March 28, 2020 Great Southwest Council, Boy Scouts of America | Council Website The Scout Office and High Desert Scout Shop are CLOSED through April 10 in response to State's "Stay at Home" restrictions. COVID-19 UPDATE The Great Southwest Council is committed to providing safe and healthy Scouting activities, including Cub Scout Day Camps and all activities at Gorham Scout Ranch. In response to COVID-19, we are assessing our programs to ensure the safety of our participants. This situation is not unique to our Council and we are consulting the BSA national office, other councils, industry leaders, and COVID-19 experts. The Great Southwest Council is closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and following CDC, federal, state, and local guidelines for mitigating the spread of the virus and for keeping our Scouts and leaders safe. We are hopeful that we will be able to open Gorham Scout Ranch for all of the 2020 summer camping events as scheduled, including Brownsea, NYLT, Summer Camp, Webelos Week in the Woods and Cub Scout Family Camp. The camp leadership has created a plan that adds additional precautions to ensure a safe and healthy camp for all Scouts and leaders that attend. While we are hopeful that we can hold camp, due to the uncertainty of the progress of eradicating the threat of COVID-19 among the general public, the Council's leadership will make final determination on whether or not to open Gorham Scout Ranch on April 15. If the Council is unable to open camp this summer, a virtual merit badge camp program will be introduced on the 15th for your Scouts as an excellent option for a summertime Scouting activity. During these uncertain times, be sure to take care of yourselves and your families. Please wash your hands, sanitize and disinfect contact surfaces and keep up to date with advisories and recommendations from public health authorities. Thank you for your patience as we all navigate through these challenging times. Thank you for your generous support of Scouting and the Great Southwest Council. Additional resources: Boy Scouts of America updates: https://scouting.org/coronavirus NM Department of Health: https://cv.nmhealth.org Colorado Department of Health: https://covid19.colorado.gov Service Project Idea for your Scouts: Making Face Shields - Click HERE Campership Deadline - April 1 The Yah-Tah-Hey-Si-Kess Lodge of the Order of the Arrow has campership funds available to help Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, and Venturers attend Great Southwest Council summer events, including Cub Scout Day Camp, Brownsea, NYLT, and Scouts BSA Summer Camp at Gorham Scout Ranch. The application deadline is April 1. You are able to submit the application with an email approval note from your Scout Leader in lieu of an actual signature. Click HERE for application forms and instructions. Send completed applications to the Scout Office (5841 Office Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109) or email tor [email protected]. In This Issue Scouting at Home Advancement Updates SCOUTING AT HOME Friends of Scouting BY: Lily Bray Cub Scout Day Camps Merit Badge Adventure Camp Wilderness First Aid Brownsea & NY:LT Gorham Scout Ranch Gorham Cub Camps STEM Day Partnership Update NESA 2021 Jamboree Governors Ball Seven Layers of YPT Amazon Smile Quick Links In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been asked to limit our person-to-person contact. We realize this does not come without challenges for our Scouting community. Council Website My [dot] Scouting Site We want to continue to offer this amazing program for our community's youth. Keeping our Scouts and National BSA Website their families active in their Scouting activities will not only keep them on track for advancement but offer Be A Scout Site great opportunities for the Scouts to learn outside the traditional "Scout meeting." Their families, their Boys' Life Official Site Akelas, can learn and grow along with them during this time. Scouting can take place anywhere - even in Scout Shop Website the comfort of your home! Service Center and High Desert Scout Our Scouting community doesn't begin or end here on a local level. We have great resources in other Shop Hours districts, councils, national and even the world when it comes to sharing ideas for Scouting at home. GSWC Service Our goal is to make it easier to deliver the Scouting program by sharing ideas and plans with our leaders Center: and families. We would like to remind our leaders to stay in touch with their Scout's families during this Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm time. We encourage all leaders, if possible, to hold virtual meetings and activities. Closed Sat & Sun ------------------- Parents, please remember to reach out to your leaders about online resources or