What is Unit Health?

 

The BSA has many ways to measure different aspects of Scouting. Most of you probably have no idea there is a measure for your Unit's Health. I suspect every Unit Leader thinks that their Unit is at least 90% healthy, thinking along the lines of their Unit's Journey To Excellence Scores of mostly Gold with a few Silver and Bronzes thrown in.

Your Unit's Health is actually based on two pieces, one that you probably would never consider counting towards anything, Roundtable, and the other you probably aren't even aware of, Unit Assessments. Do you have a representative from your Unit attend the monthly District Roundtable?  You should. Roundtable attendance, believe it or not, accounts for a large portion of your Unit Health. I'll get back to why that is.

The other piece, your Unit Assessments, comes in two types, Simple and Detailed. The Assessments are your Unit's Health status, as recorded by your Unit Commissioner in their online Tools. These are based on the same four pieces as the JTE:  Finance, Membership, Program and Governance (Leadership). Your Unit Commissioner enters Simple Assessments from his or her observations during the year, not as a score but simply to track any trends, either good or bad. Detailed Assessments are less subjective and includes how you, the Unit Leader, sees your Unit. This can be accomplished in either a sit down meeting with you and your Unit Commissioner, or solely based on your JTE Scorecard. A Detailed Assessment is recommended twice yearly.

So why is attending Roundtable considered an important part of your Unit's Health? Simply put, no Pack, Troop or Crew should isolate itself from Scouting's Big Picture. Packs, Troops and Crews are just the smallest piece of the Big Picture. Lafayette District is run by and for the Volunteers. Cradle of Liberty Council is composed mainly of professionals that have the same interests as the Volunteers, and that is providing the best possible Scouting experience for the Youth.

Roundtable is the District-level forum for Unit Leaders to meet and exchange ideas and best practices. Roundtable is considered an important part of training to be the best Leader you can be. Roundtable is a place of communication, to learn what is new in Scouting before it happens, and if nothing else, a great place to enjoy the friendship and fellowship of other people who do exactly what you do, Scouting.

If you haven't been to a Roundtable lately come on out. We have a Roundtable Staff that is working very hard to provide the program you want using the best practices known. Recently several communication technologies have been added for your convenience, but nothing beats actually attending in person!

If you would like to know your Unit's Health rating or have any questions or comments about the contents of this Commissioners Corner, please ask, I'd be glad to share more about Unit Health, Unit Commissioning or Roundtable.

 

Yours in Service,

Lafayette District has again earned solid Silver in District Journey To Excellence (JTE) for three years running. The District is short in only one category to achieve Gold. That exception is Membership Growth. Without membership growth, a District cannot achieve Gold JTE. We were closer this year, needing only 20 more Scouts.

 

That is Good News, but there is Great News! Lafayette District is now poised to attain Gold JTE in 2019. We now have a Membership Committee Chair, Ed Baker.

 

Ed Baker is currently Cubmaster of Pack 313 in Audubon, a position Ed will hand over to Andrew Filschill when Ed's son, Liam, crosses over to a Boy Troop, Scouts BSA. Under Ed's Leadership, the Pack has stabilized their membership after the trauma of losing their Cub Scout recruiting source, the Audubon Elementary School, when Methacton School District consolidated its Elementary Schools. At the end of 2018, Pack 313 had 55 Girl and Boy Cub Scouts and 27 registered and fully trained Adult Leaders.  

 

Ed is an Eagle Scout and has served in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving several years overseas. Ed is currently employed as a Professor of Computer Technology at Philadelphia Community College, where until recently , he also served in the role as Treasurer of the Teachers Union. Ed he is currently serving as a representative on the Union's governing body.

 

Ed sees his vision as District Membership Chair as not only growing membership in individual Units through supporting them by providing communication between the Units, District and Council resources, but by also growing the number of Scouting Units. A large part of the expansion of Units would not be just new Girl Troops, Scouts BSA, but through opening doors of diversity in the under-served urban communities of Norristown and Bridgeport, to provide new Cub Packs.

