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Philmont’s Family Adventure Camp lets everybody in on the fun
This is Philmont Scout Ranch. On any given summer day, there are around 3,500 Scouts BSA members and Venturers somewhere in the 220 square miles of pristine New Mexico backcountry exploring the...
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Scouting’s core leadership awards can help you be a better leader
Since kids don’t grow up overnight, it can sometimes be hard to tell from week to week how much of a difference you’re making as a Scouting volunteer. The BSA’s training awards and keys can help you...
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Tips for managing a Cub Scout megapack
Fort Leavenworth, Kan., is home to 14,000 people, three elementary schools and just one Cub Scout pack. Pack 1 isn’t just any pack, however. It’s one of the oldest packs west of the Mississippi, and...
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Barriers to Abuse: The finer points of the BSA’s Youth Protection policies
Youth Protection policies are central to the BSA’s commitment to keep our members safe. Every adult volunteer must complete Youth Protection Training when they register and must retake the training...
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How one council is improving pack-school relationships
It was the sort of phone call every Cub Scout leader dreads. Mark Beard, the principal of Stone Lake Elementary School, was on the line, calling to notify Robert Rhymes, Pack 255’s committee chair,...
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This Scouter makes a splash in Sea Scouts
Growing up in rural Arkansas, T.W. Cook spent only a year in Cub Scouting. But adult involvement was pretty much inevitable once he joined a Scouting family — his father-in-law, Verl Underwood, was a...
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Answers to FAQs About Merit Badge Counselors
To earn a merit badge, a young person must work with a registered merit badge counselor. Here are some frequently asked questions about these important adult volunteers. What are the requirements to...
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How summer activities benefit your pack
The National Summertime Pack Award program features all sorts of prizes. There’s a streamer for the pack flag if the pack holds an activity during each summer month. There’s a streamer for the den...
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How leaders helped their Scouts plan — and replan — an epic trek
On the surface, it all seemed so seamless: one Scout troop, split into three crews based on experience level, cruising through miles and miles of the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. As the...
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How one BSA council is addressing the skilled-trades shortage
If St. Louis were building its famed Gateway Arch today, it might have trouble finding enough skilled tradespeople to finish the job. According to the State of the St. Louis Workforce 2017 report,...
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This California Scouter shares how Scouting crosses cultural and generational...
Tiffany Ta didn’t get the chance to be a Scout when she was growing up in Vietnam. So when she moved to the United States in 1975, Ta had limited awareness of Scouting’s many benefits. That changed...
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Scouting helps these families make the most of their time together
From New York’s steel towers to the bayous of Louisiana, these five Scouting families make their world a better place. In the process, Scouting helps them become stronger together. The Castle family...
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A path to earning the Hiking merit badge in a big city
District chairman and former Scoutmaster Mike DiTrani has completed five Philmont treks and frequently hikes in the Adirondacks, but some of his favorite hiking happens much closer to his Staten Island...
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Guiding girls inspires this Pennsylvania Scouter
When Erin Blank’s brother, Patrick, was a Cub Scout, she would play Akela for him and pretend to check off requirements. She became Akela for real years later when her son Ethan’s Wolf den leader quit...
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Plan now for a great crossover ceremony
A technical glitch silenced the soundtrack for Pack 183’s crossover ceremony last winter. Despite the hiccup, the Scouts had a great time and the ceremony was a success, according to Laura Dombroski,...
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10 Historic BSA Moments Every Scouter Should Know
This story original appeared in the September-October 2017 issue of Scouting magazine. A trail sign, a footbridge, a favorite campsite — points on a pathway remind us where we have been and help us...
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Get time on your side for work, life and Scouting
The 1,440 minutes in each day disappear quickly. Let’s say you spend 480 of those minutes asleep and another 480 at work. That leaves one more chunk of 480 minutes — eight hours — for meals, commuting,...
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Recruit families to your pack using a blend of online and real-world means
Picture a stack of 174 newspapers, each 85 pages thick. Back in 2007, researcher Martin Hilbert calculated that’s how much information the average person received every single day. And that was before...
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What is BALOO, and why is it good for you?
(This story originally appeared in the March-April 2018 issue of Scouting magazine.) A few years ago, longtime Cub Scout training experts Matt Markham and Jessi King-Markham found that volunteers who...
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A WOW! event — with a Halloween twist — helps ensure a healthy recruiting year
When it comes to maintaining a healthy Scout unit, recruiting is king. The ability to consistently bring in new members is the lifeblood of every troop, crew or ship. A large part of recruiting is...
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