Boy Scouts Of America

TO PROMOTE, WITHIN THE TERRITORY COVERED BY THE CHARTER FROM TIME TO TIME GRANTED IT BY THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONGRESSIONAL CHARTER, BYLAWS, AND RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, THE SCOUTING PROGRAM OF PROMOTING THE ABILITY OF BOYS AND GIRLS AND YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO DO THINGS FOR THEMSELVES AND OTHERS, TRAINING THEM IN SCOUTCRAFT, AND TEACHING THEM PATRIOTISM, COURAGE, SELF-RELIANCE, AND KINDRED VIRTUES, USING THE METHODS WHICH ARE NOW IN COMMON USE BY THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA.

WHILE THE HEADWINDS CONFRONTED BY THE BLUE MOUNTAIN COUNCIL LIGHTENED SOMEWHAT IN 2021 FROM THE UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES FACED IN 2020, SCOUTS AND FAMILIES IN THE COUNCIL PROVED TO BE EXTREMELY RESILIENT, FLEXIBLE, AND ESPECIALLY RESOURCEFUL AS LOCAL SCOUTING DEALT WITH THE ONGOING FATIGUE OF THE PANDEMIC AND OTHER RELATED CHALLENGES. WHILE MEMBERSHIP IN THE COUNCIL DID NOT SEE GROWTH IN 2021, THE SCOUTS AND CUB SCOUTS WHO REMAINED ENGAGED OR WHO NEWLY JOINED THE RANKS ADVANCED THROUGH THEIR RESPECTIVE PROGRAMS BY EARNING MORE RANKS AND MORE MERIT BADGES THAN PREVIOUS GENERATIONS OF SCOUTS, INCREASING THE COUNCILS OVERALL CUB SCOUT ADVANCEMENT RATE FROM 80% IN 2020 TO 90% IN 2021 AND SCOUTS SHOWING AN INCREASE FROM 55% IN 2020 TO 70% IN 2021. THE COUNCIL ENDED THE YEAR 2021 WITH 989 CUB SCOUTS, SCOUTS, VENTURERS, AND EXPLORERS IN 56 DIFFERENT PACKS, TROOPS, CREWS, AND POSTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNCIL, MARKING A DECREASE OF 167 TOTAL REGISTERED YOUTH. HOWEVER, THE COUNCIL WEATHERED ITS LOSSES BETTER THAN 70% OF COUNCILS WHO EXPERIENCED EVEN GREATER MEMBERSHIP LOSSES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, RANKING 33 OUT OF 250 COUNCILS IN RETENTION OF YOUTH MEMBERS. FURTHERMORE, EFFORTS TO SERVE FAMILIES OF ALL BACKGROUNDS, INCLUDING GIRLS IN BOTH CUB SCOUTS AND SCOUTS BSA, WERE IMPACTFUL AS THE COUNCIL ACHIEVED THE BSAS TOP 25% IN GENDER DIVERSITY AND THE TOP 40% IN ETHNIC DIVERSITY.