2020 Articles Edition
2020 Articles Edition
Awards
The Adventure Plan (TAP), https://tap.scouting.org/, is a guide for Scouting unit leaders to focus Outdoor Adventure as a key element of youth development. With the challenges of virus concerns, masks, social separation, cancelled meetings and events, unit leaders are looking for ways to continue with progression and expansion of personal experiences. One way to expand unit programs is with outings to many National Historic Trail sites. Embedded in the TAP are links that make finding an approved trail very simple.
There are 210 historic trails in the United States, Europe, and Japan that are listed including links for individual researching. Finding a trail has been made easy with several new additions including a Google pushpin map!
All the trails meet the BSA Brand, have genuine historic significance and/or wilderness beauty that will add to the education of members of Scouting and provide the opportunity for physical fitness and outdoor living.
There are several ways to find a trail that is nearby and/or meets the needs of your Scouting unit. After logging into the TAP (see link above) go to the bottom of the page where you will find an internal link for “Historic Trails” and click select!
You can also select “Resources” to obtain the Historic Trails Award Application and then select the link in “Award Requirement”, item #1, https://tap.scouting.org/bsa-historic-trails-index/. Either method provides a listing of available historic trails. At this point, select an individual state/country to begin researching trails. Also, near the top of the page, is a button to “click HERE to Access Historic Trail map views.” By resizing the Google pushpin map, the same listing of trails is available.
Note: the index links send you to a local council web site where contact information is available. The use by Scouting units increases each year. Use this great resource to enjoy the outdoors.
Happy Hiking!
Camping
A small idea from a Scout’s desire to sleep outdoors sparked a troop wide movement. When the girls in Troop 114 heard about it, all wanted to join in!
The Senior Patrol Leader set up a one-hour troop meeting on Zoom. Starting with the flag ceremony, the regular troop opening and then they played troop wide games online, including “Scout Bingo” which was created with advancement requirements and troop related facts. They planned meals, cooked outdoors and shared pictures of meals and individual campsites on an app, set up by the Troop Scribe.
The Senior Patrol Leader planned a virtual campfire program and all Scouts returned at 8:00 pm. Songs, jokes, visiting with each other, vespers and a Senior Patrol Leader minute made up the evening.
The troop continues to meet via Zoom weekly. A Scout mentioned at the campfire, “This is so much fun! I hope we get to do it again!” Pausing, she said, “I mean, I would rather be backpacking or on our Moab Utah trip but if we can’t this is awesome!”
Learn more at: www.trooponefourteengirls.com.
Camping
Conestoga Log Cabins values their relationship with BSA which spans more than 15 years. They have worked with several councils and have provided the scouts with numerous buildings over the years. Their latest project is with the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council’s Camp Hi-Sierra. This 14-building project includes 7 custom bunkhouses, 1 health lodge, 3 Pioneer cabins, 2 ADA cabins and a beautiful Ranger’s Lodge.
The BSA’s Outdoor Programs and Properties team has reviewed and approved a selection of Conestoga’s buildings layouts. You will see a single user bathhouse, staff cabins and pavilions. In addition, Conestoga offers a wide range of buildings such as bare bones cabins, bunkhouses, shower houses, dining halls and commissaries.
Conestoga is known for its high quality, superior customer service and an inclusive kit package that is incredibly easy to assemble.
Click on this link for more information: https://bsa.conestogalogcabins.com/
COPE/Climbing
What is a Level 2 COPE or Climbing Instructor? A Level 2 COPE or Climbing Instructor is an instructor over 21 who has taken a course from a Program Manager or Program Trainer to be able to be the primary instructor of climbing or COPE events, depending on their training on that particular facility. They are assisted by another level 2 instructor or a level 1 instructor over age 18. They are capable of training Level 1 instructors to assist with COPE and Climbing events. A 6:1 ratio is necessary for participants actively participating with rope. Two instructors are required to run any event or program, so they can supervise up to 12 participants. Another instructor must be added for every 6 participants. The Level 2 instructor is proficient in the foundation skills of both COPE and Climbing, still up to date on their level 1 skills, and have taken a course in COPE or Climbing to expand their skills to Level 2 Instructor to those specific programs.
