News Briefs
New Drugs: A Deadly Game! program materials available
A completely revised version of the BSA's premier drug-abuse prevention program, Drugs: A Deadly Game! is available.
A new 18-page youth booklet, Choose to Refuse, features five drug-free kids who speak to today's youth about many of the drug-related issues they may face. (Choose to Refuse replaces Take a Stand Against Drugs, the drug-abuse prevention booklet referred to in Requirement 8 for the Fitness activity badge in the 2006 printing of the Webelos Handbook.)
New elements in the revised version include:
- Tests for evaluating students' drug awareness prior to and following a Drugs: A Deadly Game! awareness session. (Copies of the 10-question tests are available in the Leader Guide or can be downloaded from www.scouting.org/drugquiz.)
- A mnemonic N.I.C.E. system, for use in learning refusal skills.
- A "Choose to Refuse Family Pledge" certificate, to be signed and shared with parents or another significant adult and displayed in the home to remind families of their commitments to each other.
The revised Leader Guide helps adults present a Choose to Refuse program effectively to students from first grade through high school.
Drugs: A Deadly Game! is for all youth, not just Scouts. Since 1987, more than 18 million booklets have been distributed to Scouting units, schools, churches, libraries, community anti-drug coalitions, and law enforcement agencies. Additional Drugs: A Deadly Game! materials include brochures, posters, stickers, banners, and T-shirts.
Visit council service centers for more information or contact Drug Abuse Task Force, S302, Boy Scouts of America, P.O. Box 152079, Irving TX 75015-2079; (972) 580-2376; www.scouting.org/drugquiz.
It's October and Time for JOTI and JOTA
During the weekend of October 21-22, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers can communicate directly with their counterparts in countries around the globe by participating in two events sponsored by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Jamboree-on-the-Internet (JOTI) uses computers and the Internet, to enable Scout groups, under the supervision of leadership, to contact other Scout groups, via e-mail messages, Scout chat rooms, and audio and video exchanges.
Although individuals can participate in JOTI, the emphasis of the Internet exchange is for units to participate at Scouting events, providing special opportunities for Scouts who do not have computers, access to the Internet, or are disabled.
Organizers should prepare and register for participation in JOTI by visiting two Web sites: www.joti.org (which includes a list of necessary software, rules for participating, and information on creating a temporary e-mail address); and www.scoutlink.net (which provides a safe and supervised chatting environment).
Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) marks its 49th anniversary this year, as more than 400,000 people around the globe will exchange Scout greetings via amateur (ham) radio.
Many local ham radio operators and clubs invite Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts to visit their stations. Others set up stations at BSA district and council events scheduled to coincide with JOTA.
Among the largest temporary stations are K2BSA/5 at Camp Wisdom in Dallas and other K2BSA stations assigned to other areas across the country.
JOTA frequencies are: SSB (phone)—3.940, 7.270, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, and 28.390 MHz; CW (Morse code)—3.590, 7.030, 14.070, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, and 28.190 MHz.
Wallet-size participation certificates and a temporary patch for participation in either or both JOTI and JOTA are available. The free certificates can be ordered from the Boy Scouts of America, International Division, S221, 1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln., P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079 (specify the kind and number of cards needed).
Patches are $4 each and available in limited quantity after Aug. 1. Order early (check or money order only, payable to Boy Scouts of America) from the same address as the card certificates.
Participants in both events are urged to share their experiences with the BSA's International Division.
Get more information from the division at (972) 580-2401, intnldiv@netbsa.org, or on the BSA Web site at www.scouting.org/international/22-883.html (JOTI) and www.scouting.org/international/22-218.html (JOTA).
Numbers
51—years that Scouts, leaders, and the general public in Toledo, Ohio, have enjoyed hiking the 16-mile Oak Openings Trail, one of many hiking opportunities in the city's Metroparks system. As part of a celebration of five decades of partnership between Scouts and the park system, 500 special 50th anniversary trail patches were available for sale to individuals who completed hiking the trail by Nov. 1, 2005. In addition, Erie Shores Council Scouts who hike the entire trail within a 24-hour overnight period can earn a regular patch.
52—years that the Wisconsin utility, We Energies, has hosted an annual Electricity Merit Badge Clinic in Milwaukee. In 2005, 99 Scouts from councils across southeastern Wisconsin attended the event, which was staffed by active and retired employees from the company's corporate communications, customer operations, fossil operations, information technology services, and regulatory affairs departments.
