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Through the eyes of a leader

We are fortunate at the Boy Scouts of America to have a huge cadre of trained volunteer leaders – close to one million – to help teach the principles of Scouting to America’s young people – all while having a great time out-of-doors, building adventures, providing service in their communities, or learning new skills.

So when I come across a journalist who can share the real-life experience of what it’s like to be a volunteer leader in Scouting, I like to share his/her perspective. I also learn a lot from their experiences. It’s a good test of our training to see how well our leaders are doing out there and learn how we can help our programs become stronger.

I encourage you to read this first-person account from Scott McIntosh, editor of the Idaho Press-Tribune, titled, “If you have a boy, you should take a look at Scouting.” While not involved in Scouting as a child, he did not hesitate to jump on board when his son reached Scouting age, after his wife “volunteered” him to be an assistant den leader. Here’s an excerpt from his column that will probably sound very familiar to a lot of you volunteer leaders out there:

“I was actually pretty excited about it. I never did Scouts growing up, but my dad had an old Boy Scouts Fieldbook that I read cover to cover, over and over just about every summer before heading out on our summer camping trip. I kind of always wanted to do Scouts growing up. Read more

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Gabriella