News
Hoosier Trails Offers IOLS and BALOO Training
Hoosier Trails Council (our neighbor to the south and council surrounding Ransburg) is offering Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills and Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation Trainings (just a few minutes past Ransburg and just short of the Deem Wilderness fire tower).
These both take place Saturday, May 13, 2017.
IOLS is required to be a “Trained” Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster. It must be taken in person. It is required to recharter with your unit for next fall as a scoutmaster or ASM.
If you have a new scoutmaster or ASM starting in August, send them to this trainings so that they are prepared to hit the ground running.
REMINDER: No March Roundtable – Annual Recognition Dinner
Don’t forget that we will not hold a March Roundtable. Instead we will be attending the Annual District Recognition at Palomino Club in Zionsville.
Spring Camporee Meeting Sunday
Just a quick reminder to our Scout Troops that the Camporee planning meeting will be this Sunday, March 5, 2017 beginning at 6:00 pm at St. Luke’s Luke’s Lodge outbuilding at 100 W 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
From Mark Pishon, Camporee Chair:
Purpose: We will have a planning meeting this Sunday, March 5, 2017 for the Spring Camporee from 6-7:30 pm.Location of Planning Session: Lodge Building in back, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church,100 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46260Camporee Theme is “Shoot the Moon“.Date of Camporee: April 21 – 23, 2017Location of Camporee: Camp RansburgNorth Star has reserved all rifle, shotgun, and archery ranges for shooting sports.We have reserved two ridges of campsites and the dinning hall.Please have a troop representative at the meeting.
Cub Scout Camping: When do we schedule it?
When to schedule summer camp?
Simply put . . . now. Reservations are open now.
Outdoor activities are absolutely crucial to building a scout’s passion for scouting and for retaining the family.
Few families stay with scouting without a determined and repeated contact with camping and outdoor activities.
For a Cub Scout Pack leader, recruiting families to participate in Camp Belzer Cub Scout Day Camp or Camp Kikthawenund Webelos Overnight Adventure Camp means a quick measure of the likelihood of the boy’s participation in scouting 24 months later. A scout may miss the following summer camp and still remain with the pack. But he is less likely to attend the following year and then is more likely to drop out.
For Cubs who have done Camp Belzer, a great option is to try Adventure Camp. It is open for Wolf, Bear, and Webelos. It takes fewer days but has more overnights. This is much more amenable to a busy family’s schedule.
Many packs offer both camps. It takes a few more adults, but has great success.
Busy families plan months ahead. To persuade them to do summer camp, you need to make the sales pitch now. Lock the time in.
Send emails. Put it on your Facebook feed. Talk about it at a meeting. Bring the District’s Camping Committee members in to promote camping. Then, and most importantly, make a phone tree to individually call families and ask them to attend. If you do not make the ask to each family, their participation will be less likely.
If you have families who have tough questions, ask the District Camping Committee for advice or ask them to call the family. Contact Camping Chair Rick Aker for more information. (If that email does not work, let me know.)
We are here to help your Cub Scout Pack have a wonderful year in retention.
New Law’s Opportunity for Scouting Recruitment
The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) is the successor to the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) of the Bush 43 years, expiring in 2007. The ESSA will have major impacts on school funding from the federal government and the expectations of schools that accept that funding.
Here is a quick overview. Worth noting is a requirement that is summarized as (italics added),
Districts that get more than $30,000 have to spend at least 20 percent of their funding on at least one activity that helps students become well-rounded, and another 20 percent on at least one activity that helps students be safe and healthy. And part of the money can be spent on technology.
Indiana will also have a say on how this new federal law is implemented. Indiana Code sec. 20-30-5-5 now requires,
Sec. 5. (a) Each public school teacher and nonpublic school teacher who is employed to instruct in the regular courses of grades 1 through 12 shall present the teacher’s instruction with special emphasis on:
(1) honesty;
(2) morality;
(3) courtesy;
(4) obedience to law;
(5) respect for the national flag and the Constitution of the State of Indiana and the Constitution of the United States;
(6) respect for parents and the home;
(7) the dignity and necessity of honest labor; and
(8) other lessons of a steadying influence that tend to promote and develop an upright and desirable citizenry.(b) The state superintendent shall prepare outlines or materials for the instruction described in subsection (a) and incorporate the instruction in the regular courses of grades 1 through 12.
