In Congress, it’s the rare subject about which there’s unanimous agreement.

It’s the Congressional Award, the highest recognition Congress bestows on young people. To qualify, a young person must meet certain goals in four key areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition/exploration.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yes, many of the activities young people enjoy in Scouting fit nicely into those four categories. Better yet, double-dipping is encouraged, meaning work on merit badges, rank requirements and Eagle projects counts toward the award.

This natural correlation explains why, in 1999, the BSA became partners with the Congressional Award Foundation, which remains Congress’ only charity.

As jobs and colleges become increasingly more competitive, the Congressional Award — along with a young person’s experience in Scouting — will look great on a résumé. That “something extra” is exactly what hiring managers and college admissions counselors want to see.

Scouts have been earning the Congressional Award ever since it was established in 1979. In 2019, at least 75 of the 538 Congressional Award Gold Medal recipients were Scouts. But I say it’s time to raise that number even higher. The award is noncompetitive, meaning anyone who properly completes the requirements will receive the award.

Important: Scouts must register first

Before you consider retroactively counting Scouting experience toward the award, let me point out one key statement from the Congressional Award site: “This is not an award for past accomplishments. Instead, you are honored for achieving your own challenging goals after registering for the program.”

That means your Scouts should register for the award as soon as possible after turning 13.5 years old, giving them the maximum amount of time to count Scouting requirements toward their progress.

But even if your Scout or Venturer is 16, 17 or older, all hope is not lost. They have until their 24th birthday to complete the requirements.

‘Things I was already doing in Scouting’

After registering, any qualifying activity — in school, Scouting or another extracurricular activity — can count toward the award. That fact is confirmed in the award’s FAQs: “If you belong to groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Venturing, 4-H, etc., your activities may often be used to achieve a particular goal.”

That was certainly the case for Eagle Scout Todd Christian, who earned the Congressional Award in 2019, at age 23.

“I completed all of the requirements for the program exclusively through the things I was already doing through Scouting,” he says.

Christian earned the Gold Medal, which is the highest of the Congressional Award’s six levels. That top honor includes an invite to the national award ceremony in Washington, D.C., where honorees meet other recipients as well as their congressional representatives. (Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ceremony was held virtually.)

The Gold Medal requires at least 400 hours of volunteer time, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness, and an expedition of at least five days and four nights.

“Essentially, anyone who completes a multiday trek as well as a comprehensive service project — what we call an Eagle project — has already overcome a major hurdle to receiving the top award,” Christian says.

The entry-level award — the Bronze Certificate — is within even closer reach for most Scouts. It requires 30 hours of volunteer service, 15 hours of personal development, 15 hours of physical fitness, and a one-day expedition or exploration.

“Virtually every Scout has met these requirements many times over, just by being a Scout,” Christian says.

Learn more about the program and how you can earn your award.

Do you know where to find up-to-the-minute safety information for Scouts and Scouters? The scouting.org website. Take time to become familiar with all the safety information under Scouting Safely to help all of us keep Scouts safe.

• Scouting Safely Alerts
• Guide to Safe Scouting
• The Sweet 16 of BSA Safety
• Annual Health and Medical Record
• Incident Reporting
• Safety Moments

The following merit badges have been updated as of January 1, 2021.

• Archaeology (4b; requirements 8-11 reordered)
• Collections (1, 5a, 5c, 5e, 5f; deleted 7; added 3d)
• Digital Technology (5b)
• Disability Awareness (1a, 1b)
• Electricity (10)
• Fish and Wildlife Management (3)
• Fishing (10)
• Fly-Fishing (10, 11)
• Lifesaving (1, 2, 15, 16)
• Motorboating (1a, 2a, 3a, 4, 5a, 5c)
• Photography (1a, 1b)
• Public Health (1)
• Rowing (2)
• Sports (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 4)
• Theater (5, added 3j)
• Woodwork (7)

This one comes courtesy of Partners in Patriotism, a nonprofit organization established by the Kraft Group as a community outreach group for the town of Foxborough.

This week’s #NoteworthyNeighbor is lifelong resident Joseph Gonsalves! An Eagle Scout, Joseph built the Storybook Trail behind the Lane Property for his Eagle Project in 2017. The Storybook Trail is a half-mile loop with 25 posts along the way, each featuring a page of a children’s book covered in plexiglass, so as people walk the trail, they read the book. Since he built the trail, it has been vandalized on four separate occasions, and Joseph has gone back to repair it each time. “Normally, once you complete an Eagle Project it is done and over with, but I couldn’t let that be true with my project,” Joseph said. “I saw how much the families in Foxboro enjoyed the trail. I was taught to give back to the community whenever you’re able to, no matter how big or how small the act. The community showed me so much support when they heard about the vandalism that I had to fix it for them, and I hope it is here for a long time for families to enjoy.”

Joseph, a senior in high school, continues to be involved with Troop 32, Foxborough where he currently serves as Troop Chaplain. Michael Gawronski served as Joseph’s Scoutmaster at the time of his Project. Troop 32’s current Scoutmaster is Jonathan Trudell.

The BSA National Service Center has just released a new Charter Organization Agreement that must be signed by either the Institutional Head and/or Chartered Organization Representative.

