Dear fellow Scouters,
I hope you’re well.Members of the Creek River District Committee asked me to email you to request your help in earning gold honors in the Boy Scouts of America’s Journey to Excellence recognition program.
Why Journey to Excellence
Scouting's Journey to Excellence, often shortened to JTE, was started in 2011 to encourage and reward the success of units, districts and councils by rating them at a gold, silver or bronze level. It is meant to encourage excellence in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA.Nationally, only about 20 percent of districts earn Journey to Excellence Gold and 45 percent earn silver. The bottom 30 percent do not achieve bronze. According to council records, Creek River District has not earned any level of recognition since the program’s inception.
Journey to Excellence is a key self-evaluation tool that lets units and districts see how well their unit is meeting the goals of Scouting and delivering the best possible program for our youth (number of campouts, number of youth advancing, etc.). It also provides guidance in areas where we might improve, idea sharing from other units and early warning of potential problems.
Where we stand
As of Nov. 8, the district was rated silver for 2017 thanks to all of the hard work by all of you and the Scouts in your units. So far this year, the district has exceeded its Friends of Scouting fundraising goal by 30 percent, increased popcorn sales by 6 percent, started eight new units in all program areas and experienced a 22 percent increase in membership.We have actually had a gold year so let’s get the recognition we deserve.
In order to officially earn gold honors, the district needs help from its units in completing the following tasks by Dec. 31:
- 5 more direct-contact leaders (Scoutmasters, Cubmasters and Den Leaders) completing online training at my.scouting.org. That includes Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills for direct-contact Boy Scout leaders
- 21 more Boy Scouts earning advancement at any rank. This can be entered through Internet Advancement or by completing this report and returning it to the council office.
- 1,870 additional hours of community service logged online at this site for youth and adults from any unit. Contact me or the council for your unit ID.
With 38 active units in the district, we should be able to achieve these goals. Please encourage your units and leaders to help with this effort. You may also see this finish-line report for additional information in achieving Journey to Excellence Gold.
How it benefits you
In helping with this effort, each unit can also earn bronze, silver or gold honors in the Journey to Excellence system. Plus, there are a variety of benefits in doing so, including:- All youth and adults earning a Journey to Excellence patch to display on their uniform
- All youth and adults earning a Journey to Excellence pin to display on their uniform
- The district presenting the unit with a Journey to Excellence ribbon at the district banquet
- Possibly qualifying for council to pay for all rank badges for your unit
If you have any questions, you can contact me (see below) or Council Registrar Janell Knotts at (706-733-5277.
Sincerely,
Wesley Brown | District Executive
Georgia-Carolina Council
Boy Scouts of America
4132 Madeline Drive
Augusta, GA 30909
O 706.733.5277 | C 828.467.0426
F 706.733.0765
Twitter: @SocialSalutes
Wesley.Brown@scouting.org
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