fgoodwin

Some Councils offer scholarships for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend WB21C -- you might ask your DE about it. Also, some employers have been known (or so I am told -- my employer is not one of them) to pay for some or all of the cost of WB, since it is basically leadership training. Our WB course director had a standing offer to write a letter to any employer on behalf of prospective attendees. The letter was to explain the business benefits of WB training. Again, ask around and see if your WB CD would be willing to do this.

As long as we're picking nits, the same application Ed refers to also makes it clear that, if you're not already a Venturer, then you may not join after you reach 21. The provision Ed quotes allows an existing Venturer to stay in the crew until that crew recharters, which could be as soon as the day after the kid's 21st birthday, at which point he (or she) would have to become an adult member.

Explorer hopes Scout experience fuels career as federal agent http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2007/05/16/features/features2.txt http://tinyurl.com/yst7ut Last modified: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:22 AM CDT By NATALIE JORDAN, The Daily News, njordan@bgdailynews.com/783-3243 Andria Vansickle is planning to make a name for herself in the world of law enforcement. Vansickle, 20, is one of 300 selected from more than 2,000 applicants to attend the FBI Leadership Academy, a program through the Boy Scouts of America Explorers. I sent the application off in February after finishing it in January. I had to write an essay about what law enforcement meant to me and get letters of reference, she said. It was late March when I heard back that I was accepted. Oh my God, I was so excited. This was the second time I applied for it because the first time, I didn't get in. It's been my dream to work with the FBI. My goal is to be an FBI agent. Leaving June 30 and returning July 7, she will travel to the nation's capital and Quantico, Va., during the academy. I don't know all that is planned for us, she said, but I think it will be very useful to what I plan to do in life. The Paducah native said she's been in the Boy Scouts Explorers for quite some time. She said she became interested in becoming an FBI agent at 15, when she found that a good friend was involved. When you're 15, communicating through MSN Messenger was like the coolest thing to do. It was the hottest thing out there, and if you weren't (on it), you weren't cool. Well, (my friend) had posted (on Messenger) about learning more about law enforcement. After going through the logistics of where to go and what to do, Vansickle said she went to a meeting. And I was hooked, she said. And when an actual FBI agent came to speak (while she was still in high school), that's when I made up my mind I wanted to be an agent. Vansickle joined the Explorers when she came to Western Kentucky University. As a captain of the WKU Explorers, she said she has weekly meetings and mostly works between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. doing building checks and escorts. Vansickle came to Bowling Green to attend Western, and is seeking a double major in accounting and sociology with a minor in criminology. She will be a junior in the fall. She said she wants to bring both aspects of her degree to the law enforcement field, and believes the classes she's taking help. A lot of sociology classes deal with the law enforcement aspects, she said. It explains ... what you will come across, so when you become a police officer and you're responding to calls ... you'll be prepared. Although Vansickle said she has other interests, including playing basketball, cooking and playing with her 17-month-old daughter, her goal is to be an FBI agent. I've always been interested in law enforcement, and in high school we had electives, and I loved accounting, she said. A lot of people hated accounting, but for some reason I loved it, so I want to take what I know about law enforcement and accounting to the FBI. I want to do white collar crimes, like catch people like Martha Stewart. Vansickle said her parents are proud of her. She said she is a first generation college-goer, and being accepted into the academy is icing on the cake. She said, however, next year she won't be able to apply to the leadership academy because she'll be 21. She said the Boy Scouts of America Explorers go from 15 to 20 years old, but you can't become a law enforcement officer until you're 21. I'm going to become an officer first. To become an agent, you have to have skills and experience in a specialized field, she said. I like law enforcement, so I want to bring that in first and my accounting second. I'm looking forward to becoming an officer. I like being an Explorer, but I can't wait to go to the academy, and come back and become an officer.

