Transcript Venturing - BSA - US Scouting Service Project

Venturing - BSA
A Unique Opportunity for Older
Youth
Existing Explorer Program
• Effective 1 August 1998, “Exploring” as we
knew it went away
• Career Posts now fall under Learning For
Life
• Non-career Posts were converted to
Venturing Crews and now make up the new
Venturing Division within BSA
What Is Venturing?
• Is a youth development program of the BSA
for young men and women who are 14 (and
have completed the eighth grade) through
20 years of age
• Can be all male, all female or coed
• Models the European version where
Scouting has been based upon distinct age
group divisions for years
What is Venturing
• Members are called Venturers
• Venturing units are crews (Venture patrol in
the troop with a patrol leader)
• Venturing adults are advisors
• Youth leader is president
• Crews can select one of five interest areas
Five Interest Areas
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Outdoor
Sports
Arts and Hobbies
Youth Ministry
Sea Scouting
Uniform
• Wear the traditional green uniform shirt
with green shoulder loops and a Venturing
BSA strip over the right pocket
• May adopt the official charcoal gray casual
pants or backpacking style short
• Each crew determines its uniform based on
the crew’s activities
Venturing Advancement Program
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Bronze Award
Gold Award
Silver Award
Ranger Award
Eagle Award
Bronze Award
• Entry level award
• Can be earned in each of five different
interest areas
• Requires both learning skills and teaching
them to others
Gold Award
• Replaces the old Explorer G.O.L.D. award
• Recognizes accomplishment in the six areas
- leadership, service, community/family,
outdoor, fitness, and citizenship
• Requires at least 12 months of active
participation
• Requires a Board of Review
Silver Award
• Provides a path to personal development
and requires
– proficiency in emergency preparedness
– participation in Ethics in Action
– completion of Venturing Leadership Skills
Course
– earn Gold Award and at least one Bronze Award
• Requires a Board of Review
Ranger Award
• Identifies Venturer as an elite outdoorsman,
skilled in a variety of outdoor sports and
interests
• Must complete eight challenging core
requirements and four outdoor interest or
sports electives
Ranger Core Requirements
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First Aid
Emergency Preparedness
Leave No Trace
Navigation
Wilderness Survival
Communications
Cooking
Conservation
Ranger Electives
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Backpacking
Project COPE
Ecology
Fishing
Hunting
Mountaineering
Physical Fitness
Scuba
Watercraft
Cave Exploring
Cycling/Mountain Biking
First Aid
Equestrian
Lifesaver
Outdoor Living History
Plants and Wildlife
Shooting Sports
Winter Sports
Eagle Award
• Venturers who enter the crew as First Class
Scouts or who are dual registered in a troop
may continue to work on their Eagle Award
until age 18
Venturing Compliments Troop
Program
• Adds new advancement and leadership
opportunities for older boys
• Allows flexibility so boys can participate in
both programs
• Meets the wants and needs of the 14-18
year old boy
• Can solve many challenges faced by
Scoutmasters
What 14-18 Boys Want
• Challenging physical activities with young
people their own age
• Recognition of their “older” status
• Co-ed activities
• Independence
• A sense of belonging and acceptance from
their peer group
What 14-18 Boys Need
• Consistent adults that “walk their talk”
• Character and ethical education outside the
classroom
• Positive role models, male and female
• Opportunities to become proficient at a
variety of skills
• Leadership opportunities
Scoutmaster Challenges
• Keeping older scouts “engaged” in the troop
while trying to attract and retain younger
scouts
• Competing with older scout interests;
sports, band, drama, jobs, girls, cars
• Giving leadership/role model opportunities
to all older scouts
• Giving younger scouts something to
anticipate beyond the troop
National BSA Statistics
• Average Eagle Scout is 14 years and 9
months old
• Average Boy Scout attendance at summer
camp is 2.8 years
What Does Venturing Offer?
• New advancement opportunities for boys
interested in going beyond Eagle
• Recognition for those boys who may have
dropped out of “traditional” scouting
• Activities with boys and girls their age
• New leadership training specifically
designed for them
• An advancement program that requires that
they share what they have learned
Venturing’s Teaching Philosophy
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Level 1 - You read it
Level 2 - Someone taught it to you
Level 3 - You experienced it
Level 4 - You teach it to someone else
Venturing advancement requires Level 4
Venturing’s Growth
• Church youth groups that adopt the
structure of Venturing to strengthen their
youth
• Businesses (REI) and clubs (re-enactment
units, outdoor) that adopt Venturing to
complement their program
• Successful troops that adopt Venturing to
meet the wants and needs of their older
scouts
Venturing’s Growth
• Venturing is BSA’s fastest growing youth
development program. The figures are
since Venturing began in August 1998
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Total Venturers - 180,536
21.5%
Total Crews - 16,286
29.0%
Total non-LDS Venturers - 112,536
Total female Ventuers - 44,568 (40% of nonLDS
• 63.5% of all Venturers are 16 years old or
older
Ages of Venturers
Year 2000
50000
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
14 yr. 15 yr. 16 yr. 17 yr. 18 yr. 19 yr. 20 yr. other
Olds Olds Olds Olds Olds Olds Olds
What Can Our District Do?
• Implement a district run Venturing program
as outlined in “Here’s Venturing”
• Identify churches with existing strong youth
groups that may want to use the Venturing
program
• Work with troops that want to form
Venturing crews
What Can Our District Do?
• Form high school-based Venturing crews in
those areas where there is no single strong
troop
• Ensure Venturing activities, including those
conducted by NCAC, are included in the
district’s program calendar
What Can Our District Do?
• Include opportunities for Venturing crews to
teach at district events (SMF, camporees)
• Ensure Venturing advancement, training and
leadership awards are recognized
• Support the Northern Virginia Venturing
Roundtable that has been established to
bring program ideas to several districts
Summary
• Venturing is an exciting new program
designed to keep youth involved in
Scouting for as long as possible.
• Venturing provides a program that will
attract young people who left the more
traditional Scouting or who have never
experienced Scouting before.
• Venturing compliments a religious
organization’s existing youth program.