Overview

The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of nearly 2.5 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories.

Value

Scouting provides unique, life-changing experiences youth can’t get anywhere else.

Mission

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 Scout Law.

Vision

The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law.

Chartered Partners

The Scouting program is delivered through civic, faith-based, and educational organizations called chartered organizations, which operate Scouting units to deliver the programs to their youth members, as well as the community at large.

Responsibilities of chartered organizations include providing adequate meeting facilities, quality leadership for the Scouting unit, appointing a chartered organization representative to coordinate all Scouting unit operations within the organization.

More than 100,000 Scouting units are owned and operated by chartered organizations. Of these approximately 70 percent are chartered to faith-based organizations, 22 percent of all units are chartered to civic organizations and nearly 8 percent of all units are chartered to educational organizations.

Cub Scouts

Tiger Cubs is a year-round family- and home-centered program that encourages the ethical decision-making skills for first grade (or 7-year-old) boys. These boys participate in the program with their adult partners. The program emphasizes shared leadership, learning about the community, and family understanding.

Cub Scouts is a year-round family- and home-centered program that develops ethical decision-making skills for boys in the second through fifth grade (or who are 8, 9, and 10 years old). Activities emphasize character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness.

Webelos Scouts is a year-round family- and home-centered program that develops ethical decision-making skills for fourth- and fifth-grade (or 10-year-old) boys.

Boy Scouts and Venturing

Boy Scouting is a year-round program for boys 11 through 17 designed to achieve the aims of Scouting through a vigorous outdoor program and peer group leadership with the counsel of an adult Scoutmaster. (Boys also may become Boy Scouts if they have earned the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light Award and are at least 10 years old, or have completed the fifth grade and are at least 10 years old.)

Venturing is a year-round program for young men and women who are 14 (or 13 years of age and have completed the eighth grade) through 21 years of age to provide positive experiences through exciting and meaningful youth-run activities that help them pursue their special interests, grow by teaching others, and develop leadership skills.

Middle School Explorer Clubs

Our newest program reaches out to 6^th-8^th graders. These students benefit from the same real-world career experiences as their older counterparts, but in a more age-appropriate setting.

Exploring Posts

A Co-Ed program for 14-20 year old youth in career focused areas.

Order of the Arrow

Order of the Arrow is Scouting’s National Honor Society and recognizes those who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Scout Law in their daily lives and promote camping and responsible outdoor adventure, leadership development, and cheerful service to others. Order of the Arrow includes more than 170,000 youth and adult members in nearly 300 local councils through the United States and its territories.