Leader INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 2 Michael J. Lolli Scholarship 3 2018 VOA Elections 3-4 Council VLA’s 5 View Point 6 Rendezvous Rewind 6 VenturingFest 7 Venturing Resources 7 Lock-in Recap 8 Venturing Leader Training 8 VOA Benefits 8 Read Around the World CalendarPresident’s Corner – 2017 year in review \\ The VOA has worked hard in the past year. From planning and hosting their own events and attending other events, to meetings and trainings. In the beginning of the year the VOA ran the activities at Winter Fun Day. They also promoted “wearing the green” at the Pittston St. Patrick’s Day parade. In the spring, they ran the concession stand at the Cub Scout Two Mountains District pinewood derby , as well as painting a portable gaga ball pit to create a traveling Venturing promotion. In the summer, they held an election for the next VOA president. Joshua Sepcoski was elected president, The vice- presidents selected are, Teagan Staudenmier, and Richie Cornwall. The officers spent the summer preparing, testing, painting, and planning the Insomniacs Revenge, Warewolfs vs Vampires. The event was a success in out the beast in us all. During the later part of the year, the VOA planned and executed the Lock-in held on the 15th and 16th of December at the Scout Service Center.See you there!Yours in Scouting,Joshua Sepcoski.
Venturing Leader Page 2The Northeastern Pennsylvania Council VOA has created a new Michael J. Lollischolarship called the Michael Lolli Annual Memorial Scholarship, VOAand is open to any scouts of high school age that are soon to bemoving onto higher education. This scholarship is due by April 15th. ScholarshipSomethings that you are asked in this scholarship include yourleadership roles in scouting, your awards or honors received inscouting, your public service and community activities, and the threemost significant items you have done in preparation for your career.The requirements for this scholarship are: volunteer for VOA eventsand activities for a minimum of 25hrs in the past 12 months, try threenew vocational activities in the past 12 months. Minimum of 3 hrsper activity. (eg learning to weld, robotics, plumbing), Try threeshooting sports in the past 12 months. Minimum 2 hrs per activity. voa.nepabsa.org [email protected] activity and verified times. This must be at a Scout camp or froma NRA instructor. Another requirement is to write an 800-word essay 570-207-1227about “being a role model and tell about a role model in your life andhow they inspired you”.You must submit your application in person at a VOA meeting. 2018 Upcoming elections. Elections are approaching soon for the 2018-2019 Council VOA President, and also their Vice Presidents! If you want to become either the president or a vice president, applications are due by Saturday, April 28th, so don’t wait until the last minute to sign up. As a reminder, crew presidents have a vote in this election, and are encouraged to attend the interview process to see the candidates for the positions. The dates for the interviews will be announced once the applications are in, so be sure to watch for those dates so you can send your crew presidents down to be a part of the process. The President’s position is the most important in the VOA. The president represents the VOA to Scouting leadership at the same tier, plans and leads regular meetings of the VOA, tracks all goals for the VOA and provides regular progress reports to the Youth Development Committee, and also helps train and mentor presidents in lower tiers. The president has many other responsibilities, and is necessary for a successful Venturing program in their council. The VP positions that are available are: Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Program, Vice President of Communication, and Membership. If you think you are up for the challenge, get ready and apply for this years elections! If you have any questions you can email us at [email protected]
Page 3 Venturing Leader Council Venturing Leadership Awards PresentedPage 3 • Show exceptional dedication and give outstanding leadership and service to Venturing and to Venturers. NEPA Council recently recognized two youth with the Venturing Leadership Award for their dedication to the Venturing program. Sarah Gromala and Claudia Shanda received the VLA at the Volunteer Recognition Dinner in November. Both have been officers of Crew 3701. Both earned Bronze awards in the old award system.The Venturing Leadership Award is presented by Claudia has been on NEPA Council VOA as Vicecouncils, areas, regions, and the National Council of president of membership and administration. She hadthe Boy Scouts of America to Venturers and Venturing a key role in planning multiple Council VenturingAdvisors who have made exceptional contributions to events and trainings. She