Posts Tagged ‘Brian On Scouting’

In 2015, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received 4.4 million reports of child sexual abuse. That’s a fact not meant to scare you but to clarify what we — the Boy Scouts of America and other youth-serving organizations — are up against. The next step in that ongoing fight is the 2016 National Youth Protection Symposium, set for Oct.…

While trying to light her camp stove, hiker Dawn Nakano severely burned her lower leg. What happened next was straight out of Hollywood. “If our story was a movie, no one would believe the part where, right after the accident, as we realize how difficult it will be to get to a hospital, along comes…

Hiking around your neighborhood wearing a brick-filled backpack is a good way to get your body in shape for Philmont. But what about your mind? That’s where the Philmont Advisor Skills School and Philmont Advisor Workshop really shine. These courses — offered both at Philmont and in a city near you — are designed for adult advisors signed up…

Deadly flooding in Louisiana has affected at least 40,000 homes — many belonging to Scout families. Scouts and Scouters in the Evangeline Area Council in Lafayette and the Istrouma Area Council in Baton Rouge have been displaced. “I can’t begin to describe the widespread devastation but am overwhelmed with pride for our community as I witness…

Plan ahead. Talk to the Scout’s parents. Be smart about storage and labeling. Taking these steps and others when dealing with a youth member’s medication is a vital part of keeping our Scouts and Venturers safe and healthy. Here’s the latest: The July 2016 update to the Guide to Safe Scouting includes some new guidance on medication use in Scouting. It’s all covered…

For every two open STEM jobs right now, there’s only one qualified candidate. And while lots of people are talking about the dearth of hands-on STEM experience for young people, the Boy Scouts of America is doing something about it. Last week, the BSA announced that its popular STEM Scouts pilot program will add seven new councils this fall, bringing…

Jared Ward is an elite-level marathon racer, a statistics professor at BYU, a father of two and a member of Team USA’s 2016 Olympic team. So, yeah. The 27-year-old has experienced some incredible things in his life. That makes it all the more remarkable to hear him say this: “Some of my best memories came while I was in a…

It wasn’t adrenaline or horsepower that first got Pat Currie interested in all-terrain vehicles. It was the potential these four-wheeled machines have to recruit new Scouts and to retain older Scouts and Venturers. Currie, Scout Executive of the Dallas-based Circle Ten Council, learned of the Polaris ATV program after the BSA’s National Service Center conducted some eye-opening research. The…

Finishing the longest track and field race in the Olympics takes perseverance. Same with finishing the journey toward becoming an Eagle Scout. Just ask John Nunn — one of the few to have done both. Nunn, 38, is an Eagle Scout who will compete in Friday’s 50-kilometer race walk at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He’s the only American in…

Swim, bike, run … and earn the highest award in Scouting. All in a life’s work for Greg Billington, an Eagle Scout who will compete in Thursday’s Olympic triathlon. Billington, 27, says you don’t have to be Superman (or, in his case, Aquaman) to succeed in school, sports and Scouts. All you need is dedication, passion and supportive…