Putting the Skinned Knees Back Into Playtime http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/fashion/20retro.html By ALEX WILLIAMS Published: May 20, 2007 JOSEPH GALLO, 10, of Santa Cruz, Calif., is well armed in the battle against childhood boredom, with a bedroom arsenal that includes a computer hooked to the Internet, a DVD player, two Game Boys, as well as an Xbox and a GameCube. But in recent weeks, the hum of that war room of machinery has quieted because Joseph has acquired a new playtime obsession that would have seemed quaint even in his parents day: marbles. He can thank Michael Cohill, a toy designer and enthusiast, whose marble seminar Joseph attended at a youth fair a few weeks ago. Mr. Cohill considers himself something of a pied piper of the game, having taught it to thousands of children at schools, parks and scout meetings. They have the exact same experience kids did with marbles a hundred years ago, said Mr. Cohill, 52. Well, not exactly. Back then, children didnt need to take seminars to learn to play a no-tech, simple game. In the era of micromanaged play dates, overstuffed after-school schedules, cuts to recess and parents terrified of injuries, lawsuits and predators, many traditional childhood games have become lost arts, as antique as the concept of idle time itself. But lately, a number of educators like Mr. Cohill, as well as parents and child-development specialists are trying to spur a revival of traditional outdoor pastimes, including marbles, hopscotch, red rover and kickball. They are attending play conferences, teaching courses on how to play, and starting leagues for the kinds of activities that didnt used to need leagues just, say, a stick and a ball. They are spurred by concerns that a decline in traditional play robs the imagination and inhibits social interaction, by personal nostalgia, and by a desire to create a new bridge to connect generations a bridge across both sides of the Nintendo gap. Although their efforts have mostly yielded modest results, a hint that they may be on to something comes with the success of an unlikely best seller, The Dangerous Book for Boys (Collins), a sepia-toned celebration of the lost arts of childhood, complete with information on how to make a tree house, fold paper airplanes and skip stones. Within days of its publication earlier this month, the book had soared to No. 2 on Amazons sales ranking, right behind the latest Harry Potter installment. The book, by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, sells for $24.95 in hardcover and may be appealing as much to fathers who are nostalgic for a youth they never quite had as to children. Conn Iggulden said in an e-mail message that he routinely received correspondence from parents who yearn for a return to simple pleasures, which seems to stem from potent forces, like the realisation that keeping your kids locked up in the house on PlayStations isnt actually that good for them; or the appalled reaction of many parents to a health-and-safety culture that prevents half the activities they took for granted as kids and that they know were important to their growth and confidence. Nevertheless, such simple pleasures have not always been conspicuous in the lives of children over the last two decades. These kind of games, including tag, have practically died out, said Joan Almon, who is coordinator for the United States affiliate of the Alliance for Childhood, a play advocacy group in College Park, Md. Ms. Almon bemoaned the fact that she often drives through leafy suburban streets on a sunny afternoon and sees no children playing, adding, We should be paying more attention to these classical childrens games, which are almost lost now. Joseph, in fact, compared the experience of indulging in this centuries-old activity to being inside a video game. Jill Gallo, Josephs mother, is thrilled to see her son turn away from violent video games and she thinks other parents should actively work to spread the outdated pastime among children. It wont come back naturally, said Ms. Gallo, 40. We have to introduce it. We have to support it. Rhonda Clements, a professor of education at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., and a former president of the American Association for the Childs Right to Play, said that this was already happening. Theres a movement, she said of the effort to revive these games. Her department has been sponsoring marble tournaments at local schools and trying to encourage faculty members to teach games like Four Square. For many parents and educators, the burgeoning interest in old-fashioned games is an outgrowth of a broader campaign, spearheaded by a growing number of national and local advocacy and research organizations, like the Alliance for Childhood, or the National Institute for Play in Carmel Valley, Calif., to restore unstructured play in childrens lives. They cite numerous studies that claim such play has many benefits, from helping children develop their imaginations to helping them learn to get along with others. One group, New York Voices of Childhood, formed in 2005 in New York City, already counts more than 100 parents and educators as members. They are currently trying to persuade teachers to make old-fashioned play a priority within their curriculum, said Susan Ochshorn, a project coordinator for the group, who argued that games like tag and red light/green light are useful not only in alleviating stress, but helping combat obesity. Birgit Meade, an economist for the federal government who lives in College Park, doesnt allow her children Oliver, 10, and Anna, 7 to own a computer, and limits their DVD watching, she said. Instead, she encourages them to collect caterpillars or play jump rope in the front yard with friends. Ms. Meade admits that her son runs the risk of looking like kind of an oddball to his friends for bouncing on a pogo stick while his friends blast away their afternoons playing video games. Still, Oliver noted that he recently tallied 2,000 bounces in a single session. Theres a lot more things to do outdoors, he said. Perhaps the adults serious approach to playtime is paying off. Kathy J. Spangler, the director of national partnerships for the National Recreation and Park Association in Ashburn, Va., which represent some 6,000 local parks departments, said she had witnessed an increase in children playing traditional games like four square, scavenger hunts and hopscotch at parks throughout the country in the last few years. Larry Betz, of Benton, Ark., founder of the Little Rock Kickball Association, said that his adult league was an instant hit when it started in 2004. Meanwhile, most of their children found this old playground staple as foreign as a mortgage application. The irony of adults playing a kids game was lost on them, Mr. Betz said. But after spending a few seasons on the sideline, watching their parents have fun, many children are suddenly showing interest in the game, Mr. Betz said. This year, he expects at least 150 children to turn out for a new youth division. CORY ABATE-SHEN, 41, of Warren, N.J., cited a tinge of nostalgia as one reason she tried to teach the playmates of her twin 6-year-olds, David and Philip, to leap through hopscotch courts, shimmy in hula hoops, and chase each other around the lawn in games of tag. Most kids, she said, need her direction, but once taught, they can immediately adapt and get into it. Youre going to see a real revolution, she predicted, sounding a bit like a Thomas Paine of retro play. Nevertheless, some critics believe that children best fire their imaginations and hone social skills when left alone to make their own fun. Dr. Geoffrey Godbey, a professor of recreation at Penn State University, said the idea that parents can revive old-fashioned play is contrary to the spirit of play. He blamed boomers who want to do it themselves again because they never grew up. His advice? Let the kids go. But Sara Boettrich doesnt want to. The Rochester, N.Y., mother has tried to exhume the old playground games of her own childhood, like seven up which involves bouncing a red rubber ball against a wall. I used to love that game! Ms. Boettrich said. My friends and I would play that for weeks. But when she tried to pass it along to her daughter Lydia, 8, and Lydias friends, she found that she was the one who was most spirited in bounding around on her driveway. The children followed along only as long as mom was there to supply the enthusiasm. Afterward, they tended to return to their video games. Ms. Boettrich admitted that she hadnt seen the kids playing seven up, pickup sticks and jacks, and that she had since abandoned her attempts to spark a love of them in her daughter. She added, I think I had more fun than she did.

Utah Man Invents Kit To Help Find Lost Boy Scouts http://kutv.com/local/local_story_139000121.html May 18, 2007 10:00 pm US/Mountain Brian Martin Reporting (KUTV) Be prepared. Its the Boy Scout motto. But many of them arent prepared when they head into the hills. One Utah man wants to help keep Boy Scouts who go into the great outdoors to be prepared for the worst. It happens way too often. A Boy Scout or hiker gets lost in the mountains that cover our state. And he thought theres got to be a way to prevent that, says Kevin Gulledge. A local man got tired of seeing it happen year after year, with many of them never to be found. Kevin describes the kits inventor, Richard Anderson, hes a long-time lover of scouting, but hes also got a brilliant mind for engineering. So Anderson created the Find Me Kit that includes a method to create fire, something to protect you for shelter, and a way to get noticed. On the top is a 1,600 candle power led. Kevin says, You can literally just turn it on, wait till nightfall, wave it around, and thats it. It can be seen from 5 miles away, says Scout Mitchell Garcia. Mitchell sure hopes so. We spoke to him on the phone right before he and his two buddies were about to get lost on purpose in the mountains east of Heber City. Its the kits first official test. Mitchell says hes the right man for the job. Ive always wanted to do something like this my whole life, so I was taken back, like whoa! Finally, finally I get to do something that I like to do, said Mitchell. From Sky2 the signal of both the camp fire and the waving LED were clearly visible. Its likely a product that may save lives in the future. The kit will cost about $30 with a discount for Boy Scouts.

