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New Girls Troop In Aldie, VA

April 13, 2021 by Dena McGuiggan

Goose Creek District is happy to announce the launch of Troop 2012-G in Aldie Virginia!! On Tuesday 16 March Troop 2012 held their first official meeting with 5 new excited girls including one newly crossed-over Arrow of Light Scout from Pack 2010. These girls are so excited to launch their scouting adventure, earn merit badges and learn amazing scout skills. Please help me in welcoming these young ladies to Troop 2012 and Goose Creek District!

Photo: Photo ID

Aldie/Arcola Troop 2012G- l-r- Helene & Olivia Johnson, Allison Serotkin, Scoutmaster Tiffany Johnson. Via Zoom, Marie Hunter, Claire Moye and Nora Hattabaugh

Photo Credit, Jay Bradshaw

Participate in Scouts Trash the Trash Day on May 1

April 13, 2021 by Sara Holtz

Scouts Trash the Trash Day is an international Messengers of Peace project for Scouts around the world, where each Scout is challenged to bring a friend or family member along and pick up at least one Kilo (2.2 pounds) of trash each on the first Saturday in May.

The idea for Scouts Trash the Trash Day came from the scouts of Troop 1206 in Helena, Montana after realizing that there are several days throughout the year that Scouts get together and do the same thing on the same day. Days like Jamboree on the Air and Internet, Jamboree on the Trail, Trees for the World, World Neckerchief Day, but there was not a day for Scouts to all get together and clean up their communities. Thus Scouts Trash the Trash Day was started. Scouts are asked to bring a non-scout with them on this day of service in order to double the impact of their trash cleaning effort.

Scouts Trash the Trash Day is about more than just cleaning our planet, it is a day to show the world what Scouting is about, educate individuals about Scouting and recruit new boys, girls and adults into the Scouting movement.

To participate in this day of service, Scout groups are asked to organize their own trash clean up day on May 1, 2021.
See these links for more details about Scouts Trash the Trash https://scoutstrashthetrashday.org/ and Messengers of Peace https://www.scout.org/messengersofpeace

Here are 2 games to encourage scouts to collect as much trash as possible:
-BINGO
-scavenger hunt

Scouts Trash the Trash is a great way to practice Leave No Trace & participate in a conservation project.

Please be sure to log your hours!

Troop 1550B Scout Earns the EPA 50th Anniversary Award

March 26, 2021 by Matthew Christman

My name is Matthew Christman from Troop 1550B in Leesburg, VA which is part of Goose Creek District, National Capital Area Council. I earned the 50th Anniversary Environmental Protection Agency Award on March 6, 2021.

About the award: To commemorate the Environmental Protection Agency’s 50th anniversary in 2020, the Boy Scouts of America and the EPA created an award that encourages youth in the Scouts BSA program to learn about and protect the environment. The award is a patch and can only be awarded in 2021.

To earn the award scouts must earn the Public Health merit badge and one merit badge from each of three following groups: Animal Study, Outdoor Activity & Earth Sciences. A scout could have earned the merit badges before the award came out but they must do their conservation service project hours in 2021.

There’s a form to fill out with the dates you earned the merit badges and the date you completed your conservation service project. Your Unit Leader signs the form for approval. You take this to a scout shop and they will give you your award patch.

I completed a lot of merit badges before the award came out that I could choose from. Here’s the ones I submitted with my paperwork.
1: Animal Science group: I chose Animal Science- I earned this merit badge in March 2017 at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, VA
2: Outdoor Activity group: I chose Fly Fishing- I did most of the work for this at a merit badge class at The Virginia Wine and Fly-Fishing Festival. My counselor for this was Pete Adams who’s on the BSAs Fishing Committee. I went to Orvis for their Fly Fishing 101 class. I also participated in their Fly Fishing 201 outing and did some fly-fishing. I finished the “catch a fish while fly-fishing” requirement & emailed Mr. Adams a picture of my catch to complete the merit badge in May 2017.
3: Earth Science group: I chose Oceanography- I did this merit badge with Sea Scout Ship 1942 in Alexandria, VA during one of their Sea Scouts Afloat weekends in April 2018.
4: Public Health is a required merit badge that you have to earn to receive this award. I completed this merit badge at the Fairfax County Health Department in January 2018.

For the 6 conservation hours needed for this award: My parents, Jim and Sandra Christman and I met Sara Holtz, who volunteers with Fairfax County Park Authority Invasive Management Area Program at Difficult Run Stream Valley Park on Oakton, VA three different Saturdays to pull Japanese barberry, multi floral rose and wineberry. These are all invasive species that grow and kill off native species. Removing these will help native species start to grow again which will help wildlife return to an area as well.

Shiver in Virginia: March trash clean up

March 12, 2021 by Sara Holtz

Need a covid-safe service project? Join the SHIVER IN VIRGINIA challenge!

SHIVER IN VIRGINIA presents a safe, statewide, month-long beautification effort to remove trash from the state of Virginia! In order to participate, all you need is a pair of gloves and a trash bag.

