Venturing is the Boy Scouts of America's (relatively) new program for boys and girls, ages 14 (who have completed the 8th grade) through 20.
Venturing units are called Crews, Venturing adults are called Advisors, and the youth members are called Venturers.
The concept of operating a Venturing Crew is that the youth officers design and run the program. The youth officers who run the Crew are the President, Vice Presidents of program, and administration, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. While there is a VP for program, each youth member of the Crew has the responsibility of acting as the chair for a crew activity.
There is a formal training course for the advisor, known as Venturing Leader Basic Training, there is also a formal training course for the crew's officers, known as the Leadership Skills Course.
There is a video orientation for the entire crew, known as the New Crew Fast start, and separate Youth Protection video training sessions for the adults and the youth.
Venturing Crews are chartered units. They may, or may not have an association with a Boy Scout Troop, much the same as a Troop may have an association with a Cub Scout Pack.
Venturing does not require that members wear a uniform, or meet every week.
A crew operates along a set of bylaws, which are developed by the Venturers. One bylaw may concern what, if any, uniform the members will wear, and when they will wear it. Another may state how often and where the Crew will meet. Another may concern behavior on the trail, or in camp with crew members of the opposite sex, while another may detail what punishment may follow for those who do not follow the previous bylaws.
Venturing has an advancement program, which a Venturer may, or may not choose to follow.
The first step is known as a Bronze Award,
(Outdoor Bronze Award pictured)
next is the Gold Award,
the highest award is
The Silver Award.
For outdoor oriented crews, there is also the Ranger Award.
More detail on Venturing advancement may be found here
Venturers who are also Boy Scouts may work on Venturing advancement and Boy Scout advancement simultaneously. Venturers who are former Boy Scouts may continue to work toward their Eagle until they are 18, provided that they had made First Class in a Troop.
Venturing is a highly flexible program, it can be adapted, or tailored to fit in a variety of ways:
A Venturing crew can be coed, or not. A crew could be all male, or all female. A crew could be a cross-country track team, could be a drama club, or could be a model train club. A crew could be a Church Youth group. A crew could be an Order of the Arrow dance team. My crew is an Outdoor/High Adventure crew, comprised chiefly of senior Scouts from my Troop.
Regardless of what the crew's specialty is, each crew has accident insurance during activities, and is entitled to use of the local BSA Council's resources: support, training opportunities, (such as Roundtables) and camps.
Below are some Venturing resources on the web:
One resource I highly recommend is the Venturing email list, which is run through yahoo.com.
The website with searchable archives and subscription information is here.
USScouts.org has picked up the old Dynapolis email list, you may subscribe to the list here, the archives are located here.
Here are some downloadable Venturing Resources at the National BSA web site, including .pdf versions of the Advisor Award of Merit and Leadership Award applications, and others.
The Ranger Guidebook has been revised. Check here for the latest Venturing developments on National's website.
Venturing Electronic Magazine - For Venturers, by Venturers
Venturing.Info the National-sanctioned Electronic Magazine
Venturing National Cabinet site
The Telegraph ( North East Region Sea Scouting newsletter)
John W's BSA Venturing Information site
Michael Brown's history of Senior Scouting site
Corps of Discovery Index
(The Corps of Discovery is an honor society, not officially adopted)
The Connecticut Venturing club on yahoo, has a message board, chat area.
There are other opportunities available to Venturers which are not open to other members of the BSA, such as camperships to major events, etc.
The following are "bin items" which are available free from your local Council Service center:
Lowe Alpine Outdoor Scholarship #25-115
Professional Association of Dive Instructors Scholarship #25-242
