27 June 2008
Girl Scouts and Venture Crews
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized .
Boy Scouts of America Venture Crews bring together the two worlds of Scouting in America: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Girls are encouraged to join Venture Crews. In fact, my son is taking part in the formation of a new crew right now with the inclusion of some former Girl Scouts. I found myself asking a question that rarely comes up and for which I could not find the answer so I’ll pass along what I know to you.
Can Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award in a Venture Crew? The answer is tricky according to what I’ve been able to learn. The answer depends on what the meaning of Gold Award is.
As everyone knows, the top award to be earned by a Girl Scout is the Gold Award which can only be earned by her as a Senior Girl Scout. Being a Senior Girl scout is entirely dependent on the girl’s age. Senior is not a rank, like major, corporal, or Eagle. A Senior Girl Scout is, basically, a Girl Scout who is in high school. At that age, the girl can accomplish the steps necessary to earn her Girl Scouts Gold Award. If she decides to quit Girl Scouts before she earns that award and joins a BSA Venture Crew she can still earn a Gold Award. However, it is not the Girl Scouts Gold Award. The BSA copied the Girl Scouts, those tricky devils, and made their own award program which has a Venturing Gold Award.
According to the Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley council (soon changing to the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles), a girl may earn the Girl Scouts Gold Award while she is a member of a BSA Venture Crew only if she is also enrolled as a senior level Girl Scout and participates in the Girl Scout program. So, the short answer is No, she may not earn the Girl Scout Gold Award as a BSA Venture Crew member. The long answer is yes, she may earn the Girl Scout Gold Award if she is a member of a BSA Venture crew as long as she is also a member of a senior level Girl Scout troop. Earning the BSA Venturing Gold Award is not the same as earning the Girl Scout Gold Award.
And now you know.
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5 Comments so far...
GSMom Says:
18 May 2009 at 3:30 pm.
This is just about right … the only discrepancy is that the girl does not have to be registered with a Girl Scout troop, she only needs to be registered as a Girl Scout. She can be registered independantly as a “Juliette” if she does not want to be registered with a troop or if there is no troop in her area. If there are several girls in a crew, they could also form their own Girl Scout troop for this purpose. Not a bad idea!!
Christi Waller Says:
19 June 2009 at 6:04 pm.
Today I learned that our Girl Scout council in Western Oklahoma is seriously thinking of closing all of our camp properties. I was toying with the idea of becoming a Venture crew when the girls reached 14, but now I am really being pushed by my council in that direction. I was worried about the Gold Award. The girls are nearly complete with their Silver and it would be a shame to not get the next step. Thanks for the information.
admin Says:
20 June 2009 at 4:34 pm.
I just read the blog from May, too, because of the e-mail they sent out. The CEO did seem to indicate that camp wasn’t a priority. I’m still reading through when I’m not busy. I may be posting on it.
Jeff Barstow, GRFC C-2114 Says:
24 February 2010 at 1:41 pm.
Their are only so many youth who are interested in the outdoor focused high adventure world. Some are girls, some are boys. Why not present a program that incorporates the best history of both the GSUSA and the BSA? Wouldn’t it be better to drop the adult attitudes and do what we pledged to do to become BSA/GSUSA leaders: Serve the needs of our youth. The way I understand the venture program the kids do not need to leave their parent organization. Indeed the way that venture scouts make rank is by making presentations to their parent groups on skills learned. I discourage the youth in my venture crew from severing ties with thir parent boy scout or girl scout troop but rather to help the troops by teaching the skills that they learn as ventruers.
MB Says:
27 May 2010 at 5:16 pm.
Some corrections: Its “Venturing Crew”, not “Venture Crew”.
Venturing’s basic advancement program of Bronze, Gold, and Silver is loosely based on the 1950s Explorer advancement program of Apprentice, Bronze, Gold, and Silver. The BSA didn’t look at the GSUSA’s award system, but one of their own from days ago. Venturing Gold, by the way, replaces the prior Explorer GOLD award, which itself replaces the Explorer Achivement Award that started in the 1980s.
