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Journey to Excellence Award

"Scouting's Journey to Excellence" is the BSA's council performance recognition program designed to encourage and reward success and measure the performance of units, districts, and councils. It replaces the Centennial Quality Awards program as a means of encouraging excellence in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA.

Starting in January 2011, a new quality program called Journey to Excellence (JTE or sometimes J2E) has become the new national performance assessment, communication, and recognition program for units, as well as for councils and districts.

Many additional details are available on the BSA page.

The award patch is displayed on the uniform's right sleeve below the patrol emblem or den numeral. Only the most recent year's patch is worn, not a string of past year patches.

The Journey to Excellence program provides:

A framework for planning the year
A method for evaluating a unit
Guidance in areas where a unit might do better
Specific guidelines and standards of what is considered good performance
Early warning of potential problem areas
Recognition for good Scouting
Benchmarking to get ideas and tips from other good units

See BSA Info page for award details, forms, and FAQ pages.

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Comments:

Apr 04, 2014 - Tyler Villegas

I was just wondering, because I can't find information on this elsewhere. Where should the pin be placed? I know that the patch goes on the left sleeve, but what about the pin? Are we allowed to wear both the pin and the patch at the same time?

Apr 04, 2014 - Scouter Paul

@Tyler - There is no specific guidance in the current Insignia Guide for placement of the lapel pin. But, all other lapel pins of which I'm aware are intended for "civilian wear" - meaning they are not displayed on the BSA uniform. The patch does the job on the uniform so there is no need to also wear the pin. (There is an Order of the Arrow Lodge JTE pin which is displayed on the lodge flap, but that is just for OA members.)

Apr 11, 2014 - Jeff

Does both Cub Scouts and Cub Leaders where the patch?

Apr 11, 2014 - Scouter Paul

@Jeff - Yes.

Apr 26, 2014 - Pam

Can newly bridged scouts wear the patch as well? They would have only joined in April, not really part of the effort that went to earning it. Just asking....

May 10, 2014 - Alesha

PLEASE! Make "what was this for and where does it go" questions easier for us to find the answer! Leaders go overwhelmed and I feel bad making them repeat themselves 12 times. when I type in the words on the patch it should popular a page with pictures as to where it goes and what it is for. Thank you.

May 27, 2014 - PackLdrJM

Do scouts that joined anytime in a certain year (ie. 2013) receive the 2013 patch or only after completion of a year? I cannot find the answer. It appears some of performance items would exclude those who joined in fall or later of a year from earning same year. It appears the Pack could use their status, just not individual scouts. Confused in Cali.

May 27, 2014 - Scouter Paul

@PackLdrJM - The award is to the unit, not the individual. Every registered member of the unit can wear the appropriate patch. Someone joining a unit can be given the current patch if there are extras around, or wait until the next one is earned.

Jul 16, 2015 - Emily

Are ventures also allowed to wear this patch? My crew earned it but no one knows if we can wear it

Jul 19, 2015 - Scouter Paul

@Emily - Yes, if it is earned, the venturer can wear it.

Dec 22, 2016 - Tom Linton

Journey to Excellence 2017

JTE encourages patrols, patrol leaders, SPL, youth leader training, and PLCs. It does not encourage the Patrol Method. All the listed scoring criteria typically exist in the adult run, troop-method troop. And no coherent explanation of the Patrol Method exists to date in adult training.

JTE COULD encourage the Patrol Method by giving points for:

patrol and troop leaders elected by the Scouts;
significant separate patrol program;
advancement instruction and passing requirements primarily in the patrol context;
every patrol member with a functioning job;
Scouts planning the program of the patrols and troop, not just being "involved" in some unspecified way; and
SPL running the troop-level program and the planning thereof.

But JTE does not give points for the actual indicia of use of Scouting's "most important method."

In fact, JTE imagines that the Patrol Method is solely about developing youth leaders (which would be the Leadership Development Method): "Patrol method: Use the patrol method to develop youth leaders."

If you don't know where you're going, it's hard not to get lost.

Watering down Scouting's "most important method" is not a path to excellence in Boy Scouting..

Dec 23, 2016 - Scouter Paul

@Tom - JTE lists thresholds to reach, but not HOW to reach them. "Have a plan and budget", "Have an effective plan to recruit", "Conduct campouts", "Use the patrol method", ...
Since #11 promotes training of adult volunteers, there is an expectation that the adults know how to implement the patrol method, as well as how to accomplish the other requirements.

There are over 300 pages at scouting.org that have "patrol method" in their content, including Scoutmaster Training and IOLS. The Troop Leader Guidebook also addresses it.

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