A Level 2 COPE or Climbing Instructor and his assisting level 2s or Level 1s can run a summer camp program if their Council and its Program Manager or Program Trainer wish to train summer camp staff. The Program Manager or Program Trainer is available to advise those who he or she trains and is responsible for vetting and monitoring the quality of that instructor’s operation; such that a Program Manager or Trainer’s training abilities can be reviewed or revoked if sub par training is discovered.
Many COPE and Climbing instructors both take a tower class. Some COPE instructors take a course from a council that may only have low COPE and then maybe a tower and a zip line. Some Climbing instructors may only take people climbing on local rock faces. Others may only operate their council’s indoor climbing wall. There are a variety of combinations, so in most councils (or at some times, collaborations of councils) that have a Program Manager or Program Trainer who teaches Level 2 instructors to run the programs for the facilities or rock in their council (or collaboration of councils) only.
This summer, we may see some councils for temporary or long standing collaborations with councils that have Program Managers or Program Trainers who teach on similar facilities due to the lack of availability of National Camping School courses because of Covid 19.
In this subcommittee chair’s opinion, becoming a COPE or Climbing Director at National Camping School often affords the Director the interaction with more than one out of council NCS Instructors, yielding a perspective possibly not available in a local council program, to his or her benefit, though I have seen many very strong Program Managers and Program Trainers’ training. To this end, councils that exclusively use the Program Manager or Program Trainer Program to train Level 2 COPE or Climbing Instructors have been informed of the new 2020 NCAP standard in SQ 409 that says as Program Manager’s cards expire, all who wish to continue to teach or develop Level 2 training programs within their councils will send someone back to National Camping School to get a COPE or Climbing Director card before they can take the Program Trainer card to train Level 2 Instructors; thus yielding the perspective of a return to National Camping School at least every 5 years to the Program Trainer who will pass his or her insight on to his Instructor candidates. Level 2 Instructors will no longer be allowed to become Program Trainers.
And as always, this sub-committee’s passion is to spread a love of climbing and challenge activities among units and the youth in them. Unit leaders who become Level 2 COPE or Climbing instructors will take youth climbing and out on challenge courses. They will foster growth, team building and challenging experiences for youth in many different types of units. Whether the unit leader or youth got his or her passion to teach or participate in climbing and COPE from attending a summer camp, or the unit members chose to further their instruction through a merit badge or instructor class at summer camp because they came from a troop who climbed, the Level 2 instructor trained by a Program Manager or Program Trainer can be the point where these passions begin to grow and expand. We love to see Units who take the Level 2 Instructor course who take youth climbing who grow up to be leaders who become Instructors to take youth climbing.
Continue to train safely.
Fishing
Where is the best place to spend your program dollars? For Scouting Executives and Volunteers, this must be the million-dollar question.
What is the purpose of spending these precious dollars? The Wildlife Conservation Profession has a initiative called R3. The three R’s stand for Recruitment, Retention and Re engagement. If you don’t know this, virtually all wildlife conservation dollars are raised by the sales a licenses and related equipment. All guns, ammunition and fishing related gear has a tax on it for funding conservation. The State Agencies whose job is conservation know this and have initiatives to recruit sportsmen and women to fish and hunt.
We in Scouting should see R3 in our ranks also. We should be thinking R3 for both Youth and Adult Volunteers.
Boy’s life magazine did a survey. They asked Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts what activities they expected to do after 3 months after their registration. Their answer at the top was Camping and hiking. The Cub Scouts had fishing as #5 and the Boy Scouts had fishing as #3. Surprisingly, these were both above shooting.
So, to have satisfied customers, you need to meet their expectations. Do we inherently make a promise to the youth by their expectations and don’t meet them? How about looking at fishing as your hook? (Pardon the pun, I just couldn’t help myself)
Here is one way to start. Consider having a Certified Angling Instructor Class (CAI) in your council. This class will give you more knowledgeable and enthusiastic Volunteers. Your Fishing, Fly Fishing and Wildlife Conservation Merit Badge Counselors are your target market for this class.
From the CAI class, see if you can start a Council Fishing Committee. You will need a leader who has the management skills to run a committee. This Committee runs fishing events in your council.
It is really that easy.
If you want more Youth, look at fishing. It is the best bargain in Scouting!
Fishing
The fishing equipment is flying off the shelves or not there at all. With the societal changes that 2020 has brought us, the new hot outdoor activity is fishing. Fishing license sales are at a record high. It is a fun activity where you can easily social distance.
