Troop 50 updates Auburn Rotarians on activities, achievements

On Wednesday, July 31, Troop 50 scouts and leaders were present at the weekly meeting of the Auburn Rotary Club to provide the troop’s charter organization with an update on troop activities during the past year. Rotarian and the troop’s charter organization representative, Michael Tullier, hosted the group.

Leading the presentation was Scoutmaster Andrew Baird, who reported to Rotarians that, in 2018, the troop qualified as a “Gold Unit” under the Boy Scouts of America’s “Journey to Excellence” program. This was in part to its individual Scout advancement efforts, which included 35 awarded ranks (of which three were the rank of Eagle Scout) and 99 earned merit badges. Journey to Excellence also evaluates a unit’s year-round activities, which for Troop 50 Scouts and leaders included 408 collective nights of camping, 154 collective miles of hiking, and 971 collective hours of service.

Following Mr. Baird’s overview, several Scouts shared with Rotarians about their troop involvement. Senior Patrol Leader Camp spoke about his progress toward earning the Eagle Scout rank — specifically his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project to fence the McLain Garden at the Lee County Historical Society’s Pioneer Park in Loachapoka.

Camp’s younger brother James talked about his experiences as one of the troop’s newest Scouts. He noted how regular monthly campouts helping him develop new Scout skills and advance in rank. Finally, Camp and James’ middle sibling, Will, summarized the troop’s summer camp experience this past June at Camp Rainey Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. There, he and other Scouts were able to make significant progress toward earning merit badges as they deepen friendships.

Troop Committee Chair Rob Stanford wrapped up the presentation by thanking the Rotary Club for its ongoing financial support, as well as inviting Rotarians to serve as merit badge counselors. Mr. Stanford noted that anyone with hobby-level knowledge to professional expertise on a specific topic could share their subject-matter expertise as a merit badge counselor for a single Scout or group of Scouts.

For more information about Troop 50, visit www.boyscout50.org or read more about the troop's activities here on its blog.

Journey to Excellence

       For the sixth straight year (which is every full year of the troop's existence) Troop 50 has achieved gold status in the BSA assessment process known as Journey to Excellence. The program is a self-evaluation which allows units, districts, and councils to measure their strengths with a goal of continual improvement. The unit scorecard contains eleven objectives in the fields of Planning and Budget, Membership, Program, and Volunteer Leadership; and rates various metrics at bronze, silver, and gold levels.

       In 2018, Troop 50 met ten out of eleven objectives. We received gold scores in recruitment (due to a 19.2 percent growth for the year), retention (91.7 percent of the scouts remained in the troop at

year's end), advancement (71 percent of our scouts advanced by at least one rank), and leadership & family engagement (due to our large number of registered leaders and parental involvement). We also scored in the silver range for our camping program, consistent use of the patrol method, and our Webelos to Scout transition plans. We received a total score of 1250 points to achieve gold status, which required us to meet at least eight objectives with a collective total of 1000 points.

       The troop has much to be proud of in 2018. Our scouts collectively earned ninety-nine merit badges and had thirty-five rank advancements. This included three new Eagle Scouts and six Eagle Palms. In fact, we now have four Eagle Scouts who have each earned Bronze, Gold, and Silver Palms. Scouts and adult leaders together spent 408 nights of camping, hiked 154 miles, and gave 971 hours of service to the community. These numbers not only reflect on the commitment by the scouts to the program but also the high level of support that we receive from adult volunteers, parents, our charter partners at the Auburn Rotary Club, and the members of the First Presbyterian Church and Auburn United Methodist Church. This meaningful support gives us what we need to meet the troop's mission to GATHER young men into a quality scouting program, GROW them into servant leaders, and GO into the community in service and fellowship.

2016...by the numbers

Troop 50 Scouts and leaders had a great deal of success to be thankful for in 2016. Eight monthly campout outings and a week-long summer camp fueled Scouts' efforts to sharpen their Scouting skills, earn merit badges, and advance in rank. These, and the troop's service-minded focus, enabled it to qualify as a 2015 Gold Unit under the Boy Scouts of America's "Journey to Excellence" program.

Expressing thanks and reporting success

On July 8, Scouts and leaders made the troop's annual "state-of-the-troop" presentation to the Auburn Rotary Club, which is the troop's charter organization. In addition to having the opportunity to express appreciation for and outline how the troop has benefited from Rotary Club's annual funding allocation, this presentation also allowed the troop to thank Rotarians for its recent $600 community needs grant allocation to purchase new, much-needed tents.

Representatives of the troop presenting at the July 8 Auburn Rotary Club meeting included:
(front row, L to R) Troop Committee Chair Rob Stanford, Senior Patrol Leader Louie,
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Andrew; (back row, L to R) Scoutmaster Andrew Baird; and
Chartered Organization Representative and Auburn Rotary Club President-Elect Michael Tullier.
Pictured with the group is Auburn Rotary Club President Brad Wilson.

