Scouts BSA DC Troop 248 for Girls - Scoutmaster Answers Your Questions
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cburkhardt
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I'm the volunteer Scoutmaster of new Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls that opens this and next month to serve girls age 11-17 across the District at All Souls Episcopal Church. I followed postings a few months ago comparing the merits of various youth programs, and think those issues were thoroughly discussed. So, I am going to respond to any questions about what we will be doing with the girls in Scouts BSA. I don't know much about other girl youth programs, so if you want to talk about other youth programs or the merits of girls being in Scouts BSA, I invite you to start a separate posting.
You probably know that this is the program formerly called "Boy Scouts" implemented in an all-girl environment. Extensive information about how we will operate within the District is found at www.ScoutsBsaDcGirls.org. Our Scouts BSA Troop for Girls will be all-girl and not co-ed. Girls will elect their own leaders and lead the organization with adult advice. Our group will probably start with between 20 and 30 girls and grow to between 60 and 80 by year end. The Troop will be subdivided into smaller groups called "patrols". We have 18 adult women and men volunteer leaders already, seven of whom serve on our intensively-involved "Scoutmasters Staff", which I lead. The purpose of the organization is to teach ethical decision making skills through use of leadership, citizenship and personal fitness activities. The outdoors is one of our principal classrooms, and we will have an outdoor trip or hike each month. The entire Troop will attend a week of residential summer camp. Our girls interact with outstanding women leaders each month, as we invite them in to share their stories and respond to questions. We meet twice a month on Saturday mornings at a safe location close to a metro stop. We do not sell cookies, popcorn or any other products and rely on member dues and third-party contributions to help pay dues of children from under-resourced families. Please post your questions and I will answer them in groups a few times a day. I won't discuss our "open house" welcome parties set for this month, as that information is already posted in the appropriate place on this blog. I have taken the unusual step of posting a duplicate message on the education forum to alert teachers to this (we have 2 teachers on our Scoutmaster Staff). |
Anonymous
| No questions, but wanted to wish you good luck with this endeavor. YIS. |
cburkhardt
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| Dear YIS: Thanks for the good wishes. We have 14 girls already signed-up and we have not had our first of two open house events, so we think we are on the right track. Our group is dedicated to improving the prospects of these girls. |
Anonymous
+1. |
Anonymous
| My son just got his Eagle Scout and I wish my DD could gave had the opportunity to...but timing is too late for her. Anyway...part boy scouts was always "boy lead'. You seem very organized etc...but I hope you will let the troop form it own identify in terms activities and focus. Maybe meeting with community leaders is great....or a total turn off. Our kid leadership meets once a month to plan as they wish with adults only offering guidance. Reading your description seemed really different from the scouting I know. |
Anonymous
| How many girls do you have signed up and what are their ages? |
Anonymous
| Will you be doing outdoor camping this year? If so, where? |
Anonymous
| Do you have enough leaders and the right kind of leaders to get your troop to Eagle Scout? |
Anonymous
| How will your program differ from programs for boys? Will merit badges be added that girls might have more of an interest in? |
cburkhardt
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| Great Questions. Regarding the ages of girls who join Scouts BSA this spring, I anticipate our formation group will skew younger (11-13). However, there are provisions for girls older than that to participate and even make Eagle (if that is an interest for them). We have 14 girls so far, but we don't release further information our of privacy concerns. The girls will elect their leaders and will participate in filling-out what will happen during future activities. Of course we will be flexible and adjust to their interests. |
cburkhardt
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More good questions. Over the course of the year we will offer no fewer than six weekend camping opportunities (2 nights at a camp within 2 hours drive of the District), a full week of summer residential camp at nearby Goshen Scout Reservation, and an annual optional summer trip. This year the optional trip will be to visit the International Scout Jamboree in West Virginia.
So far we now have 18 adult volunteer leaders. Seven are on our Scoutmaster Staff (I hope to add 2 more), and the rest are on our Troop Committee. We welcome additional leaders as well, each of which must take Youth Protection Training required by the Episcopal Church and BSA. You do not need experience in youth programming to join us. The BSA national organization regularly adds and subtracts merit badges based on the interests of youth members. I anticipate the national organization will be adding merit badges that address girl-specific interests and hobbies to the extent these are not already reflected in the huge number of merit badges already available. The principal "required" merit badges will remain the same (line camping, cooking, swimming, citizenship, etc.). |
cburkhardt
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| Scouts BSA will have the same program requirements for boys and girls. Naturally the implementation of that program is through the elected youth leaders who work largely with the Scoutmasters. |
Anonymous
| Our daughter is interested—what are the membership fees? How much are the parents expected to participate? |
Anonymous
| Can you go into more detail about the “patrols?” How will they be divided up (ie, will my daughter be able to be in a patrol with her friend)? Will the patrols do the same activities at the same time? |
cburkhardt
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Adult Participation -- This is clipped from our web site:
"The parents or guardian of each girl are required to be either a member of our Troop Committee (for those who want to be episodically active with us) or the Support Committee (for those who want to help 3 times per year with tasks like transportation and chaperoning). You must assure regular participation of your girl at our Saturday morning meetings or she will fall behind in acquiring her Scouting skills. The BSA conducts a background check for registered Troop Committee Members and out Scoutmaster Staff." Fees -- This is also clipped from our web site. "Per-semester $200 membership dues cover Scout Handbook and all meeting and program costs. (paid at beginning of each semester) 50% dues discount for each additional girl in the same family. Participation in monthly campouts costs $50 each (includes food) and we estimate girls will participate in 4 each (totaling $200/year). A week of summer camp is about $400. We collect online using VISA. We have a fund to help families who cannot pay our full fees." Our site has a one-page posting with all the basics a parent needs to know at: http://scoutsbsadcgirls.org/adults/information-for-parents/. As a bit of additional information on the fees, our Troop Committee decided that rather than have parents and children engage in product sales and similar fund-raising, we would just ask for dues that cover the fully-loaded cost of participation. So these fees cover everything. Patches, program materials, campouts, food, camp fees, everything. If you total up the grand amount for a girls who would fully-participate with us for a year it would be just under $1,000. Less than the cost of a single weekend to an away activity for a travel sports team or school group. This is "dirt cheap" in comparison. To child will be turned away whose family cannot pay these full fees. We have a fund to help. |