MISSION STATEMENT
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 Law.
VISION STATEMENT
The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.
Scouting will continue to:
Offer young people responsible fun and adventure;
- Instill in young people lifetime values and develop in them ethical character as expressed in the Scout Oath and Law;
- Train young people in citizenship, service, and leadership;
- Serve America’s communities and families with its quality, values-based program.
As I write this to you all, I’m struggling with airline delays, rescheduling, and lost luggage, trying to return from the National Annual Meeting. Your council was well-represented. You have, hopefully, seen by now that the BSA is refreshing our public-facing name to Scouting America to better communicate who we are today.
I want to help distill all the noise you may be hearing, seeing, and reading. Our name is changing but be assured our mission and vision – our core values and principles – detailed at the top of this article, remain unchanged and as relevant to youth today as they’ve ever been.
For just about anything, staying relevant means, in part, that things must adapt and evolve. How many of us still use a hand-crank telephone, a rotary dial phone, or even a landline home phone anymore? Are any of us still saddling up or driving a Ford Model T to get back and forth to work every day? Evolution is necessary and has forever changed travel and communication – for the good, I believe.
While volunteering as Scoutmaster from 2008-2012, parents frequently asked if their daughters could tag along with their Scout brothers, because they wanted to have FUN too. In 2019 the Boy Scouts of America began welcoming girls into our programs, and now girls can – and DO!
Welcoming entire families to experience and benefit from the tenets of our Scout Oath, Scout Law, and the valuable life lessons within our programs has real potential to positively impact our locales and, indeed, our world. I’m pleased that both my grandson and granddaughter have the opportunity to participate in Scouting America.
A robust and ongoing national marketing campaign began last week. By the time the meeting ended Thursday, there had been over 14.7 billion (yes, with “B”!) media impressions of “Scouting America.” Expect to see Scouting America advertising frequently in the coming weeks and months, focusing on our core values.
There is a real potential for Scouting in Montana to grow rapidly in the coming months and years. As noted in my State of the Council address, as we continue along our trek from Good to Great we will come up against difficult decisions and hard work. Growing Scouting, and growing it right, is going to require fully trained leaders, at all levels, capable of and willing to deliver the quality Scouting programs we offer.
I challenge each of us across the Montana Council to expand our knowledge and commitment to the Scouting programs, which continue to be the best youth programs in the world.
If any of you, or those we serve, would like to discuss any of this further, please give me a call. I invite us all to be relevant and effective leaders in Scouting America!
Walt McIntosh
Montana Council Board President
