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Scoutmaster’s Letter to Prospective Parents

Dear Parents:

On behalf of All Souls Episcopal Church and the Troop Committee and Scoutmaster Staff of Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls, we are very happy to know that your girl and you are giving consideration to her becoming a member of the Troop. Your girl can join our troop if she is age 11 to 17. She can also join if she earned the Cub Scout Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old or has completed the fifth grade and is at least 10. You will also learn that our Troop is conducting activities during this time of COVID by strictly following physician-ordered protocols that are designed to comply with City, Episcopal Church and BSA regulations.

This letter covers almost all the details for your girl and family to join and participate. We hope she and you will attend one of our regularly scheduled upcoming Troop meetings on Saturday at All Souls from 10 — Noon. She will be made to feel welcome by being placed into one of our sub-group “Patrols” for the morning, and one of our Scoutmasters or Membership Co-Chairs will meet separately with you to go over the Troop program and the participation of girls and parents. Your girl can experience the full Scouting program including the opportunity to become an Eagle Scout – broadly recognized as an acclaimed distinction for outstanding young people. Eagle Scouts experience a lifetime of career and personal advantage because of the skills, knowledge, leadership, and character acquired through BSA programming. Many Eagle Scouts lead the nation and your girl can be among them.

Meet Our Organizations

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and its chartered organization All Souls Episcopal Church (Church) are supremely resourced with program, facility and personnel resources to provide your girl and family the skill development, citizenship and physical fitness program formerly known as “Boy Scouts”, but now known as “Scouts BSA”. All Souls is a historic congregation and its facilities and sanctuary are spectacular in function and beauty. More important, the congregation has long served the spiritual needs of the District of Columbia community and is a distinguished provider of programming. All Souls approves our adult leaders and supervises all of its youth programs, including our Troop.

Scouting at All Souls is non-denominational and does not require church membership. In fact, several members of our Troop come from families that include multiple religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Troop 248 welcomes girls regardless of faith, including those girls who are still searching for their beliefs and meanings. All Souls welcomes families
interested in exploring church membership.

Meet our Staff

Troop 248 has a volunteer Troop Committee composed of 12 people. It is a distinguished group of citizens that oversees our Scoutmaster and eight Assistant Scoutmasters and evaluates the quality of their work. The Troop Committee, with the approval of the Church, selected me to serve as Scoutmaster and I work closely with the Assistant Scoutmasters. Members of the Troop Committee and members of the Scoutmaster Staff fulfill specific duties and have been fully-trained and certified by the BSA. This includes advanced training in BSA and Church policies on youth protection, health, and safety to prevent any form of child abuse – the highest priority. Each registered BSA volunteer has successfully passed a criminal background check. The Scoutmaster Staff is experienced at providing Scouting and youth programming, having a combined total of over 150 years of Scouting experience. Our Troop Committee and Scoutmaster Staff and youth Officers met during summer of 2020 to plan the program, schedule and budget for the next 12 months of Troop operations, all of which are posted on the Troop website. We believe our Troop program is as high in quality as any other Troop in the nation. Youth members of the Troop plan the Troop program under the guidance of the Scoutmasters.

Understand Our Mission

The Scouts BSA program has served the Nation and its families for over a century by providing opportunity and uplifting examples to youth during the critical developmental years of ages 11 through 17. The BSA mission is to prepare young people to make ethical choices by instilling the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls supplements the efforts of your family, faith community and schools. While our website highlights educational, citizenship, skill acquisition, outdoor adventure, and cultural opportunities, our success is truly measured by how successfully we assist you to foster positive character, citizenship and personal fitness in your girl.

Review Our Program

During the academic year, your girl is expected to regularly attend twice-monthly Saturday meetings and at least five of eight overnight outings scheduled at nearby BSA camping facilities. In addition, she is strongly encouraged to attend one week of residential summer Scout camp with the entire Troop this coming June at nearby Goshen Scout Reservation. We have posted a 12-month program of all Troop meetings, activities, weekend outings, and service projects through August 2021. When your girl joins, you will regularly receive details for each event, including cost, location and precise times. Each summer the Troop will also offer an optional “super-trip.” In 2019 several of our Scouts visited the International Scout Jamboree held at the BSA’s national Summit Base in West Virginia. In August 2021 our supertrip will be a backpacking trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains as part of our BSA Council’s outdoor program. Our 2022 supertrip will be a two-week expedition to the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. Parents are able to participate in all of these events. Because the BSA owns and operates all of the above facilities discussed, the cost is far below what commercial outfitters and operators charge.

