Alamo Area BSA

 
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An Updated Plan for Unit Success – A Must Read for Unit Leaders

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Baden Powell Unit Recognition – 2021

Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council’s performance recognition program for units is named after Scouting’s founder, Robert Baden-Powell. Baden-Powell’s spirit is alive and well in our local community. The heart of this Baden Powell recognition is to make better units. Ultimately, better units mean better programs for our youth. This recognition will continue to work to serve your unit!

As national continues to serve the local council, we want to make sure that we continue to recognize our units and the hard work they put in each year. The Journey to Excellence (JTE) has been a great resource to encourage excellence and continuous improvement in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA. As a council, we have made the decision to discontinue our use of the JTE program. Your unit can continue using the JTE Scorecard to measure your unit quality, but it will be for unit utilization only and will not be submitted to the council.

Our team has brought the Journey to Excellence scorecard and the Baden Powell Unit Recognition 10 achievements together in one concise and clear scorecard called the Baden Powell Unit Excellence Award. It will focus on the three main areas which are Service, Adventure, and Fundraiser. You will go through each line item to discover which tier you are in to know the points to award. Add the points to see if you reached the 500 points needed to achieve the Baden Powell Award. Once it is completed, turn into the Scout Service Center or Outdoor Department. All submissions need to be turned in by or before January 31st to be eligible.

This is our first year pioneering this NEW Baden Powell Unit Excellence Award. We will continue to update as needed and will keep you informed. Keep on Scouting and having Great Adventures!

Download the Scorecard HERE

2020 Recognition and BP Status Benefits

Baden Powell units will receive the following recognition and benefits:

  • Adventure Guide magazine announcement
  • Council website and newsletter shout out
  • FREE Baden Powell unit recognition streamer
  • Facility Rental Voucher for FREE Unit Weekend Campout in 2022 (SUBJECT TO COVID19 RESTRICTIONS) at an Alamo Area Council Property*
  • 5% Discounted pricing to all Alamo Area Council camping events

Submission for 2021 can be online or in-person, and you can email it to Adventure@alamoareabsa.org
*FREE Rental for unit weekend camping coordinated through the Outdoor Adventures Team based on facility availability at Bear Creek Scout Reservation, McGimsey Scout Park, and Mays Family Scout Ranch. Email Rentals@AlamoAreaBSA.org or visit www.AlamoAreaBSA.org/BadenPowell for more information. Includes campsite rental only.

Resources to Aid Unit Success

As a 2021 Baden Powell unit, we use these methods of Scouting as shown by:

 

A Commissioner’s Tale, by Lance Hirsch

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When I was about five years old, I used to love looking at my oldest brother’s Cub Scout Book.  I would read it as best as I could and enjoy the pictures.  There was something about the artwork, that drew me to the activities they depicted.  A few years later I was able to join Pack 685 in the Polaris District of the Sam Houston Area Council in the fall of 1972.  Fast forward about thirty-five years when my son joined Pack 18 in Boerne at Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church and they were looking for an Assistant Cubmaster.  I signed up and haven’t looked back!  On to Cubmaster a few months later, Wood Badge, Roundtable Staff and Commissioner, Day Camp, Assistant Scoutmaster, Pack Trainer, a few District positions, Scoutmaster, OA, National Jamborees, Powder Horn, International Scouting, World Jamborees, Philmont, Northern Tier, The Summit, Sea Base, co-founding a Venturing Crew and Girls’ Troop, and on and on.

I like scouting!  But why?

The people? Yes, that’s a big part of it.  Birds of a feather flock together and I’ve found some life-long friendships in scouting.

The fun?  Well, that goes without saying.

The Mission?  Wait …

…the what?  What Mission?  There’s a proverb I usually quote for parents when recruiting scouts, Proverbs 22:6 that says: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”  This sums up an important philosophy for me, we should all do what we can to make sure that children grow up right.  Before I knew about the Mission of the Boy Scouts of America, I believed in it – I lived it – and that is what drew me to scouts; even though I didn’t know it at the time. The Mission of the BSA 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.  That’s why I like Scouting!

