What is Venturing?
Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and
women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) through 20 years of age.
Venturing's purposed is to provide positive experiences to help young people mature and
to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.
Venturing is based on a unique and dynamic relationship between youth, adult leaders,
and organizations in their communities. Local community organizations establish a
Venturing Crew by matching their people and program resources to the interests of young
people in the community. The result is a program of exciting and meaningful activities
that helps youth pursue their special interests, to grow, to develop leadership skills,
and to become good citizens.
Venturing crews can specialize in a variety of avocation or hobby interests. Venturing
programs are developed around six experience areas of emphasis.
| Citizenship |
Develop a Better Understanding of America's Social Economic,
and governmental systems. |
Encourage a pride in our American Heritage. |
| Leadership |
Develop leadership skills. |
Prepare for giving leadership and to fulfill
responsibilities to American society and to the peoples of the world |
| Fitness |
Improve mental, emotional, and physical fitness and an
appreciation for sports. |
Develop ethical decision-making skills. |
| Social |
Instill stable personal values firmly based on religious
concepts. |
Develop skill in dealing with all people and encourage a
sense of family and community responsibility. |
| Outdoor |
Develop a degree of self-reliance based on courage,
initiative, and resourcefulness. |
Understand and appreciate the wise use of resources and the
protection of our environment. |
| Service |
Encourage the skill and desire to help others. |
Gain a keen respect for the basic rights of others. |
Young adults involved in Venturing will:
 | Engage in a program of activities centered on a vocation interest, life skills, service
learning, character development, citizenship, and leadership experiences designed to
encourage the development of the whole person. |
| Experience positive leadership from adult and youth leaders and be given opportunities
to take on leadership roles. |
| Have a chance to learn and grow in a supportive, caring and fun environment.
|
The aims of the Boy Scouts of America are to build character, develop citizenship and
foster personal fitness. The Venturing methods listed below have been carefully designed
to achieve the aims of the Boy Scouts of America and meet the needs of young adults.
| Adult Association. The youth officers lead the crew. The officers and
activity chairs work closely with adult Advisors and other adult leaders in a spirit of
partnership. The adults serve in a "shadow" leader capacity.
|
| Leadership. All Venturers are given opportunities to learn and apply
proven leadership skills. A Venturing crew is led by elected crew officers. The Venturing
Leadership Skills Course is designed for all Venturers and helps teach in an active way to
effectively lead. |
| Recognition. Recognition comes through the Venturing advancement program
and through the acknowledgement of a youth's competence and ability by peers and adults.
|
| Ideals. Venturers are expected to know and live by the Venturing Oath and
Code. They promise to be faithful in religious duties, treasure their American heritage,
to help others and to seek truth and fairness. |
| Group Activities. Venturing activities are interdependent group
experiences in which success is dependent on the cooperation of all. Learning by
"doing" in a group setting provides opportunities for developing new skills.
|
| High Adventure. Venturing's emphasis on high adventure helps provide;
team-building opportunities, new meaningful experiences, practical leadership application,
and life-long memories to young adults. |
| Teaching Others. All of the Venturing Awards require Venturers to teach
what they have learned to others. When they teach others often, Venturers are better able
to retain the skill or knowledge they taught, they gain confidence in their ability to
speak and relate to others and they acquire skills that can benefit them for the rest of
their lives as a hobby or occupation |
The program of every Venturing crew evolves around a special avocation or hobby
interest of the youth members and adult leaders. Youth members have the interest and the
adult leaders provide the resources and expertise. There are hundreds of different
specialties that a Venturing crew may pursue. Venturing crews, depending on their special
interest, will be part of a specialty cluster. These specialty clusters include:
Outdoor, Sports, Arts/Hobbies, Youth Ministry, Sea Scouting
An important goal of Venturing is to help young adults be responsible and caring
persons, both now and in the future. Venturing uses `ethical controversies' to help young
adults develop the ability to make responsible choices that reflect their concern for what
is a risk and how will it effect others involved. Because an ethical controversy is
problem-solving situation, leaders expect young adults to employ empathy, invention, and
selection when they think through their position and work toward a solution of an ethical
controversy.