Required Adult Involvement

All parents or guardians are required to assist our Troop Committee with occasional one-off tasks. You do not have to have any Scouting experience. Each parent or guardian will assist with two or three tasks over a calendar year. Typical tasks include driving Troop members to an activity, chaperoning at a Troop event, organizing a potluck or assisting a Troop community service project. Our parents are also encouraged to consider serving as a “merit badge counselor” to Scouts from our Troop and across the City, who seek instruction and recognition in a particular career, academic, sport or hobby topics (there are over 130 BSA merit badges). We do not sell products such as cookies or popcorn, so you will never be asked to manage a product sales activity.

Youth Protection Policies

Our Troop follows the BSA’s Youth Protection policies and the Safe Church policies of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington to protect your girl and others involved in Scouting. Our Troop Committee and the Scoutmaster Staff follow mandatory practices, which I summarize below:

  • Two Leaders on Outings. A minimum of two registered and Youth Protection trained BSA leaders must be present. Both persons must be at least 21 years old and at least one of these people must be a female.
  • Two Adults on Cyber Communication. There are no one-on-one online or digital activity or electronic communications. Two Troop Leaders and a parent or guardian are always included in any email or text with a youth member, ensuring no one-on one contact exists in text, social media, or other forms of online or digital communication. Video or Zoom advancement meetings between a Troop Leader and a Scout require a parent or guardian to be present with the Scout during the entire meeting
  • No One-On-One Contact is allowed between Youth and Adults. When a situation requires a personal conference, the meeting is conducted with knowledge and in the view of other adults and youth.
  • Separate Accommodations for Youth and Adults. No youth is allowed to sleep in a tent with an adult other than her own parent or guardian. Separate shower and bathroom facilities are used for adults, youth and girls. The only exception is when separate facilities are not available and scheduled and posted times are used to separate adults from youth and males from females.
  • Buddy System: Self-selected groups of 2 or 3 girls assure girls are never alone on Scouting activities.
  • Privacy is Maintained. Girls and adults respect privacy in situations like changing clothes or taking showers. Adults are not allowed into such areas unless a health or safety issue requires it. In such cases two adults are required.
  • No Inappropriate Digital Use. No use of digital devices is allowed in circumstances where privacy is expected or requested.
  • No Secret Organizations. These are prohibited in the BSA and in our Troop.
  • No Hazing or Bullying is permitted.
  • Girl leaders are carefully advised. We monitor and advise our girl leaders to assure safety and compliance with BSA policies.
  • Discipline. This is always positive and constructive. No corporal or negative activities are allowed.
  • Appropriate Clothing Required. Bathing suits are required and no revealing clothing is allowed.
  • Mandatory Reporting. All Troop Leaders are required by law, BSA and Episcopal Church policy to report youth protection-related incidents or suspicions. Any good-faith suspicion or belief that a child has been abused or exposed to any form of exploitation or obscenity is required by law to be reported to local law enforcement. Scoutmasters in particular are under an obligation to report to law enforcement any information from a child or adult indicating child abuse may have occurred whether or not in connection with the Troop – Please do not joke or engage in humor about these topics in the presence of Scouts or Troop volunteers. We are also required to notify our local professional BSA Scout Executive and the Chief Executive (Rector) of the Church of such matters.
  • Parent Reporting. Any parent who has reason to believe that BSA youth protection policies are not being followed should notify our local professional BSA Scout Executive by calling (248) 530-9360 and the Rector of the Church by calling (202) 232-4244. Instances of actual abuse should be reported directly to law enforcement, as well as the BSA Scout Executive and Church Rector.
  • Safe Family Camping.    Only BSA-registered adult leaders and committee members are allowed to attend overnight activities, because this assures each adult has undergone a background screening and has completed Youth Protection Training.  An exception is that once a year the Troop will open a campout to all family members of Scouts.  In those cases a separate set of “family camping” rules applies – but all adults attending “family camping” weekends still need to have taken the Youth Protection Training