While this statute refers specifically to in-classroom curriculum, we can see that the principles of the Scout Oath and Law are required to be taught in a school.
Being aware of this curriculum requirement and being able to refer to it when communicating with our schools as prospective Chartered Organizations helps demonstrate how scouting serves their statutory mission. Having the studies (e.g., Tufts study on scouting) referred to in the FAQ attached is another way to reinforce proof of scouting’s successes in meeting these statutory requirements.
Council has prepared a Frequently Asked Questions flyer on how scouting can contribute to bringing a school into compliance with these requirements.
Read through the FAQ and learn more about scouting and its benefits to schools. Then you can be an informed supporter of Council’s efforts to be re-introduced to schools.
Solicitation of Donations for Recognition
For Thursday, March 9, 2017’s Recognition Dinner, we are looking for donations of scout paraphenalia for the auction.
If you have a donation, contact Con Sullivan.
Wabash Valley District Cub and Webelos Leader Training
Council through our Wabash Valley District will host at Camp Wildwood in Terre Haute a Cub Scout Leader Training on April 8, 2017, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, for more information contact the Terre Haute Service Center 812-232-9496.
Later in the month, they will host Outdoor Webelos Leader Skills Training (which is similar to IOLS but specific to Webelos Leaders) April 22-23, 2017 at Camp Wildwood from 9 am (Sat) – 12 pm (Sun) – For more information contact the Terre Haute Service Center 1-812-232-9497. You will likely need to plan to stay overnight. OWLS is very important in the new Webelos advancement program. The increased emphasis on outdoor skills and working as a “patrol” require a Webelos Den Leader have more knowledge than the old advancement requirements. Get ready for the 2017-18 Webelos Den Program by getting trained now.
Sagamore Council Offers BALOO in Lebanon on April 1
No joke, BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) will be offered by our neighboring council to the north, Sagamore right outside our back door.
It will be West Lebanon on April 1, 2017. See their website for more information.
This training is required of at least one Cub Leader attending a Pack camp out. Prepare your new leaders for the Fall of 2017’s campouts by getting them trained now.
2017 Wabash Valley BALOO Training Day
This event will help meet the requirement that every pack have at least 1 adult trained for an outdoor activity. This will only help Pack Leaders, not Boy Scout leaders. This training will last 1 day and help cover a variety of subjects to help your Cubs have a fun and safe outdoor experience. All leaders may take the course, not just Cubmasters. The event will move to the West Lebnaon “Scout Woods” for lunch and outdoor activities. less
Location: West Lebanon Library Cost: Individuals registered by March 10th at 5pm will be able to attend for free. Registrations after 5pm will cost $10, up until March 28th at 5pm. No walk in registrations will be accepted. Reservation by: Individual Participant For: Adult Participant Registration: 1/8/2017 Midnight – 3/28/2017 6:00 PM Event Contact: [dead link]
NEEDED: Range Officer Training in Preparation for Spring Camporee
For our Spring Camporee, we need range safety officers. The more RSO’s we have, the more we can use the ranges for more scouts.
Dan Beard Council in Cincinnati is offering the US Archery Level 1 Instructor Course on March 25, 2017. This is at Cubworld, part of the Camp Friedlander campus just within the eastern outskirts of Greater Cincinnati.
They are offering BB and Archery Rangemaster training on April 1, 2017 at the same Cubworld.
They are offering the NRA Instructor Training and another version with Pistols on the weekend of March 17-19, 2017. Familiarity with firearms safety is a pre-requisite. See the website for more information. The basic instructor training is only $35.00. This is at Camp Friedlander (see notes above).
Please help us by sending a member of your troop to the training in preparation for our great Spring Camporee!
Scoutmaster Specific Training in March
On March 18, 2017,Wabash Valley District will offer Scoutmaster Specific Training at Terre Haute’s Camp Wildwood, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, for more information contact the Terre Haute Service Center 812-232-9496.
This training is required to recharter as a scoutmaster or assistant scoutmaster in the Fall of 2017.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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