Author: Cheryl Bilsland - NS District Communications Chair
Den Leader / Cubmaster Training 2018
A Scout deserves a Trained Leader!
Please encourage those considering or appointed to Den Leader, Assistant Den Leader, Cubmaster, Assistant Cubmaster and anyone else interested to attend training held this fall at various locations and dates:
- SEPTEMBER ROUNDTABLE (Sept. 13, 7pm);
- District-sponsored in-person training:
- SEPT. 27: St. Luke’s UMC / Luke’s Lodge, 100 W. 86th St. Indy, 7pm
- OCT. 23: Zionsville Town Hall, 1100 W. Oak St., Zionsville, 7pm
- Various other in-person training sponsored by the Crossroads of America Council – see previous article here;
- Online at my.scouting.org . [Tip: Be sure to check your browser to use this site, it prefers to use the latest versions of Google Chrome, MS Internet Explorer, Apple Safari or Mozilla Firefox.]
REVISION – Roundtable on Sept. 13 2018
Reminder – please mark your calendar for the September 13, 2018 meeting, 7:00 pm at St. Luke’s Lodge, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 West 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
Everyone is welcome!
September Roundtable topics are:
Cub Scouts:
- Q&A about Rechartering; also,
- Den leader training for new leaders, existing leaders, and adults whom the Packs would like to invite to the leadership ranks in the coming year.
Boy Scouts (Family Scouts):
- A discussion around youth and adult leadership training; also,
- An overview of OA and Firecrafter, and how to successfully implement in a troop or crew.
Please forward this information to your Den Leaders, Committee members, and Assistant Scoutmasters. They are an important part of the Roundtables’ target audience.
Remember, attending roundtables is a key requirement to earn the Scouter’s Key for both Cub Scout leaders and Boy Scout leaders.
UNIV. OF SCOUTING – November 17 2018
A Scout deserves a Trained Leader!
Please consider attending the University of Scouting, the premier training event in the council, which is one of the easiest ways for adult volunteers to achieve this goal of becoming a Trained Leader. This single-day training event is designed to supplement any leader’s training. Any Scout leader may attend. 
The University of Scouting is based on the BSA’s nationally recognized Four-Function plan, which includes:
- Program: training, camping/outdoor, advancement, and activities/civic service
- Unit service: commissioner service
- Finance: including marketing
- Membership and Relationships
Date: Saturday, November 17 2018
Time: 7am – 4pm
Location: Carmel HS Freshman Center, 520 E. Main St., Carmel IN 46032
For more information, to view the catalog and register please visit this link on the Crossroads of America Council site.
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Supplemental info for Unit Commissioners: Commissioner Training Codes_May 2018
Scholarship Fund – Voyageur Training
ATTENTION ADULTS!
Announcing a Scholarship Fund that is now available for the Voyageur Adult Canoe & Kayak Training Program!
This train-the-trainer program, established over 50 years ago, preparing adults to teach youth how to have fun safely with canoes and kayaks, is now offering scholarships.
One or more scholarships in the amount of $50.00 will be available for each Voyageur adult training class beginning in Fall of 2018. All scholarships are gifts to attend the program, and are not loans.
SCHOLARSHIP QUALIFICATIONS
1. Applicant must be a currently registered adult leader with the Boy Scouts of America.
2. Applicants must be:
a. In financial need to attend adult Voyageur training;
b. Registered with a unit within the Crossroads of America Council;
c. In a unit that is planning to conduct unit training and outings centered on canoeing and/or kayaking within the next two years.
3. Applicants must present the completed application (linked here) to the Voyageur Course Director, preferably prior to a course start date but not later than the final Saturday of the course.
The scholarship program is made possible through the generosity of Voyageur staff alumnae Don and Diane Claffey.
Please complete the Voyageur Scholarship Flyer 2018 – Fillable form and return it to David Bardos (david.bardos@att.net).
