A lifelong scouting enthusiast, Jeremy Whitmore, has made a career in the Boy Scouts of America. Whitmore, 39, is a graduate of Murray State and an 18-year veteran of scouting. In January 2011, he began his latest scouting challenge as CEO of the Columbus-based Pushmataha Area Council.
Is scouting a dying industry for young men? Has it become antiquated?
Nationally, membership has been on a little bit of a decline over the past few years, but we are trying to become even more relevant. Boy Scouts of America has been around for 102 years. We are trying to change with the times, but not get away from our core values of character building, leadership development and being morally and physically fit, while remaining cool.
In trying to stay relevant, are the Boy Scouts of America embracing social media such as Facebook and Twitter?
Absolutely; we are in the process of building a new high adventure program based in West Virginia called The Summit. It’s going to be the new home of our jamboree. Our first jamboree will be held there in 2013. In the development of this program, we have been using blogs and Facebook as ways to get feedback. One of the things we are adding, because of the feedback, is a skate park. It may not be traditional scouting, but we have to keep up with the times.
What are the biggest challenges facing the Pushmataha Area Council?
Our biggest challenge is not that different from the challenges facing other councils and that is the need for more adult leaders to mentor and lead the scouts. Adults lead busy lives. Finding enough adults to lead scouting is still a challenge. We have over 400 volunteers in the Pushmataha area but we can always use more.
Do you have systems in place to make sure only qualified adults are allowed to be around the young men in scouting?
Yes, every adult that wants to be an adult leader must fill out an application which is then sent through a national background check. If they pass the background check, they must go through our youth protection training classes.
Is there still a need for Eagle Scouts in today’s society?
Absolutely. We had 26 young men become Eagle Scouts from the Pushmataha area last year. Nationally, we had 54,000 young men become Eagle Scouts. Although our enrollment numbers may be down a little bit, 54,000 Eagle Scouts across the nation in one year was record-breaking. Even though we may have fewer scouts, the ones that are in are staying in longer. What’s really exciting is this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first Eagle Scout. So everyone that achieves this honor this year will be part of the centennial celebration.
What is your vision for the future of scouting for the Pushmataha Area Council?
We want to continue to reflect the communities we serve. We need to serve more young men from all backgrounds and all communities, whether they be big or small. We need to improve upon our camping facility, Camp Seminole in Starkville, so that everyone that attends there will have a good experience. We also need to continue our community service work. We want everyone to know that in good times and bad, scouting is there to do a good turn.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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