Tim McCandless | Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America, CEO and scout executive
Girls have participated in our Exploring and Venturing programs for decades but welcoming them to the core Scouting program has been a big change. It reflects what we’ve learned about how busy families are today and the priorities of millennial parents.
As someone once said, ”If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
Communicating about change is not a one-time thing — it’s crucial to consistently and repeatedly share information so change can go smoothly. And just when I think we have fully communicated, it’s time to rephrase and repeat!
The Scouts have access to the usual avenues — traditional and digital media — but we also have thousands of parents and volunteers who were great at taking the information we shared and passing it along via good, old-fashioned word-of-mouth.
Constant and consistent communication has helped make the first year of Family Scouting a success.
Today, boy troops continue as they always have and we now have 17 girl troops, which started in February. They follow the same program, offering the same life skills and adventures.
Parents who have both sons and daughters enrolled tell me that participating has brought them closer together as a family. This has been rewarding to hear!