How many of you have seen "Bimbo" products in your local grocery? Bimbo is a Mexican bakery, and they market certain products in Texas (and maybe other places as well). A few days ago, I bought a package of mini-poundcakes called "Panquecitos". On the package was a little white bear (which I think is the corporate symbol) wearing a green uniform that looks a lot like a Scout uniform, complete with backpack and red neckerchief. The patches and other features aren't specific enough to identify as an American Boy Scout (the color, green, is wrong for the shirt, anyway), its just a generic Scout-like appearance. I'm not sure why a bakery would pitch its product to Scouts, but I thought I'd make you aware of it, if you weren't already. Go to: http://www.bimbousa.com/english/dulce.html (be patient, the pages sometimes take a long time to load) and select "panquecitos", then you'll see an image of the packaging with the Scout-like bear. Does anyone know how to capture an image from a flash presentation?

A Mother's Day campout with mom? Sounds like a great idea . . .

Cub Scouts treat their moms to special prom http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=27908&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2 http://tinyurl.com/237y87 05/13/2007 - By Ryan Crawford Staff Writer ryan.crawford@gwinnettdailypost.com SNELLVILLE For decades proud dads have been able to take their little girls to father-daughter dances. Now proud moms finally have their day to dance. The Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America held its first-ever Mom Prom on Saturday night at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Snell-ville. I thought this was a cute idea, said Pepper Christie, who was attending the event with her 9-year-old son, Andrew. They always have the father-daughter dances. Lots of things are geared for the girls, and theres not a lot for mom and son. But that changed Saturday when 130 people showed up for a night of dancing, refreshments, corsage making, pictures and even some etiquette lessons. The Mom Prom was a chance to better prepare local Cub Scouts for experiences later on in life, said Carter Wood, council commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America. The thought is to grow a generation of boys who go to middle school or high school dances and arent too shy to dance because they had a good first experience, Wood said. It looked like many were having a good experience as they danced to YMCA, Play that Funky Music and other such prom dance classics. Some of the Cub Scouts were so excited about the event that they even took the time to help their mothers prepare for it. We both got our hair cut and he picked out my dress, Valerie Wharton said of her 7-year-old son, Kaleb. And then there were others who were a little less than enthusiastic about being there. El Freeman was having trouble getting her 9-year-old son, Zackary, out on the dance floor. At this age I guess thats what youd expect, El Freeman said. Theyre not even thinking about girls let alone dancing with their mom. Many of the mothers at the event said the Mom Prom was an improvement over their last prom experience. Actually, this is a lot more fun, said Jennifer Donnan, who was at the dance with her 8-year-old son, Ricky. I like my date better. I think Ill keep this one. Many seemed so pleased with how the Mom Prom was going that organizers felt like it would probably return next year. With this being the first year, were very gratified at being at max capacity, Wood said. It bodes well for continuing the event.

Lonesome Beaver: Sun, May 27, 9AM ET / 8AM CT on TVLand Get those TiVos ready! A "Leave it to Beaver" episode in which Scouting figures prominently is scheduled to air Sunday, May 27 at 9AM ET (8AM CT) on TVLand: --------------- Lonesome Beaver --------------- Beaver is crushed when he learns that Wally will now be attending a meeting for the Boy Scouts once a week, while Beaver is too young to join. He misses Wally but learns to cope with it by sleeping in Wally's Scout sleeping bag and preparing for when he turns eleven. Cast as Wally's scoutmaster is John Hart, the actor who briefly replaced Clayton Moore as the title character on the old Lone Ranger TV series. Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver), Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver), Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver), Jerry Mathers (Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver), Burt Mustin (Gus), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell), Buddy Hart (Chester Anderson), 'Tiger' Fafara (Tooey), Lillian O'Malley (Mrs. Whitney), John Hart (Scoutmaster)

For Scouters who can't make it to the World Jamboree: ------ Gilwell Reunion http://www.scouts.org.uk/2007/events/reunion.html Summary The 81st Gilwell Reunion will be held over the weekend of 7-9 September 2007 at Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre, on the edge of Epping Forest. The weekend is an opportunity for adult Members of the Movement to come together for a weekend of fun as well as celebrate Scoutings Centenary. Idea/programme Throughout the weekend you will have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities, meet old friends, make new ones and of course have fun. It will be a chance to share some of the Centenary success stories. There will be the usual features of any good Reunion with bases and activities on Saturday and Sunday, entertainment in the evenings and of course afternoon tea. It is an excellent opportunity to pick up the latest resources, find out about new initiatives. Aims and objectives To share ideas and help plan for Scoutings continued success beyond 2007. There will be opportunities to book both places and meals in advance but be warned the event is always popular with over 2,500 people expected. Audience All adults in Scouting are welcome to attend Gilwell Reunion and there will also be plenty of fun elements for young people. Keep checking http://www.scouts.org.uk/nationalcentres/events for more. To book for the 81st Gilwell Reunion, visit http://www.scouts.org.uk/reunion

I have a stack of books on my night-stand waiting to be read, but at the top of the stack is "To Do My Best: James E. West and the History of the Boy Scouts of America". I'll start that one as soon as I finish "The World According to Beaver: The Official Leave It To Beaver Book". I'm about 80% of the way through it now.

Has anyone seen "Spiderman 3"? Did you notice the scene where Spiderman gets the key to the city -- onstage were several Cub Scouts in what appears to be official uniforms? The Cubs otherwise have no impact on the storyline, but I was glad to see them there (kinda like a ubiquitous product placement!).

Reposted from SCOUTS-L: Go to http://www.scouts.ca/inside.asp?cmPageID=477 for program ideas for Tigers (Beavers), Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, etc.