The Fall 2018 course is Sept. 7 – 9 at Camp Belzer, for more details and to register for the camp visit this page.
For more information on the program itself please visit the Voyageur website: http://www.voyageurbsa.org/ .
OPERATION POPCORN PICKUP!
Calling All Unit Popcorn Kernels!
The name of the your mission is OPERATION POPCORN PICKUP.
Date: Friday, August 24
Time: A time slot to be determined between 12noon and 5pm
Place: North Star District Popcorn Warehouse: IDS (Integrated Distribution Services), 9431 All Points Parkway, Plainfield, IN 46168
Your mission (should you choose to accept) is to help DRIVE to the NS POPCORN WAREHOUSE (IDS), ANNOUNCE YOUR NAME & UNIT (Crew, Pack, or Troop) & PICKUP THE POPCORN THAT YOU HAVE ORDERED!! Should you successfully complete your mission, you will get to take your popcorn with you and raise ALL the funds you could EVER NEED (and want) for your IDEAL YEAR OF SCOUTING!!!.
*** If you have not already done so please pick a time at the SignUp Genius Link: ***
OPERATION POPCORN PICKUP
Please contact our NS District Popcorn Kernel, Kimberly Gorham at ns.district.popcorn@gmail.com for more information.
GOOD LUCK TROOPS!!
Lange Challenge Camping Participation (Camping Log info)
From NS Camping & Outdoor Programming Chair Paul Kovach:
Several questions have come regarding how to report data for the Lange Challenge. To help better understand the Challenge criteria and how the data will be used, directly for the Challenge, and indirectly to monitor camping in the council, please read below.
The Lange Challenge
To provide additional incentive for the council to emphasis Boy Scout camping and advancement. A contribution of $100,000 per year for ten years from the ADL Charitable Trust to the Crossroads of America Council, when Challenge criteria are met.
Challenge Criteria:
Scouting continues to be guided by the Scout Oath and Law.
- Achieve Journey to Excellence Gold Standard by having a minimum of 80% of Crossroads of America Council Boy Scouts annually attend long-term summer camp and/or participate in a high adventure opportunity.
- Achieve a minimum of 42% of Crossroads of America Council Boy Scouts advancing in rank in 2015. The percentage increases each year by 1% until 50% is achieved and then maintained.
- Achieve a minimum of 60% of Crossroads of America Council Boy Scout Troops annually conducting seven short-term overnight campouts in 2015. The percentage increases each year by 1% until 70% is achieved and then maintained.
Criteria #1 and #3 directly correlate with camping participation.
- Long-term or high adventure camping events are monitored according to the JTE standard for camping, which runs from July to June as currently tabulated. Since we also want to capture the most recent summer camping season, the period for this reporting is extended through the end of August, thus the total reporting period is July 2017 to August 2018, inclusive. The reporting should count the total number of scouts in the unit participating in long-term or high adventure camping events.
- Short-term camping, such as monthly outings, are encouraged through planning in the Ideal Year of Scouting program. The requirement is for at least 7 short-term campouts over the reporting period. The reporting must count the total number of unit campout events. The spreadsheet allows additional data on each event to be reported to improve our understanding of troop events.
Thanks for your efforts towards camping data collection! If you need further clarification or have other questions, please contact Paul Kovach.
ALSO ==> See this prior post for the documents and references: Camping Log / Lange Challenge Update .
2018 Scout Popcorn Festival AUG 19!
Come one come all – this Sunday August 19, 2018, to the 2018 Scout Popcorn Festival!
See this post for details on the Festival, don’t miss out!
RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/2018CACFestival is appreciated but not required.
Full-sized flyer link: 2018 Scout Popcorn Festival Flyer.
FYI for Scouts: Pope Pius XII Religious Medal Program
What: Troop 514 (based at St Monica Catholic Church) is offering a program for scouts in 9th through 12th grades to earn the Pope Pius XII Religious Medal, which will be presented in a ceremony at the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral by Archbishop Thompson. This medal is for scouts who are Catholic.