So, what have you been doing? Jig-Saw puzzles? Watching way too much TV? Is your dog looking at you saying do I have to go for a walk again? You can easily fish and enjoy the great outdoors safely.
What about your Pack, Troop or Crew? Can you find a better way for them to get outside? Fishing is also a great family activity and a good way to engage families into your unit’s program.
Some of the activities developed by the National Fishing Sub Committee during quarantine and seclusion are:
- A new Instructional Cub Scout Fishing video: “Worm Drowning 101”, a presentation on how to simply take Cub Scouts fishing. Currently in editing
- Fishing Merit Badge online: a resource for Fishing Merit Badge Counselors to present Fishing Merit Badge virtually. Proposed deadline is August 1, 2020
- Certified Angling Instructor (CAI) Course online: we are nearly finished with the CAI course to be offered via distance learning. It should be completed in mid August 2020.
- Developing Fishing activities for all levels of Cub Scouts: currently, fishing is only offered for Cub Scout Bears. Watch the website for release in the near future.
To take your youth and Scouting family fishing really doesn’t take much. Getting outdoors and doing a fun activity is what our youth are after! It’s not the size of the fish; it’s the thrill to be outdoors. So, offer them a chance to catch something that “wiggles the rod” and put a big smile on their face by being part of the Adventure of Scouting!
Fishing
You bet it has! The National Fishing Sub Committee has responded to this by some hard work by our members to adapt to the “new normal”.
A revision to the Fishing Merit Badge Counselor’s Guide and the Fly-Fishing Merit Badge Counselor’s Guide have been made. Check them out at: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor%20Program/pdf/FishingCounselorGuide.kc.pdf
https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor%20Program/pdf/Fly-FishingCounselorGuide.kc.pdf
With virtual meetings being used due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are in development of a course on virtual meetings and how to have them. We know many of our Certified Angling Instructors would make good use of these.
We are currently building the online portion of Certified Angling Instructor (CAI) Course. We realize there is a hands-on element to fishing so at this point we think about a third of this cornerstone course for fishing can be done virtually.
The next online development challenge will be the merit badges. We think much of the material can be taught online but there may be elements that will need equipment or instruction that cannot be virtual. We are hoping to have a viable online curriculum by the end of summer on both the CAI Course and Fishing Merit Badge.
Now, let’s talk about being safe in the “new normal”. If we are to go outside, we need to practice social distancing. Hey, what about fishing? Social distancing is easy while fishing, especially when fishing from shore.
You do not need a fancy boat, piles of fishing rods or really any fancy equipment to have fun fishing. At most local lakes, all you need is a stick or cane pole, fishing line, hooks, a bobber and worms to have fun. Who can remember being 8 to 15 years old and catching bluegill all day until you couldn’t see the bobber anymore because it was dark? These are some of fond memories we can help build.
Our commitment to youth has always been to create memories for them. Don’t you have the same idea? Help our youth to get that cane pole, bobber, hooks and worms to go fishing. By doing this, we can create a memory for them forever.
Aquatics
Industry practices for facility lifeguards require the venue, such as a council camp, confirm and document lifeguard competency specific to that location. Simply checking that a lifeguard has a valid certification is not sufficient to meet current standards of care. Those expectations are reflected in NCAP standard SQ-406:
C. Aquatics area staff. The following requirements apply to aquatics area staff:
- All aquatics lifeguarding staff are tested for competency by the aquatics director before assuming lifeguarding or instructional duties. The aquatics director shall keep written documentation of staff and the areas and activities for which they are qualified. Staff in training may not work unsupervised until approved in written documentation by the aquatic’s director. The required skill competencies for lifeguarding include:
- All lifeguards can reach the bottom at the deepest part of the swimming area.
- All lifeguards can reach the furthest extent of their assigned zones within 20 seconds.
- All lifeguards can currently perform water rescue skills (possession of a lifeguard training certificate is not enough; each aquatics director must check that they can still perform to standards).
- All lifeguards can currently perform BLS and first-aid skills (possession of a card is not enough; each aquatics director must check that they can still perform to standards).
- All lifeguards must be trained to execute written emergency action plans specific to local camp swimming areas and activities.
- All lifeguards respond to bloodborne pathogen incidents according to the OSHA-mandated exposure control plan.