We understand that a number of units have already submitted their charters to their unit commissioner or district recharter representative. If a unit has submitted their packet with the old form, your district executive or a member of the council staff will be reaching out to let you know that the unit must submit the new form. We understand this is an inconvenience, the importance of this updated agreement is critical to Chartered Organizations. The new form includes language directly addressing insurance and indemnification of the Chartered Organization.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may bring, the number one priority is always the safety and protection of our members and partners.

Make Your Summer Camp Plans Now!

Mayflower Council is giving you more options for the Summer of 2021!

Cub Scouts Rock!

Cub Adventure Day Camp, located at Camp Resolute in Bolton, MA will once again offer an outstanding weekday program for boys and girls completing grades 1-4. Now in its 48th year, Adventure Day Camp provides traditional Scout games and achievement opportunities, archery, BB instruction, nature, sports, swimming, fishing and outdoor camp skills. From 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday-Friday, our young people are challenged with ongoing activities that will help them develop self-confidence, independence and teamwork skills. Cub Adventure Day Camp will run six one-week sessions from July 12 – August 20. Get set for a rockin’ great time!

Weekly Overnight Troop Adventures!

Camp Squanto is Mayflower Council’s designated resident summer camp, for 2021, for week-long summer camp fun! Located in Plymouth, MA, Camp Squanto is situated on 650 acres deep in the woods of Myles Standish State Forest with its own private, natural pond. With 14 campsites to choose from, since 1925, Camp Squanto continues to offer a unique, Cape Cod-style wooded experience with archery, .22 rifle and skeet ranges, nature, sports, swimming, sailing, fishing and outdoor Scout skills. Typically, Scout Troops attend as a unit for a Sunday-Saturday experience. However, individual Scouts are also encouraged to attend and join in with other Scouts who form a Troop for a week. Camp Squanto is fully equipped with activity areas, expansive waterfront, new showers, flush toilets, a trading post, Scout Museum and a beautiful Dining Hall pavilion. Camp Squanto will offer six one-week sessions from July 11 – August 21. Let the adventures begin!

Scouts BSA Day Experiences!

Camp Resolute re-imagined! An exciting new day program is being developed that will offer a weekly summer day experience for all Scouts BSA members. Think of it as an outdoor adventure park operating daily Monday – Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm! You’ll be able to choose traditional Scout activities and advancement programs like nature, campcrafts and outdoor cooking or enjoy our outdoor climbing course, archery, rifle shooting, fishing, boating, sailing and swimming and much more! Our Resolute day experience program will run six one-week sessions from July 12 – August 20. You set your pace – you set your experience!

But that’s not all for Camp Resolute – stay tuned as we set the future course for a brand new twist on the camp we all love. We promise you an entirely new experience! Stay tuned for more information and details!

Philmont Scout Ranch!
This promises to be the highlight of your Scouts life – many consider it a life-changing experience!
A special contingent limited to 12 Scouts will head to the 200 square mile BSA’s premier National High Adventure area located in New Mexico for a 12 day backpacking adventure traversing at least 50 miles along the rocky, rugged terrain of the Sangre De Christo mountains. Along the way, our Crew will participate in programs that combine the best of the old West – horseback riding, burro packing, gold panning, rock climbing, burro racing, meals over stoves and fires and campfires under a gazillion stars that light up the night sky. Scouts must be at least 14 years old and advisors at least 21.

More info on all these Summer 2021 experiences now available
Adventure Day Camp
Scouts BSA Day Camp
Scouts BSA Resident Camp

Mayflower Council Camps
All Mayflower Camps are led by trained camp and program directors who are certified by National BSA Camp Schools. Our camps are certified by a camp visitation team approved by the Boy Scouts of America, licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Accredited by the American Camp Association and comply with regulations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and are licensed by the local board of health. All adults involved in our Camp Programs have undergone specific leadership training as well as updated Youth Protection certification.

On the “My Application” tab you can transfer yourself as an adult volunteer or your youth member from
unit to unit.

Unit leaders will be able to transfer youth by going to the new “Roster” feature in “Member Manager” and “Organization Manager” and select the youth who
need to be transferred, then click the “Transfer” icon.

This will create a transfer application which will be sent to the new unit with the ability to be approved in “Application Manager”.

Transfers will take 48 hours to sync with the new unit.

The “Roster” tool also allows unit leaders to email other leaders in the unit directly from the tool.

Editing youth and adult profiles, and printing rosters and membership cards is also available in the updated tool.

Click image to download

If you’re a Scout leader you do not need to add new members to Scoutbook manually. All new Scouts, adult leaders and transfers require an application that is sent to the council service center. Once the registration is processed, the systems will sync and Scoutbook will automatically update with your new members (usually within 24 hours.) Adding members manually will create duplicate profiles and can cause issues with advancement and training.

It is that time of the year again, time for charter renewal. The recharter link is open and can be found here. There are a few things to remember to make the recharter process simple:

1. If you have applications to turn in, turn them in before you start the process so we can enter those in. Otherwise you will need to input those in during the process.
2. All registered adults must have an updated background check form on file to remain registered. If you’re not sure if you turned one in, you can contact Marcella at the service center to verify.
3. If you have not received your access code or have misplaced it, contact your district executive or commissioner and we will get it to you. Remember to register as a new user first and set up your password. After that you can use the regular log in.
4. Instructions on online rechartering can be found here.

Good luck and as always, contact your district executive if you have questions.