The Bloggers
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George Clooney and Sandra Bullock weren't Scouts, but odds are their characters in Gravity would've been. That's because at least two-thirds of the pilots and scientists selected as astronauts since 1959 were Scouts. This stat comes as no surprise to those of us involved in the program; we know how well Scouting prepares young men…
Like many who saw the new movie Gravity , I was curious how much of what happens in the big-budget thriller could happen in real life. Fortunately, astronaut and Eagle Scout Scott Parazynski did the fact-checking for us. In an article for Vulture , the man who has spent 47 hours on spacewalks answers questions about how…
What happens when you send the purveyors of insane basketball and football trick shots to the BSA's newest high-adventure playground? You won't believe me until you see for yourself. Last month the guys at Dude Perfect, with 1.7 million YouTube subscribers to their name, visited the Summit for their latest round of extreme trick shots.
For your Scouts and Venturers on Facebook, the reminder to "think before you post" just got a lot more important. Yesterday we learned that Facebook has changed its privacy policies for users age 13 to 17, a move with real implications for the social media users in your troop, post, ship, team or crew.
The Boy Scouts of America is continually working to remain a leader among youth-serving organizations in the fight again child abuse. And kids who are abused outside of Scouting have a better chance of recovering and thriving by joining youth-serving organizations like Scouting.
A select few very motivated boys are now earning the Eagle Scout Award before they can (officially) see a PG-13 movie. Yes, the latest members of the "youngest Eagle Scouts ever" club are 12 years old. First, the facts. It is, technically, possible to earn Eagle at 12.
At an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, Mom, Dad and other key Scouting mentors get recognized for their role in helping a young man reach the Eagle Scout rank. As they should. But what about the young man's troopmates? Didn't they have a part in helping him get to Boy Scouting's summit?
To tuck or not to tuck. That was the question on the minds of hundreds of parents who have called the BSA headquarters over the past several months. Their query: Does the Boy Scouts of America require uniform shirts to be tucked in?
Randy has tried begging, peer pressure and guilt-tripping, but no matter what the Scoutmaster does, he still can't get every adult in Troop 339 trained. "I have a handful of parents in my troop who say they don't have time to get trained," he writes.
Eagle Scouts, get your typing fingers ready. The application window for the prestigious and highly competitive National Eagle Scout Association scholarships is officially open. For the first time, NESA will only accept applications submitted online. So forget the printer and stamps and switch on the laptop.
Looking for a time-tested method for retaining Scouts? Put your faith in religious emblems. The research is clear: Scouts working on their religious emblems remain in Scouting longer. And considering that more than two-thirds of our chartered organizations are faith-based, religious emblems represent a way to make your relationship with your unit's chartered organization more…
We're one big family in Scouting, and that's true in times of joy and times of sorrow. When two Tiger Cubs were tragically killed in the Sandy Hook shooting in December, the Scouting family stepped in to comfort the parents of 7-year-old Chase Kowalski and 6-year-old Benjamin Wheeler.
Think of it as the long-awaited sequel. Cinematography merit badge is now Moviemaking merit badge, effective immediately. The design of the badge won't change, and new pamphlets are expected in Scout shops in mid-November. Why make this change? Well, anyone who sticks around to watch a movie's credits knows that cinematography is just one specific…
Editor's Note: Have a Scout who's losing speed as he nears the rank of Eagle Scout? Keep his ride going by sharing with him t his guest blog post from Rob Greenfield , an Eagle Scout from Ashland, Wisc., who recently completed a solo bike ride across America.
For a few lucky Scouters out there, "Scouting family" and "actual family" are synonymous. Their spouse and all their children are actively involved in the program, meaning family time is pretty much all the time. The rest of us, however, must find a happy balance between those two important commitments.
Silly question. Who couldn't use some extra help corralling a bunch of rowdy Cub Scouts? Say hello to your new best friend: the Cub Scout Den Chief . This older Boy Scout, Varsity Scout or Venturer co-leads weekly den meetings, assists at pack meetings and meets regularly with adults to find out when and where he…
That nice, uniformed, young man who visited your troop last week, was he your unit commissioner, district commissioner, district executive or someone else entirely? For new adult volunteers, keeping track of your own Scouting title and responsibilities can feel pretty overwhelming.
