WHAT WE DO

Adventures, Community Service, and Advancement

ADVENTURES

In Troop 647, we like to get outside and have fun! Some of our favorite excursions include:

• Hiking, backpacking and canoeing to remote locations around the Pacific Northwest

• Whitewater rafting the rapids of the Wenatchee River

• Hitting dusty trails in the high desert and canyon topography of Eastern Washington

• Snow-camping on Mt. Rainier

• Downhill skiing and snowboarding the slopes of Crystal Mountain and staying at Skibacs Lodge

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We are always adding to this list!

We also make one annual trip to one of the following four BSA High Adventure Camps:

• Philmont Scout Ranch: The BSA’s premier High Adventure base, with more than 214 square miles of rugged New Mexico wilderness. Backpacking treks, horseback cavalcades, and training and service programs offer many ways to experience this legendary country.

• Florida National High Adventure Sea Base: A unique Scouting program that offers aquatics programs such as sailing, scuba diving, rustic camping on an undeveloped barrier island, fishing or a combination of all these activities.

• Northern Tier: From incredible canoe journeys to wild winter wilderness camping and dogsledding, Northern Tier promises the Scouting adventure of a lifetime in the Great North Woods of northern Minnesota and Canada.

• Summit Bechtel Reserve: Situated in the wilds of West Virginia, The Summit is home to the 2019 International Scout Jamboree.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Doing service projects together is one way Troop 647 members keep our scouting promise “to help other people.” While every Scout should do his or her best to help other people every day, a group service project is a bigger way to help people. When we are giving service, we are learning to work together with others to do something that’s good for our community.

​​Eagle Scout projects are among the most recognized and respected Troop 647 community service projects. These projects give our scouts an opportunity to plan, develop, and give leadership to others. They are evaluated on the benefit to the organization being served and on the leadership provided by the Eagle Scout candidate.

ADVANCEMENT

Everything done to advance—to earn ranks and other awards and recognition—is designed to educate or to otherwise expand horizons. Scouts learn and develop according to a standard. This is the case from the time a member joins, and then moves through, our troop.

PHILOSOPHY

Experiential learning is the key: Exciting and meaningful activities are offered, and education happens.

Learning comes from doing. For example, youth may read about first aid, hear it discussed, and watch others administer it, but they will not learn it until they practice it. Rushing a Scout through requirements to obtain a badge is not the goal. Advancement should be a natural outcome of a well-rounded unit program, rich in opportunities to work toward the ranks.

Scouting skills—what a young person learns to do—are important, but not as important as the primary goal of personal growth achieved through participating in a unit program. The concern is for total, well-rounded development. Age-appropriate surmountable hurdles are placed before members, and as they face these challenges they learn about themselves and gain confidence.

Learning how to tie a knot, plan a menu, swim, or administer first aid may turn out to be critical in one’s life, but they are secondary to the goal of personal growth that comes with learning. As Scouts learn skills and are tested on them, and then reviewed and recognized, they develop confidence. They come to realize they can learn and do other similar things. The retention of Scouting skills and knowledge is important, of course; but for retention to take place, it will be because Scouting skills and knowledge are used in our programs.

Success is achieved when we fulfill the BSA Mission Statement and when we accomplish the aims of Scouting: character development, citizenship training, leadership, and mental and physical fitness. We know we are on the right track when we see youth accepting responsibility, demonstrating self-reliance, and caring for themselves and others; when they learn to weave Scouting ideals into their lives; and when we can see they will be positive contributors to our American society.

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Though certainly goal-oriented, advancement is not a competition. Rather, it is a joint effort involving the leaders, the members, other volunteers such as merit badge counselors, and the family. Though much is done individually at their own pace, youth often work together in groups to focus on advancement at troop meetings and campouts.

RANKS

There are seven ranks that are to be earned sequentially, no matter what age a youth joins the program.

The Scout rank is oriented toward learning the basic information every youth needs to know to be a good Scout. It starts with the Scout demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout motto, and Scout slogan and then introduces the Scout to basic troop operations and safety concerns.

Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks are oriented toward learning and practicing skills that will help Scouts develop confidence and fitness, challenge their thought processes, introduce them to their responsibilities as citizens, and prepare them for exciting and successful Scouting experiences. Requirements for the Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks may be worked on simultaneously; however, these ranks must be earned in sequence.

All requirements for Star, Life, and Eagle, except for those related to merit badges, must be fulfilled after the successful completion of a board of review for the previous rank.

Since 1912, the Eagle Scout rank has represented a milestone of accomplishment—perhaps without equal—that is recognized across the country and even the world. Those who have earned the Eagle Scout rank count it among their most treasured achievements. “Eagle Scout” is not just an award; it is a state of being. Those who earned it as youth continue to earn it every day as adults. That is why an Eagle Scout IS an Eagle Scout—not was.