National Training Updates
Wet, Wild West Virginia
Oath and Law for All BSA Programs
Project 2013: A Jamboree Experience
A Busy Week of Native American Competition Yields Valuable Lessons 
The National Inductions and Ceremonies Forum will be held Friday 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the Kellogg Auditorium. All guests are invited to come to forum to share in the joys of ceremonies and the induction process. Seasoned ceremonialists and national officers will lead a discussion intended to expand knowledge of the induction process and how ceremonies contribute to advancement in the order
At the National Council of Chiefs on Tuesday, the Order of the Arrow launched its fourth strategic plan, building on the prior plans that have emphasized the alignment of the Order’s priorities with those of the Boy Scouts of America. In response to these plans, both the national organization and lodges throughout the country have increasingly integrated their programs with their councils, strengthening both as well as enhancing service to the young people served.
As the Order looks towards 2013 and beyond, National Order of the Arrow Chairman Ray Capp charged a group of volunteers to develop a new strategic plan that fully aligns with the recently adopted strategic vision of the Boy Scouts of America. This group, chaired by the vice chairman Glenn Ault, has spent the last year developing the Order’s approach to this vision. He notes that this plan specifically creates a “model for our lodges, which helps to provide the tools for both the national organization and our lodges to help the national and local councils achieve their objectives.” The Order emphasized issues within the National Council’s plan that have the largest impact on the future success of our brotherhood.
Adopting the approach of the BSA’s brand new program “Journey to Excellence”, the Order’s plan develops milestones that lodges can use to assess their progress in achieving the objectives laid out in the plan. For example, under the “Impact and Participation” section, the Order presents a plan to develop metrics for measuring progress and outcomes of the Order in units, chapters, lodges, and sections. The Order will provide chapters and lodges with new, innovative, and reliable measurement tools. Strategies, reward systems, and resources are in place to help support lodges retain members. Among other goals, the plan also provides specific objectives to builds on the largely successful national events, such as the National Jamboree, high adventure activities, and all sorts of training opportunities, such as the National Leadership Seminar.
The Order encourages lodges to take this plan, together with the National Council’s Strategic Plan and a copy of their council’s current strategic plan, and come to know and understand them. Lodges should develop a process – in cooperation with the council – to write a plan in conjunction with the council’s plan in the near future. Ault notes, “We suspect that it will look much like this one, since the national Order of the Arrow committee has built their plan around the National Council’s plan – but it may be different in some respects, and that is as it should be, since the lodge’s plan should reflect the priorities of the council.”
For more information and to review the actual strategic plan, visit the website at www.noac2012.org.
The museum at NOAC 2012 is being taken to the next level. .“We’ve taken it to the next step, toward what a real museum would be like.” Tracy Messler, co-lead of museum exhibits, graphics, and images, explains. The NOAC Museum lives up to this promise, filling an entire wing on the second floor of the MSU Union building with displays and interactive exhibits.
The Museum features many unique historical artifacts pertaining to the Order of the Arrow. Museum visitors will begin by viewing a video re-creation of the original 1915 Ordeal ceremony. Guests then proceed through exhibits highlighting the evolution of the OA legacy. The rest of the museum highlights the evolution of the OA legacy.
Guests can view a series of pen and charcoal sketches commissioned by artist and Arrowman Josh Hunt depicting unique historical scenes, many of which are not photographed. Guests will also view unique displays about Treasure Island, the site where the Order was founded. Some other exhibits include the Hall of Sashes, a collection of countless sashes from the collection of Terry Grove, and the Patch Midway, a collection of patches from lodges around the country.
After viewing the Patch Midway, guests will view a full, multi-panel timeline that chronicles the entire history of the OA. Some of the photographs and other items displayed on the timeline are the only ones in existence. Following the conference, this physical timeline will go on display at the national office. However, an extensive digital timeline, recently launched online at history.oa-bsa.org, contains more information on many of the topics that appear on the timeline.
One other unique part of the NOAC Museum is the Archives in Action area, where lodges will be able to learn not only about why it is important to archive their own materials, but how to go about doing so. Messler points out that the OA is always looking for help archiving various historic materials, especially documents and photographs. He further added that content from the years 1961 to 1997 seem particularly light.
The OA Museum will be open tonight from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. for Night at the Museum.
