News Briefs
American Indian Scouting Seminar
The 49th American Indian Boy Scouting/Girl Scouting Seminar will be July 22 to 26 at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.
The seminar—designed to teach non-Native Americans about the Native American culture and to teach Native Americans about Scouting—is a great opportunity for councils to gain knowledge and resources for supporting Scouting in the Native American community.
The annual event is conducted by the American Indian Scouting Association (AISA—a joint venture of the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Boy Scouts of America) and hosted by a local tribe or American Indian community. It is attended by tribal and Indian community leaders; Boy Scout and Girl Scout volunteers and staff; American Indian, Native Alaskan, and non-Indian troop leaders in Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting; and 12- to 17-year-old youth registered in Girl Scouting or Boy Scouting.
The event features workshops for adult volunteers and professional staff on Indian culture and Scouting relationships, including organizing Scouting in Indian communities. Youth workshops and programs are also available. Highlights include a parade of traditional clothing, a pow wow with music and dancing, and a visit with the Comanche Tribe, the host tribe for the 2006 seminar.
Registration forms are available at www.aisa.scoutreachbsa.org or at your local Scout council service center, or write to Scoutreach Division, Boy Scouts of America, 1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln., P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079.
High Adventure Bases Seek Staff
This summer the BSA will hire about 1,014 people to work at Philmont Scout Ranch and the Double H High Adventure Base, 140 at the Florida Sea Base, and 180 at the Northern Tier bases. Jobs range from crew guide to mountain bike instructor to food server. Applicants must be physically fit, age 18 (by June 1) or older, and available to work from late May through the third week in August (from mid-May through Aug. 31 for the Florida Sea Base). Starting salary is based on experience and ranges upward from $830 per month. Lodging and three meals a day are included. Contact each base for an application and information:
Philmont Scout Ranch; Double H High Adventure Base, Seasonal Employment, 17 Deer Run Road, Cimarron, NM 87714, (505) 376-2281, philstaff@philmontscoutranch.org.
Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases, P.O. Box 509, Ely, MN 55731-0509, (218) 365-4811, info@ntier.org.
Florida National High Adventure Sea Base, P.O. Drawer 1906, Islamorada, FL 33036, (305) 664-4173, www.bsaseabase.org.
Venturing TRUST Award recognizes religious, community life involvement
Venturing's new TRUST Award—a challenging recognition achievement in the tradition of the program's Quartermaster, Ranger, and Quest Awards—focuses on Venturing's religious and community life emphasis. (The majority of Venturing's more than 18,000 crews nationwide are chartered to religious organizations.)
Venturers earning the new award will learn more about themselves, their communities, and their own religion and culture and those of others as well.
Similar to requirements for other Venturing awards, the TRUST Award requires the teenagers to share what they learn with others.
Requirements include:
- learning more about your own faith (including earning the religious emblem for your faith group).
- learning about freedom of religion in the United States and about religions other than your own in your community.
- learning about the historical significance of cultures in the United States, including studying one cultural group in detail.
- completing a community service project and learning about organizations in your community that serve youth.
- learning counseling skills, conflict resolution, [about] peace and reconciliation, and how to apply them in your own life.
The new TRUST Award Handbook (BSA No. 33154) is for sale at your local Scout council service center or online at www.scoutstuff.org.
Information on the entire Venturing awards program is available at www.scouting.org/venturing/awards.
Enter service project details on Good Turn for America Web site
Good Turn for America (GTFA), launched in February 2004, is a "national call to service" in which the BSA partners with organizations such as The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity to provide volunteer opportunities for youth and adults.
Since February 2005, BSA packs, troops, teams, crews, and ships have recorded service projects in the data collection section of the GTFA Web site, www.goodturnforamerica.org.
Through December 2005, 32,748 projects involving 761,444 youth and adults and totaling 2,500,250 service hours had been recorded.
To register and create a site password, a unit representative must obtain a special unit number and ID from the local council or district. (Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, crew Advisors, group leaders, and post Advisors can also find the unit number and ID on a Web site how-to brochure, "Tell Us About Your Service Project," that was mailed directly to them early in 2006.)
Data entries include type of project; number of Scouts, non-Scout youth, leaders, and other adults participating; total hours worked; other organizations participating; and who or what organization benefited from the project.
Units can enter data on other types of service projects. Also available is a form for details of Eagle service projects.
Official project certificates can be printed directly from the site, for use in purchasing GTFA patches at local Scout shops. (Anyone who worked on a project is eligible to receive a patch.)
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets hosts Eagle Scouts
Texas A&M University's Aggie Eagle Program invites Eagle Scouts who meet Texas A&M admission requirements to spend a weekend with the university's Corps of Cadets.
Now entering its third year, the program hosts both a fall and a spring event. In addition to learning about the Corps of Cadets, participants gain insight and information about the university admissions process, financial aid, scholarships, academic support, and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs.
Housed in corps dormitories and, when possible, paired with cadets who are Scouts, Eagle Scouts take part in a variety of corps activities, eat in the corps dining facility, go to a midnight yell practice, and attend a football game (in the fall) or basketball game (in the spring).
The Aggie Eagle Program seeks to recruit students with certain leadership skills and specific character traits. (Traditionally, more than 300 of the 1,800 men and women in the corps are Eagle Scouts or hold the Girl Scout Gold Award.)
Eagle Scouts and Scoutmasters who want to nominate qualified Scouts can find details, requirements for attending, and an online registration form at www.aggiecorps.org. (Along with qualified Eagle Scouts, high school seniors who meet the academic requirements and are currently active in Boy Scouting, Venturing, or Sea Scouting are eligible to apply.)
For more information, contact program coordinator Joe G. Bax at joegbax@yahoo.com, (936) 851-2576, or call the Texas A&M Corps Recruiting Office, (800) 826-8247 (TAMU-AGS).
March - April 2006 Table of Contents
Copyright © 2006 by the Boy Scouts of America. All rights thereunder reserved; anything appearing in Scouting magazine or on its Web site may not be reprinted either wholly or in part without written permission. Because of freedom given authors, opinions may not reflect official concurrence.