Summer camp season may be over (sadly), but we can still have a little fun looking back. And I mean way, way back - to 1930 and summer camp in the Kansas City Council. Michael Dulle, membership coordinator of Overland Park, Kan., Troop 0459, sent me the flier below from the "Kansas City Scout Camp" in…
It takes a village to recruit new Scouts, and here's the latest example of that Scouting village uniting for the greater good of the BSA. Packs, troops, teams and crews are invited to celebrate with the LDS church on the evening of Tuesday, Oct.
Father (or Mother) knows best? Maybe, but that's not how a Scout troop, Varsity team or Venturing crew is supposed to work. Scouting is a youth-led, youth-run organization. Your responsibility as an adult leader is to train the young men and women, provide direction, coach and empower.
Note: Not a real patch. In Crew 9820, they're taking the joke of "underwater basket weaving" to new heights. Or, technically, new depths. Last weekend, the Minnesota Venturing crew, which specializes in scuba diving, went below the surface in their field uniform shirts, wetsuits and scuba gear.
Just like your favorite film, Wood Badge is even better the second time around. Last month, I served as a Troop Guide for Wood Badge course S2-571-13-3, known within the Dallas-based Circle Ten Council simply as Wood Badge 106. Loyal blog readers will remember I had a mountaintop experience as a participant of Wood Badge…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first sponsor of the Boy Scouts of America way back in 1913. One-hundred years later, the LDS church brings more Scouts into the movement than any other chartered organization. Next month, your Scouting family can join the BSA family in celebrating that "Century of Honor…
You'll notice it right away, of course. You'll see Tristan across the room at your pack or troop meeting this week and instantly spot the unit numerals on the wrong sleeve, the rank patch on the wrong pocket or the World Crest way too low on his field uniform shirt.
You the Life Scouts and Eagle Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America, in Order to form a more perfect understanding of the U.S. Constitution, establish awareness of our nation's Founding Documents, and secure some Free Money, do indeed need to enter this Bill of Rights Institute Eagle Scout Competition OK, so maybe my version…
I can think of no higher praise than the words used today to describe the Summit's Sustainability Treehouse. Alissa Walker, who writes for the popular technology and design blog Gizmodo, said in a blog post that the treehouse "looks just like an Ewok village."
Can wearing sunglasses count as doing a Good Turn? Sure, if you're sporting Merit Shades . Every time you purchase a pair of the new officially licensed Boy Scouts of America sunglasses, Merit Shades donates a pair of sunglasses to a child in Haiti.
As the only Eagle Scout ever to become U.S. president (so far), Gerald Ford stands among the most successful men ever to emerge from the Boy Scouts of America. That legacy continues with the USS Gerald R. Ford , a $13.5 billion, 1,106-foot aircraft carrier set to join the U.S.
Good news: The real-life race car built entirely by untrained Scouts and Venturers at the jamboree in July didn't fall apart in the middle of its racing debut Saturday in Florida. Better news: The car, helmed by friend of Scouting Scott Lagasse Jr., performed as beautifully as it looked and was driven to a third-place…
The Scouts and Scouters in West, Texas, have taken "to help other people at all times" to a new level of awesome. First, let me recap. On April 17, 2013, a deadly explosion at West Fertilizer Company left a tight-knit community in pain.
It seems like just about everyone wants to go (or go back) to Philmont. And so when it comes to the hiking mecca's 12-day and seven-day summer expeditions, demand far exceeds supply. That's why Philmont Scout Ranch has in place a lottery system, giving interested Scout troops and Venturing crews a fair shot at scoring…
Ever heard of a Scout "Eagling out"? That's the unofficial term for a young man earning Boy Scouting's highest rank and leaving the program shortly after. Well, that idea's lost on newly minted Eagle Scout Andrew Arnold from Monterey, Calif.
The Boy Scouts of America will increase its annual membership fee for youth and adults to $24 from $15, beginning Jan. 1, 2014. For those who join after the beginning of the year, the fee will be prorated at $2 per month.
As a Dallas Cowboys fan, it hurts me a little to type this, but here goes: Joe Theismann is the man. I mean, how many Super Bowl-winning former quarterbacks can recite the Boy Scout Law without notes? The former Life Scout and Washington Redskins star did just that tonight, causing the gathered group of hundreds…
Authentic, gritty, visceral. That's how I describe three new videos released today by the Boy Scouts of America. They're yours to view, download for offline viewing , share and use as you see fit. Each gives a compelling picture of what effect Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting can have on local communities like yours.
