Scouting Magazine

Robert Siemann, 18, was at his home in Albertson, N.Y., when he heard loud noises coming from outside. Siemann and his father ran to investigate and saw that a garbage truck had crashed into a neighbor’s house. The truck driver was hurt but appeared to be stable. As...

Their names are splashed across Scout councils, camps, museums and awards, but who were the men who helped create the Scouting program? Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857-1941) In October 1899, several thousand Boer fighters laid siege to the South African...

Emergency Situation: You’re hiking with some friends in July at Zion National Park. It’s high noon when you begin to feel faint. Sweat pours down your forehead and into your eyes, causing you to stumble down the trail. You’re dizzy. You open your canteen for a drink...

Navigation A topographic map for identifying landscape features on your hike remains required navigational gear. With a printed map, you don’t have to worry about battery life or electronics failing or getting dropped. Likewise, a compass is foolproof and simple;...

You and your Scouts use social media to connect with friends, share photos, stay in the loop with event schedules and much more. These four scenarios will help you navigate social-media safety concerns as a parent and Scout leader. SCENARIO: While enjoying a day hike...

This story was originally published in the May-June 2017 issue of Scouting magazine. Summer is the perfect time for Scouts to earn the BSA’s special aquatics awards. Each of these awards, which focus on specific aquatic activities, is represented by a colorful patch...

This story was originally published in the March-April 2018 issue of Scouting magazine. The sky is clear and the air is still as you set out for an all-day hike with your Scouts. They check their map and adjust their pack straps, and you’re on your way. A few miles...

Rotate your phone to landscape mode to view our video of this Scouters in Action feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTJTonUzRdU Click here to view the entire Scouts in Action comic.Powered by WPeMatico

Getty Images/Istockphoto This story originally appeared in the September-October 2017 issue of Scouting magazine. Spending 10 minutes every day hunting for your keys or cellphone can convince you that you’re in the early stages of a neurodegenerative disease. Stop the...

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“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” It was Albert Einstein — who knew a thing or two about solving problems by using technology — who said this. And it is us to whom it applies now. Due to the extraordinary financial pressures that...

“Scouters in Action” subjects come from the National BSA Court of Honor. If you know of an act of heroism that should be recognized, contact your local BSA council office for a lifesaving or meritorious award application. Note: Consult approved safety...

Camp Don Harrington, Golden Spread Council, Canyon, Texas Set along a fork in the Red River, Camp Don Harrington offers views of the impressive Palo Duro Canyon as Scouts hike to different activity stations. Established as a BSA camp in 1945, the 1,600-acre property...

I love knots. There’s magic in taking a piece of rope and, with a few bends and turns, creating a remarkable structure that is as useful as it is attractive. I’m also delighted to know that people sitting around campfires thousands of years ago taught...

You’ve mastered the gold standard of Dutch oven cooking: the legendary cake-topped peach cobbler. As delicious as it is, though, the dessert delivers a ton of sugar in every bite, most of it from high fructose corn syrup. You can do better. Dutch oven meals...

If St. Louis were building its famed Gateway Arch today, it might have trouble finding enough skilled tradespeople to finish the job. According to the State of the St. Louis Workforce 2017 report, nearly 60% of companies that hire workers in the skilled trades say...

Scouting is a year-round activity. Though the temperatures rise as we enter summer, we still take Scouts outdoors. Hiking, biking, camping … these are all popular summer outings. But there’s one warm-weather activity that rules them all: aquatics. If you...

On the surface, it all seemed so seamless: one Scout troop, split into three crews based on experience level, cruising through miles and miles of the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. As the Scouts and adults from Troop 65 in Morgantown, W.Va., soaked in the...

The National Summertime Pack Award program features all sorts of prizes. There’s a streamer for the pack flag if the pack holds an activity during each summer month. There’s a streamer for the den flag if the den gets at least half its members to each of...

To earn a merit badge, a young person must work with a registered merit badge counselor. Here are some frequently asked questions about these important adult volunteers. What are the requirements to be a merit badge counselor? Counselors must be men or women of good...

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The words might have changed some over the past 110 years, but the meaning of...

Olivia Goodreau was 6 when she was bitten by a tick. She has been living with Lyme disease ever since. Now 15, she wants people to know they could be just one bite away from getting the disease themselves. Olivia is the founder of the LivLyme Foundation, a nonprofit...

Growing up in rural Arkansas, T.W. Cook spent only a year in Cub Scouting. But adult involvement was pretty much inevitable once he joined a Scouting family — his father-in-law, Verl Underwood, was a 70-year veteran — and had two sons. Cook served as...

How hard can it be to pick a daypack? Spend a few minutes in an outdoor gear shop; with the wide variety of sizes, shapes, designs, weights and prices available, it might seem more complicated than you thought. We’ll help you decide what type of daypack you need...

“Scouters in Action” subjects come from the National BSA Court of Honor. If you know of an act of heroism that should be recognized, contact your local BSA council office for a lifesaving or meritorious award application. Note: Consult approved safety...

Owasippe offers two camps for Scouts BSA members: Camp Blackhawk has a traditional dining hall, while Camp Wolverine offers hot meals delivered to your campsite — along with the option of dining in a central pavilion. If family camping is your thing, Camp...

When the giant Magellan Telescope opens sometime in the next decade, it will be 10 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. But you don’t need billion-dollar equipment to introduce your Scouts to astronomy, according to veteran merit badge counselor...

It was the sort of phone call every Cub Scout leader dreads. Mark Beard, the principal of Stone Lake Elementary School, was on the line, calling to notify Robert Rhymes, Pack 255’s committee chair, that someone at the pack’s last meeting had evidently...

Youth Protection policies are central to the BSA’s commitment to keep our members safe. Every adult volunteer must complete Youth Protection Training when they register and must retake the training every two years. Youth and adult handbooks also provide...