Oh, to be young again! There’s a new experience on the path to Eagle these days. 2,000 Cub Scouts and Scouters participated in LAAC’s annual Rocket Academy over two fun-filled weekends in April. This event swelled the ranks of Firestone campers and provided lots of hands-on experiences in rocketry, BB rifle shooting and safety, archery, lanyard making, hiking and team sports.

R O C K E T S A W A Y ! INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Jambo 2013! 2

The Honda Explorers 2

Over the Edge 2 3

Merit Badge Sponsorship 3/4

Scout Executive’s Corner 4

Will Fish for Funds? 5

Eagles in Flight! Eagles in Flight! Newsletter Spring/Summer 2011

B O Y S C O U T S A N D B O T S

Oh, to be young again! An-nounced in April 2011, the Robotics merit badge is part of BSA’s new curriculum empha-sis: STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. Crea-tion of this latest effort to cap-ture the hearts and minds of today’s youth involved 14 months of development and 150 industry experts, youth members, and leaders.

Attainment requires that a Scout understand how robots

Upcoming LAAC Events:

June-August—FLSR Sum-mer Camps

June 18—CWSC Urban Day Camp

June 23— Stars & Stripes Golf/Fish Tourney

August 8-15—NYLT Course Option 2

October 6/7-Over the Edge 2

For more information and registration for these events, go to www.boyscoutsla.org. move (actuators), use sensors to

determine their environment, and how they understand what to do (programming).

Scouts are expected to design, document, build, and test their robot while also becoming famil-iar with “best practices” for safe operations, research sources and parts providers, industry career opportunities, and the future role for robots in society.

Let the “bot battles” begin!

Eagles in Fl ight ! Newslet ter

The LAAC website flyer says it best: “Get ready! The 2013 National Scout Jamboree is coming and it isn’t you father’s jamboree. We’re talking seri-ously high adventure, people! Whitewater rafting, zip-lining, rappelling, mountain biking, hiking and more—with 50,000 of your closest friends at the brand new Summit Bechtel Reserve in the wilds of West Virginia.” We know that many Eagle Scouts missed out on the opportunity to participate in a

National Jamboree on the road Eagle; wouldn’t it be a hoot to be part of the first jamboree held at Summit Bechtel Reserve?

Openings are available for adult advisors and leaders through a sign up information page at www.boyscoutsla.org and you can review the posi-tion descriptions for BSR staff openings at https://summit.scouting.org/en/Jamboree2013. (There’s

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A M E R I C A N H O N D A H O S T S A P O S T

B E A P A R T O F H I S T O RY : J A M B O 2 0 1 3 !

Honda Express Service Techni-cian. Post advisors and assistants are keen on seeing the pro-gram expand to high school students throughout the South Bay and other LAAC regions. Tom Laymon has set a goal to double the size of next year’s participants. Explorers meet each Friday from 5 to 7 pm at the training center on Honda’s Torrance campus where they have classes that will provide them with skills and certification to perform entry level tasks as an automotive technician. In addition to technical acumen, the Explorers are taught life skills including problem solv-ing, decision making, personal financial discipline, conflict

resolution and leadership. The post had the opportunity to view the Long Beach Grand Prix from the pits and grandstands as part of the unit’s dedication to field trip experiences designed to en-hance classroom and tech floor learning. Other trips are planned for the Peterson Museum and an HRA tour. It’s not surprising that after just a few short months of the post’s existence, most of the Explorers are already preparing to reapply for next year’s expanded curriculum. Thanks Eagle Scout Tom Laymon for “paying it for-ward.”

Oh, to be young again! The Honda Explorer Post is the brainchild of Tom Laymon, a senior executive with American Honda located in Torrance, California. Nearly two years of planning and coordination with Ms. Gina Chan, Learning for Life’s Director of Exploring programs came to fruition last fall and the initial enrollment of twenty Explorers was off to the races—literally. American Honda’s Explorer Post is designed to enable young people to build their careers in the automotive in-dustry. Through “hands-on” learning experiences and Indi-vidualized Skill Training (IST), these young men and women will develop the skills neces-sary to become a qualified

“Twenty Explor-ers is a good

start, next year the team is ex-

panding to forty.”

