ScoutCast

Don’t feel silly if you don’t know what a linked troop is. Heck—we didn’t know either! We heard the term once or twice and decided it might be good to find out more, so let’s learn together with our listeners. Please join our new ScoutCast hosts, Anissa Hicks and Ryan Larson, in their inaugural episode with guests Scoutmaster Paige Samdal of Troop 1505 and Neil Goltermann, chartered organization representative for Knox Presbyterian Church of Naperville, Illinois, as we discover the benefits of a linked troop.

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The post July 2019 – Linked Troops appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

Imagine this: Your unit is ready to depart for a big adventure. All the Scouts and adult volunteers are on time, the weather is perfect, and everything is ready. Then you realize you’re missing something, and it’s a big something: Your unit’s trailer and all the gear inside—hundreds or even thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff—is gone, all gone. So, after you call the police, you might be asking yourself, how can we make sure our stuff is secure?

Keeping Scouts, volunteers, and their gear safe and sound—whether at your meeting place or on the trail—is Richard Bourlon’s mission in life. Richard is the team lead for Health and Safety Services here at the national service center and will share with us some do’s and don’ts and helpful tips to keep everyone and everything safe and secure.

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The post June 2019 – Security appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

Talking about bullying doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. You just have to shine a light on it. We get a lot of questions regarding how to handle bullying in a Scouting context, so we thought this might be a good time to talk to Cody Solesbee, a doctoral student in the School of Psychology at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He’s a researcher for the Nebraska Bullying Prevention and Intervention Initiative, which has a goal of addressing the personal, social, and cultural factors that underlie bullying behaviors in order to advance solutions to promote healthy relationships within families, schools, communities, and out-of-school organizations like Scouting.

TRANSCRIPT

The post May 2019 – Bullying appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

Last December there was a post on the Bryan on Scouting blog about Benjamin Waggoner, a Scout who has spina bifida and is Eagle Scout No. 527 in Troop 890 in Dallas, Texas. So, we invited Benjamin and his dad, Chip Waggoner, to chat with us about Scouts with special needs from the perspectives of a Scout and a parent.

If you’re interested, our little sibling, CubCast, addresses this same topic from a leader’s point of view. And even if you don’t have any special needs youth in your troop or crew, you’re sure to find this episode both enlightening and inspiring!

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The post April 2019 – Scouts with Special Needs appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

Advancement is an important part of the Scouting program, but you already know that, right? But advancement in Scouts BSA is very different from Cub Scout advancement. Wayne Huddleston, who serves on the National Advancement Task Force, explains the purpose of advancement for Scouts BSA members, what resources are available, and everything in between. Host Bryan Wendell shares his own experience with advancement in Scouting.

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The post March 2019 – Explaining Advancement-The Trail to Eagle appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

This episode is all about training. We’re talking with seasoned Scouting veteran Dan Maxfield about why it’s important, how to get trained, and everything you need to know about training. Whether you’re new to Scouting or have been around the Scouting block a time or two, you’ll be left wondering, “With so many training opportunities available and all the fun and innovative ways to get that training, why didn’t I get trained sooner?”

Transcript

The post February 2019 – Training: Why You Need it and How to Get It appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

So, you’ve decided you might like to be a Scoutmaster. Congratulations! Are you a member of a school, church, or civic club that thinks it might be a good idea to have a troop? Good for you! But, hmmm … where do you begin? Fear not! This episode gives you a step-by-step guide to starting a troop. You’ve got this!

The post January 2019 – A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting a Troop appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

The new Scouts BSA program—in case anyone out there hasn’t already heard—means girls will be allowed to join Scout troops in February 2019. This is a big change to our already fantastic organization, so naturally the questions have been pouring in. We’ve gathered a list of the most frequently asked questions and joining us is the woman with all the answers—April McMillian. April is the department manager of Program Development here at the BSA National Service Center and will help us get the right answers to all those burning questions.

The post December 2018 – Scouts BSA Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

This month’s episode stems from a tweet we received asking if we could have an episode not on youth who cross over from Cub Scouting to Scouts BSA but on adults who cross over from Cub Scouting to Scouts BSA. And we agreed that would make for an interesting discussion. So, we invited Steve Bowen back to the show. You may remember Steve from the November 2014 show where we discussed the development of merit badges. In addition to being on the National Merit Badge Subcommittee and other national committees, Steve has served as both a Cubmaster and a Scoutmaster, so we look to him for guidance on this topic.

The post November 2018 – Crossover for Adults appeared first on BSA Podcasts.

OK, listeners, we’ve had discussions on new-unit development and recruiting youth and leaders, so now is the time to start planning those meetings and activities. But we don’t want to throw everything out there at once, so let’s figure out what you need to do to Be Prepared for that first meeting. To help us with that is Lorie McGraw, a Scouting volunteer for 23 years with the Indian Waters Council in Columbia, South Carolina, Somehow, she found time to also prepare to be an assistant Scoutmaster for a new all-girl troop that will start next year.

The post October 2018 – Be Prepared for Your First Meeting appeared first on BSA Podcasts.