Proud to be an American? Absolutely, but this hurts a little: American fourth- and eighth-graders are far from No. 1 in math and science. In fact, we're just outside of or barely in the top 10 in both categories, lagging behind countries like Korea, Singapore and Finland, according to a study released late last year…
You'd expect a bunch of welding experts to forge some strong bonds, but the folks at Lincoln Electric have gone above and beyond. Their work bringing welding and the Welding merit badge into the Boy Scouts of America has already helped introduce tens of thousands of Scouts to this hot career.
Stellar accomplishments, like earning the Eagle Scout award, reap stellar rewards. Eagle Scout Tristan Bullard can attest to this, as he watched astronomers take one step closer to completing the Giant Magellan Telescope at Saturday's rare mirror-firing event. During a Mirror Lab tour, visitors watch as the massive mirror is "fired" in a spun-cast furnace…
In IndyCar racing, 1.1930 seconds can mean the difference between hoisting the winner's trophy and settling for second place. Justin Wilson knows that all too well. Wilson, who drove the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America IndyCar to a second-place finish at Sunday's Go Pro Grand Prix in Sonoma, Calif., knew he had a car…
As any sports fan will tell you, numbers don't always tell the whole story. Earlier this month, I shared the final attendance figures from the 2013 National Scout Jamboree. The count was 30,037 youth and adult participants, a number that doesn't include staff or visitors.
So just how fast (and structurally sound) was that race car built and autographed by Scouts and Venturers at the 2013 National Jamboree? We're about to find out. Scott Lagasse Jr. will drive the Scout- and Venturer-built car in a dirt-track race this Saturday at Volusia Speedway Park, located about an hour north of Orlando…
Are you the next Bobby Flay or Giada De Laurentiis when it comes to camp cooking? Share your specialty recipes with us in the new Scouting and Boys' Life magazines Campout Cuisine Contest . From Dutch oven concoctions to foil-pack delicacies and more, submit your favorite recipes and a photo of the finished products.
If you judge the Scoutmaster Handbook by its cover, you might assume it's solely meant for, well, Scoutmasters. Assistant Scoutmasters, it seemed, were to look elsewhere for Scouting wisdom. That's about to change. Later this year, the two-volume Troop Leader Guidebook will debut, replacing the Scoutmaster Handbook and offering helpful checklists, quick tips and fresh…
Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico right now, an Eagle Scout is making history. CB Wren, the 16-year-old selected as this year's Eagle Scout argonaut, is aboard the exploration vessel Nautilus as part of an international team exploring geology, biology, archaeology and chemistry.
Family vacation, tons of free time and absolutely no homework. The very conditions that make summer a Cub Scout-age boy's favorite season can wreak havoc on a Cub Scout pack. Some packs, frustrated with the difficulty of aligning family schedules in June, July and August, simply give up and take summers off.
Play around with a knife, lose a corner on your Totin' Chip. In my troop growing up, it was that simple. If a Scout lost all four corners of his Totin' Chip (essentially a Scout's license to carry pocketknives, axes and saws), his blade-carrying privileges were revoked until he re-earned the card.
While you were probably surprised to learn about the National Security Agency's secret spying programs back in May, you might not be shocked to find out one of the top officials at the NSA is an Eagle Scout. After all, we already know Eagle Scouts make great politicians, athletes, entertainers, businessmen, Scoutmasters, dads and well-rounded…
Kent, before his Philmont-inspired transformation. See the after photo after the jump. Sometimes to gain, you have to lose. Kent Cantrell, a Scouter from the Houston suburb of Bellaire, knows that all too well. Kent wanted nothing more than to hike at Philmont with Luke, his Life Scout son.
Don't sob about Sewing or mope about Magic. Send those ideas for new merit badges to someone who can actually act on them. Over the years, several of you emailed me with suggestions for merit badges about Sewing, Magic, Guitar, Hunting, Surfing and lots more.
Like all of us, Todd Skiles was overcome with grief when he heard about the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December. But when news broke that two of the young victims were Tiger Cubs , Skiles and the Sea Scouts of Ship 100 in Gainesville, Va., wanted to find a way to honor…