Tom Laymon

Eagle Scout Learning For Life

Director

a link from the LAAC website too.) Summit is looking for help with banking, logistics, activities leadership, exhibit coordination, and yes, even accountants are being sought.

So give it some thought; spend July 15-24 2013 won-dering if the southern Califor-nia sun is ever going to ap-pear or help make the inaugu-ral SBR Jamboree a once in a lifetime event for 50,000 kids?

Eagles in Fl ight ! Newslet ter

Last year’s LAAC fundraiser involving 64 hearty Scouts, Scouters, and assorted thrill-seekers was pulled together in just six short weeks after Nate Nusbaum and his staff got the go-ahead. It was so successful in so many ways that we’ve got the opportunity to do it again on October 6 (media day) and Oc-tober 7.

Last year’s Over the Edge cam-paign raised $106,000 for cam-perships and other LAAC pro-grams and we’re hoping to dou-ble that in 2011.

The initial allotment of rappel-ling times has been set at 80

this year and there’s an opportu-nity to add a third rope which opens up the field to 120 dare devils.

This year’s minimum fund rais-ing goal for each participant is $1,500 with incentives thrown in for early goal attainment and for the most funds raised. Last year’s all-expenses trip to Hawaii was won by Rita Illig Liebelt, then LAAC President. Rita raised over $10,000, setting the bar pretty high for Mike Bryant, our new LAAC President.

The initial meeting of this year’s OTE planning committee was held in May and there are open-

ings for others wishing to be part of the action.

A formal announcement will be out soon and those willing to help should contact Nate Nus-baum, Chief Development Officer at (213) 413-4400 extension 310.

Many of last year’s free fall specialists have already ex-pressed interest in going over the edge again so now’s the time to start planning your funding raising activities and thinking about what sort of regalia you plan to wear.

See you there!

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L A A C I N T R O D U C E S A N O V E L A P P R O A C H F O R U R B A N E M P H A S I S F U N D R A I S I N G

M I S S E D O U T O N T H E C H A N C E T O R A P P E L F R O M T H E B O N AV E N T U R E ? N O P R O B L E M !

Tri Fritz, LAAC Director of Annual Giving (yep, an Eagle Scout) has launched the Council’s Merit Badge Sponsorship Program, a new effort by our Council to reach out and create new partnerships with the business community.

Participating companies and organizations are able to link themselves with the mission, values and ethics of the Boy Scouts, while promoting themselves to an attentive and dedicated audience. In Southern California, well over 100,000 Scouts, parents, volunteers, professionals and donors partici-pate in Scouting programs.

The first merit badges were offered to Boy Scouts 100 years ago. Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell offered the awards so that Scouts would learn practical skills and have the opportunity to try new activities. From a list that began with 57, there are now 126 merit badges for Scouts to earn, including the latest – Robotics – which was unveiled last month. In 2010, Scouts in LAAC earned over 5,800 merit badges!

Here is just a sampling of the badges organizations can be associated with:

Eagle Required Badges (most earned): First Aid, Swimming, Camping, Lifesaving, Personal Fitness, Communications, Citizenship in the Community/Nation/World

Professional Badges: American Business, Entrepreneurship, Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Journalism, Computers, Salesmanship, Personal Management (also Eagle required)

Trade Badges: American Labor, Metalwork, Electronics, Plumbing, Automotive Maintenance, Home Repairs, Landscape Architecture, Truck Transportation

Activity Badges: Scuba Diving, Photography, Rifle & Shotgun Shooting, Music, Scholarship, Fishing, Horsemanship, Golf, Cycling, Stamp & Coin Collecting, Aviation, Snow Sports

(continued on page 4)

Eagles in Fl ight ! Newslet ter

It’s been 47 years since I received my Eagle, and yet I never got around to joining the National Eagle Scout As-sociation.

I think it first appeared when I was in my first decade of ca-reer Scouting, so it’s not like I didn’t know about it – I just didn’t get it done. I thought about it when my son got his Eagle in 1990, but 21 years later, it still hadn’t happened.

