2025-07-20 This Week: Troop Meeting, Merit Badge Blue Cards, Philmont, ASM Meeting, Scout Day at Nationals Park, SYT Training, Religious Emblems, One Month Look Ahead

Troop 131,

I hope you are enjoying your summer!  I know we had 7 intrepid scouts who worked on their Lifesaving Merit Badge with Mr. Devlin this weekend.  Mrs. Farmer (Advancement Chair) is out for the next two weeks but fear not!  I have the “Box of Power” and can award merit badges and ranks.  Please come see me with signed blue cards if you need anything (like Lifesaving for instance)!

TROOP MEETING

We will have a Troop meeting at 7:30 PM this Monday at Immanuel Church on the Hill!

Your SPL will be out for the next two weeks, however, your two ASPL’s will take over in his place.  Jack Norris will run the meeting on 8/21, and Andrew Devlin will run the meeting on 8/28.

According to the calendar, we are supposed to have a PLC this week, however, with your SPL out and many of you on vacation, we will go ahead and cancel it.

The meeting plan calls for lots of time for sign offs (remember, those who took part in the new scout program at summer camp should get their books signed), tent races, and of course a good summertime game!

SUMMER CAMP – Merit Badge Patches and Blue Cards

For all the new scouts (and a reminder to the veterans) who returned from summer camp with freshly awarded Merit Badges … I have two pieces of advice:

1. So, you don’t lose them, put the badges on your merit badge sash right away!
2. Attached to the merit badges is your blue card (white print-out in this case). For those that may one day go for Eagle, please don’t lose these either.  Currently, the district requires signed hard copies of the blue cards as part of the Eagle application.  It is easier to replace the patch than the blue card.  My advice is to get clear plastic “baseball card” holders for the cards and put them into a binder.

PHILMONT – Open Spots & Training Schedule

I know it seems crazy to be talking about Philmont when we have not even gone to Sea Base, however, preparation needs to start one year out!

First, we still have spots open for the trip, scheduled for August 1^st-8^th 2026.  While this is a 7-day trek, we likely spend a few days beforehand in Colorado doing training hikes and acclimating to the higher altitude and then a day or two on the back end for rest and travel.  From a planning standpoint we are talking about a nearly two-week trip, roughly from 7/29-8/9.

We have reserved spots for two crews, with each crew allowed a maximum of 12 people including a maximum of 4 adults. If you are interested in going, we have spots available for 5 additional scouts and 1 additional adult.

See the link below to sign up and please pay a $150 Deposit fee to the treasurer. If you register, please email me directly as well.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdN4gfaMCcMhY5pKC53yJj7iaj_xf1rbGmptw73twFLusIKgw/viewform

We are in the process of putting together the training schedule, however, the current plan has us begin in September with at least one training hike or backpacking trip every month until we go to Philmont in August.  This will culminate in a 6 day shake down back-packing trip at Goshen/Lenhok’sin (see link below) in Mid-July of 2026.  Some of these will correspond with Troop Camping trips, for instance the Troop trip in November will be a back-packing trip, however in other months the training hikes will be in addition to the troop activity. All scouts in the troop are welcome to join the training hikes even if they are not going to Philmont.

https://www.gotogoshen.org/camps-programs/lenhoksin-high-adventure/

We will design the training and backpacking hikes/treks to satisfy the requirements for the Hiking and Backpacking Merit badges.

Currently this is who we have on the list for Philmont, and we hope we can get a few more scouts on these two crews.

Crew (11/16)

Baldwin, Josiah

Cantrell, Sam

Devlin, Tadhg

Dalton, Arthur

Farmer, Owen

Grocki, Thomas

Norris, Jack

Pica, George

Ramirez, Theo

Springer, Ozzie

Teixeira Moffat, Edward

Adults (7/8)

Devlin, Daren

Grocki, Chris

Farmer, Michael

Norris, Greg

Pica, Justin

Ramirez, Mark

Teixeira Moffat, Jonathan

ASM Meeting- August 28^th – Scoutmaster’s House

In support of training for Philmont, I am hosting a planning meeting at my house on August 28^th. I ask that all the adults on the Philmont Crew please attend.  In addition, ASMs, Committee Members or Unit Scouter Reserves who camp with the troop are also welcome to attend as there will be some areas where we overlap with typical troop outings.  I already sent an invitation out for this, if you did not receive it, please email me directly.