62 and 59—years respectively that Albert Hansen, Barnegat, N.J., and Vann Johnson, Suffolk, Va., had to wait before receiving a formal presentation of their Eagle Scout Awards. Hansen passed his Eagle board of review in 1944 but joined the Coast Guard before a court of honor could be held. On June 1, 2005, at a surprise ceremony on Hansen's 80th birthday, Barnegat's Troop 26 presented him with his Eagle badge. Almost six decades earlier, in 1947, Vann Johnson had completed his Eagle requirements, but his application was never processed due to a misunderstanding. Long regretting he hadn't achieved Scouting's highest rank, Johnson finally brought the situation to the attention of the Colonial Virginia Council, which submitted his application to the BSA national office, where it was approved. In November 2005, at age 74, Johnson finally received his Eagle badge in a special court of honor at the Bennett's Creek Ruritan Club in Suffolk, Va.
4,500—Scouts, leaders, and family members who attended the Louisville-based Lincoln Heritage Council's Patriot Games encampment at Fort Knox, Ky., in October 2005. The event featured fun activities, exhibitions, and displays for all age groups, and a tour of the Patton Museum of Cavalry & Armor. Boy Scouts and Venturers participated in a scavenger hunt and 10 other patrol-style competitions. Cub Scout activities included archery, BB gun, and slingshot shooting ranges; fishing (casting skills); and an obstacle course.
Cub Scouts develop social awareness of community issues
Through an innovative Cub Scout Awareness program, the Grand Teton Council, headquartered in Idaho Falls, Idaho, has helped acquaint thousands of boys over the past 15 years with some of their community's most urgent concerns and how they can help to alleviate them.
At the same time, the program gives Cub Scouts opportunities for interesting field trips and exciting interactive projects, plus a chance to earn special patch segments in seven designated areas: Literacy, Hunger, Crime, Drug Abuse, Environment, Child Abuse, and Employment.
"The program provides den leaders with a nice supplement to the list of regular Cub Scouting activities," said David Widdison, veteran Cubmaster and the council's director of Cub Scouting. "Our experience also shows that it helps in retaining Cub Scouts right up to their transition into Boy Scouts."
Each awareness area has five requirements for earning the patch segment, and most of these can be met as part of Scouting programs already in use, Widdison explained.
For example, the Literacy segment requires a boy to visit a library with the den or his family, read three books and explain them to a parent or den leader, read and explain one part of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution, help someone else to read, and read or tell a story to the den or pack.
Requirements for Hunger Awareness include participating in a Scouting for Food drive, preparing a treat for someone, visiting a food welfare agency, planning a week's menu using the four basic food groups, and sharing a favorite recipe with family or den.
Packs or dens can schedule awareness activities so boys can earn a different patch segment each month. Cub Scouts receive the awards at monthly pack meetings.
"We felt packs wanted to be able to give some kind of award at every meeting but not have to spend a lot of money on patches," said David Jones, council finance and public relations director. "The segments are less expensive [than made-to-order patches] and offer boys a way to learn about critical needs in society."
Each month approximately 200 Cub Scouts in the council earn an Awareness segment, although the monthly number has gone as high as 500, Jones said.
More segments are earned when "there is a correlation between the monthly pack theme and the Awareness activity," he explained. "The two often go together nicely—like 'Hometown Heroes' with crime prevention awareness, or 'Our Feathered Friends' with environment/nature awareness."
"It's a fun thing for all concerned," said David Widdison, "but you'd be amazed at how much the kids learn about what's happening around them every day."
—Bill Sloan
Baseball Hall of Fame offers scavenger hunt for Scout visitors
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the BSA's Otschodela Council in Oneonta, N.Y., have teamed up to offer a special patch for Scout visitors to the hall who complete a scavenger hunt based on the 12 points of the Scout Law.
The hunt takes participants through the entire museum. Forms for purchasing the patch from the Scout council are available at the museum ticket booth. Scouts may earn the patch individually or as part of a group.
To get group admission rates, reservations should be made by calling (607) 547-0312 or (888) 425-5633. Or, go to www.baseballhalloffame.org/visitor_info/index.htm for scavenger hunt information and an online e-mail form for reservation inquiries.