ASM915, check out these links from the NCAC webpage: http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/pages/3543_ccos_archdiocese_of_washington.cfm http://tinyurl.com/34uf8w http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/pages/49684_56th_annual_catholic_religious_retreat.cfm http://tinyurl.com/2qe4rj My council (Alamo Area) is blessed with an active Catholic Scouting Committee (of the Archdiocese of San Antonio). Our Protestant Committee is much less active (almost non-existent, in fact). The local CCOS runs a daytime Scout Retreat every fall, usually in October. Protestants are invited, and some do come, but most of the attendees are Catholics, since the diocese supports the event and it is advertized in all the local Catholic parishes. Protestant churches are much less organized (by definition), harder to organize, and thus harder to market to. But the local CCOS does try to advertise the event to Cub Packs and Scout Troops through district roundtables, etc. One big difference: the local CCOS event does not include Girl Scouts, and that omission is intentional. One bit of advice I can give: if you aren't on the Catholic Scouting Listserv, you should join; I'm sure you can get more advice there: http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=catholic-scouting There's also an annual Catholic Scouting course at Philmont that you should attend (if you haven't been already): Scouting in the Catholic Church http://www.scouting.org/philmont/ptc/courses/courses.cgi?c=Scouting+in+the+Catholic+Church http://tinyurl.com/2o5cf2 Category: RELATIONSHIPS Course Description: Will equip participants to administer programs and activities to promote Scouting resources for outreach and ministry to Catholic children. Designed primarily for Scout Chaplains, Clergy, (Arch) Diocesan, or Parish Youth Ministers, NCCS Standing Committee, Regional Leadership, and Religious Activities Emblems Counselors. Dates Available: 07/29/07 through 08/04/07 I went to the Protestant version back in 2003, and it was awesome -- I met some wonderful Scouters there, of all faiths. If you can pay your own way (course cost is $400, plus your transportaion) it is worth doing. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Boy Scouts set their faith on fire http://www.bowieblade.com/vault/cgi-bin/bowie/view/2007B/05/10-05.HTM http://tinyurl.com/ynv38q By NATHANAEL T. MILLER For the Blade-News Boy and Girl Scouts from Bowie represented the city well during the annual Scout Religious Retreat last weekend. Held at Our Lady of Mattaponi Catholic Retreat Center in Croom, the three-day event was an ecumenical gathering of Catholic and Protestant Scouts to fellowship together and grow in their faith. The Rev. Scott Woods, assistant pastor at Mt. Calvary Catholic Church in Forrestville, acts as chaplain to the Catholic Committee on Scouting in the Archdiocese of Washington and was in overall charge of the retreat. Although the Archdiocese takes point on putting the annual event together, Father Scott, as he likes to be known, said the purpose is wider than merely educating Catholic Scouts. "Our goal has been to make it friendly for the Protestants," Woods said. He explained that the retreat started many years ago as a Catholic event. "Pretty much all the troops have people of both groups (Catholic and Protestant)," Woods explained. The general plan during the retreat is to teach all the young people together at various stations, regardless of their specific church affiliation. "We try to get them to stay together and only separate for those parts that are denominational specific, such as confession for the Catholics." "I like the stations," said 12-year-old Amanda Porter of Bowie Girl Scout Troop 542. The various stations were sites of an activity that illustrated a particular part of this year's theme of "Rekindling the Flame." "I like the one where we did catch-the-flag and where we built a fire," she said, referring to a station where the Scouts would write down both a sin and a good thing they had done and drop it into a fire. The paper being burned was used to illustrate how God's grace wipes out our sins, while the white smoke represented how good deeds flow from the heart of someone who loves God. Krista Bonuccelli, 14, also of Troop 542, said she also has a great time just getting out and doing things side by side with her male counterparts. "It's diverse between the boys and the girls, and it's a chance for us to show what we've got." Assistant advisor for Girl Scout Troop 542, Martha Whiteley, agreed that the opportunity for the girls to work next to the Boy Scouts was an important chance for the girls' growth as future leaders. "There's very much a 'woman can do what a man can do' competition," Whiteley said. "It's a healthy competition." James Whitehead, a 17-year-old with Bowie Troop 1559, was volunteering to help run a station called "The Source and the Summit." After hearing a lesson, the Scouts had to make their way up a slippery, muddy hillside. Whitehead said the muddy climb "makes it difficult, which is similar to Jesus' struggle in carrying the cross." Of course, no Scouting camp out would be complete without a really big bonfire, and this was no exception. Some young men of Bowie Troops 403 and 1250 took point on building a 7-foot high fire and prepping the stage area for the final night's events. "We're digging holes to put cans in, and we're going to fill them with kerosene and put a little paper towel in there," 16-year-old Adam Morehouse of Troop 403 said. The improvised kerosene candles acted as stage lights. The lights would define the stage area where the last skits and lessons would be performed with the larger bonfire as a backdrop. As with all Scouting events, one of the retreat's goals is to provide a venue for formerly young Scouters to begin stepping forward as tomorrow's leaders. Michael Whiteley, 16, also of Troop 403, said that was a natural result of his involvement in the religious retreat over the last five years or so. "I've been asked to perform an instructor's review later today, and I also have to help my one or two new Scouts who are here with me today." Published 05/10/07

