Venturing - BSA

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Venturing - BSA

• A Unique Opportunity for Older Youth

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Existing Explorer Program

• Effective 1 August 1998, Exploring as we knew
  it went away
• Career Posts now fall under Learning For Life
• Non-career Posts were converted to Venturing
  Crews and now make up the new Venturing Division
  within BSA

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What Is Venturing?

• Is a youth development program of the BSA for
  young men and women who are 14 (and have
  completed the eighth grade) through 20 years of
  age
• Can be all male, all female or coed
• Models the European version where Scouting has
  been based upon distinct age group divisions for
  years

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What is Venturing

• Members are called Venturers
• Venturing units are crews (Venture patrol in the
  troop with a patrol leader)
• Venturing adults are advisors
• Youth leader is president
• Crews can select one of five interest areas

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Five Interest Areas

• Outdoor
• Sports
• Arts and Hobbies
• Youth Ministry
• Sea Scouting

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Uniform

• Wear the traditional green uniform shirt with
  green shoulder loops and a Venturing BSA strip
  over the right pocket
• May adopt the official charcoal gray casual pants
  or backpacking style short
• Each crew determines its uniform based on the
  crews activities

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Venturing Advancement Program

• Bronze Award
• Gold Award
• Silver Award
• Ranger Award
• Eagle Award

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Bronze Award

• Entry level award
• Can be earned in each of five different interest
  areas
• Requires both learning skills and teaching them
  to others

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Gold Award

• Replaces the old Explorer G.O.L.D. award
• Recognizes accomplishment in the six areas -
  leadership, service, community/family, outdoor,
  fitness, and citizenship
• Requires at least 12 months of active
  participation
• Requires a Board of Review

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Silver Award

• Provides a path to personal development and
  requires
• proficiency in emergency preparedness
• participation in Ethics in Action
• completion of Venturing Leadership Skills Course
• earn Gold Award and at least one Bronze Award
• Requires a Board of Review

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Ranger Award

• Identifies Venturer as an elite outdoorsman,
  skilled in a variety of outdoor sports and
  interests
• Must complete eight challenging core requirements
  and four outdoor interest or sports electives

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Ranger Core Requirements

• First Aid Wilderness Survival
• Emergency Preparedness Communications
• Leave No Trace Cooking
• Navigation Conservation

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Ranger Electives

• Backpacking Cave Exploring
• Project COPE Cycling/Mountain Biking
• Ecology First Aid
• Fishing Equestrian
• Hunting Lifesaver
• Mountaineering Outdoor Living History
• Physical Fitness Plants and Wildlife
• Scuba Shooting Sports
• Watercraft Winter Sports

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Eagle Award

• Venturers who enter the crew as First Class
  Scouts or who are dual registered in a troop may
  continue to work on their Eagle Award until age
  18

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Venturing Compliments Troop Program

• Adds new advancement and leadership opportunities
  for older boys
• Allows flexibility so boys can participate in
  both programs
• Meets the wants and needs of the 14-18 year old
  boy
• Can solve many challenges faced by Scoutmasters

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What 14-18 Boys Want

• Challenging physical activities with young people
  their own age
• Recognition of their older status
• Co-ed activities
• Independence
• A sense of belonging and acceptance from their
  peer group

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What 14-18 Boys Need

• Consistent adults that walk their talk
• Character and ethical education outside the
  classroom
• Positive role models, male and female
• Opportunities to become proficient at a variety
  of skills
• Leadership opportunities

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Scoutmaster Challenges

• Keeping older scouts engaged in the troop while
  trying to attract and retain younger scouts
• Competing with older scout interests sports,
  band, drama, jobs, girls, cars
• Giving leadership/role model opportunities to all
  older scouts
• Giving younger scouts something to anticipate
  beyond the troop

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National BSA Statistics

• Average Eagle Scout is 14 years and 9 months old
• Average Boy Scout attendance at summer camp is
  2.8 years

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What Does Venturing Offer?

• New advancement opportunities for boys interested
  in going beyond Eagle
• Recognition for those boys who may have dropped
  out of traditional scouting
• Activities with boys and girls their age
• New leadership training specifically designed for
  them
• An advancement program that requires that they
  share what they have learned

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Venturings Teaching Philosophy

• Level 1 - You read it
• Level 2 - Someone taught it to you
• Level 3 - You experienced it
• Level 4 - You teach it to someone else
• Venturing advancement requires Level 4

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Venturings Growth

• Church youth groups that adopt the structure of
  Venturing to strengthen their youth
• Businesses (REI) and clubs (re-enactment units,
  outdoor) that adopt Venturing to complement their
  program
• Successful troops that adopt Venturing to meet
  the wants and needs of their older scouts

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Venturings Growth

• Venturing is BSAs fastest growing youth
  development program. The figures are since
  Venturing began in August 1998
• Total Venturers - 180,536 21.5
• Total Crews - 16,286 29.0
• Total non-LDS Venturers - 112,536
• Total female Ventuers - 44,568 (40 of non-LDS
• 63.5 of all Venturers are 16 years old or older

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Ages of VenturersYear 2000
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What Can Our District Do?

• Implement a district run Venturing program as
  outlined in Heres Venturing
• Identify churches with existing strong youth
  groups that may want to use the Venturing program
• Work with troops that want to form Venturing crews

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What Can Our District Do?

• Form high school-based Venturing crews in those
  areas where there is no single strong troop
• Ensure Venturing activities, including those
  conducted by NCAC, are included in the districts
  program calendar

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What Can Our District Do?

• Include opportunities for Venturing crews to
  teach at district events (SMF, camporees)
• Ensure Venturing advancement, training and
  leadership awards are recognized
• Support the Northern Virginia Venturing
  Roundtable that has been established to bring
  program ideas to several districts

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Summary

• Venturing is an exciting new program designed to
  keep youth involved in Scouting for as long as
  possible.
• Venturing provides a program that will attract
  young people who left the more traditional
  Scouting or who have never experienced Scouting
  before.
• Venturing compliments a religious organizations
  existing youth program.