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Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouting Programs

Aquia Scouts BSA get “Back to Basics” at Fall Camporee

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Scouts get “Back to Basics” at the Aquia District Fall Camporee.

On the weekend of October 15-17, 2021, 175 Scouts from ten Troops and seven Webelos Dens Aquia District gathered for a joint Camporee and Webelos-ree in Stafford County’s Curtis Memorial Park.

The theme of the Fall Camporee was “Back to Scouting Basics”. In addition to doing typical camping and fellowship activities, Scouts competed as Patrols in a series of basic Scout skills challenges in the Scout Activity Area which the Scouts discovered Saturday morning after a one-mile hike from Curtis Memorial Park. Seventeen patrols demonstrated their knowledge of topics such as navigation with map and compass, first aid, rescue techniques, outdoor preparedness, US flag etiquette, and even basic seamanship. A bonus station involved testing the Patrols’ abilities to cook a nutritious meal while hiking.

The average score of each Troop’s Patrols was added to the score each Troop received from a campsite inspection to determine the winner of the 2021 Commissioners Cup award. Coming in 1st Place was the Bobcat Patrol from Troop 199G and Troop 1717G chartered to Hartwood Presbyterian Church posted the highest overall score! The girls of Troop 1717G will keep the Commissioner’s Cup until the next Aquia District Camporee in 2022.

In the Patrol competition, 2nd Place was earned by the Wolverine Patrol from Troop 840B and in 3rd Place was the Panda Patrol from Troop 218B. Placing 2nd in the overall Troop results was Troop 1717B and 3rd Place was claimed by T26B. Congratulations to all Scouts who did their best!

The Webelos-ree’s theme was “Scouting Olympics”, and centered on teaching and perfecting traditional Scouting skills like knot tying and fire building. However, as with every Scouting activity, there were interesting “adjustments” to each activity. For example, the knot tying station did include rope, of course, but the rope was 50 feet long and 2 inches thick! The eyes of the Scouts popped wide when they saw the rope and realized what they were going to have to do to be successful… And then came the smiles.

The foot races, a standard component of Scouting’s physical fitness mantra, were not merely races against the clock. For instance, there was a 3-legged race where the Scouts had to cooperate and coordinate with each other to get down the track. It proved a good idea to hold this event on the grass, as many Scouts spilled over as they tried to run, laughing as they fell, rolled, struggled to recover, and fell again before finally crossing the finish line. The cheers and laughs from fellow Scouts provided good motivation.

Another of the seven stations the Scouts traversed was fire building, a staple of Scouting experience, skill and knowledge. However, this time the Scouts were amazed to learn they could spark a fire without matches! How? They learned to use steel wool and a 9-volt battery. The amazed and giddy enjoyment of yet another Scout-learning experience was an apt reward for the many adult Scouters who had planned and organized this great weekend.

In the evening, after the end of a fun-filled Saturday, the Webelos and Scouts gathered for a campfire hosted by the Aquia Chapter of the Order of the Arrow, BSA’s honor Scout society. Numerous skits and songs were performed by the Scouts. A great time was had by all!

After a long hiatus from the 3-dimensional fun of the Scouting program, this “Back to Scouting Basics” and “Scouting Olympics” weekend was a welcome reminder that the Scouting program is still alive and well in Stafford, Virginia. Come join us! Learn more about at ncacbsa.org/aquia/.

Sea Scouts Safety @ Sea 2021

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It is called “the best kept secret of the BSA” and it is Sea Scouts BSA.

On Saturday, September 11, 2021, Life Scout Austin, an ASPL from Troop 447, visited the “Safety @ Sea 2021” event by the Coast Guard Auxiliary at the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, MD. Ever since Austin had seen a small sailboat at Camp William B. Snyder as a Cub Scout, he wanted to join the Sea Scouts, but he had to wait until he had reached the age of 14. The event is sponsored jointly by the United States Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, FOSSOM Inc. (Friends of Sea Scouts of Maryland), and Sea Scouts BSA.

Since Sea Scouts BSA were sponsors, Scouts were allowed to participate in the 2021 Safety @ Sea event. This annual event gives Scouts and Scouters a close look at the many facets of Maritime safety in sailing, motor boating, paddle crafts, etc. It also introduces the Scouts to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and membership in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the all-volunteer branch of the Coast Guard.