Scouting aims to connect with Muslims http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/208611 TheStar.com - Life - Scouting aims to connect with Muslims Islam and Scouts have lots in common April 30, 2007 Stuart Laidlaw An early-morning paddle across a still northern lake, just as the rising sun burns off the last of the fog from the surface of the water, your thoughts full of the stories, hot chocolate and marshmallows of the campfire the night before. True Canadiana, right? Not for Dawood Zwink of Scouts Canada. To him, it sounds like Islam. "There are traditional Canadian values that many Muslims connect with," says Zwink, a Muslim who moved to Canada from the United States last year. In the fall, he was hired as a community development worker by Scouts Canada's Toronto office to promote scouting within the Muslim community. The efforts begin to pay off this Thursday, when the first of several new Islamic scout troops opens in the Toronto area. Over the years, a couple of Islamic troops popped up in the Toronto area, more or less on their own. What's different now is that the scouting organization is actively recruiting Muslim scouts and parents by appealing to their faith. "We're hoping it will be a major growth area for us, in the Muslim community," says Scouts Canada spokeswoman Christina Friend. Rather than downplaying faith in reaction to an increasingly secular society, scouting is beginning to see its faith component as a source of growth among some communities. The pitch is resonating with the Islamic community, says Zwink, who works with groups such as the Islamic Institute of Toronto to tell Muslim parents about scouting in Canada. The troops have both boys and girls, and hijabs are allowed. Zwink says traditional Canadian values of caring for the environment and for each other dovetail nicely with traditional Muslim ideals of social justice and being stewards for creation. "These are very much Islamic values," he says. As well, he says, these are core principles enshrined in the scouting movement for the past 100 years, including a strong faith component. "When it comes to scouting, and its historic values, there's a strong resonance" with Islam, he says. In Canada, the faith component of scouting has traditionally been a Christian thing. I remember my own Cub Handbook from the 1970s featuring a drawing of a white Leave it To Beaver-type of family happily strolling down the sidewalk in their Sunday best to church. But as jarring as such images might be in our modern secular world, scouting's religious connections have always been deliberate. "We aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of theology on Sundays," Lord Baden-Powell wrote in his book that got it all started, Scouting for Boys. Such sentiments were fine in the Canada of the early part of the last century when being religious was pretty much synonymous with being Christian. But that's not the face of Canada any more, and scouting here is changing to reflect that. Besides Islam, others religions such as Judaism have also begun to embrace scouting as a way of promoting traditional values. Parents and outside observers might think that scouting is changing in Canada as it adapts to non-Christian faiths, but in many ways it is just catching up to what is happening in scouting worldwide. There are already dedicated Muslim scouting groups overseeing several troops in places such as Michigan and the U.K., where there are sizable Muslim populations. Internationally, Muslims make up a large part of the worldwide scouting movement. In fact, Muslim-dominated Indonesia ranks second worldwide for the number of scouts, just behind first-ranked United States. Part of scouting's success worldwide has been its ability to meld its principles and practices to local custom. Faith is a strong part of the scout credo, but which faith has always been left to the individual troop or even the individual member. In that light, Zwink sees the recent emphasis on promoting scouting among Toronto's growing Islamic population as a way of reflecting, within Canada's borders, the face of scouting worldwide. That means recruiting troop leaders who have experience in scouting abroad. "There are many, many people who were scouts growing up" somewhere else, says Zwink, adding they can bring to Canadian scouting the experience of the movement in Muslim countries. To Zwink, the connection between scouting and Islam is obvious. The scout motto of "Duty to God, Duty to Others and Duty to Self," he says, is a pretty accurate description of what it means to be a good Muslim. Parents, especially those who were scouts in their homelands, see scouting as a way to integrate their kids into Canadian society by using traditional Canadian activities, such as camping, canoeing and campfires, to reinforce traditional Muslim values of working together and helping others. It is, says Zwink, a marriage of old world and new, and both Muslims and his non-Muslim colleagues at Scouts Canada are sometimes pleasantly surprised at how much the two have in common. "There are a lot of shared values," he says. Sometimes, its seems, it takes an outsider to help us see ourselves. -- Stuart Laidlaw is the Star's faith and ethics reporter.

John: Agreed, the piece is clearly an op-ed piece, published by Baptist Press. I don't believe my posting said anything to imply otherwise; if I published this in the "Girl Scout" forum, rather than the "Issues" forum (where it rightly belongs), I apologize.

June 20: American Eagle Day http://www.eagles.org/eagleday.html The Bald Eagle was selected as the U.S.A.'s National Emblem by our country's Founding Fathers on June 20, 1782 at the Second Continental Congress. For over 200 years now, it has served as the pride of America's skies and the living symbol of all that we Americans stand for . . . Freedom, Courage, Strength, Spirit and Excellence. The Bald Eagle is deeply rooted in our nation's heritage, folklore and environment, and has special meaning to many Americans. Eagle images and references are woven into the very fabric of our society, including our architecture, music, literature, art, clothing and commercial products. Since the founding of our country, there has never been a "national day" set aside to annually recognize our country's inspirational bird and the role that it has played in our lives, past and present. Together, we can make June 20th an annual day to remember and commemorate this majestic and important American symbol. American Eagle Day patch available to Scouts! You should complete activities of your choice from each of the following sections (see PDF file at URL below) to learn more about the important role the American bald eagle has played in our countrys history. Then, take a step to give it a formal place on our calendar by helping establish an annually celebrated American Eagle Day both in your state and nationally. When the activities are completed, your group can choose to purchase an American Eagle Day patch to recognize the achievement of your participating group members. http://www.eagles.org/ScoutPatch.pdf