With Eagle Scout and Summit Award scouts for children, Benjamin and Ella who are still active in Scouting while in college, my wife Dianne and I continue to support scouting.  When I was asked to be Council Commissioner a few years ago, I had to think about it – but not for long.  What better way to help fulfill the Mission than representing all volunteers as the Chief Uniformed Volunteer?  My broad range of experience has been handy in representing us as volunteers and our issues at the Board and Executive Committee levels.  More importantly, my responsibility in seeing that Unit Service through the Unit Commissioners via the team of excellent District Commissioners creates great units where our Mission is accomplished.  Becoming a Unit Commissioner to make sure that units operate as they should is an excellent opportunity for experienced Scouters who no longer have the responsibility of Unit Leadership or direct contact with the youth.

Commissioner Service and keeping our units strong is the foundation of scouting.  I am happy to serve as your Council Commissioner and I welcome your experience on our team of Unit Commissioners.

Article by Lance Hirsch
Alamo Area Council BSA, Council Commissioner

Interested in learning more about the Commissioner’s Corps? Visit the Commissioner’s page, or email Commissioners@AlamoAreaBSA.org.

 

Summer of Service 2021

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Thank you, Brian On Scouting, for breaking down the Summer of Service National Campaign for the summer of 2021:

Scouts help other people at all times, and after a year of staying home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of them are excited to start serving their communities like they did pre-pandemic.

If your Scout has read May’s issue of Scout Life magazine, he or she would’ve seen senior editor Aaron Derr’s story on BSA’s Summer of Service campaign. It’s pretty simple to be part of it. Do a project or Good Turn and let the BSA know. That’s all there is to it.

It’s a time to remind our country of the good Scouts do on a daily basis. We all can participate in service, whether it’s completing an extensive Eagle Scout project or an impromptu helping of a neighbor with yard work. Make sure projects adhere to BSA standards and guidelines, along with COVID-19 guidelines for your area.

The campaign runs through October. Share your Scout’s or unit’s service here and on social media by using the hashtag #SummerOfService.

Some ideas

If you follow BSA guidelines, any service project can qualify to be part of Summer of Service. It must benefit others, rather than Scouting. But a Scouting event can spur service ideas, like cleaning up a park during a campout.

If you need help brainstorming ideas, here are a few:

  • Repair bicycles and teach bike safety to neighborhood children  
  • Wearing appropriate gear, disinfect playground equipment in your neighborhood park 
  • Make and donate face coverings to schools and churches in your area 
  • Take a trash bag and gloves with you on your next run or family walk and pick up any trash you see 
  • Beautify the school grounds or community public areas 
  • Commit to using fewer plastic bags 
  • Perform an energy audit of your home 
  • Set up a recycling system where there isn’t one 
  • Do a chore for someone who cannot easily do it themselves:  mow a lawn, rake leaves, fix a mailbox, etc. 
  • Following COVID guidelines in your area, check in on an elderly neighbor 
  • Collect school supplies and backpacks and donate them to your local school 
  • Collect supplies to donate to domestic violence shelters in your area 
  • Donate a portion of your weekly allowance to a homeless shelter 
  • Foster a shelter animal or offer dog walking services 
  • Return carts for people at the store for an afternoon during a rainy day 
  • Write “thank you” notes to men & women in the military, first responders, healthcare workers 
  • Take treats to a local fire station 
  • Assist a community library with their annual book drive

For more project ideas, check out these resources via Scout Life:

Or see others along with these FAQs on the Summer of Service page.

Recognition

After participating in the Summer of Service, you can order a patch to hang over your front right pocket or a ring to sew around the World Crest. You can also print out a certificate for your Scouts.

Don’t forget to tag the Alamo Area Council in your Social Media posts. Email Jenn Arntson, Council Publicist, at Jennifer.Arntson@Scouting.org to share what your unit accomplished!

See the original article from Brian On Scouting HERE
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