We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Leaders

Youth Protection Training Is a Requirement for Activities and Re-Charter

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In case you haven’t heard, Youth Protection Training is a requirement for all Scouting leaders.

No new adult leaders can be registered, and no current adult leaders can be renewed, unless they have a current Youth Protection Training certificate.

Earlier last year an updated version of YPT was released. This new version includes more personal stories to better help leaders recognize the signs of abuse, and was designed so that one course works across all Scouting programs. The enhanced and updated content also ensures leaders comply with all current state and local legal requirements.

Additionally, starting this summer, adults accompanying units on activities for 72 hours or more must be registered and take YPT. The 72 hours need not be consecutive. For most units, this applies mainly to summer camp. If your unit desires to set a stricter policy (e.g. ALL adults going to camp must be registered and have YPT), that is certainly permitted.

All registered leaders were required to complete the updated training by October 1. This reflects BSA’s commitment to the safety of all youth. If you have not taken the new training, please do so ASAP to avoid the rush at recharter time.

Don’t put your unit’s recharter at risk: Make sure your YPT training is completed! To learn more, discover additional resources, or take the training now, please visit:

www.Scouting.org/YouthProtection

Workplace Giving Campaigns

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One of the easiest, most effective ways you can support National Capital Area Council is through workplace giving, an employer-sponsored program that empowers you to support your favorite charities through tax-deductible donations deducted directly from your paycheck.

Through our membership with America’s Charities, employees at hundreds of public and private organizations can donate to NCAC through payroll contributions.

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)

CFC is a workplace giving campaign for federal employees: civilian employees, military personnel and postal workers. National Capital Area Council is a member of America’s Charities Community First federation and is listed as CFC #48974.

Look for us in your workplace charitable giving campaign and designate National Capital Area Council, Boy Scouts of America #48974 as recipient of your generosity on your pledge forms.

The campaign season is typically between September 1 and December 15 each year. Check with your agency for exact dates.

Don’t forget to check if you employer will match your donation or the hours you have volunteered! Visit www.doublethedonation.org/ncacbsa.

Unit Contacts – Letting Units Know We Care

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For the first time in several years, our council is currently on track to achieve only a bronze level in the “Journey to Excellence” unit contact metric. The good news is that we have time to turn this around before year-end. As has happened in past years, I expect our commissioner staff to record a large number of simple and detailed contacts during the re-charter season.

As all the District Commissioners know, I value metrics to the extent that they help us spot areas for improvement. The important and meaningful goal is that all unit-level Scouters know that unit commissioners care about them, and that units have a connection to the resources, friendships, advice, and activities in the district. This is a noble goal. Recording unit visits is the way we expect unit commissioner to indicate that they are actually fulfilling this meaningful goal.

In 2018, the national “Journey to Excellence” team added a requirement to have one detailed assessment per unit to the unit contact metric. The important and meaningful goal is that unit-level leaders and unit commissioners have a discussion about where the unit stands and develop a few concrete plans on how to improve. This also is a noble goal. Recording detailed assessments does not take long, and is a simple natural by-product of an activity unit commissioners have been doing for decades. Yes, we are asking unit commissioners to do slightly more data entry, but the reason is that with this extra data entry we can easily see at a district level where units might need more service.

Allow me to use my home district, Francis Scott Key (FSK) District, as an example of how these metrics can be useful. Here is a chart (from the end of September) that uses the recorded unit contacts and detailed assessments to give a quick sketch of unit service in the FSK District.

From this chart, we can spot a few interesting things. The horizontal line shows how many contacts a unit should have received according to the Journey to Excellence standard, which is one contact per every two months (for a total of 6 per year). At this point in the year, each unit should have received five recorded contacts. You can see that 57 out of 79 units have received contacts this year. Unit commissioners may have contacted the 22 remaining units, but these contacts are unrecorded so do not show in the chart. We can see on the chart that 9 units have 4 contacts, so are just one short of the standard of 5.

The blue segments indicate simple contacts and the orange segments indicate detailed assessments. The very first unit in the chart, Crew 796, has received 5 simple contacts but no detailed assessments, so is excluded from the Journey to Excellent metrics. FSK District has 12 units like this, so when the unit commissioner performed a detailed assessment (perhaps when the unit commissioner reviews the year-end unit Journey to Excellence scorecard with the unit), these units will achieve the minimum standard required by Journey to Excellence (which is one detailed assessment per unit plus enough simple contacts).

What about the units with no or fewer than five contacts? I know that my good friend Bill Desmond, who is the District Commissioner for FSK, is working with resource constraints, like most commissioners. These units may be strong and in less need of unit contacts, or maybe they have been visited but the contacts have not been recorded, or maybe FSK is short on commissioners in those neighborhoods, or maybe the units have already folded and cannot be visited. The metrics are a quick view but the folks in our districts will have more detailed “localized” knowledge. These charts provide commissioners with the tools they can use to prioritize commissioner service, as we get closer to the year-end finish line, and I trust Bill Desmond and all of my District Commissioners to “do their best” in providing service to our units.