Join the Troop

Your girl and you can come to any of our upcoming regular meetings (check our online schedule). We will explain our Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls program and sign your family up if you wish — and we have all the forms necessary. One is a health form to be completed by your girl’s health professional that you will need to return to us. We will also discuss information posted on our web site regarding how and where to obtain the required Scout uniforms and necessary personal equipment. We will explain applicable dues, and activity fees, including the $200 per-semester dues you will be asked to pay (50% discount for the second girl in the same family). If your family cannot afford to pay the entire fee, we have a fund to assist. Our fees cover our costs, so we do not engage in any product sales (cookies, popcorn, etc.). We have one fund-raising reception event each October to gather contributions to benefit our local BSA Council and our own Troop girls whose families cannot afford all of our dues and fees.

All Ages of Girls Welcomed to Join

Scouts BSA is for ages 11 through 17 (a girl can join at 10.5 if she has finished fifth grade or earned the Weblos “Arrow of Light” award in Cub Scouts. Girls will experience BSA advancement in the standard manner, meaning requirements of the early ranks will be age-appropriate and the process to Eagle will typically take three to five years. The exact same advancement standards followed by all-boy Troops will apply. We also encourage high schoolers aged 14 through 17 to join us. We work with our older girls on their advancement and other activities of particular interest to high schoolers. These girls will schedule their advancement and leadership activity to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout before they become age-ineligible. These girls will have an interest in our more-advanced leadership training opportunities, including the BSA’s National Youth Leadership Training offered by our local BSA Council.

Attend Troop Meetings

Troop 248 for Girls meets regularly during the academic year from 10 AM until Noon on two Saturdays of each month at All Souls Episcopal Church, 2300 Cathedral Ave., NW, Washington, DC. This is just off Connecticut Ave., between the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro station and the National Zoo. The Church has complimentary parking. You and your girl can also take the Metro to the Woodley Park station from anywhere in the City. The L1 and L2 Metrobus connects to places all over the City. The Metro and Metrobus are free for any DC girl who uses her District of Columbia Metro school pass. If there are multiple girls taking the Metro or Metrobus from the same areas, we will organize groups of girls to travel together. The area around All Souls is very safe.

Attendance at Saturday meetings is generally required. Scouts BSA programming is challenging and cumulative — excessive absences will diminish your girl’s enjoyment and slow her advancement. Part of the reasoning for selecting our Saturday morning meeting time was to conflict less with school and athletic activities. Ultimately, excessive absences will prevent a girl from being able to advance at the same rate as her peers. However, we welcome any girls regardless of her attendance or interest in advancement – it is ultimately up to each girl and her family to determine the priority that participation and advancement plays in her mix of activities.

Each Troop meeting will include beginning and advanced training (depending on age) in Scoutcraft, citizenship, fitness and other topics necessary for your girl to earn awards and advance through Scouting “ranks”, discussed below. Scouts should arrive just before 10 AM and enter door of the church from Cathedral Ave. or the parking lot. We will respect your family obligations by always beginning and ending the meetings precisely on time. If your girl needs to arrive slightly late or depart slightly early due to a schedule conflict, that is fine with us. She will not be made to feel embarrassed or awkward about it. Adults generally do not attend the regular meetings but are welcome to observe at any time. There are several nearby coffee shops and other commercial establishments along Connecticut Ave. with internet service if you choose to wait near the church. All Souls also has Wi-Fi available.

COVID

Our fall 2020 meetings will take place outside in the church parking lot and its beautiful front yard. These will be socially distanced and in compliance with all City regulations. Scouts are required to take their temperatures beginning five days before a meeting or event and will have their temperature be taken before she can join the other Scouts during a meeting or event. Our Troop Physician provides applicable direction on the applicable page of our website.

The Troop Structure

Each girl is assigned to an 8-10 girl “Patrol”, the members of which elect a Patrol Leader, who in turn appoints an Assistant Patrol Leader. The girls selected names for the patrols, each of which is a bird. The Patrols combine to make-up the Troop. All girls elect an older girl to be Senior Patrol Leader to run Troop meetings and many activities. The Senior Patrol Leader appoints other Troop-wide youth offices. The adult structure is headed by our Troop Committee, which meets once a month on Zoom. All parents are encouraged to join. The Committee appoints the Scoutmaster Staff, comprised of adults who attend most Troop meetings and campouts and engage on a very regular basis to advise the girls on the running of the Troop. Parents interested in serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster should speak to the Scoutmaster to get an understanding of what is involved and obtain the training necessary from the BSA. It is a distinctly rewarding leadership activity. The Scoutmaster Staff can exercise a veto over youth decisions that might present safety or other significant problems.

