A couple of suggestions, and a question
Bill Lawrence (bill.lawrence@ansys.com)
Fri Feb 20 07:05:29 1998
Hi everyone,
A couple of suggestions, if I may...
I'd very much like to see the Venture "pins" program, currently offered
to Venture Crews within troops, extended to the new Venturing division
scouts (whatever we end up being called). The Venture booklets and
their programs are really quite well done, and would provide the
equivalent of merit badges for senior scouts. Also, the program is
currently in place and the resources are readily available.
I'd like to suggest the creation of a basic outdoor skills award/rank
for Venturers. Our post by-laws have a requirment which states that an
Explorer in Post 150 must have basic first-aid training. This can be
either through the first-aid merit badge or through some other agency
such as the Red Cross. The basic proficiency award/rank would include
such first-aid competency and also camping and outdoor skills. I'm not
concerned that young men and women who come to the program through
either Boy or Girl scouts will have these skills, it's the members who
have no scouting background that I'm concerned about. This would
provide a method of assuring that each member of an outdoor or
high-adventure related post would attain the necessary skills to be safe
and responsible in the backcountry.
BTW, I outlined the changes at our post meeting last night, and our
membership seemed pretty happy with the additional opportunities
Venturing will offer.
I have a question related to the changes: Our post (and our related
troop) are chartered through a non-profit organization which accepts
federal funding. There is a statement on the door of their building
stating that there can be no descrimination based on sexual orientation
or religion (or lack thereof). Basically, they have the same
requirments as any government agency. Given the current situation, it
sounds to me like both the post and troop should be looking for a new
chartering organization. This would be quite unfortunate for the troop,
as they have a 40+ year history with this organization. In fact, Troop
150 built the place as an Eagle project.
Yours in Scouting,
Bill Lawrence
Explorer Advisor
High-Adventure Post 150
Gibsonia, PA
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