John Strand, Cubmaster of Kingston Pack 4555, was the guest speaker at the Wednesday, 12 February, noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Kingston North Kitsap. Pack 4555 with 20 Cub Scouts and Troop 1555 with 9 Boy Scouts are both sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kingston North Kitsap. As Cubmaster, John is responsible for the monthly Cub pack meeting, as well as other events during the year, so the job takes a lot of planning. That planning involves finding out what boys that age want and enjoy, learning what resources are available and how to make the events run smoothly. John talked with us about the core principles upon which the Scouting program is based, the changes in the scouting program to include the whole family and the need for local volunteers.
The scouting principles are the fundamental laws and beliefs which must be observed when achieving their purpose. They represent a code of conduct which characterizes all members of the Movement. Scouting is based upon three broad principles that represent its fundamental laws and beliefs. They are referred to as "Duty to God", "Duty to Others" and "Duty to Self". As their names indicate, the first refers to a person's relationship with the spiritual values of life, the second to a person's relationship with society in the broadest sense of the term, and the third to a person's obligations towards himself.
The Boys Scouts have expanded their program to include the entire family. Last February, the Boy Scouts announced that the program would be called Scouts BSA and would allow girls to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Younger girls have been able to join Cub Scouts for the past year, and more than 77,000 joined. Now, older girls 11-17 have a path to earn the organization's highest rank. One common misunderstanding with many is that Scouting is going "coed." While it's true that the program is serving both boys and girls, these changes don't make the Cub Scout dens or the Boy Scout troops coed. With these modifications, you still have boys in their own dens and troops, and girls in their own dens and troops. In Cub Scouting, you can have a separate pack for girls, or you can have separate dens for girls and dens for boys in the same pack. In the case of troops for older youth, you must have separate troops for boys and girls. A chartered organization may also have "linked troops," which means a chartered organization can have a shared troop committee with separate troops for boys and for girls.
John identified the need for merit badge counselors and invited Rotarians to volunteer. The merit badge counselor is a key player in the Scouts BSA advancement program. Whatever your area of expertise or interest—whether it is a special craft or hobby (basketry, leatherwork, coin collecting), a profession (veterinary medicine, aviation, engineering), or perhaps a life skill (cooking, personal management, communications)—as a merit badge counselor, you can play a vital role in stirring a Scout's curiosity about that particular topic. By serving as a merit badge counselor, you offer your time, knowledge, and other resources so that Scouts can explore a topic of interest. If you are not yet a merit badge counselor, it is easy to become a volunteer. You will need to register with the Boy Scouts of America, through the BSA local council. This entails completing and turning in the "Adult Application." The local council will then process the application. (Every applicant is screened.) In order to register, merit badge counselors are expected to complete BSA Youth Protection. This training can be done through the BSA's Online Learning Center. The Boy Scouts of America seeks to create a safe environment for young people and adult leaders to enjoy the program and related activities. BSA Youth Protection training helps preserve that environment.