All Souls has a charter from the BSA to offer Scouting to youth and has supervisory authority over all Troop operations. A “Chartered Organization Representative” represents the Church on our Troop Committee. The Church also provides the assistance of one of its professional staff
priests as the Troop Chaplain.

The Troop and Church are advised and occasionally visited by experienced BSA Council volunteers known as “Commissioners.” The Commissioners and other key volunteers in our BSA Council work with credentialed full-time Scouting professionals. The BSA Council, known as the “National Capital Area Council” owns and operates the camping facilities we will be
using, organizes Council-wide events, operates several scout shops and much more. Our Council is broadly known to be one of the best-run organizations of its kind in the United States.

Understand Advancement Process

Troop 248 for Girls uses Scouting’s historic and simple advancement system. Essentially, the BSA compiles a list of skills to be acquired and citizenship and physical fitness activities to be experienced. The acquisition and experience process is organized into a multi-year process known as “advancement.” The entire process is outlined in your girl’s Scout Handbook and her progress will be enabled and tracked on a free web site and smart phone application called “Scoutbook.” The program costs for her advancement activities are included in her $200 per semester dues.

For the first couple of years, your girl will work on age-appropriate advancement requirements leading to the earning of “rank” badges with the iconic names “Scout,” “Tenderfoot,” “Second Class” and finally “First Class.” A First Class Scout (typically a twelve or thirteen year-old) possesses knowledge, confidence and leadership beyond her years and is capable of self-sustaining in the wilderness, during a disaster or when challenged by complex social circumstances. She will also begin to exhibit the character of a leader, as she will be provided the opportunity to lead her age peers. During these first two years your girl will receive a number of delightful awards in the form of patches for display on her dress uniform. In addition to patches symbolizing her “ranks,” she will receive some “merit badges,” which are round patches that signify competence in a specific subject, such as first aid or swimming. These award costs are all covered by the semester dues payments.

The next three ranks are “Star,” “Life” and “Eagle.” The requirements for these ranks include earning increasing numbers of merit badges in both required and optional subjects. There are over 130 merit badges covering a wide variety of academic, career, hobby, sport, outdoor, citizenship and other subjects. Hundreds of registered BSA volunteers across the Washington, DC Metropolitan area serve episodically as merit badge counselors and will assist girls in groups of two or more understand a profession, hobby, sport or other endeavor. The Assistant Scoutmasters will link your family to these extraordinary people when the time comes.

These final three ranks will increasingly require your girl to demonstrate leadership in front of her peers and the non-Scouting community. Your girl will blossom with confidence and cheerfulness that comes with her acquiring and using her skills and leadership. The farther she advances through the BSA system the more she will benefit. For a select number of girls the advancement process will culminate when they plan and lead the Troop in an Eagle Scout project to benefit the non-Scouting community. Flip through the Scout Handbook and you will be astounded by the experiences and skills she will have acquired by that point. It is not surprising that the distinction of Eagle Scout is sometimes referred to as the “Ph.D of American Youth.” Girls who enter the Troop when they are 10 can be expected to attain the rank of Eagle in approximately four to six years. Older girls who join us can earn their Eagle award in three hard-working years, because they will be able to speed through requirements that take longer for a younger girl to accomplish. Girls can achieve everything through the BSA advancement system that boys have and the requirements are exactly the same. Every merit badge and rank awarded by Troop 248 will be fully earned and respected by the Scouting community and the society your girl will enter when she is ready. Troop 248 is girl-led in a manner that respects and emphasizes the natural strengths and preferences of girls, but the curriculum will be the same.

Fees and Costs

Compared to the costs of comparable youth activities, Troop 248 for Girls is a bargain. $1,000 is a realistic estimate of the grand total of all annual costs for a girl. These are entirely inclusive fees, including a Scout Handbook, food, program materials, awards, patches and just about everything else. For instance, this includes all food, accommodation and program for a total of 14 nights (1 week of summer camp and 4 weekend 2-night trips). These fees may seem a bit more than some other youth organizations, but the reason for this is that these are entirely inclusive and we do not require our youth members or their families to sell cookies, popcorn or anything else. We put your family time into Scouting and not product salesmanship.

