Venturing in the Piedmont District Cooper Wright

BSA Mission The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.

BSA Programs BSA accomplishes its mission by offering three age-appropriate programs: Cub ScoutingCub Scouting Boy ScoutingBoy Scouting VenturingVenturing BSA’s goal is to keep every youth in Scouting as long as possible

Age of Venturers % of Venturers are 18 years old or older

Venturing by Gender – 2006 (excluding LDS) Total Venturing Population = 244,266

Venturing Eagles % completed their Eagle as Venturers

Piedmont District Venturing Chair Forms a committee of dedicated Venturing adults that offers a full service capability for Piedmont District crews –Advancement/Recognition –Membership –Training –Activities –Marketing –Finance Matches functions being performed by NCAC Venturing Committee Represents the District at NCAC Venturing meetings

Advancement/Recognitions Helps crews get started on Venturing advancement by sharing consultant resources Assists crews in conducting Silver Award Boards of Review if requested Shares with District Vice Chair/Council Venturing Marketing Committee high level achievements such as Silver, Ranger, Quest, Trust, and Quartermaster awards Promotes other recognitions such as the Venturing Leadership Award and Venturing Advisor Award of Merit

Membership Assists crews during the annual re- chartering process Promotes the crew “Open House” program Maintains awareness of crew membership track records to identify crews that might need help Helps identify organizations that are candidates to organize new crews Coordinates with the District Vice Chair/Council Venturing Membership Committee on membership activities

Training Ensures new advisors and crew committees take Venturing Fast Start and Venturing Youth Protection training (web based) Offers regular Venturing Leader Specific Training courses Supports crews as they present Venturing Leadership Skills Course, New Officers’ Orientation, Youth Protection and Annual Program Planning Seminars Coordinates with the District Training chair to determine which adults need Venturing training Supports Council Powder Horn and Kodiak training courses and National Venturing training courses

Activities Helps crews plan and carry out exciting, safe, and challenging program activities Works with the District High Adventure Chair to provide ideas for crew “ultimate adventures” Maintains a resource list of outdoor consultants and places to go Encourages participation in Council-planned Venturing events including the V3 Hike-o-ree, Eco Challenge, Venturing After Dark, and Rendezvous Supports the Council “Road to Ranger” program at Camp Goshen

Venturing Crew Activities

Upcoming Venturing Activities 2008 Monthly Northern Virginia Venturing Roundtable (NVVR) meetings (1 st Wednesday of each month) Feb 23 – University of Scouting –Venturing Leader Specific Training –Venturing Leadership Skills Course Mar 7-9 – COPE Training, Camp Snyder Mar 8 – Venturing Leader Specific Training (Powhattan District) April – Northeast Region Area 4 Venturing Quest, Camp Bucco, PA

Upcoming Venturing Activities 2008 April – COPE Instruction, District Camporee, Verdun May 10 – NCAC Venturing Rendezvous May – Venturing Leadership Skills Course (Powhattan District) Jun 7 – Venturing Eco Challenge Jul 26 – Aug 9 – Road to Ranger, Camp Goshen (two weeks) Nov 7-9 – V3 Hike-o-ree (Venturing, Varsity & Venture)

Venturing Rendezvous

Marketing Encourages crews to put articles about their past program events in their chartered organizations’ newsletters and local newspapers Helps crews develop their own marketing materials for Open Houses and other events Ensures that crew and District Venturing events are shared with the Council Marketing Committee Works with the District Vice Chair for Marketing to identify marketing opportunities in the local area

Finance Educates and motivates crews to support the District’s and Council’s annual “Friends of Scouting” campaign Assists crews in planning money earning projects and project requests

How Can the Piedmont District Committee Support Venturing?? Encourage key district committee members to complete Venturing Advisor Fast Start (web based) and Venturing Leader Specific Training and attend Powder Horn Elevate the Venturing Chair to a Vice Chair for Venturing or ADC-Venturing position Use crews to teach skills at District camporees or adult leader training sessions (teaching is requirement for Venturing advancement)

How Can the Piedmont District Committee Support Venturing?? Help identify organizations that are candidates to sponsor new crews Have Venturers give a “What Venturing Means to Me” talk at District dinners or marketing events Participate in Venturing Courts of Honor recognizing advancement

Visionary Leadership A crucial factor in building and leading teams is creating a vision, a clear, concrete picture of intended results that is shared by the entire team. If it’s powerful enough, a vision can chart a course, inspire the commitment, and create the momentum needed to make that picture a reality. - John Graham from “Outdoor Leadership, Technique, Common Sense & Self Confidence” What is your vision for Venturing in the Piedmont District?

Back-up Slides

BSA’s Older Youth Program History Boy Scouting Sea Scouting 1933 – Explorer Scouts – first Ranger award Exploring for young men who wanted senior Scouting – first Silver award Coed Exploring – for young men and women ages 14-20, career oriented Learning For Life - BSA Subsidiary Venturing - Coed ages 14-20

New Officers’ Orientation This training offers a much-needed support to Venturing crews with their officers. The sections that it covers are: Crew Officers Roles and Responsibilities Resources Crew Officers Needs and Use Working With Advisors and Older Adults How to Plan Your Crew's Annual Program Planning Resources

Venturing Leadership Skills Course This weekend long course is designed to be used by Advisors to teach leadership skills to all Venturers in the crew. Nine leadership modules each begin with an activity and follow with a reflection. Completion of this course is a requirement for the Venturing Silver Award, and conducting the course is a requirement for the Venturing Advisor Award of Merit.

Powder Horn A high-adventure resource training course designed to introduce and expose Venturing and Boy Scout adult unit leaders to the activities and resources necessary to operate a successful outdoor/high-adventure unit-level program.

Kodiak The Kodiak course combines the elements of leadership and service to others as the two key tenants of Venturing. Servant leadership is a philosophy that teaches the leader to work with and through a team to accomplish the mission. Kodiak's methods are the following: Challenging outdoor treks to use nature as a classroom (no indoor sessions). Five leadership skills, called "commissions," are taught. They can be offered over a week, or over two weekends. It uses a hands-on teaching approach with very short presentations.

Ranger Core and Elective Requirements Backpacking Leave No Trace* Cave Exploring Lifesaver Communications* Mountaineering Conservation* Outdoor Living History Cooking* Physical Fitness Cycling/Mountain Biking Plants and Wildlife Ecology Project COPE Emergency Preparedness* Scuba Equestrian Shooting Sports First Aid* Watercraft Fishing Wilderness Survival* Hunting Winter Sports Land Navigation*