SCOUT DAY AT NATIONALS PARK- Sunday August 3^rd

See information and links below for Scout Day at National Park.  I will be out of town that day, but if you are interested you can buy your tickets directly or if there is someone interested in organizing a larger group (13 or more) let me know and I can send an email out to the troop with your contact information.

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/tickets/specials/youth-days

https://www.gofevo.com/event/Scoutday53

Join fellow Scouts at Nationals Park for Scout Day! Sunday 8/3/2025 at 1:35 p.m.

• With the purchase of a special ticket, scouting fans will receive a limited-edition Nationals Scout Patch. 
• For every ticket sold, $5 will be donated to the Scouting America National Capital Area Council.

If you organize a group of 20 or more, the group leader will receive a complimentary game ticket (1 ticket per order).

For more information or to purchase a group of 13 or more, please contact Ella Charles at 202-640-7474 or ella.charles@nationals.com.

SAFEGUARDING YOUTH TRAINING (SYT) TRAINING (formerly YPT)

Adults: ASM Patel has volunteered to be our training coordinator for the troop!  Many of you probably received an email from him concerning your training status in the troop and specifically SYT (formerly Youth Protection) training.   See information from the National Office Concerning this:

Safeguarding youth is our highest priority. As part of our continued commitment to creating a safe and supportive environment for every young person in our programs, we are excited to announce the launch of the new Safeguarding Youth Training (SYT).

This training replaces the previous Youth Protection Training (YPT) and reflects a significant investment in updated content, delivery, and compliance standards. SYT is designed to be more engaging, accessible, and aligned with current best practices in youth protection.

What You Need to Know:

Deadline: All volunteers must complete SYT by May 31, 2026.

Recognition of Prior Training: If you completed YPT before May 22, 2025, it will be honored until May 31, 2026, after which SYT will need to be taken.

Why This Matters:

This overhaul is more than a name change. SYT introduces updated modules, clearer policies, and a more robust learning experience to ensure every adult in our movement is equipped to protect and empower youth.

Next Steps:

Log in to your My.Scouting account and click the Safeguarding Youth Training logo on the right of the page to be taken directly to the new course.

For questions or support, please contact your local council.

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to youth safety and for being a vital part of Scouting America’s mission.

RELIGIOUS EMBLEMS COORDINATOR

ASM Patel has also offered to be our religious emblem coordinator.  See the information below, this is a great award for both scouts and adults!

Good evening.

I am the Troop Religious Emblems Coordinator.  

My goal is to ensure that both scouts and adults are aware of the Religious Emblem Program and how they can earn a religious emblem based on the faith that the individual would like to learn about.  

If you would like to learn about earning the Religious emblem in your faith (or another faith) please feel free to contact me.  

I will do what I can to assist you in the process of earning the award.  

Both youth and adults (you don’t have to be a member of Scouting America) can earn this emblem.

More details can be found at:

https://www.scouting.org/awards/religious-awards/

https://www.praypub.org/scouting-america

Please feel free to contact me at this email address for more details. 

Thank you. 

YiS,

ASM Patel

SCHEDULE: One Month(ish) Look Ahead

Monday, July 21^st – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM (BoR) (PLC) – Immanuel Church on the Hill

Monday, July 28^th – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill

Sunday, August 3^rd – Scout Day at Nationals Park

Monday, August 4^th – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill

August 6^th -11^th – SEA BASE- Coral Reef Sailing (Boat-1) – Islamorada, Florida

August 8^th -13^th – SEA BASE- Keys Adventure Sailing (Boat-2) – Islamorada, Florida

Monday, August 11^th – No Troop Meeting

Monday, August 18^th – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM (PLC) (BoR)- Immanuel Church on the Hill

Monday, August 25^th – Court of Honor- Family Picnic 6:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill

Thursday, August 28^th – ASM and Philmont Planning Meeting- Scoutmasters house

Friday August 29^th – 31^st – Patrol Outing 2.0 (ACPS no school on Friday) – TBD