Venturing

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 20 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 youths are than 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 program have a real direction and the Venturers know where they are headed.