Scouting America
Think of the Scouting America as an upside-down pyramid. At the base of the pyramid – the smallest part – is the national organization of the Scouting America. It is designed to support the sections above it. The National Council of Scouting America is led by a volunteer group called the National Executive Committee along with the chief executive officer, or the Chief Scout Executive. Additional volunteers and staff members make up the National Council, which includes departments such as Scout shops, program development, information technology, and safety.
Councils
The next part of the pyramid is your local council, a geographic territory that the National Council has granted permission to deliver Scouting programs within that area. The local council is also led by a volunteer group and a council executive committee, along with a chief executive officer called the Scout executive.
The Scout Executive hires staff to provide direct and indirect support to local Scouting programs. In each council there are many more volunteers than staff as the organization is volunteer lead and professionally guided.
Councils are different in size based on factors such as population, geography, and local markets. Most councils operate Scout Camps and local Scout Shops and have a regional office to provides administrative support and record keeping. To identify what council a Scout or an adult belongs to, an identifying patch is worn at the top of the left sleeve shoulder of the uniform.
Our council is Greater St. Louis Area Scouting.
Districts
To provide more localized support to scouting, councils create districts. Districts are geographical areas of service. Districts have a volunteer District Committee that provides support to local programs in the areas of membership, finance, and program. Another group of volunteers called commissioners provide direct service to Scouting programs. Contact your District Executive to learn more about how a district operates.
Our District is New Horizons.
Chartered Organizations and Local Units
At the top of the pyramid – the largest part – are the local Scouting programs. Local councils partner with community organizations, called chartered organizations, to deliver Scouting programs. Chartered organizations have an annual agreement with the local council to sponsor one or more Scouting programs.
If a chartered organization wants to have a Cub Scout program, it organizes what is called a Cub Scout pack or Scout Troop in the case of older scouts. Packs are organized to best serve the families to whom the chartered organization is looking to deliver the program. Often, this is a school, neighborhood, or community.
Each chartered organization selects a representative to serve as the official chartered organization representative is just that: the person designated to represent the organization that has an agreement with the local council to deliver the Scouting program. The chartered organization approves all those who volunteer to be leaders in the pack, usually parents of Cub Scouts.
Our chartered organization is St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Ballwin, MO. Our chartered organization representative is Chuck Livesay.
Each Cub Scout pack is identified with a number. Ours is 631. You can find more information about our volunteer structure on this page:
**Pieces of information adapted from Scout Adult Partner guide.
Pack 631 