February 2014

Leader INSIDE THIS ISSUE February 2014 1 Change you can Believe In Volume 1 Issue 2 2 Crew 1600 3 Crew 3701NEPA Council Venturing Officers Association 3 President’s article 72 Montage Mountain Road 3 Send us your article Moosic, PA 18507-1776 4 NYLT voa.nepabsa.org 4 Stuff we did in pictures [email protected] 570-207-1227 Every month we will feature two NEPA Council Crews drop off your crew bio at the next VOA meeting.Change you can Believe In- VenturingProgram Changes By Matt GromalaChanges are coming to the Venturing Program, effective end of this year. Now NYLTthese changes have been under development and planning for a few years now, The most effective way to be a leader is to beso nothing about this was rash or sudden. Everything has been studied by a trained leader. Interested?experts, and fellow Venturers and Venturing advisors. Full Article on Page 4First off, the award system. Here’s what’s staying: The Ranger, TRUST, andQUEST Awards, as well as the Venturing Shooting Awards and VLA’s President’s Article(Venturing Leadership Awards). What is changing, is the main award structure. How will you be involved with the NEPA VOA for the remainder of the term.Gone will be the Bronze Awards, the Gold Award and even the Silver Award. Inits place will be a four-tiered award system, that reflect other changes to the Full Article on Page 3Venturing program, and the BSA as a whole.The First award on the ladder is the Venturing Award, basically a joining award.It is akin to the rank of Scout, or the Tiger Cub. It is in place o make the newVenturer feel invested in the program, to introduce to them to the award systemas early one as possible.The next Award is the Discovery Award, which takes place a little bit down theline for the Venturer from the Venturing Award. So the new Venturer hasattended a few meetings and begun to find their place in the program, toDiscover what Venturing is.A bit on past Discovery is the third award, the Pathfinder Award. This is theaward for the Venturer with a little more experience under his or her belt. Theyhave gotten a better sense of where they fit, what parts of the program theyreally enjoy, they’ve begun to take on leadership roles in their crews, and maybeeven council or higher. Continued on Page 2

Venturing Leader Page 2Change you can Believe In ContinuedBy Matt GromalaFinally, the fourth tier is the SummitAward. This is the final award to achieve inVenturing. The goal of this message is tosend the message that this is the highestaward in Scouting. This award says, “Evenif you have Eagle, you are not done. THISis the final challenge.” In a video gamesense, this is the final boss battle on a videogame. This award even involves acapstone project (grad students will findthis familiar), that is the culmination ofeverything else.Until December 31st , Venturers cancontinue to work on the current awards asthey stand, as well as begin work on thenew Award system.Also changing is the uniform, with thepants, and shirt being updated. Thehandbook is being updated.JTE (Journey to Excellence) also will now Also of interest is the changes to the national officers and governing rules.have a component that requires all gold- The position of National Venturing chairman was created.level councils to have a growing and These changes have been made to strengthen and grow Venturing as aprofitable Venturing program in their viable program in the BSA.council. Featured Crew - Crew 1600 Scranton By Drew Magda Being only just over a year old, crew help pay for Crew T-shirts and 1600 members are eager to start their discounts on future camping trips. journey to adventure and achievement. Chartered to Hickory Meetings are held on the first and St. Presbyterian Church in Scranton, third Tuesday of every month at the co-ed crew has already planned Hickory St. Presbyterian Church. The several trips including: winter Crew is always more than welcoming camping, summer camp, and most to those looking for some venture in recently a canoeing trip down the their life. Delaware river. For more information about Crew Thanks to the devoted president, Ryan Clarkson, the crew had more 1600, please contact: than doubled in size since its first“Crew 1600 is eager to couple meetings and doesn't plan to Drew Magda at (570)-575-6283start their adventure.” stop there. With a ever growing number, the crew members of 1600 plan on organizing a fund raiser to

