We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouting Programs

Wolf Den Creates Pinewood Derby Trophies

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On January 26, the Wolf Den from Pack 1833 in Haymarket, VA held a Den activity in Michael’s Woodshop and created some nice trophies for their Pack’s upcoming pinewood derby race. The Wolves started with a safety briefing and were then given basic instructions for building the trophies. The Wolves were able to observe the set up and use of a number of pieces of shop equipment used by the leaders to make the initial cuts. They then had the opportunity to drill, sand and assemble the trophies. The Wolves not only had the opportunity to learn about shop safety and tool use, they also had some good hands-on experience and created some awesome trophies. It was a very fun evening!

Conveniently located at Camp William B. Snyder, Michael’s Woodshop is an incredible resource which may be reserved for use by all NCAC Units & Scouts. Michael’s Woodshop operates year-round wth opportunities for youth of all ages to participate in a variety of shop activities. Holding a Den project session is just one way to use the shop. Michael’s Woodshop also offers great Baloo the Builder and Webelos Build It workshops, Woodwork Merit Badge classes and has recently added several new Woodshop Specialty Classes. In addition, the shop is a great venue for hosting Eagle Scout and Summit Award projects as well as conservation projects and other unit activities.

Please visit the Michael’s Woodshop webpage for more information about the shop capabilities and upcoming events and for information about reserving the shop. If you have questions or would like additional information, please email the volunteer team at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com

Pack 1014 Celebrates a Super Nova

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Cub Scout Pack 1014 celebrates Marco Martin with his bridging to Scouts BSA Troop 2421 and his earning of the Dr. Townes Supernova award. 82 were awarded to Scouts of the NCAC. 75 of those were awarded to Cub Scouts (30 for Dr. Alvarez for Wolves/Bears and 45 for Dr. Towns (WEBELOS/AOL). In Marco’s Cub Scout career, this is his third Supernova award.

This is a huge honor and testament for hardworking Scout! The STEM Nova Award program has 11 awards related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In addition to those 11 awards, a Cub Scout can earn Supernova awards during their Wolf to AOL years at the Pack.

Congratulations Marco! Thank you so much for your support Mark Bruno (his Supernova Mentor)!

Never heard of the STEM Nova Award for Cub Scouts? You can check out more at: www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/awards/cub-scout/

Interested in joining the fun? Cub Scout Pack 1014 meets at American Legion Post 227 in Brandywine, MD on Mondays (but for the first Monday of the month). You can email any questions to pack1014.committee@gmail.com

Photo credits: Marcus Martin (father to Marco) #STEM #Supernova #ScoutMeIn

Celebrating Our 1000th Pinewood Derby Car!

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On January 8, 2022 Xander, a Bear from Pack 858 attended a Pack Pinewood Derby Session and created the 1000th pinewood derby car in Michael’s Woodshop! Xander started by creating his own car design. With assistance from shop volunteer “Mr. Gene” Lockhart, he then cut, sanded and added weights to his car. The end result was a great looking and sure-to-be-competitive car. To commemorate the occasion, Xander was presented with a special Pinewood Derby Car display stand with a 1000th Car inscription. Please join us in wishing Xander the best of luck in his races, but in our book, he is already a winner!

Michael’s Woodshop is currently in the midst of its 4th Annual Pinewood Derby Days season. View the Pinewood Derby Days 2021-22 slideshow on the shop here to see more of the fun! While Pinewood Derby Days is one of the most popular programs, Michael’s Woodshop operates year-round with opportunities for youth of all ages to participate in a variety of shop activities. Michael’s Woodshop offers great Baloo the Builder and Webelos Build It workshops, Woodwork Merit Badge classes and has recently added several new Woodshop Specialty Classes. In addition, the shop is a great venue for hosting Eagle Scout and Summit Award projects as well as conservation projects and other unit activities.

