Boy Scouts Troop 267
West Hempfield Township
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
The Nature of our Troop
Troop 267 is active and practices the "boy-led" philosophy – the Scouts take responsibility for planning meetings, activities, and outings. For example, they plan their own meals for campouts, and decide on the location for Summer Camp. While at times this isn't pretty, it provides valuable learning experiences and develops independence and leadership.
The Scouts are assisted by the Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmasters (trained adult leaders), Patrol Leaders, and Merit Badge Counselors, who all offer guidance and teach skills.
Our Troop Committee consists of parent volunteers who meet monthly to handle troop administration and support leaders in delivering quality programming. Parents are always welcome and encouraged to join the committee.
Our troop values diversity of interests, backgrounds, education/schools and religion. We expect each of our Scouts to be active, to wear the Scout uniform according to our troop policy, to practice good manners and behavior, and to do his best to live by the Ideals of Scouting as expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The benefits of Scouting are many, but only with active participation.
Participation is Key
We encourage Scouts to advance regularly, but the journey is more important than the destination. We support the fact that advancement along the Scouting trail requires active participation at each step. The Boy Scout Handbook is used to document the progress toward each rank, and while the Troop provides the opportunities, the Scout must take the initiative to advance. With our year-round camping, active meeting programs and wide range of activities, Scouts will advance as part of their overall Scouting experience as part of Troop 267
How Boy Scouting Differs from Cub Scouting
You may be surprised how different Boy Scouting is from Cub Scouting. But boys of Scout age are very different from boys of Cub Scout age. Here are some key contrasts:
The Cub Scout program is family-centered. Adults plan all activities, and many activities lend themselves to full family participation
Adults (usually the youth’s parents) conduct all Cub Scout advancement
Cub Scout camping is extremely limited, even for Webelos
The Boy Scout program is youth-centered. Boys plan all activities (with adult guidance), and most activities do NOT lend themselves to family participation (because boys camp and function as patrols under their own elected youth leadership).
Boy Scouts are responsible for initiating and tracking their advancement. This includes contacting merit badge counselors and ensuring that a responsible leader signs off requirements in the Scout’s Handbook as the skills are demonstrated and Adults other than a youth’s parents conduct all Boy Scout advancement.
Camping is at the heart of the Boy Scout program and is required for advancement. Boy scouts have opportunities to camp-out all year round.
The biggest difference from being a Cub Scout is that the Boy Scouts take the initiative to prepare themselves, and then demonstrate their knowledge and skills requirements to advance in rank and earn merit badges.
Scouting and Outside Activities
Our experience shows that the most successful Scouts are those with a variety of activities and interests. We encourage all of our Scouts to be active in music, sports, school, church and other activities. They do their best to attend meetings and camp-outs and we make allowances by adapting the Patrol Method to varying attendance. The Scouts learn to be flexible and to work well with many others, preparing them better for the real world.
