News & Notes – December 2022

A few items to close out the year:

Do a Good Turn, but do the right thing

It’s the Scouting way to Do a Good Turn Daily, and to help others at all times. At the holiday season, we often turn to those outside our units to give assistance. Scouts collect food items for our food banks and homeless shelters, provide assistance to our chartered organizations with their events, or help the school with their holiday fair. But be careful that you don’t run afoul of the Boy Scouts of America’s rules when it comes to helping others. Continue reading “News & Notes – December 2022”

News & Notes – August 2022

Here are some  updates to be aware of this month:

Fee increase

Just like everything else, the registration fees charged by the Boy Scouts of America are going up once again. This has become an annual occurrence in recent years and shouldn’t be surprising, in that the cost of just about everything is going up. Here’s a summary of the new annual fees that will be charged by the National Council effective August 1, 2022:

  • $75 for youth members in Cub Scouting, ScoutsBSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting (up from $72)
  • $45 for Exploring participants (no change)
  • $45 for adult members (no change)
  • $100 annual charter fee, paid at rechartering (up from $75)
  • $15 for ScoutLife (up from $12)

The joining fee (for first-time youth members only) remains $25.

So, sharpen your pencils and re-calculate the fees you’ll be charging your new members this fall and at rechartering toward the end of this year. Continue reading “News & Notes – August 2022”

News & Notes – June 2022

A few items to be aware of this month:

2022 Journey to Excellence scorecards

The Boy Scouts of America has released the latest update to the annual Journey to Excellence scorecards, which list the unit evaluation items that go into determining a unit’s JTE status at the end of the year. We’ve always encouraged unit leaders to use the scorecard a few times a year to see how they’re doing. Now is a good time to see how the first half of the year went and what might need to be improved upon going forward.

Here are the key differences: Continue reading “News & Notes – June 2022”

News & Notes – May 2022

A few items to be aware of this month:

ScoutsBSA joining requirements tweaked

A minor change has been made to the requirements to join a ScoutsBSA troop effective on April 18. Those youth who are ten years old, but who have not yet earned the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light award, need not wait until they’ve completed fifth grade.  They can join a troop on or after March 1 of their fifth-grade year. This will allow them to get in the swing of things with the troop, go on a couple campouts, and be more ready to attend summer camp than if they waited until June. Continue reading “News & Notes – May 2022”