As you know, there’s no shortage of litter and it takes all of us doing our part every day of the year. Get Caught in a Beautiful Act/SHIVER IN VIRGINIA is an opportunity for us to recognize individuals and groups who are giving back to their community through cleanup, recycling, and beautification projects. During the month of March, get out and Do Beautiful Acts such as:
Here’s a brief list of ways to keep Virginia beautiful in your own neighborhood and beyond!
-Grab a Bag, Take a Walk, Pick up Litter! It could be the easiest “do anywhere” beautiful act there is!
-Take recycling to the curb or recycling center
-Plan your garden
-Work in your garden or yard
-Contribute time to a community garden
-Install a rain barrel
-Set up composting, turn your compost
-Pull invasive plants
-Clear a trail
-Plant a native Virginia plant or tree (zone appropriate, of course!)
-Cleanup graffiti
-Clean bird feeders and birdbaths
-Upcycle or artcycle an item otherwise bound for the landfill
-Take household and electronics to donation centers
-Take the Keep Virginia Beautiful Pledge https://keepvirginiabeautiful.org/engage/take-the-pledge/
-Adopt-a-Highway

Please remember to
-Snap a pic or quick video
-Post it and tag #ncacbsa #LeaveNoTrace #ShiverinVirginia #LitterFreeVA #dobeautifulthings

Take it further: for a small but very impactful donation of $20.21, you will receive a FREE Virginia State Parks one day parking pass. That same donation also gives you optional access to the Keep Virginia Beautiful Mission Challenge website where we can all witness our state getting cleaner and greener – day by day AND each beautiful act you report enters you into drawings for really cool prizes (see below).
The Mission Challenge website will spotlight beautiful places in Virginia throughout the month, and you’re encouraged to share your pictures, contributions, and successes with everyone on the mission with us. As we reach milestones together on our path around the Commonwealth, there will be amazing prizes!
Even if you cannot make a donation to gain access to our Mission Challenge activity, we still hope you will let us know what you are up to throughout March by reporting on our new and improved GET CAUGHT IN A BEAUTIFUL ACT link! https://keepvirginiabeautiful.org/engage/get-caught-in-a-beautiful-act-clean-up-report/

14 Local Scouts Are Part of Inaugural Female Eagle Scout Class

March 5, 2021 by The Scouter Digest Staff

BETHESDA, MD: Fourteen young women in the D.C. metro area are among the trailblazing young women in the Boy Scouts of America’s inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts. These Scouts were honored on February 21 at the ‘Be the Change’ event, a celebration of these young women and their achievements, and a call to action for all young people to continue working to make a positive impact on their communities and the nation.

The local Scouts are members of National Capital Area Council, BSA (NCAC). They joined Scouting for various reasons, such as taking once-in-a-lifetime adventures, creating memories with their families, and paving the way for future generations of young women. While their reasons were different their goal was the same: to become one of the first female Eagle Scouts. Earning this award requires a Scout to hold leadership positions in her troop; earn 21 merit badges focusing on essential life skills such as first aid, camping, and personal finance; and lead a service project in her community. “Two years ago, BSA opened its doors to allow girls to join the organization. To see what these young ladies accomplished in that short amount of time is beyond impressive,” said Craig Poland, Scout Executive and CEO of the National Capital Area Council. “They represent the future of Scouting, and we are honored that they chose to be part of our organization.”

In addition to the already challenging requirements, these Eagle Scouts had to find ways to complete their projects during a pandemic. This required them to display flexibility and adaptability in their leadership skills. Please join us in congratulating the local members of the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts:

Emma Bazemore organized volunteers from her troop to make snuffle mats and blankets for a local animal shelter, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.
Ashlyn Cooper of New Market, MD, built storage units to house donations for a charitable health facility.
Vienna, VA resident Katie Hunter, supervised the construction and placement of 37 garden boxes for Bailey’s Elementary School in Falls Church.
Olivia Preston of Burke, VA, designed and constructed four boat racks for the Lake Braddock Community Association.
Clara Kelly partnered with an Islamic middle and high school to build an outdoor learning area. She specifically wanted to work with an Islamic school to bring an aspect of interfaith community building to her project.

Emma Bazemore, Ashlyn Cooper, Katie Hunter, Olivia Preston, Clara Kelly, Tara Presnall, Maya Kessner, Emma Teichert, Samantha Rutherford, Lila Weir, Lauren Doring, Carolina Herrera Gago, and Elizabeth Clegg completed the requirements for the Inaugural class of female Eagle Scout.

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About Boy Scouts of America & National Capital Area Council Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life. ™ The Scouting organization is composed of 2.6 million youth members between the ages of 6 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more, please visit www.Scouting.org.

National Capital Area Council was organized in 1911 and today stands as one of the oldest and largest councils in America. The Council territory includes the District of Columbia; Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland; and in Virginia the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Stafford and Culpeper as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg in Virginia; and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, please visit www.NCACBSA.org.

Scout Builds Raspberry Pi Computers For Eagle Project

March 4, 2021 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Summitted by: Kellen Meymarian

For my Eagle Scout project, I wanted to encourage students to consider STEM jobs by exposing them to professionals they might otherwise not get to meet. My goal was to create a free publicly available STEM Video Library so that professionals can share their experiences and encourage today’s students to consider careers in STEM. My direct beneficiary was the After-School All-Stars, a program that provides comprehensive after-school programming to middle school students in neglected regions of Ward 8, which has the highest crime rates and lowest median incomes out of all wards within Washington DC. As part of this project, I also built Raspberry Pi computers for the beneficiaries.