For information about camping at the Otschodela Council's Henderson Scout Reservation, only 20 minutes from the Hall of Fame, call (800) 778-6813 or (607) 432-6491 or visit the council Web site, www.otschodela.org.
Quality units compete for council's Fleur-de-lis honor
Glacier's Edge Council in Madison, Wis., provides an incentive for units that have already earned the prestigious national Quality Unit Award to gain additional recognition by achieving the council's Fleur-de-lis honor.
"We understand that the true benefit of the Scouting movement comes directly from our individual units," says Scout Executive Steve Heck. "If we want to improve the standard of our programs, our units will make the difference, and this unit recognition program will honor those units that 'go above and beyond the call of duty' to lead the way for the rest of the council."
To qualify for Fleur-de-lis designation, each unit must:
- achieve national BSA Quality Unit recognition
- achieve an annual membership goal by adding a net of at least two new members by Dec. 31 of the current year
- meet the Friends of Scouting "Blue Chip" level (average giving of $35 per family) of financial support for the council
- support the council by selling popcorn or donating a portion of the proceeds from another unit money-earning project to the council
- participate in and employ techniques from the "Join Scouts Recruitment" training
- take part in "Ideal Year of Scouting" training and adopt its annual program planning, budgeting, and money-earning philosophy into the unit's operation.
In addition to the honor itself, Fleur-de-lis units receive a number of incentives, including collector's edition council shoulder strips for each registered member, summer camp discounts, Packmaster/Troopmaster computer software (or equivalent value in Scout Shop credit), free rank-advancement cloth badges through the end of the year, and special recognition in the council newsletter and at the annual dinner.
"The award builds a lot of excitement within units," says assistant Scout Executive Glen Steenberger, who oversees the Fleur-de-lis challenge. "We first conducted it in 2003, and 17 units achieved the honor. Last year 32 earned the award, which was about 16 percent of all Quality units. The magic behind the award is that packs, troops, and crews get competitive and in the process strengthen Scouting in their neighborhoods."
—Bill Sloan
Cub Scouts Learn How Scouting's Values Help Fuel a Championship Coach's Success
 In 2005, Coach Mack Brown and Associate AD for Football Operations Cleve Bryant joined Paul and Will Varnell, Scout Executive Tom Varnell's sons, at a Longhorns practice. Photograph Courtesy Of The Capitol Area Council |
In Austin, Tex., sportswriters, National Football League scouts, and fans would give anything to be able to attend a practice session of the defending national champion University of Texas Longhorns football team. But the Longhorns' in-season practices are strictly off-limits—unless you happen to be a new Cub Scout.
Each fall, head coach Mack Brown opens one practice session to new Austin-area Cub Scouts, an occasion that Capitol Area Council Scout Executive Tom Varnell says has provided a major boost to the council's Cub Scout recruiting efforts.
During their visit, the young VIPs and their parents get to watch the Longhorns work out, hear from the coach himself, and even be serenaded by team members singing the school fight song.
Brown said his reason for opening practice to these special guests is simple—to show the new Cub Scouts and their parents how Scouting "was important in my life and [also] to some of our players and coaches."
He describes how his experiences as a Boy Scout growing up in Cookeville, Tenn., helped him to develop self-confidence, learn how to communicate effectively, and discover the value of teamwork.
And today, Scouting's values permeate Brown's program, as he strives to recruit players of good character and then tries to make them even better.
"You obviously have to have a certain level of ability to play football at the University of Texas, but [in our recruiting] we try to stay very strong with our feel about character and family," he explained.
"One [value] that stands out is his complete honesty with his players," observed Brian Davis, the university's assistant athletic director for academic services (and an assistant Scoutmaster with four sons in Scouting).
Davis knows Brown well, having worked with him for nearly two decades as the coach advanced to his present position as one of the nation's top college football coaches. "I think his values are stronger now than they were 20 years ago" when Brown was coaching at other schools and his teams were not nearly as successful as they have been at Texas, Davis said.
Scout Executive Varnell agreed. "Being the head coach of the University of Texas football team brings pressure that is probably comparable to leading a professional sports franchise," he noted. "But despite that pressure, Coach Brown continues to live the Scout Oath and Law."
Last year, Texas Monthly magazine called Brown "the nicest guy in the meanest sport." If that's true, it's safe to say that nice guys really can finish first.
—Mark Ray
October 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.