The April 4, 2014 Venture Challenge is cycling. To go along
with that theme, here is a true story about an active scout who belonged to a
strong scouting program in our district.
He and his fellow Boy Scouts were swept along in an efficient program
that accomplished the noteworthy task of vaulting them to the rank of Eagle
Scout by the time they were 14. This
particular scout had, in the course of his trail to Eagle, earned his Cycling
Merit Badge. Several years later that
same young man joined in as a Venture Scout on a cycling trip around Bear Lake
just months before he was to leave on his mission. Part way around the lake the young man
experienced a flat tire. The SAG wagon
pulled up with the tools and parts necessary to correct the problem, but the young
man just stood there, waiting. The
leader exited the wagon and said to the young man, “Here are the tools. Get to
work before you get too far behind”.
After some fumbling and mumbling the Venture scout admitted what the
leader had already observed: he did not know how to fix a flat bicycle
tire. The leader replied, “You earned
the Cycling Merit Badge, didn’t you?”
“Yes…” the boy said, “…I think I did.
I remember going on a couple of bike rides.” With that the leader sat down with the young
man and taught him how to correctly fix a flat bicycle tire.
Too often the quest for merit badges and rank advancements
becomes such a focus that boys are run through the program as if on an assembly
line. What comes out at the end is a
chest plastered with patches but with insufficient skills to put into real-life
practice what should have really been learned.
The Venture Program is the last scouting “launch pad” before boys take
off into the world. It is the place where critical skills should be learned and
tested, and it is our responsibility as Venture leaders to make sure our young
men have those skills they need to be successful in life. One effective way to accomplish this is through
the Venture
Program Capability Inventory, a simple and organized way to leverage the
experience and expertise of parents, adults and leaders of your neighborhood,
church, and auxiliary organizations to help teach the Venture Scouts in areas
of the boys’ interest. By effectively utilizing all of our available resources
we can make sure our young men enter the world armed with skills and
experiences to help them succeed.
