Scouting is a leadership program, so a healthy troop is led by the youth and supported by Scoutmasters and adult volunteers. In Troop 78, the Scouts choose each month’s outing and the adult leadership enables and provides guidance as needed. More experienced Scouts prepare younger Scouts for the upcoming outing. At most of our troop meetings, you’ll find older Scouts running the program and teaching skills to younger Scouts so they are ready for camping, cooking, wilderness survival, cycling, canoeing, backpacking, orienteering, pioneering, and whatever the Colorado wilderness has to offer. Troop 78 builds leaders who are also great teammates.
Scouting’s Patrol Method splits the troop into patrols of roughly 8 Scouts that are led by a peer Patrol Leader, who is elected and usually more experienced in Scouting than the rest of the patrol. Patrol Leaders take a leadership class soon after elections. We train them, trust them, and let them lead with minimal adult intervention.
During an outing, the Patrol Leader will guide the patrol while they camp together, cook together, share and maintain their patrol gear, learn together, and tackle challenges as a unit. Since Patrol Leaders are elected twice a year, patrols often take a few months to begin functioning smoothly as a unit. This is normal, expected, and part of the program. At Troop 78, the before-and-after comparison of younger and more experienced Scouts is evident at meetings and outings.
Our troop has about 85 Scouts divided into four patrols (Beavers, Dragons, Moose, Mountain Goats, Wolves) and a Venture Patrol (older Scouts of high school age). In our coed program, boys and girls participate in all the same troop activities at the same places and times. A cadre of 20+ fully trained adult Assistant Scoutmasters and dozens of Troop Committee members means we have an active leadership corps and ample volunteers to support the Scout-led program and outings.
On to First Class Program
Lord Robert Baden Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts, said that when a boy has earned the rank of First Class, he is “the complete Scout” because he has learned all the basic Scouting skills. At Troop 78, we focus all new Scouts on developing the skills required to earn First Class rank through our proven On to First Class program. Led by more experienced Scouts and an adult Assistant Scoutmaster, our On to First Class program trains new Scouts quickly in all the skills required for the ranks of Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class, and more importantly, for all the outings and adventures the troop will offer them. Troop 78’s On to First Class program, plus Summer Camp, are the keys to engaging first-year Scouts and jump-start them on their Scouting journey.
Scouts will not start merit badges right away at Troop 78 for many reasons. We emphasize outings, which means Scouts will focus first on outdoor and teamwork skills they will need for monthly outings and Summer Adventures. Once Scouts have earned First Class rank, they have learned all the basic Scouting skills they will need and we invite them to turn to go deeper into specific topics through merit badges. Earning First Class rank can be achieved by a motivated Scout in about a year after joining our troop, which is just in time to begin merit badges at their second Summer Camp. We feel that the emphasis on learning basic skills before working on merit badges is important and we believe the rank advancement requirements do not require merit badges until later ranks for good reason.
Summer Camp is one of the signature events for Troop 78. Younger Scouts focus on skills while older Scouts focus on merit badges. For first-year Scouts, attending Summer Camp is critically important because our On to First Class skills training program offers about 35 hours of skills training and related programming (completing about 50 requirements in one intensive week). Our program includes first aid, sharp tools training in our robust Axe Yard program, patrol cooking and campcraft, pioneering, orienteering, and a backpacking overnight. Your Scout will return from Troop 78's Summer Camp feeling proud, more confident, motivated -- and tired!
Scouts who have earned First Class rank or higher can take advantage of our troop-led merit badge program and the merit badge program offered by our Summer Camp host.
The Stairstep to Adventure: Leveled Challenges
Over the decades, Troop 78 has developed a “Stairstep to Adventure” program that provides challenging but achievable adventures as Scouts grow in skills and strength. New Scouts develop skills and abilities and practice the Patrol Method on Monthly Outings and Summer Adventures that are leveled by age and skill. As they master the Scouting skills, they are prepared to tackle bolder adventures like week-long backpacking or canoe trips and eventually BSA High Adventure Bases and Troop 78’s own custom Super High Adventures. See more on Troop 78’s Stairstep to Adventure Program or see a few photos from recent Troop 78 outings and adventures.
By challenging Scouts at the right level, Troop 78’s Scouts stay engaged longer in the Scouting program. As of 2025, we have about 50 Scouts who are in high school. For many, they will continue to earn merit badges and Scouting’s more difficult, service-oriented and leadership-intensive higher ranks. Our troop supports aspiring Eagle Scouts through its Life to Eagle mentorship program led by a veteran Scoutmaster.
What’s next for you? Visit Troop 78, send questions to our adult leadership or receive our newsletter.