For Scouters it was an excellent opportunity to brush up their skills or to network with the many Units, NST-12 and National representatives, like NST-12 Commodore Stanley Kwok.
Among the most popular activities at the event were the Helicopter rescue demonstration and the “man overboard” drill and of course the live flares station.

Sea Scouts is the official maritime program of the BSA for male and female youth from 14 to 20 years. Sea Scouts BSA has 4 different ranks: Apprentice, Ordinary, Able and Quartermaster. Last year only 36 Sea Scouts achieved the highest rank of Quartermaster nationwide.

To get a valuable introduction in leadership skills for adults, Scouters of both Sea Scouts BSA and from Scouts BSA should consider the Seabadge training offered throughout the year. Check out the next opportunity at seascout.org/adult-training/seabadge/ .

To learn more about the Sea Scouts BSA program, please visit seascout.org.

NCAC Troops Take Multiple Honors at the 45th Annual Scout Orienteering Day

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Arlington Troop 111 from Chain Bridge District won the troop championship at the 45th Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Day on Oct. 23, 2021 at Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro, They hung on to first overall even though edged out in the afternoon Score Orienteering by 2nd place Kensington T. 439 from Potomac District.

Joey H. of La Plata T. 1321 in the Western Shores District won the super-tough advanced course in 92 minutes. The fourth perfect score in the 45 years of the event was recorded by older category winners Zack S. & Alex G. of Arlington, leading T. 647 to a best-ever third place out of 45 units.

Hans R. & Max W. of 6th place McLean T.652 were a very close second in that 98-team older category, just ahead of 111’s Matthew Sullivan & Alan McCartney, 111’s Michael Corso & Sam Cruley, Edward Gun & Chad Bo from Patuxent District T. 1033 in Beltsville, and Jimmy Mazel & Liam Merrigan from Arlington T. 164.

Troop 439’s 2nd place, tying their best ever (2011), was a real team effort led by Spenser M., Daniel E., Lance M., Orion C., and the top NCAC Scouts in the 88-team younger category, James T. & Adam A. Troop 191 from King George, Mattaponi District, had three pairs of Scouts in the top 16.

It was NCAC’s most successful year ever at this event, with 14 of the top 21 awards, sweeping all of the top 12 troops except for the 4th and 7th place Baltimore units, a Jersey Shore troop in 5th, and a 9th place Girl Scout camp staff. Troop 111’s team effort tied a 45-year record with its 6th troop title; they hold the record with 11 Top Two finishes, all since 2003 with Dr. Bob Klein and some very adept SPL’s coordinating. One Scout this year was the 20,000th attendee over the 45 years of the event.

Self-guided instruction was followed by a part-instructional, part-competitive course, and then the fun “free-for-all” Score Orienteering with over 400 youth and over 100 adults looking for 45 markers scattered over five square miles. Similar to recent years, the top 10 places in the younger category were captured by 9 different troops, and the top 9 in the older competition were spread out among 7 troops. Each scout and participating adult received two special color maps, and everyone got answer keys, instructional tips, and patches. Over 100 awards were presented.

STEM Lab 314 in Powhatan

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Powhatan District welcomes a brand new STEM Scouts Lab this fall! This is the District’s first STEM Scouts Lab, and following in similar vein as several other NCAC Labs, the group picked a unit number with some mathematical significance: 314.

Lab 314 is led by wonderful leaders of Pack 159 who took the initiative to start this standalone STEM program. The first meeting was Lab Safety & Orientation, as is required for every STEM Scout year. Then, last week, the Lab met to begin its’ first activity module of the year – all about Wildlife Sciences.

The STEM Scouts received their individual activity kits, but they met in a classroom all wearing masks for the Lab meeting.

This first module is titled “Into the Wild” and is described as: Warm blood, cold blood, bones or no bones, these Scouts will go into the wild to discover the variety of animals that inhabit our planet. Scouts will first explore the biomes of this world and then determine which animal calls each biome home. From there, they will get their “gloves dirty” to experience the food chain in person by dissecting an owl pellet and investigate various bird adaptations. Scouts will get to see how long an alligator actually is, discover which amphibian is clear, and end by building an aquatic marine biome ecosystem, also known as a coral reef!

Up next, they’ll be exploring aerodynamics with a module called “A Flying Fluid”!

