Congratulations to Mick K, Zach F, Nat W, and Rob K, who were all selected as delegates for the 2013 convening of Evergreen Boys State at Central Washington University in June.

Boys State is a summer leadership and citizenship program sponsored by the American Legion for high school students between their junior and senior years. Boys State began in 1937 and is held in each of the U.S. states (excluding Hawaii), usually on a college campus within that state. In most states, only one or two students are sent to Boys State from each high school. Therefore selection is highly competitive, and the population of students attending represents the top talent from across the state.

Program participants are first divided up into subgroups referred to as cities. The citizens of each of these cities elect mock municipal officials and representatives to the mock state legislature. If enough citizens are present, then a county level is added to the program between city and state. The participants also elect state officials, such as governor,lieutenant governor, and other state-level officials that their real state has. The legislature meets to organize, elect leaders, and to pass bills, in a way that is similar to how their actual legislature operates. Some programs tend to have a more traditional education focus, providing speakers and training throughout the week and then concluding with mock political functions. Other programs take a more hands-on approach by running the mock government activities all week.

Famous alumni of Boys State include Neil Armstrong, Tom Brokaw, Bill Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Michael Jordan, George Pataki, Dick Cheney, Michael Dukakis, Roger Ebert, Jon Bon Jovi, Trent Lott., Adam Ogden, Jeff Zantek, Thomas Karren, and Zack Turley.

The dictionary says Rec-og-nize, defined as "to show awareness of, approve of, or appreciate." Venturing is truly unique among the programs in Scouting, since there are no ranks, and without ranks, there is no advancement.  Instead, Venturing has recognition.  At the end of February, there were five more instances of distinct recognition for members of Crew 42.

Zach F was recognized with the Venturing Religious Life Bronze Award, his first Venturing program medal.  To qualify for the Bronze, he completed an extensive list of requirements that are published here.   His Religious Life Bronze is the 2nd awarded within the Crew.  Zach is also pursuing the Outdoor Bronze and the Ranger Award.

Nick W was presented with a Good Citizen Award and an Eagle Scout recognition certificate from the American Legion.

Nat W was advanced to Life Scout.  Boys who made First Class rank while they were Boy Scouts can continue on their individual trail to Eagle Scout while a Venturer.  Nat will continue working on his requirements to achieve Eagle, most notably planning and serving as a project manager for a major service project that benefits the community.

Both Zach F and Chris Z completed their Venturing Gold Awards and were presented with those medals at the most recent Crew meeting.  Zach and Chris are already feverishly at work on their Venturing Silver Awards and hope to have them completed in minimum time.  The Silver is the highest award in the Venturing program.

Success can be measured in lots of ways.  For a Scouting unit, there is an objectives-based scoring system where points are earned in 11 different areas.  The BSA calls it the Journey to Excellence or JTE.  For a Venturing Crew, they must complete 9 of the 11 requirements and score 700 points to earn a Bronze, 1,000 points for a Silver, or 1,600 points for the top level Gold.  The maximum a Crew can score is 2,600 points.

The requirements include

• how many events or activities have occurred in the past year,
• membership growth,
• retention of existing members,
• completion of formal training for the youth leaders,
• completion of formal training for the adult advisors,
• participation in a number of service projects for the community,
• have an annual major event called a Superactivity and have a majority of the Crew participate in that Superactivity,
• have regular parent meetings,
• have a written budget,
• reregister on-time, and
• have a formal fitness program.

Our Crew amassed 1,925 points and was awarded a JTE Gold Unit Award for this past year.  This is the sixth successive year that the Crew has received top unit honors from the Boy Scouts of America.  The patch can be worn on the right sleeve of the uniform.