To meet those requirements, lifeguard assessment and preservice training, at a minimum, should include:
- Rescue of an active victim, at or near the surface in deep water. This rescue to include victim recognition, emergency action plan (EAP) activation, entry, approach, rescue, and assisting the victim from the water. Each skill must be performed consecutively, not individually.
- Rescue of a passive victim, at or below the surface in deep water. This rescue to include victim recognition, EAP activation, entry, approach, rescue, victim extraction, and after care, including CPR, following camp procedures. Although not specifically required by SQ-406 C, it is appropriate to record the time from EAP activation to beginning of CPR and repeat the exercise if that time exceeds 90 seconds, as specified in BSA Lifeguard requirements 16 and17. Each lifeguard must be evaluated on both the rescue and the ability to perform CPR. However, the same person need not do both in the same scenario. A team response is preferred. Anyone demonstrating CPR must use proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Scenario based rescues are encouraged, with each lifeguard having to react to the situation rather than everyone doing the same rescue one after the other. If victims are placed at the furthest extent of the largest zones, and submerged at the area’s maximum depth, then SQ-406 standards a. and b. may be assessed at the same time as rescue skills. Otherwise those should be tested individually.
- Spinal injury management, including in-line stabilization in both shallow and deep water and spinal backboard extraction, is also a critical lifeguard exercise. Since a team approach is needed, it should be part of pre-service training for the entire safety team following procedures in a written EAP.
- For camps where swimming is conducted in murky water, the safety team must also receive pre-service training in the camp’s written EAP for a lost bather. Ideally, the safety team should recover a submerged dummy, or item of similar size and weight to that of an actual person, placed in an unknown position.
- The safety team should review the camp’s exposure control plan for blood borne pathogens and practice using both PPE and clean-up materials as specified in that plan.
Lifeguard assessment and preservice training exercises are similar to those conducted as part of a lifeguard training course. The skill sheets in the current American Red Cross Lifeguarding Manual, which is the text for BSA Lifeguard, provide the performance standards. The BSA Lifeguard Instructor Manual, supplemented by the American Red Cross Lifeguarding Instructor’s Manual, provides evaluation guidance. Therefore, lifeguard assessments and preservice training should be conducted by a current BSA Aquatics Instructor, BSA Lifeguard Instructor or American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor.
The facility lifeguard skill assessment and preservice training differs from a lifeguard training course in that the exercises are conducted at the facility where the lifeguard serves. The exercises involve the facility safety team, facility rescue equipment and follow that venue’s written EAPs. Therefore, camp lifeguard assessments and preservice training should be conducted at Camp.
Note that SQ-401 C also requires documentation. The camp aquatics director should have a copy of each lifeguard’s training certificate. Assessments and preservice training exercises should be recorded on a check-off form noting the skill, each
Awards
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) maintains a register of approved National Historic Trails. You can find the listing on “The Adventure Plan” (tap.scouting.org). There are several hundred trails across the country. The area and terrain covered by many trail routes hosts an authentic and historic significance and/or a wilderness beauty that adds to the education of BSA members. These trails also provide the opportunity for physical fitness and outdoor living.
Two such trails recently added are sponsored by the Three Fires Council of St. Charles IL. They are:
The Illinois Fox River Trail and Illinois Prairie Path Trail.
These two trails are laid in the same tracts as interurban rail systems. The history of interurban service in this country is a fascinating area of the railroad industry often forgotten since many were shut down between the 1920s and the 1940s. These systems were designed for passenger commuting before many people had automobiles and connected certain cities. Their sole purpose was passenger use and had direct service to and from limited destinations.
The rails to trails system in northeastern Illinois was first proposed in the United States during the 1960s. Converted railways have been added to this system for over forty years and have become a part of a national biking and hiking trail system.
By accessing a trail, one can learn the history and importance of these railway systems from previous decades. It will show how conversion and development to a historic trail benefits the communities they pass through today and how the trail system’s future use can lead to better health and experiences for those that enjoy them.
The Fox River Trail spans 44.6 miles and was built on stretches of three former railroad beds. Today, it hosts a multitude of different flora and fauna. Starting at the southern terminus, this rail-trail originates in the charming village of Oswego, 50 miles west of Chicago. The trail begins at the face of the Fox River and has playgrounds, picnic areas, and benches, as well as a restroom and drinking fountain.