The 'Dangerous' book puts girls on the side http://www.star-telegram.com/408/story/80188.html By JILL LAWLESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON -- Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. In these frenzied, media-saturated times, the lure of a simpler past is more powerful than ever. That may explain the success of The Dangerous Book for Boys, a deliberately retro tome that has become the publishing sensation of the year in Britain. Exuding the brisk breeziness of Boy Scout manuals and Boy's Own annuals, The Dangerous Book is a childhood how-to guide that covers everything from paper airplanes to go-carts, skipping stones to skinning a rabbit. It spent months on British bestseller lists, has sold more than half a million copies and took the book-of-the-year prize at last month's British Book Awards. The book will be published in the United States on Tuesday, teaching American boys -- but not their sisters -- to play marbles, make invisible ink, send Morse code and build a tree fort. "I wanted to do the kind of book that we had lusted after when we were kids," said Conn Iggulden, who co-wrote the book with his younger brother Hal. "My dad was born in 1923 and his father was born in 1850, and we had some old books in the house with titles like Chemical Amusements and Experiments and Fun With Gunpowder. The thing we didn't have was a single compendium of everything we wanted to do. I remember endlessly looking through these [books], generally to find things that I could make explode or set on fire." A big, affable, dark-haired 30-something who writes bestselling historical novels about the exploits of Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan, Iggulden exudes boyish enthusiasm. He and Hal, a theater director, researched the book for six months in a garden shed, rediscovering the lost childhood arts of secret codes and water bombs and building simple batteries and pinhole projectors. "Rule No. 1 was we either had to make it or do it -- we've both read books where the author clearly hasn't made a raft or whatever, and so the instructions don't work," Iggulden said. "That meant we had to play marbles ... and skin a rabbit. A little bit grisly, that one. But then, we did make it into a stew and we did eat it. "It was not a great stew. It was pretty rubbery." Some parents may balk at encouraging their offspring to skin a rabbit -- or tan a hide, another skill imparted by the Iggulden brothers. Conn Iggulden argues that "if you spend your life going to supermarkets, you should know where the meat comes from and exactly what's gone into it for your eating pleasure. I think that's worth doing once for just about anybody." Sales figures suggest the Dangerous Book has struck a strong chord among adults concerned about the increasingly sedentary, regulated lives of today's children -- a society with computers in every classroom but often without climbing equipment in the playground. Susan Watt, the book's publisher at HarperCollins, said its appeal lies in the fact that it is "a celebration as much as a how-to book." "They're celebrating a romantic vision of their boyhood," she said. "I also felt it has, from both the authors, a unique and genuine voice. This is nothing contrived and you can feel that. Their hearts were in everything they wrote and they enjoyed everything they wrote." Some elements of the book have been changed for the U.S. edition. Cricket is out and stickball is in; the history of the British empire has been replaced by accounts of the Alamo and Gettysburg. But its essence remains. There's an old-fashioned, improving tone to the book, with its chapters on famous battles and true tales of courage, its Latin phrases and rules of grammar, and "seven poems every boy should know." "I don't think it is particularly old-fashioned," Iggulden said. "I think the reason people think it is old-fashioned is that it's optimistic, and an awful lot of modern books tend to be fairly cynical in their outlook -- postmodern, tongue-in-cheek. "I thought, I want to write it straight and I want to write it optimistically, because that's what childhood is about. You don't have any doors shut in your face. You can be absolutely anything, you can be interested in anything." It's possible to see a less wholesome side to the book's nostalgia. Girls are discussed, in a single chapter, as something akin to another species: "They think and act rather differently to you, but without them, life would be one long football locker room. Treat them with respect." Girls are explicitly excluded by the book's title. Iggulden is unconcerned. "It's not exactly that we are excluding girls, but we wanted to celebrate boys, because nobody has been doing it for a long while," he said. "I think we've come through the period when we said boys and girls were exactly the same, because they're not. Boys and girls have different interests, different ways of learning, and there's no real problem in writing a book that plays to that, and says, let's celebrate it. Let's go for a book that will appeal to boys." The Iggulden brothers have sparked a miniboom in gender-specific publishing. Pocket versions of the book and a desk diary are planned. Meanwhile, Penguin is issuing The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls, billed as a book for those who "dream of making elderflower cordial and need reminding of how to play cat's cradle."

FIRST-PERSON: Not your mom's Girl Scouts http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25503 By Penna Dexter Apr 26, 2007 DALLAS (BP)--Did you get your Girl Scout cookies this year? Those delectable Thin Mints, those yummy Do-Si-Dos, the melt-in-your mouth Tagalongs. Ya' know, they say these treats no longer contain trans fats. Perhaps the cookies are more wholesome than they were when I sold them oh-so-many years ago. But the national organization that promotes their sale, the Girl Scouts of the USA, is not. Pro-family Americans have admired the Boy Scouts' unwavering opposition -- even under intense pressure -- to get the organization to permit homosexuals to be scoutmasters. The Boy Scouts of America has stood firm against the politically correct forces that would move the organization off its current mission in training boys to be men of character, faith and high moral standards. But the story of the Girl Scouts is quite different. This is a very touchy subject among Girl Scout leaders and parents of Girl Scouts who are conservative and who avoid the feminist "girl power" agenda that's pervasive throughout the national program. The local troop leaders and area councils have tremendous influence on the character and direction of their groups. But the national organization is no longer the character-focused morally uplifting pillar of society it once was. The Boy Scouts has refused, despite intense pressure, to drop any reference to God from its oath. But, in 1993, the Girl Scout Promise was revised to make God optional. And even earlier, in 1972, the Girls Scouts removed "loyalty" from their oath, claiming it was outmoded. Patti Garibay, a former Girl Scout and longtime leader, recruiter, troop director, and council delegate observed with dismay as the national leadership of the Girl Scouts consciously downplayed the organization's traditional emphasis on the role of God in America's heritage. Garibay eventually withdrew from the Girl Scouts, turning her energy and talents toward the formation in 1995 of a new scouting organization, American Heritage Girls (www.ahgonline.org) that now has some 6,000 members with 1,200 leaders in 32 states. Garibay's last Christmas as a Girl Scouts troop leader confirmed her decision to leave: She learned, she said, that singing Christmas carols as a troop would be technically illegal because of a rule prohibiting the singing of hymns. The Girl Scouts' emphasis on "girl power" has its roots in feminist ideology, which gained an early foothold in the organization. In 1977, radical feminist Betty Friedan, who was on the Girl Scouts Board of Directors, used that platform to proclaim her support of the Equal Rights Amendment. The national organization proceeded to take the liberal feminist position on issue after issue. It supports Title IX, which mandates gender equity in school-funded sports, and backs affirmative action in recruiting, hiring and promoting. The GSUSA officially supports gun control and was represented in the Million Mom March. Victimization and the "crisis" of girls are stressed in scout literature. Girl Scout badges include "Domestic Violence Awareness" and, of course, "Girl Power." Writing for Concerned Women for America, cultural observer Bob Knight said, "Some years ago, the Girl Scouts began purging materials of positive references to homemakers. Instead of being family-centered, the group now promotes 'girl empowerment,' with programs that focus heavily on a narcissistic devotion to self, but then steered into collective action for liberal causes, such as environmentalism. (Contrast this to American Heritage Girls' "strong emphasis on servitude.") Certainly the Girl Scouts encourage involvement in a number of worthy endeavors. And leaders' discretion guides activity and program decisions at the troop and council level. However, parents of those sweet little Brownies and lovely young scouts need to understand that Planned Parenthood has gained a strong foothold in the Girl Scouts. Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider and its sex education programs give abstinence short shrift in favor of condoms and other forms of birth control. The Girl Scouts' original forays into sex education were not without opposition. In 1975, one Catholic archdiocese expressed its disapproval of the organization's sex ed program by pulling its support. Since that time council and troop leaders have brought their beliefs to bear on the sexual messages presented to Girl Scouts in various areas of the country. But in 1989, a program titled "Decisions for Your Life: Preventing Teenage Pregnancy" was implemented. One of the program's stated goals was that "with the help of community resource consultants, sex education will be a program component of the Girl Scouts." In some places, these community resource consultants ended up being Planned Parenthood. In fact, in a 2004 interview with NBC News, Girl Scouts CEO Kathy Cloninger stated, "We have relationships ... with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country, to bring information-based sex education programs to girls." The national Girl Scouts organization has been criticized for including on its website a link to Planned Parenthood's graphic site for teens and for endorsing a book for young children called "It's Perfectly Normal" that provides amoral descriptions for young children regarding homosexuality and masturbation. Perhaps the starkest contrast between the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts is the way homosexuality is addressed. In 1980, the Girl Scouts changed their guidelines on homosexuality. The organization adopted a "non-discrimination" policy, making clear it would thereafter welcome lesbians, either as scouts or as troop leaders. In fact, a 1997 book entitled, "On My Honor: Lesbians Reflect on their Scouting Experience," is filled with stories of homosexual encounters in the Girl Scouts and a statement by a former Girl Scout administrator that about one third of the Girl Scouts' paid professional staff are lesbians. When it comes to scouting, there is now a choice for girls and their families who realize that the Girl Scouts of America is not your mother's Girl Scouts. --30-- Penna Dexter is a board of trustee member with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a conservative activist and an announcer on the syndicated radio program "Life on the Line" (information available at www.lifeontheline.com). She currently serves as a consultant for KMA Direct Communications in Plano, Texas, and as a co-host of "Jerry Johnson Live," a production of Criswell Communications. She formerly was a co-host of Marlin Maddoux's "Point of View" syndicated radio program.