earned her Pope PiusVenturing and who exemplify the Scout Oath and Religious Award. Her upbeat positive energy helpedScout Law. Claudia lead Venturers in service projects as well as programs. She is currently attending MarywoodThe Venturing Leadership Award was briefly University for Speech Language Pathology.unavailable to adult recipients, but has been restored asa recognition for adults as of the 2015 National Annual Sarah Gromala has served NEPA as Vice-president ofMeeting of the Boy Scouts of America. communication and Administration. Sarah personally recruited at least 10 new members to Venturing. SarahCouncil Venturing Leadership Awards Presented has countless hours preparing for Venturing events induring the NEPA Council Annual Recognition Dinner. our council. She has been a mentor for younger Officers and has assisted new crews with ILST. SheOur Council is permitted to award only two (2) VLA's has spent the last several summers at Acahela Campper year. To be considered for the award, a youth must: staff. Sarah completed Kodiak Training. She has• Be registered and involved as a Venturer for at least earned her Venturing Silver Award and is scheduled toone year. have a Summit Board of Review soon. Sarah is• Be a youth member when nominated for the award. attending East Stroudsburg University.• Hold a leadership position or an office at the unit,district, council, area, region, or national level. You can get a fill list of VLA recipients on the VOA website at http://voa.nepabsa.org/news1/29-cvla View Point ~ an interview with Christian Knutson, P.E.How does the TAC NYLT Course differ from Courses held In the U.S.?Besides being operated in a country different from the vast majority of participants andstaff and no staff development weekends, there are no differences. If you were to attendthe NYLT course in Transatlantic Council, or at a Council in the U.S., you’d see thesame course curriculum: problem solving round robin, teaching and leading EDGE,patrol method, and games. What is different, are the differences and the backgroundsof the participants and staff. For instance, on the 2017 NYLT course we had two Scoutswho are also British Scouts. They’re both members of Troop 184 - London, but they arealso members in a British Scout Troop. We also had staff and participants with dualcitizenship representing France, India, The Netherlands, Germany andSwitzerland. Another major difference is distance. We couldn’t hold staff developmentweekends because of the fact that we had staffers located across half the planet:
Venturing Leader Page 4 View Point ~ continued 1. Always have three goals relevant to you. Humans need goals to keep them gainfully engaged and to be from Singapore to Pheonix; Abu Dhabi to Paris. We held all happy. Without a goal, what are you doing? Where are you of our trainings via the Zoom teleconferencing system, going? With goals, you have a direction — forward. I’m allowing us to bring Troop Guides together to discuss coming up on my fifth decade of existence and I still have presentations and curriculum. It’s not ideal, but it’s what we goals, both personal and professional. I say three, because have to do over here to ensure that coordination can more than that at anyone time and you create stress for occur. The key take away is that you can run a successful yourself. Three gives you something to be working on when event — be it an NYLT course or a camp out - using virtual one of them is in a holding pattern — you’ll always have tools. There are some special leadership and management something to keep you moving forward. actions you need to take (like very detailed agendas and teleconferencing that allows video for everyone). 2. Learn how to communicate. This gets taught in NYLT, but it extends beyond the course. If one of the top fears among Who was the most influential person in your life? Why? How adults is the fear of public speaking, how about overcoming has he/she influenced you? that fear and setting yourself apart? The best way to do this Tom Shoup. He was the civilian Deputy in the Air Force is to communicate! Find opportunities to teach others, give group I was assigned to when I was a young officer. I was presentations, write in a newsletter (like this one!). I always really upset about being pulled away from being a civil thought I was a horrible writer, but 2011 I decided to start a engineer project manager and into a leadership role as an blog about leadership for engineers. What better way to get aide to the full-colonel group commander. I felt that my work over my fear than to confront it head on? Today I have as an engineer was most important — it allowed me to published nearly 1.000 articles and have recorded nearly 20 practice what I’d studied for years in college, develop my training videos. Communications is key. professional skills and