mrkstvns 486 Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 The BSA just rolled out several new NOVA awards for Cubs, Scouts BSA, and Venturer/Sea Scouts. The new STEM awards focus on long-obvious gaps in the STEM disciplines of computer science and biological sciences. Computer science awards (TECHNOLOGY) include: Cub Scouts: Cub Scouts Can Code Scouts BSA: Hello World Venturers: Execute Biological science awards (SCIENCE) include: Scouts BSA: Mendels Minions (Genetics) Venturers: What a Life NOVA Counselors, Supernova Mentors, and Unit leaders and parents who want to explore BSA's STEM award programs can find requirements for the new awards here: https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/awards/ 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 One question that I have about these new awards rolling out is whether Counselors and Mentors are supposed to fill out a new information sheet / application form. The form that I recall having completed when I registered as a Counselor and Mentor asked for specific awards that I would counsel....of course, these new awards aren't listed on my application, but I definitely do want to help scouts work on them (they sound pretty exciting!). Link to post Share on other sites
malraux 369 Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 5 minutes ago, mrkstvns said: One question that I have about these new awards rolling out is whether Counselors and Mentors are supposed to fill out a new information sheet / application form. The form that I recall having completed when I registered as a Counselor and Mentor asked for specific awards that I would counsel....of course, these new awards aren't listed on my application, but I definitely do want to help scouts work on them (they sound pretty exciting!). The nova awards you can sign for any of them. Its only the supernova awards that you "specialize" in the application. Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 57 minutes ago, malraux said: The nova awards you can sign for any of them. Its only the supernova awards that you "specialize" in the application. That was always my understanding as well. But lately, I've seen Nova Counselor application forms that are submitted to District and that also seem to be asking you to "specialize" in certain awards... http://big-cypress.shac.org/Data/Sites/4/media/attachments/shac_stem_novacounselorapp.pdf This struck me as odd because when the NOVA program first rolled out, I attended a training where we were told Nova Counselor was a unit-level position whereas Supernova Mentor was a district- or council-level position. The more things change, the more things confuse the absolute bejeezus out of me... Link to post Share on other sites
malraux 369 Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Currently, both appear to be council level positions, in that code 58 is a non-unit position. (typically you'll also be the stem coordinator in the unit). At the national level there's only a form for the supernova mentor, not the nova counselor. I don't know why you'd want things specialized to that that degree. If i were filling out that sam houston form, I'd just put cub scout all or something. The whole point of the nova program is that you just need to be kinda sorta interested. Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 3/1/2019 at 2:04 PM, malraux said: Currently, both appear to be council level positions, in that code 58 is a non-unit position. (typically you'll also be the stem coordinator in the unit). At the national level there's only a form for the supernova mentor, not the nova counselor. I don't know why you'd want things specialized to that that degree. If i were filling out that sam houston form, I'd just put cub scout all or something. The whole point of the nova program is that you just need to be kinda sorta interested. I think the Nova counselor is still supposed to be more of a cheerleader for math and science than any kind of expert or specialist. The position descriptions don't seem to have changed recently... https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/volunteer-support/ I'm not familiar with the stem coordinator position. Is that something that most units do? Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 Another new Nova award has been rolled out for Scouts, called Up and Away. This one is in the "Engineering" part of STEM and it focuses on fluid dynamics (physics). Looks like a very interesting award that could center around hands-on activities with wind tunnels. Requirements for the Up and Away Nova award are here: https://i9peu1ikn3a16vg4e45rqi17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Up-and-Away-Nova-ScoutsBSA.pdf Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 BSA rolled out yet another new STEM-NOVA award for Scouts BSA. This one focuses on the practices and methods of inventors and innovators as they go from idea to product on the shelf. It includes factors like cost, market analysis, and similar "behind the scenes" efforts that go on during the sometimes long timespan from initial concept through box on the shelf. The new NOVA award is called "Next Big Thing" and scouts can start earning it NOW! Requirements for "Next Big Thing" are here: https://i9peu1ikn3a16vg4e45rqi17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NextBigThing.pdf Official info about BSA's STEM / NOVA awards can be found here:https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/awards/scouts-bsa/ Link to post Share on other sites
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