By: Inara Mawji, Scouting Youth
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It was a Mission-impacting 2017–2018 Scouting Year that saw youth and volunteers discover new things and challenge themselves to do their best.
Youth experienced firsts and embarked on great outdoor adventures, gaining leadership skills and self-confidence along the way. As active community builders, Scouts led over 5,500 service initiatives, positively impacting over 2,000 Canadian communities.
Read The Full MessageScouts Canada offers environmental programming for all of its age groups, from Beaver Scouts to Rover Scouts. Central to Scouting, the environment is a key element in the development of engaged citizens. Through Scouting, we provide youth across Canada with the opportunity to experience and build a relationship with nature. Perhaps more importantly, we help youth develop the skills and desire to share their environmental understanding with others and to play a leadership role in helping the Canadian public embrace environmental stewardship as part of their daily lives.
“Nature is a Scout’s playground. A place to discover new things and embark on great adventures. Along the way, we gain an appreciation for nature, learning how to preserve and protect the environment we enjoy as Scouts.”
2017–2018 saw youth take on active roles as environmental stewards, encouraging the Canadian public to embrace the protection of nature by carrying out over 2,550 environmental service projects — including shoreline clean-ups and tree planting. Due to the remarkable accomplishments of our youth, Scouts Canada was nominated for a category in the 2017 Nature Inspiration Awards.
As the voice of our youth-led organization, Youth Spokesperson Program (YSP) participants are offered a unique experience within Scouting that invites them to act as spokespeople and raise awareness of Scouts Canada’s impact on the future success of youth nationwide.
YSP’s receive hands-on media relations, public speaking, communications, graphic design and video production training and apply their skills in a variety of real-world opportunities each year. YSP’s build upon their leadership, communications and professional skills, developing into well-rounded youth who are better prepared for university and job applications.
Scouts Canada launched the Junior Youth Spokesperson Program (Jr. YSP) in 2018 to provide new leadership opportunities to Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts. The Jr. YSP Program enables Beavers and Cubs to play a supporting role in media stories and interviews about Scouts Canada. Mentored by older Scouting youth in the YSP Program, Jr. YSPs learn valuable communication, public speaking, leadership and teamwork skills.