Sent to all active Scouters in Nova Scotia Council
The Great 8: An 8-Week National Challenge
It's not too late to join in on the fun! A moose is currently on the loose!

Week 3's challenge is all about getting out and hitting the trail! There are still 5 more fun challenges to go. Are you up for the challenge?
4th Yarmouth Cubs enjoyed a fishing adventure for their first challenge! The fish was then cooked on a bed of gummy worms over an open fire!
1st Riverlake Scouts took to their backyards to create some very impressive shelters out of any available materials they had.
Spring Into Adventure ScoutCon
The Spring Into Adventure ScoutCon may have began a few weeks ago, but there are still lots of opportunities to get involved and take advantage of some of these amazing sessions. You can sign up for them at the linked sites below. You can also sign up and access the recorded sessions after the fact in the David Huestis e-Learning Centre.
Years of Service Project
Some of you may be receiving emails or phone calls from the National Recognition Network's new Years of Service Team. Rita Marie and Jennifer have joined forces with the National Recognition Network, to assist Recognition advisors and Group Commissioners to review Scouters years of service. They aim to put this on a report, and enter it in MyScouts profile with the date of Feb 22, the year the service should have been received.

It is important to not modify this information! Individuals will be contacted to confirm their service..... 
It will be great once completed.... It's a big country but they are making headway. After this is complete, this spreadsheet / report will be the go to for years of service... Not archived papers. 
We are very luck here in NS, to have had Don Sanford at the helm before me and he has kept things pretty ship shape. 

These ladies are working very hard to reach out and confirm, look for misses and catch the ones that need more than they have. Keeping in mind that we are all Scouts, I know that our honour will be trusted and we will be patient and kind in what is a difficult but rewarding job for them. Any questions. I'm here for you! 

-Gwen Mosher, Recognition NS. & PEI 
Group Support Scouter Opportunity
We are looking for an additional Group Support Scouter (GSS) to join our team. The GSS role is an incredibly important role as they work directly with Group Commissioners to help support them in their roles, and in-turn the group as a whole.

If you are a passionate Scouter, looking to make a real impact within Nova Scotia consider applying by reaching out to our Council Commissioner, Zach Fitzsimmons at [email protected].
St. John Ambulance First Aid Partnership
As many of you may be aware, Scouts Canada has been working to make it easier to access consistent top quality first aid training. In order to do this, we have entered into a partnership with St. John Ambulance (SJA) for first aid training across the country. In short, Scouts Canada now has the ability to deliver SJA First Aid training internally using our own pool of instructors. The agreement also means that we will integrate the online portion of the current SJA Standard First Aid course developed for the pandemic into the David Huestis Learning Centre for use in regions in Scouting Stages 2‐4.

We are also able to access existing Standard First Aid courses through St John Ambulance at a reduced fee. When registering for a public course, Scouting members may call to register and ask for the Scouts Canada rate.

This partnership is simply a new option – Scouters who are already delivering courses for another organization are welcome to continue working with that organization. Scouters and youth are still welcome to take courses through other organizations. The SJA training will exist to ensure that a quality, affordable option is available to our members.

We are looking for Scouters who are certified first aid instructors to join our team. The certifications can be for any type of first aid training and from any provider recognized in your province. Instructors from other organizations can take a short “crossover” course from St John Ambulance in order to become a qualified SJA instructor.

In order to capture information to facilitate our building a First Aid Training Team in your Council we ask that you fill out the form below. We are also interested in hearing from any Scouters who would be willing to become a first aid instructor, keeping in mind that training would likely not happen for several months.
Top Section Award Submissions Due
As many of you are aware, the Top Section Award Ceremony traditionally held by Nova Scotia Council did not occur last year due to Covid-19. All our award recipients from last year are well deserving of their awards and we would like to make sure that they are recognized. On behalf of Council, I would like to extend our sincerest congratulations. At this point in time, we are unable to hold a large ceremony; however, that does not mean our youth cannot be recognized for their incredible achievements at the group level. Group Commissioners, with the help of Section Scouters and the Section Leadership Teams, are encouraged to present Top Section Awards for any level. Usually, we would advise groups to present the certificate and crest for junior sections and just the crest for senior sections, but we will be encouraging all sections to present both the certificate and crest at this time. The certificates can be found at the following links for Beavers and Cubs, while for the senior sections, we will mail the certificates out. Please fill out the below form to receive certificates for youth in the senior sections. We are hopeful that this summer we may be able to hold a ceremony or multiple smaller ceremonies to recognize the accomplishments of our youth from both this year and last year, but in the meantime, we wish each and every award recipient the best. Congratulations! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].
Six Weeks Left of Scout Popcorn!
This year's campaign has been completely redesigned and is now:
  • A product of Canada
  • Nut free and gluten free
  • Completely contactless
  • Consisting of 7 different offerings

If your Group or Section would like to participate in the Scout Popcorn campaign to raise more funds for great Scouting adventures, please complete the registration form

If your group is not participating, consider ordering from a neighbouring group to support scouting adventures and try some of the new offerings.
Contribute to Council Communications!
We NEED your contributions to fuel communications. Through the buttons below you can submit content for our social media accounts, this newsletter, council-wide emails as well as events for the Council Calendar.
JOIN OUR TEAM!!
We are recruiting for the positions of Social Media Coordinator and Social Media Moderator. These will be fairly low commitment positions but will also offer an opportunity to drastically improve the level of communications here in Nova Scotia