Iron Horse District

Wood Badge is the Boy Scouts of America's ultimate leadership training designed to meet the advanced leadership needs of Scouters in all aspects of the BSA, whether unit, district, or council level – from assistant den leaders to Scoutmasters, from Cubmasters to Venturing Advisors, from committee members to commissioners. It is a fun, energetic and inspiring course guaranteed to infuse your unit with fun and meaning – all designed to fulfill the mission of the BSA, and ensure our youth is getting everything they are promised from the program.

Reflecting the best of nearly a century of Scouting experience, Wood Badge draws upon the most current leadership models used by corporate America, academic circles and successful organizations throughout the country. Participants can expect to develop skills in many areas, including leadership theory, team building, problem-solving, communication, project planning and more.  These skills can be taken back to packs, troops, crews and ships to help leaders guide youth in dynamic Scouting programs.  Scouters will find these skills invaluable in their business and personal lives as well. Wood Badge consists of two parts: 

• The course begins with five full days of group training usually held over two weekends - the first weekend is Friday through Sunday, and the second is Saturday and Sunday. 
• The second part of the course requires participants to apply the skills they learned by completing a five-part plan (called a “ticket”) over the following 18 months, leading towards the individual participant’s vision of a better Scouting future.

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Resident camp is a three-night campout during July and August at Bovay Scout Ranch for Cub Scouts entering the first through fifth grade for the 2021-2022 school year. In addition to opening and closing campfires, two different themed weekends are being offered. During sessions 1 and 3, Scouts will have the opportunity to seek treasure in the mine, dig for dinosaur bones on an archeological quest, hone canoeing and fishing skills on the lake, shoot archery and BB guns, explore camp searching for animal tracks, splash in the waterpark, and work towards the STEM NOVA Wild! award. During sessions 2 and 4 Scouts will have the opportunity to canoe, shoot archery and BB guns, hike around camp, splash in the water park, and learn more about the STEM award program.

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The BSA, in consultation with other organizations, has created specific guidelines for shooting sports. The shooting sports committee is providing rifle training and instructor certification to prepare those individuals who will serve in a leadership or supervisory role in the various shooting sports activities. 

NRA Basic Instructor Training (BIT) is held on Friday night and the discipline-specific basic training and instructor training (rifle, shotgun or pistol) are held on Saturday. These training courses allow leaders to run a shooting sports event at a troop, crew, ship, district, or council event and to teach the Rifle and Shotgun Shooting Merit Badge.

Cub Scouts can shoot BB-gun rifles, slingshots, and archery in a council or district event only and is not approved as a unit event. BSA requires all Cub Scout shooting sports to be supervised by a BSA certified range master.

Register           Learn More about Shooting Sports

The council offers are a variety of first aid training courses throughout the year including First Aid/CPR/AED, First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor Course, and Wilderness First Aid.

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Summer camp is a week-long council-organized overnight camp for Scouts BSA that operates under council-retained leadership. The program provides opportunities for Scouts to earn merit badges along their advancement trail.

Summer camp is held at Camp Strake, a first-class and state-of-the-art facility for Scouts and their leaders. Program areas include shooting sports (rifle, shotgun, archery, sporting arrows), climbing, rappelling, swimming, merit badge classes and more. Camp is filling up.

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The leadership of the Sam Houston Area Council would like to present this, our fourteenth update, on our response to the COVID-19 outbreak and protocols for Scouting operations going forward. We appreciate your continued patience as we navigate this situation as best we can.

• Any units wishing to conduct small-scale meetings or activities should do so only if able to meet specific preventative guidance from the Center for Disease Control and upon consultation with and approval from their chartered organization.
• All council facilities (including the Cockrell Scout Center), council camps, and scout shops will continue to require the usage of face covering per CDC guidelines.
• Small council-level meetings (less than 50 people) may be conducted in person only if standards from CDC can be met. Teleconference or online meetings remain the preferred method. All in-person council meetings of 50 or greater persons are cancelled or postponed unless conducted over teleconference or online.
• District meetings (ex: Roundtables, District Committee Meetings, Commissioner Staff Meetings) may be conducted in person only if standards from the CDC can be met. Otherwise, these meetings should be conducted over teleconference or online.
• Overnight district and council activities and trainings are allowed for all Scouting programs. These events still must submit a plan to ERM in advance to ensure compliance with all relevant guidelines from the CDC. Only approved district and council events will appear on the council website.
• Weekend camping for Cub Scouts at Bovay Scout Ranch and Camp Brosig is open. Participating packs must follow council policies regarding social distancing and COVID-19 prevention measures.
• Adventure Camp at Bovay Scout Ranch is open on specific weekends with reduced capacity.
• Weekend camping for Scouts BSA at Tellepsen Scout Camp and Camp Strake reservations are open. Participating troops must follow council policies regarding social distancing and COVID-19 prevention measures.
• The Cockrell Scout Center remains open for drop off only with hours of 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday.
• Any interaction needed with staff members must be conducted through phone and email. If you need assistance determining the appropriate person to contact, please refer to our updated “who to call directory,” or contact the receptionist at (713) 659-8111 during our office hours to be directed to the appropriate person.
• Field-based staff (District Executives) will be working remotely during this time and are available by phone and email.
• The 5 Scout Shop locations are open to limited retail traffic (store hours)

Our Enterprise Risk Management Team is working regularly and diligently to determine our plans going forward. If you have any questions regarding the COVID-19 response for the Sam Houston Area Council, please contact Thomas Franklin, Deputy Scout Executive, at thomas.franklin@scouting.org. The council remains committed to keeping our constituents updated regularly with new information as we have it. We will continue to communicate through three main mechanisms – Facebook, Email, and Council Website. Please consult these regularly for updates.

