I don’t know about the rest of you, but this weather has me wanting to get outside. Of course, as I type that sentence the sound of rain pelting the metal roof of my patio picked up, so maybe I will stay dry in here. It is definitely springtime. Cub Scouts are earning their ranks and crossing into Scouts BSA, plans are being made for summer camp, camporees are happening, so much is going on that it has left many of us without much time on our hands.

Our council helped hold a College of Commissioner Science with the Heart of Virginia and Colonial Virginia councils in Richmond. Several of our commissioners were instructors and even more took part in the training. I am hoping to provide more training opportunities for our commissioners throughout the year, but every Scouter is invited to them. When registration opens it will be open for all. Training is one of the most important things that we can take part in as Scouters to help deliver a S.A.F.E. and quality program to our youth. So look out for those opportunities, like the Wood Badge course coming up this fall.

One piece of news that many of you may have heard is that Journey to Excellence has been retired after 2024. In its place, there are unit metrics that are based on information in my.Scouting and/or Scoutbook. Your commissioner team will be using this to start conversations with your units and build a partnership for growing Scouting in our community. These are benchmarks that National has developed that they consider traits of a healthy unit. I want you to be aware of these so that you know where our commissioners are coming from as we look to help you develop goals to work towards these.

I look forward to working with all of our Scouters to grow and improve Scouting in our council. If you have any questions about these metrics and how unit service will be changing with all of this, please reach out to me. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Yours in Scouting,

Matt Phillippi