We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouting Programs

Virtual Reality, Helicopter Pilot… join STEM@Home!

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Every Thursday at 7PM, you can join our virtual STEM@Home Speaker Series! Read more about the upcoming speakers, leap into STEM career exploration, and secure your spot here.

The presentations will be streamed live, and the presenters will host a special VIP Q&A with registrants in ZOOM. We hope you join this program for STEM careers exploration!

May 28: Engineering Night: A Conversation with LT John Delpizzo

John is an Eagle Scout from Troop 980 with a degree in Computer Science and a Minor in Cyber Security. But he is also interested in anything having to do with computers, robotics and programming. He will be working in Cyber Operations in the Air Force and is going to his first assignment this summer. As a hobby he likes to work with Virtual Reality (VR) equipment and software; he will explain how it works and allow the viewers to experience a bit of what VR is capable of doing. It’s not just about gaming! (But yeah, the games are pretty cool).

June 4: Technology Night: A Conversation with Mark Bruno

Mr. Mark Bruno is a 2006 Coast Guard Academy graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Specialized in Computer Networking. He spent 11 years flying helicopters for the Coast Guard and Maryland State Police, and now works as an Aviation Safety Program Manager. He has a passion for physics, weather, mechanical systems, computers, navigation, and data analysis. He is an Eagle Scout and the Cubmaster of Pack 1014 in Brandywine, Maryland.

30 Day Nova Challenge for Cubs!

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It’s been over two months of lockdown for most, and so here we have it – two 30 Day STEM Challenges!

This calendar is designed to help your Wolf, Bear, or Webelos Scout complete some NOVA Award Requirements. Please contact your Council/District STEM Committee to get in touch with a registered NOVA Counselor and complete the remainder of the award. If your youth is in NCAC, and seeking a Nova Counselor, please contact stem@ncacbsa.org and be sure to include your District so we may help connect you!

The downloadable PDF and PNG for each Nova Challenge is available here!

Special notes: Use proper safety precautions for hands-on activities. There are resources and ideas for most awards included in the requirements links at the start of each week. Extra Research is HIGHLY encouraged. Have fun!
#STEMatHome #Nova #scoutingAtHome

Mattaponi District Welcomes Pack 847

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During the virtual Roundtable Meeting on Thursday, May 21, 2020, the Mattaponi District welcomed our newest unit, Pack 847. Sponsored by Tabernacle United Methodist Church, the families of Pack 847 have entered the Scouting World running! Leaders have attended PowWow and completed their trainings and Scouts have enjoyed hikes, field trips, achievements, and more. The Mattaponi District is happy to welcome them into our Scouting family and we look forward to celebrating their Chartering and other Scouting accomplishments in person soon.

Star Scout Cole Thomas Cleans Over 300 Pounds of Tires from Chesapeake Bay Waterway

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I am the Scoutmaster of Troop 422 in Huntingtown, MD and I want to share a story of one of our exceptional Scouts, Star Scout Cole Thomas. Cole was recently working to earn his service hours as part of his rank requirement for Star Scout, and to pass a little time doing a good turn. While Cole only needed 3 hours to qualify as the minimum requirement, he felt that cleaning one of the tidal creeks of the Chesapeake Bay of old discarded tires, he and his father Jason Thomas (Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 422) put in 5 hours each, to ensure the job was done correctly and the creek was cleaned. They then spent more time and their own money to properly dispose of the tires at the local refuse collection center. Both Jason and Cole exemplify Scout spirit and went above and beyond in making our environment and waterways cleaner.

Four Pack 1500 Cub Scouts Earn the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award Electronically!

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Four Wolf Cub Scouts in Pack 1500 spent the year working not only on regular advancements and standard NOVA awards, but also striving towards the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award. Already a tough award to achieve due to the level of effort required, these Wolf Scouts were on the verge of completing their supernova requirements when suddenly COVID-19 happened and everything was locked down.

Undeterred, the Scouts (and their fearless mentor) started doing meetings over google hangouts in order to discuss and complete the requirements. Eventually, each scout finished up the grind of the supernova requirements.

Each parent of these Scouts had originally been working hard with their Scouts and collecting everything the Scouts had worked on in a binder to mail to NCAC. After NCAC closed, however, physical submissions were impossible and instead they were starting to be accepted via email. The brave supernova mentor went and picked up each of the binders on the door steps of the scouts houses and brought them back to his house.

After getting the binders, the supernova mentor (it’s too late to go into first person at this point) solicited help from his wife, a teacher and a den leader, to help convert the binders of information into an electronic package for the NCAC STEM committee.

After a lot of scanning, collation, and formatting, each Scout’s binder was converted into a google document that included links to all of the required material, photos/videos of all the activities, and all scanned hand written artifacts that the Scouts had produced. Once it was all collected, the supernova mentor emailed it to the NCAC supernova address and waited.

After a period of time it was announced that the four Scouts had been awarded the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award and that the STEM committee had considered the digital applications exceptional! Truely, the Scouts hard work and determination exemplified the Scout motto, “Do your best.”

I would like to thank the parents for their support in helping their Scouts and my wife for supporting us all when we were all trapped inside.

As a bonus, I have created an example of our supernova submission with the PII removed (although a few photos of my son remain). You can find it here.

Congratulations to David Cohen, Olivia Cohen, Zander Collins, and Whit Stallings on their achievement!