Inaugural James J. Baird Jr. Honor Scout Award recipient Andrew with
members of Jim Baird's family: wife Jean Baird, daughter Mary Baird,
and nephew and troop scoutmaster Andrew Baird. The award was
 presented at the troop's June 1 court of honor.

In addition to providing a troop overview and highlighting recent troop service projects, activities and outings, Scoutmaster Andrew Baird noted the creation of the James J. Baird Jr. Honor Scout Award, named in memory of his uncle and past Auburn Rotary Club President and Rotary District 6880 Assistant Governor Jim Baird. Inaugural award recipient Andrew shared with Rotarians about his upcoming Eagle Scout leadership service project, which he will begin this weekend.

Troop Committee Chair Rob Stanford discussed the troop committee's administrative oversight and how adult and youth leadership is structured. He introduced Senior Patrol Leader Louie who shared about his favorite recent troop activities in addition to his own familial connections to Rotary International.

Assistant Scoutmaster Wes Williams and son Creighton,
recently elected as one of the troop's new patrol leaders,
also attending the Rotary Club meeting.

Chartered Organization Representative Michael Tullier, who also serves in the capacity of one of the troop's assistant scoutmasters as well as president-elect of the Auburn Rotary Club, explained to Rotarians the club's "ownership" of the troop and charged them with engaging with the troop by supporting its fundraisers, volunteering as Eagle Scout service project mentors, consultants, and volunteers or as troop leaders, as well as sharing their vocational and personal expertise as merit badge counselors. More than 130 opportunities exist through the merit badge program that allow those with knowledge, skills or talents they have acquired through their educational, career, or hobby endeavors as merit badge counselors. Rotarians with an interest in any of these opportunities can contact Michael Tullier for more information. Tullier also chairs the club's Scouting Committee, and and fellow Rotarian and Assistant Scoutmaster Bryan Herrit serve on the committee as well.

The Auburn Rotary Club expresses appreciation to its weekly program speakers by placing a book in their honor on the shelves of the Auburn Public Library. Chris Warren, director of the library and secretary of the Auburn Rotary Club, selects a book germane to the speaker or the topic. To recognize the troop's presentation, he selected How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. The book, commonly referred to as the "parenting bible," and the authors, who have been called "the Dr. Spock of this generation," offer fresh insights, suggestions and time-tested methods to solving common problems and building foundations for communicating with today's youth.

Troop 50 was one of 15 Lee County nonprofit organizations receiving grants totaling nearly $34,000
in charitable support from the Auburn Rotary Club through its 2015 Community Needs Grant Program.

Scoutmaster Baird accepts an Auburn Rotary community
needs grant from Club President Brad Wilson and
Community Grants Allocation Committee Chair Allison Moore.

At the Auburn Rotary Club's July 1 meeting, the club awarded nearly $34,000 in grants to 15 community-based organizations — including Troop 50, which received a $600 grant to purchase tents. The new tents will not only replace some aging tents, but will accommodate the need for additional tents resulting from growth during the past couple of years. This grant support results from the Rotary Club's year-round fundraising efforts, which includes its annual Rotary Riches fundraising initiative.

Troop receives top marks in national 'Journey to Excellence' program

In its first year of eligibility for a Journey to Excellence unit award, Troop 50 achieved the top-level "Gold Award" unit status through metrics designed to measure various program-related outcomes in Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troop, and Venture crews.

First implemented for calendar year 2011, "Scouting’s Journey to Excellence" is the Boy Scouts of America's performance recognition program designed to encourage and reward success and measure the performance of units, districts, and councils. The program, also referred to as “JTE,” replaces the previous Quality Unit Award program and provides an annual assessment system for Scouting units, as well as for councils and districts.

Scouts and leaders in units that achieve gold-, silver- or bronze-level awards in the JTE program are able to wear a patch designating that recognition on the right sleeves of their uniforms.

Through the JTE program, units are assessed on performance in key areas, which include increases or decreases in the amount of advancements earned by their Scouts, membership recruitment and retention rates, prevalence of required training among registered leaders, frequency of short-term and long-term camping, use of the patrol method and boy-led troop concept, frequency of service projects, Webelos-to-Scout transition, troop budgeting, courts of honor and parental involvement, integration of physical fitness programming, and timeliness of unit recharting.

Some take-a-ways regarding Troop 50's performance in 2013 include:

• 50% of Scouts advancing in rank
• 100% membership retention — 15% above the maximum required of gold-level units
• 31% increase in membership — 21% above the maximum required of gold-level units
• 8 short-term camp-outs
• active monthly PLC meetings and an annual planning meeting
• 14 service projects — 8 projects above the maximum required of gold-level units