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 The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation's largest and most
prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides
a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the
responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal
fitness.
For more than a century, the BSA has helped build the future leaders of this
country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with
fun. The Boy Scouts of America believes - and, through more than a
century of experience, knows - that helping youth is a key to building
a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society.
Scouting is inclusive - see our Membership
Policy page for a summary of the BSA's current membership
policies.
Are you interested in learning
about or joining Scouting?
The BSA has a range of Scouting programs for you and your son
or daughter. We have a web page for each program - use the links below, or
click on one of the blue buttons at the left to go to these pages:
- Cub Scouts a family-oriented program designed
specifically to address the needs of kindergarten through fifth grade
boys and girls.
- Scouts BSA is for boys and girls age 11 through age 17
(or at least 10˝ and completed fifth grade),
designed to achieve the aims of Scouting through a vigorous outdoor
program and peer group leadership with the counsel of an adult
Scoutmaster..
- Venturing, Sea Scouts and Exploring are for boys and girls
ages 14 through 20 (or age 13 and completed eighth grade). Venturing
provides positive experiences through exciting and meaningful
youth-run activities that help members pursue their special interests,
grow by teaching others, and develop leadership skills. Exploring is a
career- or vocation-oriented program, with each post specializing in a
specific field.
The Baden-Powell Council provides Scouting to a six-county area -
Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Tioga and Tompkins County in central New York
and Susquehanna County in northern Pennsylvania. The Taughannock
District covers Cortland and Tompkins Counties, serving hundreds of youth
members in 35 Scout units - Cub Packs, Scout Troops, Venture Crews
and Explorer Posts.
To find a unit near you on an up-to-date map with
information on units see BeAScout.org
A note on girls in BSA Programs
Cub Scout Packs have the option to accept both boys and
girls from kindergarten to fifth grade - such packs are referred to as
"Family Packs". Girls and boys can be organized in separate
single-gender dens within the pack at the pack's option. Sponsors may also choose to keep their pack
as a boys-only pack, and/or may choose to sponsor a separate girls-only pack.
The list of packs on the Cub Scout page is annotated to indicate which
packs will have dens for which genders.
Girls between 11-17
years of age are eligible to join Scouts BSA
troops,
but each troop is single-gender. Sponsors can choose to sponsor Scout troops for boys and
also Scouts BSA troops for girls. The two
affiliated troops may share a single troop committee, and may meet at
the same time and place and plan joint activities, but each troop must
have its own Scoutmaster (that is, one person cannot be Scoutmaster of
both troops). Affiliated boy and girl troops can choose to use
the same troop number for everyday use, if they want, although for paperwork purposes
the new girls-only troop will have a distinct number (usually in this
council the prefix "6") -
so, for example, the sponsor of boy Troop 13 in Trumansburg formed an affiliate
girls-only Troop with the number 613.
The older-youth BSA programs, Venturing
and Exploring, have been co-ed for many years, and remain open to
both boys and girls from 14-20.
How this Website is Organized
 The pages on our District website have been arranged so
that they are organized in the same way as the District itself. You can
use the list below, or click on one of the buttons on the left and at
the top of each page, to go directly to a specific page. If you want to
find something and aren't sure what page it's on, look at our Site
Map index.
General Pages: The District Committee and
District Key Three oversee the Scouting program in the District in a
general way, so we start with a collection of pages which are of general
applicability to all members and volunteers. These pages can be reached
using the red buttons on the left of each page.
-
Announcements, announcements,
announcements! You can find all of the latest news here, with
links to the pages with the full details.
-
District Calendar - Our
District plans its Scouting activities on an eighteen-month basis,
so that we will always have at least a year's advance notice of
upcoming events. Our calendar also includes listings for Council and
National events which might be of interest to District
volunteers.
- Contact List - You can find an
Organization Chart of District-level Scouters and Committees on this
page, along with contact information. Look here for the
"generic" e-mail addresses for some district functions,
leaders and committees.
- Forms and Links - This page provides links
to downloadable forms and to other websites with useful information
for Scouters.
- Handouts and Resources - Look here for resources such as Roundtable
handouts and notes, informational flyers, etc.
- Help Wanted - Scouting wants you!