When & Where: Troop 514 adult Chaplain Mr. Ed Isakson and Mr. Steve Schelonka will facilitate the Pope Pius XII program, which will be held at the Isaksons’ home on Sunday evenings from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm starting on August 26th and concluding in December.
To register: Please e-mail Mr. Isakson at eisakson@comcast.net by August 20th to register for this program or to obtain more information about this medal or medals available for scouts of other faiths.
Also, please see the link below for a description of the Pope Pius XII medal from the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. It is a great opportunity for high school-age scouts to discuss how their faith affects the choices they make in life regarding careers, service, and state of life (marriage, single life, religious life, and priesthood).
Learn more: https://www.nccs-bsa.org/index.php/religious-emblems/pope-pius-xii.
You can also contact Troop 56 Assistant Scout Master Ed Parada if you have questions (Edparada@sbcglobal.net).
New EAGLE SCOUTS – August 2018
CONGRATULATIONS to the following Scouts who passed their Boards of Review this month (August 2018):
This group led the completion of over 747 project hours, and three Scouts earned four Eagle Palms between them (2 Bronze, 1 Gold and 1 Silver). Hearty Congratulations Eagle Scouts!
Roundtable Notes – Aug 9 2018
From District Commissioner Stephen Heath:
1 – Adult Leader Recruiting / Retention
At our August 9th Roundtable, attendees discussed the need to recruit and train adult leaders in order to sustain the cub and boy scout programs. A few ideas that came forth included:
- Provide a parent welcome guide for new parents, explaining operations of the unit and expectations for parent involvement
- Provide an adult talent sheet to understand occupations and skills, which could be deployed as den leaders, future treasurers, advancement chairs, merit badge counselors and cub/scoutmasters.
- The packs and troops can do more to work closely to ensure that both boys and adults are recruited. Several troop leaders offered to help support pack recruiting events. This also helps connect the troops to help retain boy and adult membership through crossover.
- Several units stated that they have parent packets in use. Pack 830 provided their guides in case another pack would like to use some of that content.
LINK: Cub Scout Pack 830 Guide
2 – CAC Fall Service Events: “Good Turn for Nature”
Crossroads of America Council is sponsoring service events this fall around the theme of Good Turn for Nature. Details are available at http://www.crossroadsbsa.org/123. Along those lines, Dan Corum and Pack 358 have opened up their trail cleanup service project to others in the district who might be interested in attending with their boys. The event is Oct 6th, from 10 AM to 12 PM, and anyone interested should contact Dan at corum.daniel@gmail.com.
3 – Recording of Service Hours
Are you recording your service hours, as we get close to recharter and filling out our Journey to Excellence? Here are some helps.
Record Service Hours (BSA) Video
https://servicehours.scouting.org/UI/Security/Login.aspx
4 – Pack 105 Five-year Program Plan
Pack 105 recently shared its 5-year program plan to help provide a well-structure program with intentional variety so that each boys gets a diverse experience in his 5 years as a cub scout. There are also Webelos campout plans, and a guide for teaching the Whittling Chip. If anyone is interested in those program helps, please let Jessica, Mark or I know, and we’ll make that information available to you, courtesy of John Salewicz.
5 – “One Hike per Month” (& September Roundtable “homework”)
Finally, we have an outstanding action from the spring for Troops in the District to organize one hike per month for the cub/boy scout units, as a means to keep the outing and comradery in scouting. For troops with the means to support this, please be prepared to sign up for specific months and events at the September Roundtable.
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The next Roundtable is on September 13, 7:00 pm at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 West 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
September Roundtable topics are:
– Cub Scouts: Den Leader Training
– Boy Scouts (Family Scouts): Leadership Training Opportunities / Firecrafter and OA Programs
Yours in Scouting,
Stephen Heath, North Star District Commissioner
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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