experience, and prepare me for what I wanted to become: a successful and talented civil 3. Follow What Excites You. There will be a lot of pressures engineer. Instead, I felt that I was nothing more than a paper- on you as you head off to university, and definitely later in pusher. One day, Tom asked me how much impact I thought life. Pressures to study one topic over another; pressures to one of my designs might have, say the traffic light systems I’d make money; to have certain things; look a certain way. If completed as my last project. Would others really you attempt to meet these pressures, you’ll spend all of your care? How much impact would that design have in a time doing so and be nothing more than a kite in the wind. year? Five years? How about 50 years? Then he told me The way to avoid this is to look at what excites you…then that if I were to make a difference in the life of another follow that path. More specifically, what excites you that person through compassionate, selfless leadership…well, benefits others. When you do this, you’ll be fulfilled and rich that could impact no only the person, but their relationship - rich in experience, happiness, and relationships. with their spouse, their children, and the life of their children’s children. It could alter the life, and destiny of Thomas Edison failed hundreds of times before another. This was massive. I’d never thought of it this way, successfully creating the light bulb, and Colonel Sanders, the and as I progressed through my 22-year Air Force career I founder of KFC, lived in his car for 2 years and was rejected realized more and more the impact that a person can have on 1,009 times before finally finding a restaurant owner who others through effective servant leadership. The type of agreed to use his recipe. What words of wisdom do you have leadership that we talk about in NYLT. I can tell you that for fourteen through twenty-one year-old people through the servant leadership is the only type of leadership that will trials and tribulations of High School, University, and bring you, and those you lead, success, happiness, and joy. through life? Do you feel that the youth of today need NYLT? Why? You’ll break-up with someone you love. You’ll fail a class. You’ll let your friends or family down. It’s going to Yes. Where else do you have the opportunity to learn about happen. What you set as goals won’t end up like you leadership and teamwork while you have to exhibit both? I planned. That is life. And it’s what makes life interesting and realize that sports provides this in some amount, but not for each of us different from another. Your happiness will be everyone on the team and not in a focused, intense countered by periods of sadness and that is what makes experience. NYLT is about more than camping. It’s not happiness so enjoyable. Just expect that somethings won’t summer camp. It’s a leadership laboratory, a chance to lead happen as you plan, or desire, and then keep pressing and follow and learn what’s it’s like to be in a team that’s onwards. Resilience is what each of us needs to keep moving experiencing stress, but has to come together to make forward - the ability to keep moving forward despite the everyone successful. This is what you’ll be experiencing in challenge or tribulation. Spend some time thinking about life — being parts of teams where you may be leading, you how you’ll react if something that’s important to you doesn’t may be following, and you’ll most likely be under stress. work out. What will you do to keep moving forward? To keep As a former professor, what do you feel are the top 3 skills functioning? Leaders fail, but they keep moving forward students should have to be successful at University, and later despite the adversity. in life?
Page 5 Venturing Leader Save the Date for: Page 5
Venturing Leader Page 6 VenturingFest 2018 VenturingFest 2018, the second national gathering ofThVeentunreersxattVthee nSutmumriint gBeFtcehselt Rwesiellrvpe r(oSBvRe) -toa be extra special as we celebrate the yscoouurtwinagyeaxgpaeirniefnrcoemunJulilkye1a,n2y0o1t82het0or tbJheufloyAr6en,-2in0s 1icv8o.meirnsgary of Venturing. ThVe enenxttuVreinntugrinFgeFesstt 2w0ill1p8rovise too pbeeenxtrtaospreeciagl istered Venturers, Scouts, and adult as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Venturing. leaders across the U.S. This six-day high-adventure festival invites VenturingFest p20a18rtiiscoippean ntotsregtoisteerexdpVleontruerertsh, e best that SBR has to offer. Scouts, and adult leaders across the U.S. This six-day high-adventure festival invites participants to explore thWe bees'rt ethataSBlkRinhags toroofcfekr. climbing, skateboarding, BMX biking, water sports, We'reshtaolkointginrogckspcliomrbtisn,g,zispkatleibnoearsdi,ngc, hBaMlXlenge courses, and so much more. biking, water sports, shooting sports, zip lines, challenge courses, and so much more. Looking for Venturing Resources No matter if you scan the QR Code, navigate to http://voa.nepabsa.org/bookshelves or go to our website you will find one of the best collections of Venturing resources available. Our bookshelves contain books for Advancement, Training, VOA operations, Program, Membership and of course our Newsletters. You can even find Summit Advancement Resources The Summit Fillable PDF Advancement Resources: Venturing Summit Award Service Project Workbook, No. 512-938 Venturing Summit Award Application, No. 512-941 The tracking spreadsheet for the awards is available here:
