January 18, 2022

Posted on by Troop 177

In this week’s newsletter

This Week’s Meeting

Hello Troop 177,

IMPORTANT: The meeting will be VIRTUAL

For this meeting, we’ll be working on the following Citizenship in the Community Requirements:

  • Requirement 1: Discuss with your counselor what citizenship in the community means and what it takes to be a good citizen in your community. Discuss the rights, duties, and obligations of citizenship, and explain how you can demonstrate good citizenship in your community, Scouting unit, place of worship, or school.
  • Requirement 2: Do the following:
    1. On a map of your community or using an electronic device, locate and point out the following:
      1. Chief government buildings such as your city hall, county courthouse, and public works/services facility
      2. Fire station, police station, and hospital nearest your home
      3. Parks, playgrounds, recreation areas, and trails
      4. Historical or other interesting points of interest
      5. Chart the organization of your local or state government. Show the top offices and tell whether they are elected or appointed.
  • Requirement 6: List some of the services (such as the library, recreation center, public transportation, and public safety) your community provides that are funded by taxpayers. Tell your counselor why these services are important to your community.

(Scouts, please print out/find on google a map of your town to bring and share at tonight’s meeting. We’ll need it for Requirement 2).

If we have time after, we’ll play a game(s)!

Thanks and see you Tuesday,

Autumn

Cumberland Island Camping Trip

As most of you are aware our Cumberland Island Camping trip for this month has been cancelled. There is a possibility we will reschedule this for February, to take the place of the Okefenokee Trip. Please stay tuned for more details.

Summer Camp

We are still a couple of months off from summer camp registration, but some of the High Adventure programs fill up early. If you will be 13 by June 1st, 2022 and would like to participate in one of the High Adventure Treks offered through Camp Daniel Boone, instead of the traditional summer camp program, please read through the High Adventure Guide to find out what programs are offered and what is involved in each program, then register through the troop Summer Camp Registration Form.

National Youth Leadership Training

NYLT is a week-long advanced leadership course designed to teach Scouts the tools, techniques and skills they need to be better leaders – not only in their units, but also at home, in school, and in their daily lives. The Atlanta Area Council offers this several times throughout the year. This is a great opportunity to hone your leadership skills (and it looks great on a college resume). Introduction to Leadership Skill for Troops is a prerequisite for NYLT. This is a one day course taught at the troop level, and we will be scheduling this for the spring. If you are interested in attending please visit the Atlanta Area Council NYLT page or talk to Mr. Taylor or Mr. Wheeler about what’s involved.

If you have already attended NYLT, you can also serve on staff for one of the upcoming NYLT weeks. See the above website for details.

Service Opportunities

MLK National Day of Service

For those that are missing out on service at Cumberland Island, the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance is participating in the MLK Day of Service on Monday January 17th. This would count as conservation service for those that need it.
Learn more and sign up at: https://www.wawa-online.org/post/registration-open-for-mlk-day-of-service

Camp Allatoona Fish Habitat Build

On January 22nd, there will be a fish habitat build at Camp Allatoona (where the troop has camped several times). The project involves placing donated Christmas trees while the water level is at winter lows. This is a great project for anyone needing to finish the project requirement for Fish and Wildlife management, as well as anyone needing conservation service hours, or any general community service hours. If you are interested contact Mr. Taylor to find out more.

Merit Badge Opportunities

No Troop Merit Badge Opportunities this month. If you would like to work on a Merit Badge, please contact Mr. Taylor to arrange to work on a Merit Badge independently.

Atlanta Area Council has announced all of the Merit Badge summits for 2022. The first one falls on February 5th, which also coincides with the Troop 77 & 177 advancement day. Many of the same Merit Badges offered by the council will be offered at the troop level. We encourage everyone in the troop to participate in advancement day.
To learn more about other Merit Badge Summits planned this year, visit: https://www.atlantabsa.org/MeritBadgeSummit

Northeast Georgia Council is holding their annual Advance-A-Rama January 29, 2022 at Shiloh High School, just up the road in Gwinnett County. For more information at to register visit: https://www.nega-bsa.org/swaar

Atlanta Area Council offers many merit badge offerings throughout the year.
More information about these and other Merit Badge programs at: https://www.atlantabsa.org/meritbadgedays

Chattahoochee Nature Center offers nature themed merit badge classes on the weekends in the Spring through Fall. There are no upcoming classes, but check back often for new offerings.
For more information and to register visit: https://www.chattnaturecenter.org/education/scouts/scouts-bsa/

Dunwoody Nature Center also offers a number of nature related Merit Badges. Upcoming classes include: Environmental Science January 15 & 16, and Bird Study February 19.
Learn more and register at: https://dunwoodynature.org/scout-merit-badges/

Daniel Boone Council headquartered in Asheville, NC has a rolling slate of virtual merit badge programs, with new merit badges offered every week. These are usually two sessions in the late afternoon or evening. There are quite a few popular merit badges including a large selection of Eagle Required. These usually fill up, but if you look at later weeks, there are plenty of seats still open.
Learn more and register at: https://www.danielboonecouncil.org/virtual

Merit Badge Process

For any Merit Badge that a Scout works on, the first step in the process is to have a discussion with the Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster and get a signed blue card. While Troop 177 has embraced digital blue cards, Scouts still need to have a discussion with one of the adult leaders in the troop and get either a physical or digital sign off before beginning wok on the Merit Badge. You are welcome to sign up for any of the Merit Badges offerings that are listed on the website, please remember to talk to Mr. Taylor or one of the ASMs to get approval for the merit badge before taking the class.

Troop Communication

Please be sure to join our Remind Classes to get notifications on all of the Troop 177 happenings. There is an app, but you can choose to get notifications via text messages or email.

Troop 177 Parents

Troop 177 Scouts