12U North Ga Heat Jeremiah MVP

This is a brief profile of the season for the North Ga Heat 12U Jeremiah was awarded MVP for the entire National Tournament in Florida.

 

2010 Rank Requirement Changes

Also, note the following revisions to rank requirements effective Jan 1 2010, more information on how this will apply to current scouts will be coming out soon.

2010 Rank Requirement Changes

The centennial edition of the Boy Scout Handbook will soon be available, and with the new handbook come several rank requirement changes that will be in effect as of January 1, 2010.

Tenderfoot

A Scout must teach another person how to tie a square knot using theEDGE model (explain, demonstrate, guide, and enable). He must also be able to discuss four specific examples of how he lived the points of the Scout Law in his daily life.

Second Class

A Scout must discuss the principles of Leave No Trace and explain the factors to consider when choosing a patrol site and where to pitch a tent.

He must explain what respect is due the flag of the United States.

He must again discuss four examples of how he lived four different points of the Scout Law in his daily life.

He must earn an amount of money agreed upon by the Scout and his parents and save at least 50 percent of it.

First Class

An additional requirement to the 10 separate troop/patrol activities states he must demonstrate the principles of Leave No Trace on these outings.

He must discuss four more examples of how he lived the remaining four points of the Scout Law in his daily life.

Life

A Scout must use the EDGE model to teach a younger Scout a specified skill.

Star, Life, and Eagle

Troop Webmaster and Leave No Trace trainer are two new leadership positions.

Sylvester's Philmont Article

Article

The day we arrived in Philmont was the start of the biggest adventure of our lives. The day we started was a challenging day for us. Not because of the hike, but for use to come together as a group. The next day the hike was long, difficult, and wet. That day was probably the worse day of Philmont. The next was at a rock climbing camp. When we arrived at the camp some went rock climbing some went to sleep. The fallowing day we climbed tooth of time it was a nice view but a hard hike. At the camp we had a chuck wagon dinner. The next day we picked up more food to eat. When we got to camp we participated in burro racing. Two days later we got pizza when we crossed a highway. Two days after that we arrived at Miranda a camp at the base of Baldy. The next we went up Baldy. It was very challenging. Two days later we were on our way back to base camp. The adventure was finally over.

Sylvester W

Philmont article by Jonmarc

Jonmarc W

On my Philmont expedition Trek, I learned a lot about myself and life. One of the lessons I learned was to value how lucky and fortunate I am to be living the real American dream. Another would be knowing that anything in life is possible if you have the right attitude and mindset. And also, when living in an environment where it's completely different from life at home, it is important to stay true to yourself lose control of emotions or you will suffer deeply. Hopefully these life changes will influence my self to become a better person in life.

Being away from all of my possessions and luxuries was very annoying, but it taught me to value what god gives you. For example, on of the most basic things in life I learned to value the most was living in a house and having my own room. Out in the wilderness you don't have things like toilets and air conditioning, and the usual stuff that we take for granted. Living with only the basic tools for survival made me very humble to my life back in civilization.

Usually, when someone faces a very tough task in life, they are expected to give up and not finish. But at Philmont, were we faced an 80 mile strenuous trek, we had no choice but to keep going and persevere over our struggles. At times, I admit that I really wanted to go home and quit, but I knew I had no choice. That in turn taught me that when I'm facing a difficult struggle in life and want to give up, to continue it until I'm finished.

At Philmont, not only did I have to stay strong physically, but I had to stay strong mentally. Out in the wilderness for two weeks takes a toll on the mind in reference to your attitude and motivation. At sometimes you think you're going to crack and loose all will power and become very difficult to deal with when you find that need to stay mentally tough.

At Philmont you find a lot about yourself and become stronger. Like when the going gets tough you'll always know that you can do it. You'll know that you'll stay mentally fit too. So would I do Philmont again? Defiantly not, but I learned that I'm glad I did it

Troop 206 Philmont Lamplight newsletter article

Inspired by a vision of Dea. Frank Edwards with logistics lead by Mr. Ken Barton, Jr, Crew 704-F of Troop 206 successful completed Philmont trek 29 in Cimmaron, New Mexico and returned home safely on July 16th making Troop history. Prayer, preparation, and perseverance allowed us to complete this 85+ mile hike with 40 - 50 lbs backpacks. We prepared by hiking over 1,100 miles during 11 hikes and 3 training treks since winning the lottery on November 29, 2007. There is an old proverb that says sharpen many times and cut once. That hard work paid off!

The weather was somewhat fickle but we were blessed. On the way, we had an exciting train ride up to Pikes Peak in Colorado. The elevation was 14,110'. We experienced a small hail storm. It was very cold at the summit and a few of the Scouts played in the snow during the month of July. I can still smell the ponderosa pines and hot donuts. The Philmont crew had to use and polish outdoors skills and work together as a team. In addition, to climbing the highest peak and completing one of most difficult treks at Philmont, troop 206 scouts earned the Philmont Duty to God award and gave back by completing a conservation project. Philmont is scouting at its best! I now understand why the region of the Rockies Mountains in New Mexico is called the "Blood of Christ". This place is God's Country. It is absolutely breath taking.

The desire of Troop 206 Scouts to go on this expedition was strongly influenced by the parents. Each of these young men had humbling learning and leadership experience that is very rare in our community. It will help them though their life adversities. Sadly, we were the only visible African American troop on arrival, departure and on the trail of over 350 Scouts that arrived daily.

The troop 206 Philmont 704-F crew members were blessed to have had the opportunity to have the experience to participant and complete such a wonderful adventure.

For a play-by-play of the Scoutmaster journal and pictures, please visit http://troop206news.blogspot.com/2009/08/philmont-crew-704-f-summary.html for additional highlights.

Special thanks to Rev. Dr. Lewis, the layman, parents, and Zion Missionary Baptist for your prayers and support. Special thanks to Ken Barton for entering us in the lotto. Thanks to Randy Gray, Kevin Platt and the FedEx team for their support. Thanks to Darryl Percival for your daily spiritual quotes. Thanks again to Frank Edwards for your inspiration. Thanks Sylvester Williams and Ken Barton for flying with us to Denver and driving us to the Philmont ranch. The stars and planets aligned perfectly.

I've been in the Scouting program for 8 years. Scouts learn life skills wrapped with reverent character development in the outdoors and along with great leadership skills. After understanding the program, it's very compelling not to make a contribution to the movement. I have been personally blessed in more ways than I could ever imagine. For more information on our Troop or to join us, please see our blog (http://troop206.blogspot.com) or Contact at Ziontroop206@gmail.com.