 

Scout Day at Nationals Park

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On August 15th, over 750 Scouts, Scouters, and family members joined the Washington Nationals for Scout Day. Besides the home team red, the stands were dotted with BSA tan, Cub Scout blue, Venturing green, and for the first time STEM Scout white. The STEM Scouts took center stage and field in their lab coats to conduct the flag ceremony and show thousands of fans a video about the BSA’s newest program. Other Packs and Troops used the occasion to conduct summer celebrations, recruitment activities, and even a Wood Badge beading ceremony.

Powhatan STEM Chair Michael Hanson received his Wood Badge beading in the stands at Nat’s Park during Scout Day.

 

Lab Managers Marcus Martin (9941) and Burt Wagner (991) are recognized for their successful Lab year during COVID and growing the Program Council-wide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest in STEM Scouts is growing in the National Capital Area Council with additional labs starting this fall. Please visit www.stemscouts.org or contact Trisha, NCAC Director of STEM and Exploring, at stem@ncacbsa.org to learn more about starting a lab in your area.

STEM Scouts Honor Guard made up of Marco Martin (9941, front left), Lizzie Hanson (9941, front right), Chris Hanson (9941, back left), and Andrew Wagner (991, back right).

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxWvbcXpBzs

STEM Scout Honor Guard setting up on the field at National’s Park

 

Explorer Post 1010 Wins Top STEM Competitions!

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Submitted by: Bob Ekman

Explorer Post 1010 is engaged in four national engineering programs – The American Rocketry Challenge, FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics, Botball Educational Robotics, and the UAS4STEM Drone Competition. In 2021, we worked through the pandemic and did very well in all four programs. Our robotics teams scored among the top teams, but our rocketry and drone teams were at the at the top nationally. The tenacity of the teams through many long months of the pandemic has proved to be their strength. Add to that the dedication of several adult leaders in providing the logistics so the teams could meet and succeed in their challenge.

Bob Ekman is the over-all advisor for Post 1010. Tom May, aided by his wife Beth May, are the mentors for the drone team. Vince Camobreco is a mentor for the rocketry team. Neal Perkins is a mentor for the FIRST robotics team. Bob is also the mentor for the Botball team.

Post 1010 has been active since 1997, with hundreds of teen passing through the program. We currently have about 34 registered members. They do well every year, but this year has been extraordinary.

The American Rocketry Challenge

Explorer Post 1010 registered three teams in the 2020 The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The main web site is https://rocketcontest.org/. The challenge is to fly to a specific altitude and then descend to the ground in a specific total flight time. We also had to carry a large raw egg and not receive any cracks. We started with experiments focused on the challenge in the fall of 2019. We recruited several new members for 2020 and designed and built our competition rockets. We started testing our rockets during the winter of 2020.

Then the pandemic hit and we suspended the program until September 2020. We used the same 2020 challenge for 2021, but dropped one of our teams because we lost several seniors. By May 17, 2021, both teams completed three qualification flights with scores low enough to be invited to the national fly-off in June. The finals are for the top 100 teams from the 615 registered teams across the US.

Our teams traveled to the Great Meadow field in The Plains, VA, on June 13. They both successfully completed two flights. The first one to 775 feet and descent time between 39 and 42 seconds. The second one to 825 feet and descent time between 41 and 44 seconds. Our first team had two flights that were almost perfect, getting a score of 3 and 5 for a combined score of 8. The second team had good altitude scores, but descended a little too fast. At an on-line ceremony on June 28, the first team was ranked 2nd place nationally and awarded $17,000. They lost to a team in Oregon that scored 7.7. Our second team was ranked 42nd.

UAS4STEM Drone Competition

Explorer Post 1010 registered a teams in the 2020 UAS4STEM drone competition. While we started preparing for the spring and summer competition, the pandemic caused us to delay until 2021. In the challenge, the team must fly their drone both autonomously and remote controlled. They needed to find several targets which are out of site from the team, and then drop water balloons filled with paint on the target.

In April, our team made an on-line presentation which was rated highly and gave them an invitation to the national competition. The national competition was held in conjunction with the AirVenture Fly-In festival at Oshkosh WI in August 2021. Our team competed with a dozen other teams from across the nation. They gave another impressive presentation and successfully performed their flight operations, hitting the targets several times. At the festival in August, they were awarded first place nationally and $2,500.