Information for new scouts...

Welcome to our Boy Scout Troop!

"A Game, with a Purpose."

Boy Scouting is a program of the Boy Scouts of America globe

designed to help boys grow in citizenship, character, and personal fitness, (including mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects). This sentence tells you the Purpose of the Scouting program. The outings, activities, meetings, and merit badge work are fun and exciting, and they all help boys to learn and then use many new skills, including leadership, teamwork and personal development. Boy Scouting strengthens peer relationships through its leadership opportunities and teamwork with boys of both similar and different ages.

Joining Requirements. A boy may become a Boy Scout if (i) he is at least age 11, or (ii) age 10 and completed the fifth grade, or (iii) has earned the Arrow of Light Award as a Cub Scout. A boy can join Boy Scouts even if he has not been a Cub Scout previously. A boy can continue as a Boy Scout up to his 18th birthday.

Troop Organization. Scouting is a “boy-run” activity, and that is an important part of the spirit and structure of the Boy Scout program. Boy Scouts is different from Cub Scouts in design and pupose as it is also different from classes in school or teams in sports. Each troop is organized into patrols, smaller groups of 4-8 Boy Scouts. Each patrol elects its own Patrol Leader. All boys in the troop collectively elect one Scout to be the Troop’s Senior Patrol Leader (“SPL”). The SPL is the spokesman and leader of the Troop. The scouts lead with the guidance, support and supervision of the Troop's adult leaders, the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters.

Meetings Troop 11 meets on Monday evenings at the Kettelwell Room at the Piedmont Community Church, for one hour from 7:30 to 8:30 pm. The sponsor of our Troop is Piedmont Community Church globe

and we try to help them out in return for their sponsoring us. Troop meetings are held during the school year and not during the summer. Three times a year we also have awards nights (“Courts of Honor”) to recognize advancement. The Fall and Spring Courts of Honor incorporate a Troop-wide family pot-luck dinner.

Advancement: Scouting has a structured advancement program that helps the scouts acquire skills, have fun, challenge themselves and grow in character and citizenship. After completing the initial joining requirements, a Scout then works on the scout skills required to advance through the scout ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class. Experienced Scouts continue on to advance through the higher ranks of Star, Life, and, the pinnacle: Eagle scouts.

As part of advancement, scouts earn merit badges through skill development, testing, and review. The merit badges are hands-on opportunities to explore fields of interest that might become long terms hobbies or careers later on in life. For example, Stephen Spielberg, an Eagle Scout, is reported to have made one of his first movies as part of a project for scouting.

Outings You may have heard the expression:

"Outing is a big part of scouting."

This is important, scouting has been rooted in the outdoors for all of the program's 100 year history. Scouts want to preserve, protect and experience our natural environment. Our troop plans monthly campouts over an annual cycle. Some of our trips have included: (1) Dillon Beach (model rockets); (2) Mount Diablo hiking; (3) Yosemite (Half Dome) (4) Ski Trip (Sugarbowl), (5) Snow Camping / “Klondike”, (6) Kayaking, (7) Council Camporee, (8) Pinnacles camping. Typically we leave Saturday morning, camp out on Saturday night and return on Sunday afternoon. Some outings are for two nights and many involve some sort of service project.

Summer Camp Boy Scout Summer Camp is, by far, the fastest way for scouts to accelerate their learning of scout skills. Camp is fun, an opportunity to be with friends and an opportunity to gain valuable experience in hiking, boating and outdoors activities. The Troop will arrange for one (or more) summer camp opportunities each year. Scout camp is one week in duration. In the recent past Troop 11 has gone to outstanding BSA camps at Camp Marin Sierra, on the way to Lake Tahoe in the Sierras, and at Camp Cherry Valley, on Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. See our Summer Scouting 11 icon

page for more info.