What a Venturing crew does is limited only by the imagination and involvement of the
adult and youth leaders and members of the crew - sail the Caribbean, produce a play,
climb a mountain, teach disabled people to swim or attend the Olympics. All these
adventures and many more are being done today by Venturing crews and ships across the
country. All that is needed are concerned adults who are willing to share a little bit of
themselves with today's youth - tomorrow's leaders.
Organizing a venturing crew is easy to do. Just follow these steps:
1. A survey is conducted annually in community high schools to determine student's
recreational, hobby and avocation interest.
2. A meeting is called to key people within an organization, with a Scouting
representative in attendance. The representative explains the Venturing program, describes
the key volunteer leader positions, and plans the recruiting of adult leaders.
3. The crew committee and advisors are recruited and meet with the Scouting
representative. Responsibilities of adult leaders are explained. The Scouting
representative also discusses program ideas and helps develop a on-year program. The
crew's one-year program is reviewed and adopted.
4. The organization's top executive writes a personal letter to each young adult
selected form the survey, or identified through other recruitment efforts, and invites the
youth and their parents to attend an organizational meeting. This letter is followed by a
personal phone invitation from a member of the organization to each prospective youth.
5. The fist meeting is held, involving young adults, the adult committee, and selected
consultants. Adult Advisors share the program plans with the new Venturers (youth) and
discuss member involvement and leadership roles through the election of youth officers.
Research has revealed these major points:
| High school students have many vocational and avocational interests.
|
| Teenagers want a broader experience that provides practical "hands-on"
experience and is tailored to their cultural backgrounds. |
| Teenagers want to belong to a group that provides a "safe haven" from which to
address the youth development issues that affect them. These issues include
experimentation; moving from dependence to interdependence; social relationships;
psychological changes and sexual maturity; and a re-evaluation of values.
|
The Venturing division is designing literature, audiovisuals, training, activities, and
awards to support Venturing crews and ships.
Literature and audiovisuals: A variety of books, pamphlets, and videos are being
developed to assist with organization, program, leadership, and activities. In particular,
the Venturing Leader Manual will support Leadership and planning.
Training: Basic and advanced leader training sessions along with crew leader
workshops, quarterly Advisor meetings, and program conferences will be available to
improve and enrich Venturing crew programs. A week long high adventure skills course for
Venturing Advisors is available.
Activities: Programs that enhance youth participation, such as the National
Leadership Conference, will be available to all Venturing crews and youth and adult
members.
Advancement Awards [Ranks]: A variety of awards [ranks] are available to
Venturers who accomplish specific advancement achievements. These awards include:
| Venturing Bronze Awards |
| Venturing Gold Award |
| Venturing Silver Award |
| Venturing Ranger Award |
| Sea Scouting Quartermaster Award |
Recognition Awards: Those awards that are designed to provide recognition for
youth and adults include:
| Venturing Leadership Award |
| Venturing Advisor Award of Merit |
Uniforms: The BSA will offer the traditional spruce-green uniform shirt for
Venturers. It is recommended that crews adopt a charcoal gray casual pant and/or
backpacking-style short for their uniform. However, each crew may determine what, if any,
specific uniform pants or shorts they will wear based on crew activities.
BSA Councils: The Venturing crew and ships are supported by local BSA councils
that provide staff and volunteer support, operate service centers and camps, and conduct
training and activities.
Liability Insurance. The Boy Scouts of America has liability insurance that
covers leaders and organizations to which Venturing crews and ships are chartered.
Accident and medical coverage are not included but are available through local BSA
Councils at a modest cost.
For additional information and support on organizing a new Venturing Crew or Sea Scout
Ship, contact your local Boy Scouts of America Service Center or the Venturing division,
National Office, Boy Scouts of America.
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