About Crew 99
Venture Crew 99 meets every
other Thursday afternoon, at 7:30PM at Melrose Chapel (3600 Payson
Rd Quincy, IL 62305). For more information about the specifics
of our Crew, send an email to Mike Mesenbring, the Administrative
Vice President, at the following address:
messybricks@gmail.com, or
call (217) 242- 4078 or (217) 434- 8680. You can also post a
message on our Crew
Forum.
What Is Venturing?
Venturing is a youth
development 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.
Venturing's purpose is to
provide positive experiences to help young people mature and to
prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.
Venturing is based on a
unique and dynamic relationship between youth, adult leaders, and
organizations in their communities. Local community organizations
establish a Venturing crew by matching their people and program
resources to the interests of young people in the community. The
result is a program of exciting and meaningful activities that helps
youth pursue their special interests, grow, develop leadership
skills, and become good citizens.
Venturing crews can
specialize in a variety of avocation or hobby interests.
Goals
Young adults involved in
Venturing will:
- Learn to make ethical
choices over their lifetimes by instilling the values in the
Venturing Oath and Code.
- Experience a program
that is fun and full of challenge and adventure.
- Become a skilled
training and program resource for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and
other groups.
- Acquire skills in the
areas of high adventure, sports, arts and hobbies, religious
life, or Sea Scouting.
- Experience positive
leadership from adult and youth leaders and be given
opportunities to take on leadership roles.
- Have a chance to learn
and grow in a supportive, caring, and fun environment.
Methods
The aims of the Boy Scouts
of America are to build character, develop citizenship, and foster
personal fitness. The Venturing methods listed below have been
carefully designed to achieve the aims of the Boy Scouts of America
and meet the needs of young adults.
- Leadership.
All Venturers are given opportunities to learn and apply proven
leadership skills. A Venturing crew is led by elected crew
officers. The Venturing Leadership Skills Course is designed for
all Venturers and helps teach them in an active way to lead
effectively.
- Group
Activities. Venturing activities are interdependent group
experiences in which success is dependent on the cooperation of
all. Learning by "doing" in a group setting provides
opportunities for developing new skills.
- Adult
Association. The youth officers lead the crew. The
officers and activity chairs work closely with adult Advisors
and other adult leaders in a spirit of partnership. The adults
serve in a "shadow" leader capacity.
- Recognition.
Recognition comes through the Venturing advancement program and
through the acknowledgement of a youth's competence and ability
by peers and adults.
- The
Ideals. Venturers are expected to know and live by the
Venturing Oath and Code.
They promise to be faithful in religious duties, treasure their
American heritage, help others, and seek truth and fairness.
- High
Adventure. Venturing's emphasis on high adventure helps
provide team-building opportunities, new meaningful experiences,
practical leadership application, and lifelong memories to young
adults.
- Teaching
Others. All of the Venturing awards require Venturers to
teach what they have learned to others. When they teach others
often, Venturers are better able to retain the skill or
knowledge taught, they gain confidence in their ability to speak
and relate to others, and they acquire skills that can benefit
them for the rest of their lives as a hobby or occupation.
Ethics in Action
An important goal of
Venturing is to help young adults be responsible and caring persons,
both now and in the future. Venturing uses "ethical controversies"
to help young adults develop the ability to make responsible choices
that reflect their concern for what is a risk and how it will affect
others involved. Because an ethical controversy is a problem-solving
situation, leaders expect young adults to employ empathy, invention,
and selection when they think through their position and work toward
a solution.
Crew Activities
What a Venturing crew does
is limited only by the imagination and involvement of the adult and
youth leaders and members of the crew — sail the Caribbean, produce
a play, climb a mountain, teach disabled people to swim, or attend
the Olympics. All these adventures and more are being done today by
Venturing crews and ships across the country. All that is needed are
concerned adults who are willing to share a little bit of themselves
with today's youth — tomorrow's leaders.
