Outdoor Program

Overview

Scouting America uses an outdoor program to achieve its goals of character development, citizenship training, leadership development, and personal fitness. At the troop level, the outdoor program includes weekend outings and longer options over the holiday break and summer. Camping and engaging in outdoor activities provide scouts numerous opportunities to master planning and preparation, solve challenges, develop resilience, learn to work as part of a team, and exercise leadership. Since this approach is how scouting works, it is essential that your scout participate in the outdoor program. The troop understands that scouts have various scheduled commitments and that conflicts occur, so there is no expectation that your scout will be able to attend every outing. But he should try to attend as many outings as possible since that is where much of scouting happens.

What types of outings does Troop 455 do? During the scout year, there is typically one weekend outing per month. The outings usually involve camping on Friday and Saturday nights with an activity during the day on Saturday. The typical outings each year are each centered around one of the following activities:

• Rafting or canoeing

• Pioneering (i.e., building some structure like a tower or a suspended flag pole)

• Cycling

• Backpacking

• Ziplining

• Caving

• Rock-climbing

• Wilderness survival

• Horseback riding

• Shooting (guns or archery)

• Visiting Georgia’s barrier islands

• Relaxing (i.e., a “chill” outing)

An important point on consideration for new scouts is that the outings vary in terms of the level of intensity. The chill outing is just hanging out at the campsite. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the backpacking and wilderness survival outings require multiple preparation meetings, specialized equipment, and a bit more of a commitment by the attending scouts. Also note that safety is always a priority with the outings. When necessary, qualified companies and guides are used. For example, the troop always has multiple NRA-certified instructors for gun shooting activities and trained guides for caving or rock-climbing activities. The troop does not “wing it” when it comes to safety during the outdoor activities.

In addition to the monthly outings, Troop 455 attends summer camp at Woodruff Scout Camp near Blairsville GA and winter camp at Bert Adams Scout Camp near Covington GA. Both are great opportunities to earn lots of merit badges and are open to scouts of any age or grade. Your scout can even attend summer camp the summer after moving up. Additionally, there are three “high adventure” camps that Troop 455 participates in – Sea Base in Florida, Philmont in New Mexico, and Northern Tier in Minnesota and Canada. The troop does one of the three high adventure experience each summer with a three-year rotation to cover them all. Note that there are age/grade requirements for the high adventure camps (typically either 13 or 14 years old). For further information on the outdoor program, refer to the Troop 455 website here:

https://www.troop455.net/outings 

Attending an Outing

One key requirement before going on any outings for a given scout year is up-do-date medical forms. New  medical forms for your scout are required at the beginning of each scout year (so either before summer camp  or in August). Forms A and B are always required. Form C is only required for an outing that is lasting more  than seventy-two (72) hours (e.g., summer or winter camp). Note that form C involves your scout’s doctor, so  build in time for that interaction. Find the forms here. For outings involving any water activities, an up-to-date  swim test is required. Like the health forms, this is an annual requirement. To meet this requirement, your  scout can do it at summer camp or during a swim test event that the troop typically schedules in August. 

The planning for the individual outings by the scouts generally happens during the weekly meeting just prior  to the trip. The patrols meet separately to plan out their food and activities. The scouts also decide tenting  arrangements. Scouts can share a tent as long as there is no more than a two-year difference in age. Pending  that decision, your scout might or might not need his own tent for the trip. In addition, you will receive a trip  planning document from the adult leader who is in charge of the outing with various important information,  including a schedule, a packing list, and cell phone numbers for the adults on the trip in case of emergencies.  Keep this document handy through the outing weekend. 

The weekend outings are usually from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. You will drop off your scout at the Haygood Methodist Church parking lot with his gear at the specified time. The scouts will load their gear  and the patrol gear into the troop trailer. The adult leaders and chaperones will drive the scouts to the outing  location, so they will all carpool together. Usually, your scout will need eat dinner before drop off or bring a  dinner for the road. The outing destinations are usually around two hours or less away from Atlanta. The  exception is the longer barrier island outing that typically takes place on MLK weekend in January and includes  a Monday. 

When your scout goes on a weekend outing, he is out of reach as far as you are concerned. After drop off, you  do not get periodic notifications from anyone. The old saying applies – no news is good news. You will typically  hear nothing until you receive a message from the trip’s adult leader on Sunday morning with an estimated  arrival time for pick up. This is all by design. Your scout is learning to be independent. All of the adult leaders  and chaperones on the outing have cell phones, and these numbers are included on the trip information that  gets sent out prior to the outing. The adults on the outing will handle any minor issues or injuries. If anything happens that requires your attention, you will be contacted by the adults with your scout. Likewise, if you  have a situation where you need to contact your scout, you can use the cell phone numbers for the adults on  the trip. It all may feel a little odd for the first outing or two, but you will get used to it as you see the process  work. 

Once your scout has returned from an outing, you will pick up at the Haygood Methodist Church parking lot.  Realize that your scout needs to help unload the troop trailer, including the patrol gear in addition to his own  gear.

Note that the longer-format offerings like summer camp at Camp Woodruff in north Georgia, winter camp at  Bert Adams Scout Camp near Covington, Georgia, and high adventure camps (e.g., Sea Base, Philmont, and Northern Tier) have the same general flow as the weekend outings in terms of logistics. 

For further information on outings, refer to the Troop 455 website here:

https://www.troop455.net/outings