What is Venturing?
(For young men and women, 14 through 21 years of age, it is the fastest-growing program in the BSA and focuses on special interests such as high adventure activities, sports, youth ministry and the arts.)

Venturing is a new program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) through 21 years of age.

The Venturing Process
Venturing identifies the needs and desires of today's young adults of high school and college age. It then matches these youth with community organizations that can satisfy these needs and desires. The result is a
Venturer crew.

Methods of Venturing:

Example: The adult leadership and the elected officers provide leadership by their personal example. The lifestyle, values, and beliefs of the leader can have a positive influence on youth.

Doing Things Together: Planning and working with youth as equals give continual opportunity to influence and guide their values and expectations.

The Expectation of Good: Venturers are expected to carry out responsibility. Self-discipline is encouraged. A positive attitude produces a positive response.

Recognizing Achievement: Youth adults need and deserve recognition for achievement and leadership. The most effective recognition with this age group is the same as used with adults.

The Democratic Process: The election of officers and involvement in decision-making provided an insight into citizenship. It's the adult method of operation.

Youth and Adult Awards
A variety of awards are available to Venturers and adults, from achievement awards such as the Bronze, Gold, and Silver awards to recognitions including the Venturing Leadership Award.

Program Support
The Venturing Division provides literature, audiovisuals, training, activities, and awards to support Venturing crews and ships.

Activities
The program of every Venturing crew revolves around a special avocation or hobby interest. What a Venturing crew does is limited only by the imagination and involvement of the adult and youth leaders and members of the crew.

The Crew Program
Venturing has no packaged program for use with crews. It has a procedure whereby each Venturing unit can design a specific program to meet the needs of its members, using the resources of the chartered organization and community. The key to this program design is the program capability inventory (PCI), which actually lists the people and their resources available to the crew. The youth are then involved in designing a program based on these resources that will be meaningful to the unit's membership.

Almost all Venturer Crew programs center on a special interest--thrust of activity that serves as a central theme of what the crew does. The special interest may involve a career, hobby, sport, outdoor adventure, or other adult-related subject. Some crews' programs are so diverse that they list "varied interest" as their special interest. The important point is that the crew's program has a real direction and the Venturers know where they are headed.

Visit the National BSA's Web Site for Venturing at http://www.venturing.org/default.cfm

To locate a program in your neighbhorhood,  Click Here.

If you are interested in registering your son or daughter in the Venturing program, please Click Here.