Assistant Council Commissioner Rick Manteuffel posts these reports to the commissioner folders each month. I ask all commissioners to use these reports as input in prioritizing commissioner service in our districts. This is not to buff our metrics, but rather to ensure our units are getting the commissioner service they need and deserve.

400 Scouters Take Part in National Day of Service on the National Mall

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On September 22nd 400 Scouters were welcomed by the Trust for the National Mall as they converged to volunteer their time and effort to a variety of Mall-related service projects. The day also marked the National Environmental Education Foundation’s celebration of the 25th Annual National Public Lands Day. Known as the largest single-day volunteer effort, this year’s theme of resilience and restoration was inspired by a pressing need to address the effects of a spate of natural disasters and extreme weather that have taken a terrible toll on both public lands and those who depend upon them.

With over 35 million visits and 3,000 permitted events annually, the National Mall is the most visited National Park in the country. This level of use in “America’s Front Yard” puts an enormous strain on available resources, so volunteer efforts make a massive difference; a difference that is estimated to save the National Park Service nearly $1 million in annual labor costs. Scouts engaged in river clean up, painting  park benches, and spreading mulch.

Participating Scouts also received a commemorative patch, lunch, and a few other goodies courtesy of event sponsors.

Service is at the core of Scouting, and with National Parks serving as the backdrop to many Scouting adventures, outings such as this one bring participants ever closer in their relationship to the parks.

 

The One Million Pound Challenge to Feed the Area’s Hungry

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NCAC will be kicking off the 31st annual Scouting for Food on November 3. Scouts will distribute door tags to homes throughout our Council, then return on November 10 to collect non-perishable food items that will nourish the area’s hungry.

Scouting for Food (SFF) is one of the largest annual food drives in the DC metropolitan area. Last year Scouts collected one million pounds of food, and this year’s goal is to top that. Capital Area Food Bank and other local food banks will use these items to help with its distribution of 45 million pounds of food – equivalent to 37.5 million meals – to 478,100 people through a network of 500 partner agencies and direct service programs.

“With thirty million Americans, including six million children, going hungry at some point every month, this is a way for us to help directly,” says Craig Poland, CEO and Scout Executive of the National Capital Area Council. “Scouting for Food helps local families in need and teaches our Scouts the importance of directly serving the community.”

SFF is held every fall prior to Thanksgiving. Local food banks rely on it to stock their shelves for the upcoming holiday months, when food demands are the greatest.

Items in highest demand include:

  • canned protein (tuna, chicken, peanut butter)
  • soups and stews (chili, beef stew, meat-based soups)
  • 100% fruit juices (all sizes)
  • grains (boxed macaroni and cheese, pasta, rice)
  • cereals (low sugar cereals, oatmeal)
  • canned vegetables & fruits
  • condiments
  • hygiene products (diapers, toilet paper, tissues, soap, toothpaste).

Scouting for Food is co-sponsored by Capital Area Food Bank, the Safeway Foundation, and WUSA9.

Great Falls NPS VA Cub Scout Day Brings Together NPS and Scouts for Fun and Service

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On Sunday, September 23, over 130 Cub Scouts from across NCAC came together at Great Falls Park in Virginia to celebrate 100 years of partnership between the National Park Service and Boy Scouts of America. Cub Scouts got up close and personal with a Great Horned Owl, Screech Owl, Barred Owl, Red Shouldered Hawk, and Barn Owl. They also were able to touch corn snakes, and observe other snakes feeding. Most Scouts also stretched their legs as they took part in hikes ranging from one to three miles along the river.

“Some of the best moments in Scouting take place in national parks,” said Andrew Turner Au, Park Guide at Great Falls Park. “My first experience as a Scout was in the National Park Service climbing Old Rag in Shenandoah Valley. I am tremendously grateful for what Scouting provided me when I was young and what it has taught me.”

Turner Au has been giving back ever since, creating opportunities for Scouts to explore NPS by promoting Eagle Scout projects at Great Falls, providing merit badge programs, offering rank requirement opportunities, and arranging other Scouting activities in the park, such as Cub Scout Day.

On this day, he was proud to report that nearly all Scouts completed the junior ranger book, earning the coveted Junior Ranger Badge. Scouts also did a good turn on their hikes by picking up litter and learning about Leave No Trace (LNT).

LNT activities were conducted by Scouts in Troop 55, and Cub Scouts received LNT certificates after reciting the seven principles from memory, watching an LNT video, and picking up ten pieces of trash. According to one volunteer on site on Sunday, the park hasn’t looked this clean in years.

Cub Scouts who stayed at the park the whole day earned the NPS/BSA patch for learning, helping, and inspiring others about the National Park Service.

“Each year Scouts spend more than 60,000 hours on volunteer projects to restore or enhance our national parks,” said Turner Au. “This service is not only integral to Scouting, but also provides a great benefit for NPS.”

For more information regarding Scouting or volunteer opportunities within Great Falls National Park, please contact Park Guide Andrew Turner Au at andrew_turnerau@nps.gov. Special thanks to Park Rangers Cheryl Breese, Susan Finta, and Franice Sewell for their support of the Cub Scout Day program.