Welcome to the Mercer Area District Journey to Excellence Web Page

Scouting's Journey to Excellence 2011 Unit Performance Recognition Program, or JTE for short, is a new program that changes the way success is recognized in the BSA by measuring performance on a level playing field. Every unit is measured against the same criteria - you no longer have to set your own goals.

There is a separate JTE form for Packs, Troops and Crews. To earn this award at the end of this year, you have to meet at least the Bronze performance level. To do this, you have to earn 700 total points by meeting the Bronze objectives as written on the form. Then, to reach the higher levels of performance, you need to earn more points in the Silver column and so on for the Gold level.

It would be a good idea to informally fill out this form now, using information from your 2010 calendar year. Seeing how you would have done in 2010 gives you an indication of how you might do in 2011. You can see which areas need improvement and you can set a reasonable goal for 2011.

For example, you might do the numbers and find out you would have earned Silver in 2010, except for the Trained Leadership objective. It would then be reasonable to set Silver as a goal for 2011, knowing that you have to get more leaders trained before the end of this year. This is better than not looking at the form until the end of the year and finding out you could have earned Silver had you had known where improvement was needed.

In this way, JTE serves as a self assessment for your unit's performance. It allows you to see where you need to get better and take action. This is the "Journey" part of the Journey to Excellence - it's more than just another form to fill out in December.

The BSA set these standards of excellence based on past performance of successful units. These are units with good leadership and boys that enjoy and stay with the program and get the most benefit from it. By participating in JTE, you are helping your unit and its leadership be the best it can be.

Be aware that this is a brand new program and that the BSA is still working on how we should interpret its requirements and do the calculations. I had initially tried to provide written and verbal guidance this, but now that is on hold until things settle down. Please ignore any previous attempts I have made in this regard.

For the most up-to-date Journey to Excellence forms, information and guidance, please visit the BSA National’s web site at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Awards/JourneyToExcellence.aspx.

Yours in Scouting,
David Mitchko
Mercer Area District Commissioner
commissioner[at]mad-bsa[dot]org