  • Dues (paid in $200 installments, once per semester)                            400
    (50% dues discount for additional girls from same family)
  • June Residential Summer Camp Fee (paid late spring)                         400
  • Participation in 4 of 8 weekend campouts ($50 paid before event)   200
  • Grand Total of estimated Yearly Costs:                                                $1,000

Here is what your girl will receive for these fees:

$400.00 — Annual dues per youth member. This is payable to the Troop Treasurer in $200.00 installments on February 1 and September 15. Dues cover all BSA registration and insurance, program expenses incurred during our twice-monthly meetings (including a Scout Handbook) and the cost of numerous events, patches, awards, Troop t-shirt and a Troop hat. You will not be asked to sell or purchase products or pay any extra fees during the year – ever.

$400.00 – Annual week of BSA residential summer camp with the entire Troop at nearby Goshen Scout Reservation (hard to believe, but this actually includes all food, housing, and programming). This is less than half the average weekly cost of a sleep-away camp in the area. BSA summer residential camp is coordinated with our yearlong program and provides essential opportunities to earn required outdoor-oriented merit badges, allowing girls to advance through Scouting ranks. It is difficult for a girl to advance through BSA ranks without attending residential summer camp each year. This amount is payable in mid-May of each year. The BSA Council has a scholarship program to assure that Scouts can attend if their families cannot pay the full summer camp fee. The Scoutmaster or Troop Treasurer can be confidentially consulted on this.

$50.00 – Cost to attend one of our nearby weekend outings, usually a two-night overnight camping trip at a nearby BSA-operated camp. All food (starting with snack on Friday night through breakfast on Sunday morning), program materials and recognition items are included in these fees, which are payable to the Troop Treasurer using your VISA card number on the Troop website. The troop schedules at least eight such activities during each academic year. We strongly recommend that each girl attend at least four of these outings each year, which is why we estimate annual fees for this category at $200.

One-time costs not included in above:

$100.00 – Purchase of a Dress BSA Uniform. Your girl will need a Dress BSA Uniform (purchased for about $100 from local BSA Scout Shop in Bethesda) consisting of a tan BSA shirt, forest green BSA pants, green BSA socks and green BSA web belt. These are high-quality items that are similar to outdoor clothing you might purchase at places like REI, LL Bean, North Face or Patagonia – they just cost a lot less. See our Uniform Web Page for details, including a sheet you should print-out and take with you to the Scout Shop.

Please note that we ask Scouts to give us their old or outgrown uniforms so we can provide them to future members. Just bring them freshly laundered to any Troop meeting.

The Troop Treasurer accepts payment for all events and fees via a credit card on the Troop website. For larger amounts ($200 or above) we prefer payment be by check in order to avoid a 3% bank fee. You will register your girl for all trips and events for which there is a fee applicable on our web site.

Fund Raising

Because we believe our fees are all-inclusive and modest, and because we desire to focus girls on experiencing the Scouting program, Troop 248 for Girls does not engage in any product sales or similar fund-raising activities. The sole exception to this policy is that an adult family member is urged to attend and support an annual reception in October at which a single tax-deductible contribution will be solicited from each family to be used for two purposes only:

  • 1/3 of the amount raised will be contributed to All Souls and our local BSA Council. All Souls is our gracious host and we wish to be supportive of church activities. The Council is the volunteer-governed and professionally staffed organization that operates Scouting locally. The Council employs a preeminent group of credentialed full-time youth program professionals and operates magnificent camps the Troop uses for residential summer camp and monthly activities (such as campouts).
  • 2/3 of the amount raised will be retained by the Troop Treasurer to supplement fees of Troop 248 girls whose families cannot afford to pay all of the above fees. Use of the funds requires agreement of the Troop Committee Chair, Scoutmaster and Chartered Organization Representative (the person who represents All Souls to our Troop). To protect the privacy of the benefitting girls, recipient names and details are not announced. Contributors wishing to know how these funds are being used are invited to inquire of the Scoutmaster or Troop Committee Chairman.

The Scoutmaster Staff and Troop Committee join me in hoping your girl and entire family will join Scouting and that your girl will find great joy and reward as a member of Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls.

Sincerely,
Craig Burkhardt
Scoutmaster