Scouts celebrate 60th anniversary of Buffalo Trail Ranch http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18247488&BRD=2288&PAG=461 http://tinyurl.com/2nzxyx 04/23/2007 Lynsey Bradley Midland Reporter-Telegram FORT DAVIS -- The long and dramatically bumpy road to the Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch nestled between mountains in Fort Davis is somewhat of a metaphor for the camp; it mimics life's ups and downs, but shows how perseverance can help anyone overcome any obstacles to reach the desired destination. Heading into its 60th anniversary, the Buffalo Trail Council's ranch, which boasts serving about 13,000 youth in 18 West Texas counties, continues its passion for teaching young people honesty, leadership, teamwork and other characteristics to help them to become "contributing members of society." "The world and America may have left many of those values, but the Boy Scouts has not," said Lyman Gifford, scout executive and CEO of the Buffalo Trail Council. The ranch's summer camp lasts about eight weeks. During that time, the children are exposed to horseback riding, rock climbing, hiking and other character-building activities. Gifford said he expects the summer camp for 2008 to be 75 percent full by October. "Boy Scouting reinforces what parents are teaching their kids at home and solidifies that," he explained. "It's a partnership with parents, it's not a baby-sitting service. "A lot of times you have parents who just drop their kids off at activities and they don't have the someone reinforcing what they are teaching their kids at home." Gifford said Boy Scouts is something that will stay with young people throughout their lives. "With the latest situation with what happened at Virginia Tech, the boy that is seen being carried out and you can see his leg, the kid was an Eagle Scout and he tied an electrical cord around his leg and ended up saving his own life because he knew what to do," he said. "Then, look at what happened a few months ago with the boy who got lost (12-year-old who was lost in North Carolina woods for four days). He had only been in the program for one year, when he got lost, he reverted back to the skills he learned and he was OK." Boy Scouts has more than 150 million alumni, and the numbers continue to rise. Though the ranch is used by the Scouts, it is not by any means restricted to boys, he explained. The scouts have some co-ed programs including Soccer and Scouting, Venturing, Learning for Life and others. "We have boys and girls that come to the ranch. Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts are only for boys, but we have co-ed groups that do venture out too," he said. The ranch spreads out over about 9,300 acres in Fort Davis. "We can take our kids out for 50-mile hikes and the boys won't cross the same lands twice," Gifford explained. But the Buffalo Trail Council doesn't plan to keep this much land to themselves. Gifford said they have been working with Border Patrol for about six months to be able to invite scouts from Chihuahua, Mexico for the International Camparee. The camparee will take place the weekend of May 18-20. "It's a hand of fellowship to kids across the boarder that are doing what we're doing," he explained. While the ranch is hitting its 60-year mark, the Boy Scouts organization celebrates its centennial year in 2007. The fact the values the organization was founded on 100 years ago have not changed is what makes Boy Scouts what it is. "We teach exactness, perseverance, follow-through and we use the outdoors as our classroom," Gifford said. "We've been doing it for about 100 years and I'd say we're pretty good at it."