Here's how you can help...
- District Scrapbook - take a look at
what our members have been doing!
- Virtual Patch Collection
- Scouts and Scouters love patches - they're interesting in
themselves, and a good way to learn about Scout history. Here are
some of the ones we've collected...
Specific Pages: Taughannock District works through its
volunteer-run committees. If you need information on a specific topic,
these pages, which can be reached through the links below or the yellow
buttons on the left of each page, are organized in the same way as the
District itself:
- Activities - The “CAPS” Committee (Camping, Activities,
Program and Sevice) is in charge of District Activities for Cubs,
Scouts and Venturers. Look here for information on Pinewood Derbies,
Scout Camporees, Mall Shows, and so on. Where appropriate, we'll
also have information on Council Activities and High Adventure
opportunities of interest to District members.
- Advancement and Recognition - The
Advancement program is part of all Scouting programs - Cub
Scouts, Scouts BSA and Venturing.
Look here for information on rank advancement for Cub
Scouts and Scouts BSA -
including Eagle Projects and Boards
of Review, merit badge counselors,
etc. This page also has information on recognition awards for adult
Scouters - training awards, Spark Plugs and District Awards of
Merit, Veteran Scouter pins, and the various square knots - and the Journey
to Excellence program for Unit recognition.
- Camping - The Camping Committee is
tasked with promoting organized camping programs for Cubs and
Scouts. Look here for information on Cub Weekends, Cub Day Camps and Resident
Camps and Scouts BSA Summer Camp. The CAPS committee supports
these activities as well.
- Communications - The
Membership/Publicity Committee is responsible for internal
communications within the district, as well as public relations.
Look here for information on publicizing your unit's activities or
to sign up for the Taughannock
Announce District e-mail list.
- Commissioners - The Commissioner
Corps is a group of experienced veteran Scouters supporting our
District's packs, troops, crews and posts. Unit Commissioners work
directly with unit leaders, Roundtable Commissioners lead our
monthly Roundtables. This page provides information for and about
Taughannock District Commissioners.
- Fundraising - The Finance Committee
organizes the fundraising events by which our District raises money
for District and Council operations. Look here for information on
Friends of Scouting campaigns, Popcorn Sales, Distinguished Citizen
Awards Dinners, etc.
- Training - All Leaders should be
trained. The Training Committee works toward this goal by providing
training courses for Cub, Scout and Venturing leaders (including
youth leaders at the Scout and Venturing levels). Look here for
information on training courses offered at the District and Council
level, at the annual University of Scouting, and online through My.Scouting.org.
Off-Site Links: Taughannock District is one of four
districts in the Baden-Powell Council,
a part of the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA), which in turn is part of the World
Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Use the links below, or the
green buttons on the left of each page, for direct links to other
Scouting sites:
- Taughannock
District Facebook Group: If you're on Facebook, be sure to
join this group for the latest in local program and
"shares" from around the country and the world.
- Are you signed up for the Taughannock
Announce e-mail list?
All District units should have at least one
adult (if not all) subscribed to the list! The e-list is used for news and reminders
of District meetings and activities, as well as District and unit
requests and last minute emergency announcements and cancellations.
Click on this
link to sign up - you will need to establish a Yahoo.com
account, if you don't have one already, then subscribe to the
TaughannockAnnounce group.
- Baden-Powell Council - our
District is one of four in the Baden-Powell Council. Look here for
information on Council operations, personnel and activities.
- Boy Scouts of America
National Council (scouting.org) - the BSA is responsible for Boy Scouting in the
United States. Their website has a vast amount of information for
Scouts and Scouters, as well as links to specialized sites.
- My.Scouting.org - the
Scouting Tools site is where you'll find links for training,
updating your membership profile, accessing unit records and much
more.
- World Organization of the
Scout Movement (WOSM) - Scout.org is the site for
international Scouting news and information.
- Blair Atholl
International Scottish Patrol Jamborette - the Baden-Powell
Council has sent a contingent of Scouts to this unique international
event every even-numbered year since 1996!
- For more useful links, see our Forms and
Resources page.
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Have any questions or comments about this website? Contact Mike Brown
at wb2jwd@gmail.com |