 

Lafayette District will support new BSA troops for female Scouts. There will be an informational evening/recruiting event on February 6, 2019 at Augustus Lutheran Church in Trappe, 7- 8:30 pm. We invite girls, parents and potential leaders to join us. For more info contact:

[email protected] or [email protected]

Just a reminder that as of 1/1/2019 Scout Book will be free to all units.

 

As of February 1, 2019, the Boy Scouts of America will be admitting girls into Scouts BSA.

 

All units should have received the forms for The Distinguished Leader Award through e-mail. There are many deserving leaders in Lafayette. Please take the time to think about the leaders in your unit and all the time and effort  that they give and the leaders that are always there when you need them and go the extra mile. I have already received two applications and hope to receive more.

 

The forms for the Eugene Holladay Award, District Award of Merit and the Marque Award were sent out through e-mail.

 

 

The 2019 Lafayette District Klondike Derby will be Saturday, January 19th.

 

 

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Lafayette Chapter Order of the Arrow Officers 

 

At our last meeting, your OA youth membership elected a new slate of Lafayette Chapter officers to lead us in 2019.  Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Stanley Matusheski as our Lafayette Chapter Chief, Seth Huff as our Vice Chief and Brendan Pippert as our Secretary!   

 

We would love to have your OA Troop Representative (and/or any other OA members) join us as we plan the next year's activities, discuss potential Chapter properties (patches, pins, banners, etc.), and share information about upcoming OA events (training, fellowship and service opportunities).  The ultimate goal is always to find ways to improve and enhance your unit's program through OA involvement.

 

We meet @ 7:00 PM on the second floor of the JP Mascaro office in Audubon in conjunction with our District Roundtables.

 

 

 

Unami Lodge 2019 Calendar

 

• Our service weekends for 2019 are scheduled for 4/12-4/14 @ Musser Scout Reservation, and 5/17-5/19 and 10/4-10/6 @ Resica Falls Scout Reservation.

• Newly elected candidates will be able to complete their Ordeals on any of these weekends or, if they attend Resica, during summer camp.


• Ordeal members who have been part of the OA for at least 10 months will be eligible to seal their bond of Brotherhood on these occasions as well.


• Service days will be held on 3/30 & 9/7.  September's service will be at Musser.  We'll pass along details on the March service times and locations as soon as they are completed.  These are great opportunities for all scouts, not just OA members, to fulfill their rank requirements for service time.  Consider bringing your entire unit to these events.

• Conclave, a gathering of the 11 lodges that make up Section NE-5, will be held on 6/7-6/9 at Ockanickon Scout Reservation.

• Lafayette Chapter meetings are held in conjunction with our District Roundtable on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at the JP Mascaro office in Audubon beginning at 7:00 PM.  Please send your OA Troop Representatives and any other OA members who wish to help their Unit, Chapter, Lodge and/or District.

 

 

Our full calendar of events and activities is available at Unami Lodge Calendar  (click here).

 

 

We have begun scheduling Unit Elections for 2019

 

 

If you have scouts who will be eligible to become members of the Order of the Arrow, please contact us at [email protected] to schedule a time for us to come out to conduct elections.

 

Any scouts who has attained the rank of First Class, has spent at least 15 nights camping (including one long-term outing) over the last 2 years, and has their Scoutmaster's approval would be eligible for election by their fellow scouts into the OA.

 

We want to be clear that a scout's involvement in the Order of the Arrow is not intended to negatively impact his participation with his troop.  Unami Lodge, One is committed to enriching a scout's experience by providing additional opportunity to learn and demonstrate leadership, and to instill in them the virtues and values of brotherhood and service.  "For He who serves his fellows is, of all his fellows, greatest."

 

 

 

In the Spirit of Scouting,

 

  Stuart Earl Bowman

  Lafayette Chapter Advisor, Unami Lodge One

  [email protected]

  484-369-1307