Page 7 Venturing Leader Lock In Recap Venturing Leader TrainingPage 7 The annual Winter Lock-In was a huge success. Saturday, January 27, 2018 Scout Service & Training Center Back to the Lock-In, the night began with various initiative games to get everyone familiar with each other. 8:30 am to 1:00 pm The activity up was a minute-to-win-it tournament, CREW COMMITTEE CHALLENGE and overseen by Richard Cornwall. An assortment of eccentric VENTURING ADVISOR POSITION-SPECIFIC activities were held during the competition. Alberto Turres was named the winner. TRAINING The night moved on into Tie Dying Shirts, run by Adult Basic training for Advisors & Assistants, Leaders, and had several independent games running Committee Chairs & Members, and Chartered while the shirts dried. Josh Sepcoski and Claudia Shandra Organization Reps in the Venturing Program handled the cup games, with a myriad of games pitting two teams against each other. Then the cracker barrel and Understand Venturers, Crew organization, ugly sweater contest rolled in. The winner, decided by the leader responsibilities, awards & audience, was Richie Cornwall. Richie’s success was due recognition, Crew program planning, and to taping a mirror to the sweater. Shortly after, a Lego much more! contest was held. Groups were required to make a story Both new Venturing Leaders as well as line to go along with their creation and present it to the current leaders who wish to get up-to-date team of judges. with all the recent changes in the Venturing Program are welcome! After the Lego contest, everyone was given a bit of a rest, Enables Venturing adult leaders to better with movies being shown, and sleep being optional. The \"Deliver the Promise\" to the Crew youth. next morning kicked off with some breakfast, followed by You must pre-register... that means register the last hurrah in the form of an intense game of charades. online or fill in the tear off application form A year-in-review VOA meeting was held immediately and return it with your payment to the following the close of the Holiday Lock-In. Service Center. Once you have registered, be We hope to see you next year at the Winter Lock-In. This sure to mark your calendar! year was truly a blast from the past! Pre-requisite for this course is “Venturing Youth Protection” (found online at my.scouting.org). Bring your Venturing Advisor Guidebook and Guide To Safe Scouting if you have one. The Scout Shop may have these materials available for sale in advance. Wear your uniform if you have one (but come anyway if you don't!!) Registrations must be received no later than 5pm, Wednesday, January 24, 2018, no walk-ins please. NOTE: Completion of Crew Committee Challenge or Venturing Advisor Position- Specific Training, plus Venturing Youth Protection, completes your BSA basic training as a Venturing Leader.
Venturing Leader Page 8 How can YOU benefit from the NEPA VOAWhy you should attend VOA Meetings • You help to determine the program for Council Venturing events. • The VOA is there to support its crews, so if you have any struggles, you can let us know so we could offer our help. • The VOA will aid in your campaigns for membership. • Networking with other crews in your area. • You help to determine the direction of NEPA council Venturing • You have access to all the VOA resources for recruitment and planning. Read Around the World! Northeastern Pennsylvania Council VOA Newsletter, The Venturing Leader is read around the world. Since going to our new format for our newsletter we are able to track where our newsletter is read.https://twitter.com/NEPABSAVOAhttp://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs6Lhb5hg-P6gOCCCsf2OXwhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/NEPA-Council-Venturing-Officers-Association/485868761534738 January Upcomming Events / Important Dates March7th VOA Meeting @ SSTC in FebruaryMoosic, PA @ 5pm 4th – Scout Sunday 4th VOA Meeting @ SSTC in7th Venturing Committee @ Moosic, PA @ 5pmSSTC in Moosic, PA @ 5pm 14th – Valentine’s Day 18th – VOA Fun Day 4th Venturing Committee @ 22nd – Robert Bayden Powels SSTC in Moosic, PA @ 5pm Birthday.
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