Venturing Program
Meet people from other Venture Crews and discuss program.
629 topics in this forum
-
- 6 replies
- 2.1k views
-
- 77 replies
- 24.1k views
-
- 5 replies
- 1.1k views
-
- 65 replies
- 13.7k views
-
- 7 replies
- 2k views
-
- 20 replies
- 5.1k views
-
- 1 reply
- 2k views
-
- 38 replies
- 11.1k views
-
- 7 replies
- 3.3k views
-
- 10 replies
- 4.3k views
-
- 12 replies
- 3.8k views
-
- 13 replies
- 3.8k views
-
- 1 reply
- 2k views
-
- 0 replies
- 2.3k views
-
- 0 replies
- 1.8k views
-
LATEST POSTS
-
In many ways you are experiencing disinterest that may not be of your own making. Scouting has experienced a decline over the last 45 years. Slowly the passing down of Scouting from one generation to the next has grown smaller. Less parents were involved as kids so they do not migrate towards having their kids in Scouting. Basically a smaller population that thinks favorably of the program. Many have some esoteric view or opinion, but not actual experience. Additionally the overall Scouting program in the US has moved more towards the experience of Scouting and less on growing Scouts, easier to leave the program. In many cases units are seen as just more school. For Scouts (11-19) for summer of 2024 if you took all the camps, all the weeks, and all the availability, nationally the camps were at 30% capacity. A small handful were full, but most had lots of empty space. There may be youth registered, but not a high level of engagement. Long term I'm not sure of the fix. In many cases key will be to make the program relevant and work to be clear on what the program is about and what the positive outcomes can be. We too had 80 Scouts 9 years ago, not so much now and we are in the 20's. Also the expectations of families have changed. We camp 11 - 12 times a year, many kids and their families are not supportive of a robust outdoor program. Possibly meeting in the woods and kids running things scares parents. Also getting the parents engaged is tough. Have crews going on high adventure and could not find enough parents that would serve as leaders. Ended up recruiting a past leader who's son aged out 3 years ago and then an older brother who is 21 and an Eagle from our troop. 15 years ago we had wait lists for adults for the treks. As I noted, really not sure of the long term fix. -
-
By RememberSchiff · Posted
@ColorBoomScouting welcome to scouter.com -
By ColorBoomScouting · Posted
I am an ASM and Eagle from a Troop in the Pathway to Adventure Council, a south suburb from Chicago, relatively good area compared to other South Suburban Towns, there used to be a second Troop in our town, which shut down due to low membership at the end of 2022, didn't recharter for 2023. They folded into our Troop, Although a lot of them disliked our Troop and didn't join it (Out of Pettiness), however, I think our Troop might be experiencing the same issues as they are. We had 40 scouts at our 2018 90th Anniversary Ceremony (We where ridiculously healthy back then), however, now we are down to 9 Active scouts, 2 of which are aging out within the next year, and asides from them the oldest is graduating Junior High School. The Pack we are feeding out of is dead, I believe they aren't going to recharter for 2026, we share a CO, but we aren't really intertwined, the last group of AOL's has 2 Scouts going to another Troop 20 minutes away, and 1 who wants to join us, but hasn't really been in contact. Without this pack to feed from, it is getting extremely hard to grow, we never really get Scouts from outside anymore, even though we have a Good Website, our active in Speaking of our CO, we never really had much support from them, they are a "new" church, the former CO merged with another church to form it, this happened in 2022, we never had support from the old church, and when they merged we saw a slight uptick in support, but now it is just as low as it was beforehand, the Pastor seems to have no interest in us, and our COR is NOT active in any way and seeks to retire, I only ever see him during Scout Sunday, and he doesn't interact with us much. We used to have a LOT of support from our community as well, but it seems as if nobody really cares about Scouting in our town, we have a rich history and we are the oldest Troop in our District, but nobody seems to care about Scouting around here anymore, we still host our Pancake Breakfast Annually, and it is sad to see it as empty as it is, a decent number of people show, but at least 1 row of tables is always empty, and we still sell flags at the Fourth of July Parades, but nobody seems interested in buying. Both our Troop, the Former Troop, and the Cub Pack all had a big presence in our town just 5 Years Ago compared to now! There was even a Second Pack connected to the Former Troop. So, please tell me, how can I revive my Troop and therefore revive Scouting in my community, I will take any advice. -
By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
Actually, @DuctTape, we have this dynamic flavored through the Troop as well 😜 Cook, Gearhead, Activities, High Adventure, Advancement (particularly on the Life-to-Eagle process). I am not the cook or gearhead, but I usually wear one of those other hats... as do the rest of the ASMs. We do also have ASMs-at-large (as it were). For example, we have the OA Troop Advisor ASM, and a group of ASMs who support, but cannot commit enough time to mentor PLs effectively. And you rightly point out the danger here... ASM MUST NOT become the PL. Circumstances work in our favor on this one, though, as, in many instances, the assigned ASM either cannot attend a meeting, event, or outing. So, we kind of fill in for each other. We are also self-policing in that regard... if we notice the adult taking on too much of the leadership role, we pull each other back, when needed. Our two stock responses to 95% of questions from Scouts are "Ask your Patrol Leader." and "What does your Scout Handbook say?" [Our adult "Patrol Yell" is just that... "Ask your Patrol Leader!"]
-
-
Who's Online (See full list)
- There are no registered users currently online