The Jayhawk Area Council, Boy Scouts of America has received a $10,000 corporate grant from Westar Energy. The Boy Scouts will utilize this funding to enhance and expand their current Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) based programming.
“We greatly appreciate the donation made by Westar to enhance and expand our programming that is STEM based. Over 85% of our merit badges/curriculum tracts have STEM principals incorporated into them,” says Wayne Pancoast, Executive Director. “Their commitment to these elements enables us to train and motivate the leaders oftomorrow.”
At the core of what Scouting achieves is the building of self-confidence and leadership through a child’s discovery of the world around them. Youth are exposed to the excitement of learning through explorative 
activities based around focus areas. We reward their accomplishments in these activities through merit badges and belt loops. These learning segments are overseen by registered volunteers and program staff in supervised classroom settings as well as independent study. Each year the Jayhawk Area Council volunteers and professionals evaluate program offerings and determine the most appropriate learning segments to offer during a calendar year.
Many of Scouting’s educational learning experiences already incorporate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) based concepts, now we’re taking it to the next level. Our aim is to peak youth’s interests at a young age to keep them hungry for learning throughout their lives. We will expand our capacity to offer learning segments to a larger number of youth throughout our service area. We will do this through more offerings, better equipment and supplies as well as utilization of learning segment experts.