HELPING YOUTH IS A KEY TO BUILDING A MORE CONSCIENTIOUS, RESPONSIBLE, AND PRODUCTIVE SOCIETY The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation’s largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations, providing programs for young people that build character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. For more than 100 years, Boy Scouts of America has helped build future leaders by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun. Scouting is a year-round program uniquely designed to meet the needs of youth and their families. The program offers fun and challenging activities that promote character development and physical fitness. Family involvement is an essential part of the program, and parents are encouraged to play an active role in making the most of the short time they have to impact the lives of their children.

Scouting is designed to be experienced outdoors. Hiking, camping, mountain biking, skateboarding, BMX, mountain climbing, kayaking, whitewater rafting—these are just some of a Scout’s outdoor experiences. Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. Wonderware Controllogix Driver Software.

PERSONAL FITNESS Merit Badge Worksheet. Boy Scouts of America from any responsibility. Complete the physical fitness program you outlined in requirement 7. Sample Fitness Program Personal Fitness Merit. Which helps prevent muscle cramps after exercises and enhances the benefits of your physical fitness program.

Scout Law: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Scout Mission: The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Outdoor adventure is the promise made to youth when they join Scouting. Young people yearn for outdoor programs that stir their imagination and interest. In the outdoors, Scouts have opportunities to acquire skills that make them more self-reliant. They can explore canoe and hiking trails and complete challenges they first thought were beyond their ability.

Attributes of good character become part of a boy as he learns to cooperate to meet outdoor challenges that may include extreme weather, difficult trails and portages, and dealing with nature’s unexpected circumstances. Scouts plan and carry out activities with thoughtful guidance from their Scoutmaster and other adult leaders.

For many Scouts, the Personal Fitness merit badge is one of the last speed bumps — or roadblocks — on the journey to the Eagle Scout Award. In the hands of an effective merit badge counselor, however, it can be more of an on-ramp to a lifetime of better health. Marianne King is one of those counselors. The owner of Marianne King’s Fitness for Life in Pittsburgh has taught the badge for more than a decade. While many of her Scouts have been athletes, she’s perhaps most proud of the Scout with attention-deficit disorder who discovered he could focus better after completing the badge’s 12-week fitness program. “For me, that was an outstanding change for him,” she says.

“It wasn’t just, ‘OK, I got a little muscle.’ It was, ‘I was able to feel better mentally.’ ” Connecting Mind and Body The mind-body connection is important, but it’s often overlooked, says Dan Smith, another veteran Personal Fitness counselor. “Oftentimes — and this is true not only with the kids but with some of the leaders — they think that Personal Fitness merit badge is Physical Fitness merit badge,” says Smith, an Eagle Scout and assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri. “It’s important for me from the get-go to educate them about the fact that this isn’t just about physical fitness. This is about physical health; it’s about spiritual fitness; it’s about social engagement; it’s about the total person.” One way to emphasize the holistic nature of fitness is to introduce the six dimensions of wellness defined by Dr. Bill Hettler in the 1970s. (They are occupational, spiritual, emotional, physical, social and intellectual.) That’s what Rick Armstrong does. A lecturer in kinesiology at the University of Rhode Island, Armstrong shows how the dimensions of wellness fit together.