Venturing's Corps of Discovery Honor Program

[John-in-KC]

This is identically posted here in OA and at Venturing.

 

If you have practical experience in implementing the Corps Of Discovery program within your Crew, District, Council, or higher, please PM me so we can converse offlist.

 

Eagle son (also a Venturer) just called me from one of our Scout Reservations ... apparently our Council VOA is contemplating rolling out COD.

 

YIS/ICS/IFAW, John

[nldscout]

From what I have seen its not gaining any headway, the youth just don't want it

[Beavah]

I mostly agree with nldscout. The only folks that seem to be pushin' it are Boy Scouters who are OA advocates who have moved into Venturing. The "native" Venturing crews don't seem very interested, and it doesn't really seem like it fits with da Venturing "style".

[John-in-KC]

B,

 

We have a unique challenge in our Council. We have a very strong OA Lodge (we induct on the order of 800 Ordeal members, and we seal membership on about 600 Brotherhood members annually). We also have a very strong honor society for Boy Scouts at the H Roe Bartle Scout Reservation (Mic-o-Say). Both are reasons why a relatively small metropolitian area (we are nearly the smallest MLB and NFL market) camps over 10,000 youth and adults just at Boy Scout Camp each year.

 

Our challenge is we don't have something to recognize our young women Venturers who serve on staff at our two camps. They have to wait until they are 21. These young women understand "Cheerful Service" better than most "dues-paying" Arrowmen. The dilemma is how to honor them.

 

Eagle son finished his staff job last week. He then went from one Reservation to the other, from being Staff to being a camper, at our summer Venturing Blast (what a schedule: Up, breakfast, lakefront, lunch, craft work, POOL, dinner, POOL, bed... those are his own words)

 

The Council VOA met at Blast. Working with the volunteer Scouters (an experienced bunch, mind you) who were unit leaders and staffers, the VOA came up with the idea. The youth have already approached our Council Director of Support Services for guidance and support ... and he's agreed to give it.

 

There's the backstory... it's something coming from the young adults, now, as I asked at the beginning of this thread... If you have practical experience in implementing the Corps Of Discovery program within your Crew, District, Council, or higher, please PM me so we can converse offlist.

 

[Beavah]

Yah, da backstory makes all the difference, eh? Good on yeh for makin' all those programs work and be excitin', and for thinkin' about the young lasses and listening to your youth.

 

Unfortunately, can't help you; COD isn't really "present" yet around here. Probably takes a critical mass to get goin'.

 

Beavah

 

[eaglescout07]

Have you gone to this website? http://members.aol.com/venturecod/index.html This site has a lot of information to start the COD program. It seems like a good way to honor venturers.

[John-in-KC]

ES07...

 

Yep.

[nldscout]

Since COD seems to be going no where, why not get the VOA to design an honors program. Thats what they did with OA and Micosay years ago.

 

Give the VOA the mission and backing and send them charging off.

[emb021]

"Since COD seems to be going no where, why not get the VOA to design an honors program. Thats what they did with OA and Micosay years ago."

 

Sorry, but I don't understand your comment.

 

Neither the OA or Mic-O-Say were created by youth to be an 'honors program'. The OA was created by a couple of adults to be a camp society, Mic-O-Say was created by an adult to be a camp society. Except for one, all the various camp societies/scouting honor groups/etc were created by adults.

 

Keep in mind that adults can be fairly successful at creating programs that will appeal to kinds. Remember that this thing call Scouting was created by a middle class white male in his 50s!

 

 

 

[CNYScouter]

I do like the idea of a Venturing Honors Program.

One of the problems I see with COD is that you need to have a strong Venturing program in a council before this can be put in place and the youth members even thinking about it.

 

I do think that this will need to be adult driven in the beginning.

Unless an adult tells youth about this program I doubt very much it will happen on its own.

 

I know there are a few councils out there with strong programs but I dont know if there is enough of them to make this happen.

 

In my council and the councils that border us even have a VOA.

Some of the Ship members have asked about this and I am trying to set up a Venturing Roundtable this fall as the first step to put together a VOA.

 

I dont think that COD will take off until more councils build strong Venturing programs.

 

As emb021 pointed out that this thing call Scouting was created by a middle class white male in his 50s!

 

I do know that it will never happen unless one of us makes it happen

Perhaps John-in-KC (or someone from another area with a strong Venturing Program) you can forge ahead, start this program and show us how its done.

 

 

[trailfinder52@yahoo.com]

 

Corps of Discovery is needed, adults need to introduce it to youth and then let youth run it. Councils need to promote it to Venturing adults and youth. OA Lodges need to look at this as a cooperative opportunity. Let's get rid of this competition between Venturers and Boy Scouts and the nit picking. So what if COD would be co-ed, this just might take some of the pressure off of OA to accept female Venturers. And forge a lasting friendship, imagine that unity in scouting.