ScoutsBSA Troop 3 offers a year-round, adventure-based program designed to develop and encourage effective character, citizenship, and fitness training for boys age 10.5-17 (and 364 days). We are a part of the Boy Scouts of America’s mission to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
In addition to camping, Scouts and adult leaders enjoy activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing, target-shooting, and more, all while accommodating the needs of today’s busy families. Troop 3 participates in the BSA’s extensive Merit Badge program, enabling Scouts to learn not only vital life skills, such as First Aid, Cooking, and Personal Finance, but giving them a chance to explore careers, as well, by studying welding, plumbing, surveying, the law, and scholarship, to name but a few. Other merit badges, such as farm mechanics, forestry, wood carving, and the like, broaden their experiences and enrich their lives.
Here, then, is Scouting in a nutshell: A game for boys under the leadership of boys with the wise guidance and counsel of a grown-up who has still the enthusiasm of youth in him. A purposeful game, but a game just the same, a game that develops character by practice, that trains for citizenship–through experience in the out-of-doors
William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt
Scouts advance in rank by following the Four Steps to Advancement. Or activities are designed to afford boys the opportunity to advance.
- The Scout learns. They learns Scouting skills by taking an active, hands-on part in troop and patrol meetings and outdoor programs. this learning, as we said above, is the natural outcome of their regular Scouting activities — their “on-the-job” training.
- The Scout is tested. When their leaders see that the Scout has mastered a given skill and satisfied a given requirement, they tell them so — and record the achievement.
- The Scout is reviewed. When a Scout completes all requirements for a rank, they appear before a “board of review” composed of members of the troop committee. Their purpose is not to retest the Scout, but to make sure the Scout has met all the requirements, to chat with the Scout about how they feel they are getting along with the troop and its program, and of course to encourage them to keep advancing.
- The Scout is recognized. When a Scout is certified by the Board of Review, they are awarded the new badge of rank as soon as possible, normally in a ceremony at the next troop meeting. The Scout should be recognized again at the troop’s next court of honor.