The Illinois Prairie Path was one of the nation’s first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches. The 58-mile trail follows a very historical rail path. Beginning in 1902, the electric railroad provided passenger service from the western suburbs to downtown Chicago. The Illinois Prairie Path’s 16-mile Main Branch is the most urban of its corridors, which follows city streets with extra wide bicycle-friendly sidewalks. Just when you think you have left the remoteness of the trail; the Lincoln Marsh Natural Area affords a bucolic diversion. With multiple overlooks and interpretive signs, the marsh provides the perfect finishing touch.
Units are highly encouraged to participate in the opportunities that the National Historic Trails program provides. Visit the website for a complete listing of trails, you may be surprised by trails near you!
Outdoor Ethics/Leave No Trace
CONSERVATION THROUGH FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION. Sustainability is a consideration for today’s council properties. Scouting principles promote responsible use of natural and human resources such as forests, water, land, outdoor ethics, and good stewardship of BSA lands for today and tomorrow. Continuous improvement and measured results are part of a sustainability program. Certification to Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) Forest Management Standard provides a proof point for responsible – and measurable – management of forest resources.
SFI® is an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. Currently over 100,000 acres of both Philmont and the Summit Bechtel Reserve are SFI certified. This means that these properties have conservation plans that are in compliance with the SFI Forest Management Standard that promotes healthy forests.
The SFI Forest Partners Program, which is a partnership between SFI, Meredith, National Geographic, Pearson, Macmillan, Hearst Enterprises and Boy Scouts of America have provided assistance for initial certification, including funding for assessments of potential participants’ plans, consulting fees, and initial audit readiness.
To learn more about the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, visit www.sfiprogram.org. To learn more about how SFI is collaborating with BSA, see www.sfiprogram.org/scouts/.
Aquatics
Did you know that the largest percentage of fatal drownings in the United States in kids 19 and younger occur in open water, such as lakes, oceans, and rivers? To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children ages 15 and under, just behind vehicle accidents.
Some drownings occur because people do not recognize the signs it is happening. No yelling, no waving. Just a silent gasping for air and 20 to 60 seconds later, submersion. And someone has drowned, maybe in plain sight.
Since the inception of Scouting, learning to swim and engaging in aquatics activities have been core to the program. More than 1.5 million aquatics-related merit badges have been earned by Scouts BSA since 2009. The BSA has also been a leader in promoting and providing training in aquatics safety. For at least 80 years, checklists have been in place to make sure those aquatic experiences are positive ones.
Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat govern BSA swimming and boating activities. These programs help provide leaders, Scouts and parents with the tools they need to be prepared to participate in aquatics activities. These programs are the BSA way to conduct a safe and fun aquatics program.
Be prepared for your aquatics adventures this summer!
Fishing
What makes fishing such a great outdoor activity? Especially today, we are not fishing to feed our families. We fish for the challenge of fooling the fish into thinking we can imitate the natural environment and their prey. Many times, we catch and release the fish. We do this so we can keep a resource and possibly catch them when they have grown bigger.
Most times we go fishing not to catch fish but, to be outside many times sitting next to a beautiful mountain stream or rocking with the blue ocean. It is an activity that will transport us away from the stresses of everyday life and the only thing we can think about is concentrating on what we must do next to catch that fish.
The act of fishing drives us to want to preserve this experience for ourselves. In the long run, it makes us want to preserve it for future generations. From this, we learn about wildlife conservation. Fishing teaches us to care about things beyond ourselves.
The fact is that I would probably not be a Scout Leader without fishing.
My father was raised in a very poor part of Los Angeles from a poor Japanese immigrant family. The local Catholic Church had the best school in the area. My Grandparents valued education as the way out of poverty so my dad and his brother we enrolled in that school.
That school had a Boy Scout Troop. My father told me that his lifetime love of fishing came from learning to fish in Boy Scouts. He passed his love for fishing to me and enrolled me in Scouts as soon as I was old enough. I did the same thing when my son was old enough to be a Tiger Scout. My dad only became a Second Class Scout but he always lived by the Scout Oath and Law.
We, as Scout Leaders, have many opportunities to influence many generations ahead of us. It is why most of us are Scout Leaders. It would have to be obvious to you why, I have chosen fishing as my way of keeping Youth active in our movement. We all must have that special bait to keep and retain Youth. Therefore, fishing is my tool.
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