Dear Scouters and Volunteers,
You may have heard some announcements today in the news. We wanted to provide some clarity in case you have questions, but we also want to talk about how we’ll kickoff these programs in the Dan Beard Council.
News of the Day: Middle School Program Name
The first thing that is important to note is that the name of our organization will remain the Boy Scouts of America.
What is changing is the name of our middle school age program. As we enter a new era for our organization, it is also important that all youth can see themselves in Scouting and feel welcome. With that in mind, the BSA announced today that “Scouts BSA” will be the new name for our middle school age program (currently known as our Boy Scout program) serving youth ages 11- to 17-years-old. The name change for our middle school age program will be effective in February 2019, when the “Scouts BSA” program will begin welcoming girls and boys.
Cub Scouting (our program for 7- to 10-year-olds) and its name will remain the same. Girls will be able to join participating Cub Scout packs in August (or a little earlier in cases of packs that elect to do some recruiting after June 11).
The second thing that is important to note is that it is up to charter partner organizations as to how they implement these programs. Charter partners may elect to offer programs for boys only, for girls only, or for both girls and boys.
Where to Get More Information
The Dan Beard Council will be
hosting a webinar on Monday, May 21, at 7pm
. This will be a great opportunity to familiarize interested unit leaders with the resources that are available as we prepare for Family Scouting this fall.
The goals of this webinar are to showcase resources, provide some policy guidance for program operations, highlight next steps, preview marketing materials that will be used during Join Scout Night, and review some frequently asked questions. This will be primarily focused on Cub Scouting. We’ll likely hold a second webinar at a later date to talk more about middle school (Scouts BSA) programs.
To RSVP for the webinar, please click here
. We’ll send out details for the live webinar to everyone who signs up. We’re also planning to post a recording of the webinar on our website so that anyone who might not be able to participate live still has the chance to listen.
How You Can Help
Help us build the agenda for the webinar by sharing your questions in advance. Please send them to
family@training.danbeard.org
. We’d appreciate your questions by May 16.
Another Resource: Family Scouting Website
We plan to make
www.danbeard.org/familyscouting a one stop shop for all of the latest resources. Our first update of that site will be by Friday, May 4. So, please check back then for the most current information.
Sincerely,
Boy Scouts of America, Dan Beard Council