So I asked for a membership for my birthday, and while I was at it I decided to ask for a life membership. Since my wife always struggles with what to get me, she was

happy to oblige. And now I have a special lapel pin, a wallet card, and a certificate in my office. But more impor-tantly, I will stay connected.

Who can you help reconnect with Scouting? The next time you meet someone who turns out to be an Eagle Scout, ask him if Scouting knows where he is, and help him reconnect. He might be the next great Scoutmaster, or merit badge counselor, or commissioner, or…you get the picture!

See you along the trail!

Paul

Editorial Insert: Those interested in becoming NESA members can enroll on-line at: http://www.nesa.org/membership.html.

There are two categories of membership. Life members pay a one-time fee of $180 and re-ceive attractive full-color pocket and wall certificates and a gold NESA pin.

Regular memberships are good for five year new or renewal peri-ods. The fee is $25 and mem-bers receive pocket and wall certificates, plus a silver NESA pin.

Misplaced your Eagle Scout card or certificate? NESA can re-placement them for you for a small fee through the website URL noted above.

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S C O U T E X E C U T I V E ’ S C O R N E R

T I M E L Y T H O U G H T S F R O M P A U L M O O R E

“On My Honor, I’ll Do My Best”

(from page 3)

With such a diverse list of interests and fields, we can match a merit badge to anyone!

Here are a few of the unique benefits Merit Badge sponsors receive:

Company name on specific merit badge banner

Logo and name published in Compass

Logo and name published on LAAC website

Name recognition at Scout camps and Cabrillo Scout Center

Opportunity to host a merit badge clinic

Two levels of sponsorship exist—the $2,500 Banner Sponsor level and the $5,000 exclusive Presenting Sponsor tier. This is truly a “Win-Win-Win” opportunity for LAAC, Urban Emphasis, and the business com-munity. For further details and suggestions on how you might help Tri Fritz and the Council call him at (213) 413-400 x313 or jot a note to tri.fritz@boyscoutsla.org.

2333 Scout Way Los Angeles, CA 90026

LAAC Eagle Scout Associat ion GO L F, FI S H, ZI P LI N E A N D RA I S E

FU N D S F O R LAAC!

LAAC ESA Committee

John MacAllister Chairman Brian Curtis Staff Advisor Hannibol Sullivan Staff Advisor Don Crocker Robert Gierat Gary Jones Paul McNulty David Meshulam Greg Mitchell Gerry Morton William Plourde, Jr. John Pollock Rick Richmond Steven J. Rothans Nobby Schnabel Robert F. Scoular Steve Silbiger David Tomblin Bob Ulrich

Volunteers are always welcome!

“Its All About the Kids! From Day One, Stars & Stripes, its corporate partners and sponsors have demonstrated a strong commitment to making life better for our most precious resource. And, by contributing to some of the most effective and re-spected youth-service organizations around, we ensure that our mission is accom-plished.” So say, Dick Gebhard, Chairman of the annual Stars & Stripes charity golf and fishing tournament held each year at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach and Golf Re-sort located at Land’s End in sunny Cabo San Lucas. LAAC is one of four key U.S. beneficiaries of the 15th annual event. $2.5 million was raised last year and Dick has set his sights on hitting $3.0 million in 2011. The package includes air and ground transportation, all food and beverages, three nights hotel stay, and either two days of fishing or two days of golf—with mix and match and other side activities also available. The all-inclusive price for a party of four is $9,500; individual regis-trations are priced at $2,375. Check out the LAAC website or call Andrea Salazar at (213) 413-4400 for more details. But hurry, space is limited and we’ve got several Scouters already packing their clubs, rods, and sunscreen!

Got A Minute?

The LAAC Eagle Scout Asso-ciation is looking for volun-teers to help round out our advisory committee. Clever and enthusiastic Eagle Scouts (goes without saying, we guess) are asked to con-tact John MacAllister at the offices of Dorado Industries (310) 544-1316 or Brian Curtis at the Scout Center (213) 413-4400.