Please visit the Michael’s Woodshop for more information about the shop capabilities and upcoming events and for information about reserving the shop. If you have questions or would like additional information, please email the volunteer team at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com

Tree Rescuer Program Launches on Jan 19th

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Learn how to spot and report trees that are being killed by invasive non-native vines. Help educate your community and save our trees. Participation in the Tree Rescuer project will meet the requirement for conservation hours and several BSA conservation awards. Register today here.

Would you like to help save more of our native trees? Most of our neighbors have no idea that the invasive vines on their trees may eventually kill them and potentially make the trees hazardous. You can help your community by walking around to spot these trees and to drop off a brochure to alert the landowners. This is an excellent conservation project for Cubs and Scouts BSA as well as their families.

Join our region-wide program of community volunteers to help save our native trees from invasive non-native vines! This is a public education program to inspire others to control invasive vines.

During this NCAC Tree Rescuer session you will learn:
-How to survey your community for trees at risk
-How to recognize invasive (versus harmless native) vines
-What resources are available to help you work with your community

Besides the numerous environmental benefits of saving native trees from invasive vines, scouts can also earn conservation hours and units can earn several BSA conservation awards such as Conservation Good Turn , World Conservation Award  and Keep America Beautiful Hometown USA Award.

Welding and Composite Materials

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On April 23 and May 21, 2022, Building Momentum in Alexandria, VA will host Welding and Composite Materials merit badge sessions, packed with hands-on experiences. Each merit badge class is a half-day session. Scouts BSA (and friends, same age friends are invited to join too!) may elect to only attend one class, or both classes.

All of the classes balance instruction with hands-on shop time so the youth can gain practical experience with Welding and Composite Materials. In order to maximize their workshop experience and project time, youth are asked to come prepared with a few pre-requisites.

Welding Pre-requisites

  • Requirements: 1a-b
    o We recommend that scouts earn the First Aid MB in advance, but at a minimum, please come prepared to demonstrate first aid knowledge as it requires to Welding MB requirements 1a-b.
  • Requirement: 5a
    o One of the processes that scouts research should be MIG welding.

Composite Materials Pre-requisites

  • Requirement: 1a-c

For more detail about the event, please visit the event page and register here: https://scoutingevent.com/082-buildMoSTEM

 

Building Momentum is a problem-solving organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. Their Innovation Academy empowers youth and adults in 21st Century technology, to become a creative problem solver, and work in a hands-on environment! NCAC is thrilled to introduce our scouting merit badges with BuildMo!

Akela Chess Classic – Join the Tournament!

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Take on the fun and challenge of playing chess!

After a brief hiatus in 2020, the NCAC BSA Chess Tournaments are back.

The tournaments will be held on Feb 5 & 12, 2022 at the Marriott Scout Service Center in Bethesda, MD.

Brackets

The Feb 5th Akela Chess Classic is a five-round chess tournament open to all Cub Scouts from Lions through Arrow of Light and STEM Scouts in Junior Labs.  Tournament play is in two brackets: Lions/Tigers/Wolves and Bears/Webelos/Arrow of Light/Junior STEM.

The Feb 12th Akela Chess Classic is a five-round chess tournament open to all Scouts BSA, Venturers, STEM Scouts in Technology Labs, and Sea Scouts from age 10 to 20. Tournament play is in three brackets: age 10-12, age 13-15, and age 16 and up.

Registrations

Cub Scout Tournament on Feb 5, 2022: https://scoutingevent.com/082-ChessCubs

SBSA Tournament on Feb 12, 2022: https://scoutingevent.com/082-ChessClassic

Background

In this video, NCAC BSA Tournament Director Roger Claff talks about the origin of the tournament in a broadcast with BSA’s Scouting Magazine! Life Scout KL also shares his tips for a game of chess – be sure to check it out!

Prior to the pandemic, the Chess tournament has been held at Trinity Church in Herndon, VA and at the Microsoft Technology Center in Reston, VA. Photos are from February 2020, pre-pandemic tournament. This year’s tournament will look different – following county guidelines, participants will be wearing masks.

To see more STEM events check out the NCAC STEM page.