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Boy Scout Troop 139

Our program for boys ages 11 to 17 For Boys ages 7-10

The Boy Scout program includes boys with a wide range of opportunities:

  • Outdoor Adventures – Scouts enjoy a wide variety of outdoor experiences that include camping, hiking, climbing, and using water craft while learning how to avoid negatively impacting the environment, and how to take care of the land. Learning about nature and wildlife is also a part of a Scout's outdoor experience.

    In the outdoors, boys have opportunities to acquire skills that make them more self-reliant. They can explore canoe paths and hiking trails and complete challenges they first thought were beyond their ability. Attributes of good character become part of a boy as he learns to cooperate to meet outdoor challenges that may include extreme weather, difficult trails and portages, and dealing with nature's unexpected circumstances.

    Learning by doing is a hallmark of outdoor education. Troop meetings offer information and knowledge used on outdoor adventures. A Scout leader may describe and demonstrate a Scouting skill at a meeting, but the way Scouts truly learn an outdoor skill is to do it themselves on a Troop outing.

    Health and wellness is part of the outdoor experience. As Scouts hike, paddle, climb, bike, or ride, their muscles become toned and their aerobic capacity increases. When they work as a patrol to plan menus for their outings, they learn to purchase cost-effective ingredients to prepare tasty and nutritious meals.

  • Special Camps – Scouts can attend a Summer Camp, participate in competitive Camporees with other Troops, attend regional, specially-themed High Adventure Camps, attend National Jamborees, World Jamborees, and much more.
  • Rank Advancement and Awards – Through program participation, Scouts can earn rank advancement from Scout through Eagle, and learn Scout Spirit. Additional Scout Awards challenge boys in dozens of other areas.
  • Merit Badges – Boy Scouts can earn Merit Badges that cover more than 130 different topics. Merit Badge training is offered by community mentors in areas as diverse as ecology, first aid, and leadership. Workbooks and progress tracking Blue Cards are used.
  • Uniforms – Boy Scouts were matching uniforms, and each patrol has its own insignia.
  • Service to Others – Service to others and good citizenship is an integral part of Scouting, and is learned through such outdoor activities as conservation projects, collecting food, building trails and shelters, and conducting community service projects that promote healthy living. Through helping other people, Scouts learn to appreciate how they can share themselves and their blessings to those in need. By giving service to benefit others, Scouts gain a sense of personal satisfaction.
  • Teamwork and Leadership Development – Scouting uses the patrol method to teach skills and values. Scouts elect their own patrol leader, and they learn quickly that by working together and sharing duties, the patrol can accomplish far more than any of its members could do alone. The patrol succeeds when every member of the patrol succeeds, and Scouts learn that good teamwork is the key to success. Leadership training opportunities are an integral part of the Boy Scout program.
  • Academic Scholarships – There are academic scholarships available for Boy Scouts who attained the rank of Eagle Scout.
  • Order of the Arrow – The Order of the Arrow is Scouting's national honor society. The OA focuses on service, activities, adventures, and training for youth and adults.
Boy Scout Oath (Promise)
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Overview for Parents

The Boy Scout program is designed to develop a boy's character, citizenship, and personal fitness using the following methods: a structured advancement program, high ideals, the patrol method, outdoor activities, adult association, personal growth, leadership development, and uniforming. This program and development structure is referred to as the Aims and Methods of Scouting. 578K  .PDF

When a boy becomes a Boy Scout, he becomes a member of a worldwide youth movement that embraces the values of good citizenship, compassion, cooperation, courage, faith, health and fitness, honesty, perseverance, positive attitude, resourcefulness, respect, and responsibility. Boy Scouting is more than something to do, it is about the boy your son is now, and the person he will become.

Boy Scouts work together, play together, challenge one another, and encourage one another as they gain useful skills and positive habits that last a lifetime. Scouts who fully participate in Scouting, and become Eagle Scouts, belong to a readily recognized group of achievers who are consistently more successful in life.

As boys reach adolescence, the need to gain self-reliance becomes more important. Our Scouts who have left home to attend college have consistently reported that they were much better prepared and struggled far less at college than other dormitory students who have not gained the life skills learned through Scouting. The Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared" that those young men learned as a Boy Scout helped them to be more successful than many others who had not been Scouts.

As a Boy Scout seeks to advance in rank, he must: complete tasks, gain skills, keep records, demonstrate leadership, and perform service for others. Merit Badges are required to be earned for the highest 3 ranks, and Scouts can explore possible careers by earning related merit badges. For each rank advancement, there is a review process that includes verifying the progress with his Scoutmaster, which is followed by an interview with a panel of at least 3 adults. Those interviews help Scouts to develop skills and confidence now, and for the future when needed for prospective job interviews.

Young boys grow up fast. Give your son a valuable gift by encouraging him to become a Boy Scout today. The time you invest in him today will make a difference in the person he becomes tomorrow.

Resources

TAGS: Alhambra / South Pasadena Boy Scouts for boys ages 11 to 17 years