilized his Community to Save Ukrainian Lives

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My name is Nicholas Flanigan and I am a Life Scout from Troop 160, located in Chantilly, VA. Soon after the war started, I mobilized our Troop and community to help meet overwhelming needs in medical supplies, baby items, and food for Ukraine.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 0f 2022, one of my close friends shared concerns about his family in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the hardship they had to face to survive from Russian bombing of their homes and neighborhood. I started thinking about how I might be able to help. My research led to a local nonprofit organization, United Help Ukraine (UHU). This charitable organization receives and distributes donations, food, and medical supplies to people of Ukraine affected by Russia’s invasion and families of those wounded or killed for freedom and independence of Ukraine.

I reached out to the Board members of this organization in March of 2022, inquiring how I could help. After a month of conversations and successful presentations to over 20 Board members of UHU, District Eagle Advisor, and Troop 160 Board, my project was approved for planning and execution. My Eagle Advisor recommended I develop a website that allowed me to promote my project within the local community. Website presence helped me to distribute messages about my project via email, in social channels, and local blogs. Because of the valuable advice from my Eagle Advisor I looked into online presence rather than going down the path of distributing many printed flyers, which allowed me to save total costs.

In my research, I discovered that many tech companies like Google, Microsoft/Bing, and Facebook offer opportunities for people supporting nonprofit-related initiatives to receive credits to run free advertising. I took advantage of those free advertising credits to run ads on these digital networks to get my project known throughout the community. I also used local blogs and platforms, Patch.com and NextDoor, to inform my neighbors about this effort.

My project took many months to plan. I spent over 300 hours developing the site, made digital ads, wrote articles, and reached out to many local organizations and nearby Troops for help. I partnered with a local church, Fairfax Church of Christ, to use their building and parking lot for my donation drive. I also led my Troop to distribute printed flyers in adjacent neighborhoods to amplify my online efforts. Just under 100 people helped me to make this project a success.

My project was completed on 2 weekends. On June 4th, many scouts, volunteers from the church, and parents helped to pack supplies previously donated to the church to support this effort. They packed and loaded over 100 boxes to a truck ready to take everything to an airport in Delaware for air shipment to Ukraine. We packed almost 80 boxes of food, baby items and medical supplies, and collected 70 boxes of diapers. On the same day, almost 20 scout volunteers from Troup 160 distributed over 3,000 flyers to neighborhood houses. On June 11th, we collected donated medical supplies, baby items, and food essentials from the same houses. My goal to collect and pack an additional 40 boxes was exceeded with a total of 55 additional boxes, despite poor weather conditions and heavy rain at collection time.

I am very proud of the work my Troop and I did because of its impact and because it helped to save lives. I want people to know about the work that takes place to support Ukraine and other countries in the same circumstances around the world.

I received many compliments and recognition for our efforts from my Troop, local leaders, the media, and UHU. My project was featured in the National Morning in America episode on May 27th as one of the top feel-good stories across the U.S. and covered in the local Fairfax Times newspaper and by Patch.com.

As a result of my efforts, I received a personalized letter from Chairman McKay from Fairfax County Government. In his letter, Chairman McKey congratulated me on the tremendous success of my project and how impressed he was with my commitment to helping others. He recognized my leadership skills for being able to gather dozens of fellow scouts, friends, and neighbors to help accomplish this goal. Of course it was easier with a helpful Troup backing me up!

“It is true that we all do far better when we work together”, stated Chairman McKay in his letter. “I am encouraged about the future of Fairfax County and our nation when I read what young people like you are doing to heal the breaches in our society.”

I hope to receive my Eagle Rank in October after completing the last Eagle-required merit badge, Scoutmaster conference, and the Eagle Scout Board of Review. I will continue my role in scouting as an ASPL, giving back to my Troop by helping and leading others. I am a proud member of the Order of the Arrow BSA Honor society and participated in 3 high adventure camps. Throughout my scouting career, I earned 77 merit badges, and seven distinguished scout awards. I also volunteered as a Counselor in Training this past summer at Camp Snyder, a BSA camp in Haymarket, VA, and will return to the camp as their trained Counselor next summer.

Boo Berry Yay Fern: A project to save our native plants.

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INVASIVE SPECIES 101

Invasive species are animals or plants from another region of the world that don’t belong in their new environment. Invasive species can lead to the extinction of native plants and animals, destroy biodiversity, and permanently alter habitats.

