Building Interest

[madkins007 10]

Like I said, I am Venture ignorant. The good news is that it is fixable!

 

I have not seen a live Venturer yet- which obviously does not mean there are none around here- it is a BIG council. Heck, even out Scout shop rarely sells any Venture-related stuff.

 

I KNOW career exploring is doing OK locally as my daughter is in a Police Explorer's group but I also know that it is not the same thing anymore.

[Indy_Owl 10]

Sometimes you just have to take the "Bull by the Horn!". I to knew nothing about the program BUT decided to learn all I could by doing research on the internet, finding training (which was in another council) and purchasing the all Venturing Manuals. Venturing is a GREAT program - problem, most Scouters (DE's, district, Council, etc.) know very little about the program. Since it's a youth ran program, that is flexible, it gets a little blurred at times! How are we building the excitment!? 1) Started a Venturing Crew. 2) The Crew become First Aid trained to assist at District Camporees as the First Aide Crew. 3) Ran the Canteen at the Camporees 4) Started a Venturing Roundtable that is ran each month (September - May) with the Roundtable open to ALL Venturing Crew members and Advisors, etc with hands on activities for the months of Sept, Nov, Jan, Mar, & May (Leave No Trace, Mapping - GPS, Caving, Backpacking, Cooking) and opposite month open to Advisors and Crew Officers - topics are administrated related (ie: recharter, fund raising, summer camp enrollment, new achievements available). I didn't wait for someone to bring in the excitment - we made the excitment in our district and now the Council (the roundtable for this year has become the Council Roundtalbe).

[emb021 16]

Madkin-

 

Again, you are mixing terms. "Venture" and "Venturing" are TWO separate programs within the BSA. Which are you asking about???

 

"Venture" is an optional program for Boy Scout Troops to form a Venture Patrol from their older boys (13+) to do high adventure/sports stuff apart from the troop. This forum is not about them.

 

"Venturing" is BSA's co-ed program for 14-21 youth. Venturing Crews are forms in one of 5 speciality areas: Outdoor/High Adventure, Sports, Arts/Hobbies, Youth Ministries, and Sea Scouts. Venturing was formed in 1998 when the BSA split off the non-career Explorer Posts to form Venturing. Exploring is now part of Learning for Life and no longer part of the BSA. This forum is about this program.

 

Its too bad your council doesn't seem to be supporting Venturing. The council shop should have the green venturing shirts in stock, the various Venturing literature items, etc. I would hope that Venturing Crews are attending Scout Shows to show off what they do, and that Venturers are being asked to serve on Wood Badge staff as the WB youth staff (needed during the 2nd weekend of WB).

 

Also, read your Scouting magazine. Several issues in the past few years have run articles on Venturing.

 

 

[madkins007 10]

Yeah, I know they are seperate- but keeping the specific terms straight is tough for us neophytes. Whose brilliant idea was that anyway? I'm a middle-aged guy who has been trying to keep up with a lot of other stuff and they do THAT to us. Naughty naughty!

 

 

 

 

[emb021 16]

Yeah, well, thank National.

 

Those of us involved in Venturing since day 1 (August, 1998) have been dealing with the confusion National created. Telling people to stop saying "Venture Crew" or using the term "Venture Scouts", etc.

 

I wasn't too happy they were going to call Venturing units "Crews", as I knew it was going to be confused with "Venture Crew", which were renamed "Venture Patrol". I wished (and even proposed) that they use a different term.

 

There have been rumors for some time that National was/is going to get rid of the Venture Patrol. Hasn't happened yet. But even then you will have people using the phrase 'Venture'.

 

[VentureCrew116 10]

Madkins, went to see real live Venturers doing Venturing?

 

go to

 

www.venturetrc.org

 

Look at the Gallery page or go to the News page and click on the link to the videos.

 

Except for the Venturing "commercial", it's all real Venturers from Theodore Roosevelt Council doing Venturing - mohawk haircuts (gasp!), guitars and all.

 

Got questions? Email the webmaster - his email address is at the bottom of the page. He'll get back to you promptly - I'll make sure of that when I see him in the mirror in the morning.

 

YIV,

 

Bob

[VentureCrew116 10]

National is thinking of getting rid of Venture Patrols? AAARGGGHHH! When done as a special program with its own ASM, the Venture Patrol program rocks! Absolute best method for keeping the older boys in the Troop and getting those Life Scouts to make Eagle. I ran one for 3 years - my most memorable experience in Scouting. Still trying to match it with my Crew.

 

YIV,

Bob

[Indy_Owl 10]

Doing away with the Venture Patrol may actually be a good thing. You are one of the few that I have heard used the program correctly! Most troops use the Older boys as "babysitters" to the younger scouts (as my son says). He got tired of going to Troop meetings where as soon as he walked in the door he was being assigned a task that an ASM or even the Scoutmaster should be doing or told to grap a new scout and teach them knots! After awhile - he and others stopped going!

 

This was the main reason we started a Venturing Crew (he and a friend asked to start a Crew - where they could do what they wanted to do!) in an attempt to keep the older Scouts IN SCOUTING! Though, at first, we did have some resistance from the Troop (older argument - you're taking all the older scouts away!).

 

One of the worst things National did to the Venturing program was name it Venturing. It is forever confused with a Venturing Patrol. I to heard that Venturer Patrols were going to be dropped to elimate some of the confusion and to help promote the Venturing Program.

 

Lets face the facts a Boy Scout Troop is basically Middle School Age youth. Venturing is the next step. BSA needs to take the approach that there are three levels in Scouting - CS = elem age / BS = middle / Venturing = high school. We may actually keep more older scouts in Scouting if they were with their peer group and not having 5th / 6th gr mixed with 11th / 12th gr.

[VentureCrew116 10]

Our Troop had a "Venture Patrol" but initially the only thing different about it was that it was for Star / Life / Eagle scouts. When it grew to 24 boys in '96, the "standing around bored at meetings" syndrome was reaching critical mass. Being the world's second oldest teenager, I got along great with this group and asked the Scoutmaster if I could start doing a "Venture only" program. "Whaddyayoukiddingme? Go do it!" was the response. We started doing our own thing: backpacking, rafting, Appalachian Wilderness Adventure, and wore red berets in parades, etc. The envy in the other patrols was huge, and many stayed in just to get into Venture.

 

When Venturing started, this became our core group for the Crew. We moved the Crew meetings to a different night than the Troop meetings, and the sisters of the guys in the Troop (who were hanging around at Troop meetings anyway) joined.

 

We're on our third generation of Venturers in C116 - the original group graduated out, as did their younger sisters & brothers.

 

Until Scoutmasters really understand that Venturing does the opposite of "stealing their boys", I think there's still a place for Venture Patrols.

 

YIV,

Bob

 

 

 

[emb021 16]

I have no idea if National is thinking about getting rid of the Venture Patrol. Many have thought that. Some think it will come. I tried asking the people in the Boy Scout Booth at National Jamboree, but all were volunteers and had no idea. (almost as bad as the response I got from them at the 2001 Jamboree, when they had no idea what the Venture Patrol was!)

 

National has recently (without telling anyone) taken away the use of the Venture/Varsity letter and pins. Now only Varsity Scout Teams can use it (and Venture could since 1989!).

 

See my letter to the editor in the September issue of Scouting Magazine. The Venture letter and pins was a great part of the Venture program. Now the only 'special' think that Venture Patrols have is the "Venture" strip.

 

One almost has to wonder...