Learn More       BSA National Statement on COVID-19       Previous Updates      Rank Advancement Update  

Many units and families are discovering creative ways to have fun Scouting at home. When using digital and online resources, there are some important guidelines from the National Council about youth protection, safeguarding personal information and recording online meetings.

Across the nation, Scouters are finding ways to help keep their youth members engaged and Scouting. These out-of-the-box, in-home activities are centered around providing advancement-related content to help keep kids safe, engaged and to help them make the best of home time.

Digital Safety       Scouting at Home       COVID-19 Updates       Advancement Update

While many Scout units have a desire to return to Scouting activities, they have questions about how to do so safely during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Learn the steps your unit can take to help return to Scouting activities. During the recent webinar on how to hold meetings safely during COVID-19, attendees received tips on the key steps they can be taking right now to find a safe way to return to their meeting activities.

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Help promote Scouting on social media by adding a photo frame around your profile picture. Encourage families to Text Cub Scout, Scouts BSA or crew to 31996. They will be sent to www.shac.org/join, a website with all packs listed by school district and links to register online.

To find the frame, click on edit/update your profile picture (or go to www.facebook.com/profilepicframes), search for a frame by entering Sam Houston Area Council, then choose one of our four frames.

Recruiting Website

The Scouting Trail is a monthly handout provided to units at roundtable describing upcoming council events for the next quarter. This is a great resource for Scouters and parents.

The Scouting Trail: October 2020

Cub Scouting / Scouts BSA / Venturing / Sea Scouting Rank Advancement and COVID-19

Questions regarding advancement have arisen as we deal with closures, cancellations, or other issues caused by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Although there are difficulties and constraints, advancement can continue. Youth, parents, and leaders should work together to implement creative, common sense ways to facilitate advancement while adhering to the Guide to Safe Scouting and following the rules of youth protection.

Learn More (link updated frequently)

Now you can support Scouting without lifting a finger — or at least not more than one. AmazonSmile, the simple and no-cost way to donate to the Sam Houston Area Council, now works on the Amazon Shopping app for iPhone and Android.

That means it’s easier than ever to support Scouting anytime, anywhere. Through its AmazonSmile program, Amazon donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice — at no cost to you. You’ll get the same prices, selection and service found on Amazon.com, but now Amazon gives 0.5% of its cut to a good cause.

The Sam Houston Area Council is an eligible AmazonSmile charity. Individual packs, troops, posts, ships and crews are not eligible.

Previously, AmazonSmile required the user to shop using their browser — either on a desktop computer or through the mobile browser on a smartphone. That meant that when you shopped in the official Amazon app, you weren’t contributing to your chosen charity — even if you had already activated AmazonSmile. By adding AmazonSmile to its official app, Amazon is making the program available anytime, anywhere. So now when you buy a blender from the back seat or a printer from the patio — our council still gets that 0.5%.

If you aren’t yet an AmazonSmile member, sign up at smile.amazon.com using a web browser (mobile or desktop). You’ll sign in with your Amazon credentials, and the site will walk you through the process. Amazon will ask you to choose your favorite charity. This is where you search for “Sam Houston Area Council.”

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As the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) welcomes girls into Cub Scouts and older girls into the Scouts BSA program starting on February 1, it is important that families understand the program or organization they are joining.

There have been some instances where our volunteers may have inadvertently used the name or trademarks of the Girl Scout of the USA (GSUSA) brand in spreading the word that girls are or will soon be part of all BSA programs. GSUSA recently have filed a lawsuit asserting that these instances have caused confusion. While we don’t believe there has been any such confusion, we respect and support the GSUSA and their rights to their brand.

To ensure that we promote our programs in a clear and Scout-like manner, we have developed resources to make sure our leaders are aware of the do’s and don’ts in promoting BSA programs.

The Scouts BSA Brand Guidance Training is one of the efforts underway to be sure Scouters have a clear understanding of what they can do. This builds on the infographic, and the guidance provided to councils in April.

Scouts BSA Brand Guidance Training     Infographic 

This training should be shared with all volunteers to bring this understanding to all parts of our community. While our goal is to encourage youth to join our program, we must always be clear in our communications about the program they are joining.

• We are The Boy Scouts of America.
• The Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA are different organizations.
• We support all other youth organizations and do not disparage them.
• We encourage parents to enroll all youth in a character development program that meets their needs – and the BSA is certainly ready to welcome them.

To aid you in this effort, councils and volunteers are encouraged to use these intro talking points as you host info sessions and launch efforts for Scouts BSA. Additionally, please use this resource to help address any questions you might get in the community about this matter.

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