Goals and Expectations

Each scout is expected to learn, reflect upon and abide by the Scout Law and Scout Oath . The "rules" of Scouting are here.
Our T11 Honor Code lays out how the Oath and Law apply and how we deal with departures from those guidelines.
Each scout is expected to advance in rank. There is no specific timetable for advancement, each scout can proceed at his own pace. Many years of experience has shown that the scouts enjoy the program more, and benefit more, as they get into the spirit of rank advancement.
Each scout is encouraged to attend weekly troop meetings and is expected to be in uniform.
Each scout is encouraged to spend 6-10 nights camping each year (including summer camps).

Camping Equipment Over time a scout should plan on acquiring personal camping gear, such as a backpack, sleeping bag and sleeping pad. The Troop has its own tents and cooking gear, so the boys do not need to acquire those items. We recommend adding further gear in stages, including hiking boots and cold weather gear.
Uniforms Every Boy Scout is encouraged to obtain a complete uniform, either new or “experienced”. New uniforms can be purchased from the Scout Store, see further information in the checklist. Boys wear their scout uniforms to troop meetings, en route to outings and to other scout functions.
Troop Committee The administrative management of the Troop is the responsibility of the Troop Committee (i.e. parents). The Committee needs to fill various positions to handle different aspects of troop activities. Each job is specific and limited. We welcome and need broad participation from lots of parents to allow the Troop to thrive. Here is our web page with more info: T11 Troop Committee Page .
Parental Involvement Newly joining parents are invited and encouraged to participate in the life of Troop 11. Parents can become involved in various ways, including: (i) serving on the Troop Committee (ii) becoming trained as an Assistant Scoutmaster (“ASM”), (iii) helping in fund raising activities, (iv) teaching a skill as a merit badge advisor, (v) driving and participating in outings. Volunteering is a popular and rewarding activity for adults.
The Piedmont Council Scouts in Piedmont are fortunate and proud that the Piedmont Boy Scout Council is somewhat unique in the U.S. scouting program. Piedmont’s Council is among the smallest Councils in the United States (Maui may vie for this distinction with us), one of the oldest scouting programs in the U.S., and among the most active in terms of the participation rate of youth from the community who are in involved in scouting. We pride ourselves on our local control of our scouting programs and our long history of strong community support for scouting. Our Piedmont Council provides and coordinates local training for leaders and committee members, camping opportunities including weekend camps, ongoing support and continuity through volunteer commissioners and professional staff, a council office which maintains records and provides badges & literature, liability insurance for registered leaders, youth insurance, regular communications, a web page and a host of other support services. The Council and its staff is funded entirely by voluntary donations, including Friends of Scouting, special events, trust funds, and bequests.
Fund Raising and Community Support We finance our troop anc Council’s activities operations with several fund raising activities including: the annual Scout Christmas Tree Lot, and Troop 11’s annual Firewood sales program. Scouts are expected to volunteer some time to help in these projects. In addition, scouts support community activities such as Scouting for Food (Fall) and Piedmont Community Church (Spring Cleanup).
Your Cost When Webelos join (typically in March and April), their Troop 11 dues are $75 for the remainder of that year and all of the following school year, and then $75 per year after that. Troop dues help pay for the various badges a scout earns, and the materials needed for the fun and exciting program he will enjoy in your troop. Considering the range of activities involved in scouting, it is an amazing bargain as a youth activity. There is a registration fee with the National Office. Boys' Life magazine subscriptions are $9.00 per year. Troop 11 encourages families to plan on making annual donations to the Piedmont Council's Friends of Scouting (“FOS”) fund raising campaign. These are donations, not a mandated cost, but FOS is an essential ingredient to the strong Scouting programs in Piedmont.
Website Check out our website, we update it frequently with information about the troop, outings, activities, calendar, reminders, etc.

Troop 11 Demographics

Joining our Troop:

Gear and Uniforms

Information about Scouting

Information for new scouts...

Welcome to our Boy Scout Troop!

"A Game, with a Purpose."