Page 3 Venturing LeaderFeVaetnuturerindgCLeraedwer – President’s Article Page 3Crew 3701, Avoca By Donnie StephensBy C. Sepcoski On February 9, 2014, the NortheasternCrew 3701 has been a part of NEPA Pennsylvania Council Venturingcouncil for over eight years and has Officers Association cabinet of officersseen multiple generations of venturers and advisers met for a day long retreat,come through. 3701 is unique in nature during which we were briefed on Vicebecause they are NEPA council’s only President and committee joball female crew. Crew 3701 originally descriptions, planned the VOA calendarformed in 2006 by five girls that were out to the end of 2015, participated in ain Girl Scout Troop 3701, and wanted training on building a committee andsomething exciting and rewarding to do setting the agenda, and broke out intoduring their high school years. Since groups to plan our goals for the end ofthen 3701 has been very active within the 2013- 2014 term.NEPA council and venturing as awhole. The VOA officers and advisers know what it is that we hope to accomplish in the last few months of the term, and now we have just one question forAccording to Janice Sepcoski, crew you: what part will you play in the plan?3701’s adviser, 100% of the crewmembers in 3701 have started or earned All members of the NEPA VOA are encouraged to take an active role onat least one venturing award. Several one of the four committees comprising our VOA. The Administrationhave earned their Venturing Gold Committee, under the charge of our VP of Administration, Sarah Gromala,award, and two have earned their is charged with maintaining our website and producing our cool VOAVenturing Silver award. One past crew promotional videos. The Program Committee, headed up by our VP ofmember has earned both the Council Program, Drew Magda, is in the process of planning a spring Lock- In andVenturing Leadership Award and the next year’s Insomniacs Revenge. The Communications Committee, run byNational Venturing Leadership Award. our VP of Communications, Irene Magdon, and our Social Media Chair, Matt Gromala, is looking to expand and diversify the ways we reach out to our Venturers in the council. The Membership Committee, under the direction of VP of Membership Bridget McGowan, will be producing a jam- packed promotional membership kit for the VOA with resources to help us recruit new members into the Venturing program. These lofty and important goals cannot come to fruition without the help of exceptional Venturing leaders such as yourselves. Each of you are challenged to come out to our monthly VOA meetings, join a committee, and become an integral part of the great success the NEPA VOA looks to continue in the years ahead.Crew 3701 has had several members go What your crew to be the next featured crew of theon to be active members in the CouncilVOA, Area VOA and Regional VOA. month?3701 was also in the first group of Drop off your crew’s story at the next VOA meetingfemale youth to attend Goose PondScout Reservation as participants. on March 16th from 5:00-7:00 PM at the council3701 is always looking for more girls to service center.join in the fun. If you or anyone youknow would like to find out moreinformation please contact JaniceSepcoski at [email protected] or findour webpage at:https://sites.google.com/site/crew3701/

Venturing Leader Page 4National Youth Leadership Training Check out the Northeast RegionBy Donnie Stephens Area 5 website for Are you a crew president, or an active Venturer aspiring to serve your crew as information president? The best way to be effective as a leader of your crew is by getting trained, concerning the new and the Northeastern Pennsylvania has one big upcoming training opportunity for all Venturing Awards youth leaders in the council. and the Area 5 Each spring, the NEPA Council holds Great Medicine, which is our National Rendezvous! Youth Leadership Training course here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Great Medicine ne5venturing.org NYLT is an intense, weekend long outdoor leadership experience designed to train scouts how to be effective leaders in their units, among their peers, and in life. This National Youth Leadership Training course will teach you essential skills such as communication, conflict resolution, diversity, goal setting, and others, all in an outdoor setting organized as a scout unit. This year Great Medicine XXII, NYLT will be held on the weekends of April 25-27 and May 2-4, 2014 at Goose Pond Scout Reservation. Attendance at both weekends is required for course completion. The cost to attend is $225 if paid in full by April 13, 2014, which covers costs for food, training materials, and the chance to learn these invaluable leadership skills. More information as well as a course registration form can be found on the council website at http://www.nepabsa.org/training. Registration is now open, so sign up today for the 2014 National Youth Leadership Training Course! The NEPAFamily!https://twitter.com/NEPABSAVOAhttp://nepabsavoa.tumblr.com/http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs6Lhb5hg-P6gOCCCsf2OXwhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/NEPA-Council-Venturing-Officers-Association/485868761534738