Raising G-Rated Kids In A X-Rated World http://www.cbn.com/family/parenting/Burns_G-RatedKids.aspx By Jim Burns HomeWord Fri, Apr 13, 2007 CBN.com Raising kids in todays culture is not easy. Theres no question that the way we parent is influenced by the world we live in. And what a world it is! We need to help our children deal with drugs, sexuality, movies, television, video games, the Internet, terrorism, and war. Its our goal as parents to raise our kids in this X-rated culture to become G-rated people. It can feel overwhelming trying to give our teenagers the tools they need to make godly decisions in an ungodly world. Recently, I had the privilege of talking with youth ministry expert Doug Fields for a two-part broadcast on HomeWord with Jim Burns. Doug shared insights into 10 action steps that parents can take to raise healthy kids in todays culture. 1. Instill belief in them. The beliefs and values your children will carry into adulthood are very dependent on the examples they see parents setting at home. Its critical to understand and believe that as a parent, your actions, values, and beliefs will have the greatest influence in the life of your maturing child. Parental influence is a high calling. Its part of your destiny and your enduring legacy, for better or for worse. 2. Be present in your kids lives. Presence in a kids life is spelled T-I-M-E. One of the major contributing factors for healthy kids points back to parents who were present in those kids lives. Some parents subscribe to the theory that quality time beats quantity time. These parents are simply wrong. Parents must prioritize and reorganize their schedules to be present for their kids. When they get older, your kids wont care that you worked more so they could ride in nicer cars or live in a bigger home. They will care about how much time you spent with them! 3. Make memories with them. Our lives are a museum of memories that contribute to who we are today. Thats why its key to strive to create good memories for our kids. Good kids have good memories. This isnt to say that our kids lives wont have their share of bad memories. But, on balance, good memories trump bad ones. So, build great family traditions at holidays, birthday celebrations, and summer vacations, just to name a few. Make memories for your family by creating new adventures for them. Solidify these memories by being sure to capture them through pictures, video, and in writing through journals or letters. 4. Give them encouragement. Encouragement is food for our souls, and we all long for it. Our kids need encouragement, too. Words are powerful. Words can either build confidence or they can destroy. A parents words have lasting effect. Learn to be an encourager. Catch your kids in the act of doing something right, and then take the opportunity to mention it! In addition, be sure to go beyond encouraging for just a job well done. Kids mess up and fail all the time. Find ways to encourage your kids, despite their failures. Encouraging beyond performance means conveying that you love and value your kids even when they mess up. 5. Be positive and caring role models. You are your childrens role model for living life. Be assured that they are watching you. They know what you say and how you say it. They know how you treat people. They know how you respond to conflict. Kids need you to set a positive and caring standard for living life. They need your integrity and they need you to set the pace when it comes to faith. Your kids know that you arent perfect, so theres no pressure to try to act like it. What your kids need are parents who demonstrate what it means to be a lover and follower of God, despite their shortcomings. 6. Give them discipline and boundaries. Providing your kids with consistent boundaries and discipline is all about guidance, not punishment. Boundaries and discipline are the result of love. Giving kids too much freedom and not holding them accountable for their actions does not demonstrate love. When disciplining, be delicate. Dont discipline in anger. 7. Give them affection. Emotionally healthy kids have been given lots of proper affection. Kids who dont get adequate affection from their parents often turn to inappropriate sources of affection. And, theres plenty of inappropriate affection to be found in todays X-rated culture. Unfortunately, kids who have their needs for affection met in inappropriate ways, often become emotionally distant, not emotionally healthy. If you arent an affectionate parent, get over it! Learn to become one. Its that important to the health of your child! 8. Develop responsibility in them. Parents want their kids to grow up into responsible, functioning adults. Unfortunately, we often unintentionally teach irresponsibility, instead. We allow kids to become apathetic by too quickly solving their problems for them. We allow kids to pass the buck by blaming others. And, we are slow to force our kids to carry their own weight. The solution comes in not rescuing our kids from their problems. Sure, there are times that we need to lend a hand and help out, but these times are, in reality, few and far between. We must let kids wrestle with consequences. Whenever we jump in to bail our kids out, they never learn to take responsibility for themselves and they dont have to experience consequences. Learning from mistakes is a great path to responsibility and wisdom. 9. Be fun. In the book of Ecclesiastes it says this: One of the necessary rhythms of life is laughter and dance. If you want to fully understand life, if you want to fully live abundantly, meaningfully, joyfully you need to have some laughing and dance in your life. Its one of the necessary rhythms of life. This generation of kids is totally stressed out. So, when kids see their parents injecting fun and laughter into life, it helps relieve some of the anxieties they feel. So, lighten up the mood in your home. Have some fun with the life and family God has given to you. 10. Give them a peaceful home. Your kids dont need a perfect home, but to thrive, they need a peaceful one. Kids are at battle all day long. Theyre battling an X-rated culture and language and values. Theyre battling bullies and peer pressure and body image and conforming. In your teens world, there are battles going on all the time. They need to come home to a place where they can retreat and drop their battle gear at the door and be in a shelter where they can just be themselves. Your home ought to be the one place your kids feel truly safe; where they can be loved and known and cared for. --- Jim Burns is President of HomeWord and has written books for parents, youth workers, and students. Jim and his wife, Cathy, and their daughters Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi, live in Southern California. Visit http://www.homeword.com/

Why Turn off the TV? http://www.tvturnoff.org/ Television cuts into family time, harms our children's ability to read and succeed in school, and contributes to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity. Here are just a few of the facts: On average, children in the US will spend more time in front of the television (1,023 hours) than in school this year (900 hours). Forty percent of Americans frequently or always watch television during dinner. As US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said at the Kick Off of TV-Turnoff Week 2001, "We are raising the most overweight generation of youngsters in American history...This week is about saving lives."

CNYScouter: if you got an email referring to new Webelos requirements, I'd say your first stop is to ask the originator of the email where he or she got her information.

A quick comparison of the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 Boy Scout RT Planning Guides shows that they rotate themes on a three-year cycle (the 2004-05 themes are repeated in 2007-08). The Cub Scout Themes rotate on a six year schedule, the assumption being that a boy who stays from 1st to 5th grades shouldn't see a theme reperated (one wonders if BSA thinks that Boy Scouts stick around only for three years?). In any event, the Boy Scout themes do rotate, so we can eliminate that as a distinction to justify payment for CS RT PG, vs. BS RT PG.