ideas for activities your family can work on at home. It is important to always adhere to the current youth protection guidelines High Desert Scout already in place for digital communications. Shop: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat 9am-1pm Here are some ideas and great resources to continue Scouting at home: Closed Sunday If your unit uses Scoutbook, utilize the communications features in Scoutbook to keep in touch with families and for youth and adults to track accomplishments. Use Your Smith's Rewards Card to Follow the Great Southwest Council Facebook page for new ideas on Scouting at Home. Give Back to Scouting For a limited time, get an entire year's worth of Boys' Life issues for free! Find projects you can Give back to Scouting with create at home and stories that will take young readers' minds on adventures all over the world. the gas and groceries you already purchase every Download the app for access from the App Store or on Google Play. week! Follow these simple instructions to enroll your Smith's Rewards Card and Follow BSA blogs and social channels, as well as #ScoutingAtHome. begin earning dividends to help grow Scouting in the Don't forget the Outing part of Scouting. Here's a List of Museums, Zoos, and Theme Parks offering Great Southwest Council. Enrollment in the Smith's Virtual Tours Community Rewards https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/travel/a31784720/best-virtual-tours/ program will not affect the fuel points you earn while shopping. Don't have a Merit badges for social distancing: 58 badges Scouts can complete at home Smith's card? No problem! https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/03/20/merit-badges-for-social-distancing/ You can register a digital rewards card when you enroll at their website by Fun projects for kids that you can do from home clicking HERE. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/03/19/fun-projects-for-kids-that-you-can-do-from-home/ Scoutingwire News The Alamo Area Council has shared a wide variety of Facebook live videos and online Merit Badge clinics https://www.alamoareabsa.org/resources/scouting-at-home/ The Official Blog of https://www.alamoareabsa.org/resources/scouting-at-home/ the Scouting Movement The steps we are taking in these unknown times reinforce the many ways - big and small - that Scouting Visit the Scoutingwire site empowers character and leadership today and for generations to come. any time for the latest news from around the United States by visiting www.scoutingwire.org Scoutbook - Online Record Keeping for your Unit Eagle Boards of Review and Advancement Updates BY: Rick Mondick, GSWC Advancement Committee Chair Tracking the Scouting Experience Yes, it is very hard to have an Eagle Board of Review when public health authorities from Tiger to Eagle tell us to stay home. We all know that an Eagle Scout candidate has 90 days after Scout From the first knot tied to their 18th birthday to have their Eagle Board of Review. But what if your 90 day final hours of service performed, the Scouting period ends, while we are still under quarantine? experience is a journey like no other. Scoutbook ensures not a moment is missed - tracking Under normal circumstances a "request for a time extension" is sent to the BSA advancement, milestone achievements and all the National Office, and only the National Office can make a decision to grant additional fun along the way. time. The request for a time extension form can be found on the BSA website, Starting January 2019 Scoutbook is free to all form # 11.2.0.0. units. Click here to watch a video of how Scoutbook In a directive from the BSA National Office dated March 25, 2020, an Eagle Scout can improve your Scouting experience. candidate can request a time extension, using the proper form 11.2.0.0, from the For more details, visit Council's Advancement Chairman. The Great Southwest Council's Advancement Chair www.scoutbook.com can approve these extensions until the last day of September 2020. After that date, My.Scouting Tips requests for time extensions are submitted back to the National Office. My.Scouting.Org is an awesome resource with The time extensions approved by the Council's Advancement chair only apply if the many great tools. Below are some of the great Eagle candidate's progress to the Rank of Eagle is hampered due to the COVID-19 things you can do at my.scouting.org virus. These "time extensions" are to be sent to Rick Mondick, the Council's Advancement Chair, in care of the Council office. Should you have any questions or Take Training comments please feel free to contact Rick at [email protected] or by telephone There are many required and supplemental (505) 239-1590. Remember, Rick can only approve these time extensions until the trainings available at my.scouting.org.