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EXAMPLES OF INVASIVE SPECIES: MY PERSONAL FAVORITE – WINEBERRY

Wineberry is an Asian species of raspberry native to China, Japan, and Korea. The species was introduced to Europe and North America as an ornamental plant and for its potential in breeding hybrid raspberries. Now, it covers forest floors, stealing water and nutrients from native plants.

My Eagle project Boo Berry Yay Fern was called so for a reason! As a part of my Eagle and DCSA project, I enlisted volunteers and logged over 200 hours cleaning invasive Wineberry from Tattersall park in Oakton! Yay to Ferns, which are Virginia native plants, and Boo to Wineberry for hampering their growth.

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JAPANESE STILTGRASS

Japanese stiltgrass was originally brought to the US from Japan as packing material. The seeds were able to spread through this, and now it steals water and nutrients from native plants.

For those who don’t know its dangers, it looks pretty amazing. Walk through a woodland and you see all this lush green grass growing under the trees. The trouble is; that is all you will see. There is absolutely nothing else growing there but Japanese stiltgrass. It takes over everything and smothers out all the native plants that should be growing in the woodland. In fact, the unchecked growth of siltgrass has gotten too out-of-hand in some areas, forcing counties to declare this noxious weed as an “introduced” species, indicating that the problem is on too large of a scale to deal with.

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EMERALD ASH BORER

Brought from China, most likely inside various forms of packing material. Burrow into Ash trees and eat away the inner bark, causing the tree to die when the bark is gone.

These pests have been causing mass die-offs of ash and other trees all across the US. These die-offs remove the forest leaf canopy, causing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. Due to this increased sunlight, invasive plants can spread much more easily. Nonetheless, Emerald ash borers form a lethal combo with any other invasive plant species.

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JAPANENSE HONEYSUCKLE

Also brought from Japan as an ornamental houseplant, and was released into the wild. However, it can grow to incredible sizes and choke out native wildlife.

Japanese honeysuckle directly benefits from the increased light on forest floors that is caused by the emerald ash borers. While it may look good as an ornamental plant, after a point, it will start growing at unparalleled speeds, at which a single plant is able to reach sizes of up to 30 feet long!

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A COLD HARD FACT

4300: Number of unique invasive species in the USA, as estimated by the Department of Fish & Wildlife management.

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INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT 101

DETECTION
Certain apps -like that provided by the Fairfax County IMA program- can use your phone’s camera to identify invasive species. If the plant is new to the area, report it to the respective agency.

PREVENTION
Most invasive species have their seeds spread by your clothes. Always wipe yourself and brush your shoes at the designated station before leaving a park.

CORRECTION

To help stop these damaging invasive species from spreading and destroying our native plants and animals, we must remove them. When these are removed, ensure that you are removing them from their roots (some may have deep roots), to have a lasting effect!

Sign up for cleanups and conservation efforts, and if you see invasive species, get rid of them. Every little bit will help in our fight against invasive species.

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RESULT: YAY FERN!!!

Putting a stop on invasive species will help the native environment to thrive, not just native plants, but native animals and the entire ecosystem! This is an example of a section in Tattersall Park, Oakton, which now shouts out “ YAY Fern!”

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AS A SCOUT

Join cleanups & projects that are removing invasive plants and planting new native species in their place.

Spread the word! Promote understanding of native plants by educational outreach. This can be just emails, blogs (such as this one), presentations, public fairs booths, farmers market booths etc. You can certainly get creative!

For more information, you can visit the IMA site at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/invasive-management-area

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CITATIONS

Fairfax County Invasive Management area: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/invasive-management-area
US Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov/
Picture Credits: Google images (Licensed for usage)

Troop 1920’s three new Eagles, and its’ Significant Number

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On February 1, 2019, girls were officially allowed to join the Boy Scouts of America’s Scouts BSA program.

Since then, there have been 3 female eagle scouts in the Seneca District and all 3 of them have come from our troop!

For our troop, we chose troop number 1920 because it was the year women got the right to vote in the US, and as a brand new girl’s troop, we thought it was only fitting.

These 3 scouts, Bethany Hurt, Elora West, and Samantha Vidas have just been awarded their Eagle awards and we couldn’t be more proud!

They have done so much for our troop and the people around them from teaching another scout the square knot, to being senior patrol leaders. We are so proud of everything they’ve done and we hope they continue to help people in their daily lives as adults.