Tres Robles, National Youth Leadership Training Begins!

Monday, June 25 at around Noon there will be a flurry of activity at Camp Mabel French during check-in time for the participants of the 2007 Tres Robles course sponsored by the Los Padres Council, BSA. Last minute checks of medical authorization forms, fee payments, Fiesta invitations (The Fiesta is Tres Robles' graduation meal attended by participant's families, adult leaders from the home unit and a number of district & council leaders (hopefully).) and all the cell phones of participants will be either turned in to the staff or sent home with Mom & Dad. Participant shirts, hats, name tags and lots of food have been ordered to help make the week a success.

David Kudija, Scoutmaster of the 2007 course has worked very hard to overcome a number of obstacles that could have prevented this course from happening. The fact he overcame the challenges is testament to his hard work and deep commitment to our Boy Scouts. Along the way he has assembled a youth staff of 14-17 year old Boy Scouts that will teach the participants a Toolbox full of leadership skills. All this will happen while having a fair amount of fun in the process. Initiative games, inter-patrol activities, outpost camp and GPS based Geocaching are a good part of the fun participants will experience.

Brian McCoid, Senior Patrol Leader recently earned his Eagle Scout rank and is ready for a great week of training. Matthew Kudija , Junior Assistant Scoutmaster for the course served in the role of senior patrol leader for the 2006 course. Dean Dilger, Christian Nicholson, Tim Dascomb were also on staff in the 2006 course. Clay Young served as the course photographer in 2006. All of Tres Robles staff are hard at work as I write this article. They arrived at Camp French Thursday night to complete the final stage of staff development and prepare the facility for the coming week. They may even be taking a quiz on the leadership concepts they will be teaching during the course before the day is over. (They will love that idea!)

The youth leadership training continuum developed by the Boy Scouts of America starts with Troop Leadership Training. This course introduces the leadership skills that begins our young leader's journey as a true leader of men. They are given a solid grounding in a leadership style based on the concept of servant leadership during this journey. Sounds like real Scouting to me! —Rick

BSA Gets National Play

AmericanProfile.com has a very beneficial article posted about Scouting. The magazine's lead article, extremely Scouting-friendly, incorporates BSA's key messages—Scout Oath/Law/Motto—along with the history shaping the forthcoming centennial of the Scouting movement in America. The article provides vignettes of the Good Turn for America program, heralds the impact and prestige of the Eagle Scout rank, and offers endorsements from Scouts and Scouters. Accompanying the text are historic portraits, Rockwell paintings, photos of volunteers in action, badges, and other symbols of the Scouting movement that we were able to provide. This publication, which can be viewed at www.americanprofile.com, has a circulation of 6.5 million and is distributed through Sunday Newspapers across the United States.

Boy Scout Advancement Requirements Now Online!

Recently the BSA put all the Boy Scout advancement requirements online! I like this idea and it is about time! Until now much of this information has not been available from an official BSA information source. Other sites like meritbadge.com have served the Scouting community with much good information about the merit badge requirements in the absence of such information on official BSA web sites. Personally I sometimes find third party information sources are not as accurate and up-to-date on information. The BSA web site may be slow to adapt to new technology and new ways of using their web site, but I have always found their information accurate.

This new information on advancement requirements is a very nice addition to the BSA web site. This includes all the requirements for rank advancement and merit badges. Requirements for each merit badge are online with a graphic of the patch and merit badge pamphlet for each merit badge. I find it curious that they did not link to the information on merit badges with the Merit Badges in Review page. They have also included within the advancement information a resource page full of additional advancement related information.

[ http://www.scouting.org/ ]

Merit Badge Survey

Calling all Scouts and Merit Badge Counselors: please take our merit badge survey. We’re looking for ways to supplement the current literature to help you learn the skills you need to earn badges and make the process smoother and more rewarding.

Even if you are not involved in earning merit badges, you might find these surveys of interest. Several times the phrase, " ...such as audio podcasts or CD-ROMs" shows up in both surveys. Interesting! The results of both surveys will be even more interesting. I hope the results are shared.

There has been much new information posted on the National web site concerning merit badges. It will be interesting to see what podcasts and CD-ROMs are developed to support the merit badge program.—Rick

Marine hero inspired Scouts to do their best

Published May 27, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

By E.B. FURGURSON III, Staff Writer

Major Rick Gannon was only in Annapolis for two years, but the Marine Corps officer had a profound impact both at the U.S. Naval Academy and on local Cub Scouts he led. [ Read the full story. ]

I found the above story posted on the BSA Legal web site after coming home from The American Legion ORcutt Post 534 Memorial Day Program at Pioneer Park in Orcutt on Memorial Day. The story of Major Rick Gannon in the above article represents why Memorial Day is so important to observe as it gives all of us a time to contemplate the value of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Semper Fidelis, Major!

Boy Scouts of Troop 91 chartered to Orcutt Post 534 did the honors of raising the American Flag during the ceremony. Well done Scouts! —Rick

June 2007 CubCast - Rocket's Red Glare

Rocket's Red Glare, Youth Protection Program [MP3 - 23.9 MB]
Kim Barker, Chairman of Themes Task Force, discusses activities for July's "Rocket's Red Glare" theme. John Patterson, consultant to BSA on Youth Protection, speaks about the new YP video release and how to use it effectively with the kids. (June 2007)

A big part of the June CubCast focuses on the new Youth Protection video designed to help children protect themselves from abuse. This is a brand new video containing a series of vignettes and discussions about personal safety.—Rick

New Resource for Emergency Preparedness Requirement - Venturing Silver Award

Calendar Items

South Coast District's New Leader Essentials Training Invitation - [ flyer ]

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