Wonder what are meetings are about? Take a peek at photos from our last meeting, just click on one of them to enlarge. Amazing photos provided by our own ASM Mika Watanabe.
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Hello,
We are troop 402! One of the first all girl troops to join the Boy Scouts of America! We are a group of scouts learning and growing together, and trying to make our mark in history! Everyone in this troop plays a role and learns skills not only needed in the wilderness, but in every other aspect of their life. We learn leadership skills through hands on experience from patrol meetings to leading a backpacking trek through the wilderness. We pride ourselves on our close knit community! Everyone is welcome and we would love to have you in our troop! JOIN US, THIS IS WHERE YOUR ADVENTURES AWAIT!
Alexia Tzortzis & Christine Mlynek, CoFounding Youth Leaders
Why Scouts BSA?
Scouting builds character and instills values for a lifetime.
Scouts BSA is the traditional Scouting experience for youth in the fifth grade through high school. Service, community engagement and leadership development become increasingly important parts of the program as youth lead their own activities and work their way toward earning Scouting’s highest rank, Eagle Scout.
The BSA Expands Programs to Welcome Girls from Cub Scouts to Highest Rank of Eagle Scout
“This decision is true to the BSA’s mission and core values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. The values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women,” said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA’s Chief Scout Executive. “We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children. We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.”
We are an all girls troop in Lafayette California. We meet every Wednesday night in the Historic Boy Scout cabin. We are a strong troop of scouts that focus on developing youth leadership, outdoor activities, and community service. We are proud of our all inclusive, kind and supportive environment that encourages an engaging, fun and safe space to learn while building confidence and independence with all of our members.
We are the sister troop to Troop 204, a boy scout troop that has been in existence since 1932. With the support and encouragement from the families in 204, and their vast experience and knowledge shared with us, we have been able to develop a completely independent troop for girls in our community. Troop 402 offers the BSA program for our scouts with exceptional opportunities to explore leadership, outdoor high adventure experiences, service to our communities, friendships and life skills that are invaluable.
For more information about our troop please explore the "About 402" and "Troop Highlights" sections in the menu on top. If you are interested in joining the Troop, please visit our "How do I Join" section or call Heather Tzortzis (925) 878-9699.
Our brother troop 204 is the oldest Scouting Troop in Lafayette, California. Founded in 1932, Troop 204 is run with a unique focus on developing leadership, outdoor skills and life long friendships.
The boys meet every Monday night at the Historic Boy Scout cabin.
If you have a brother or son that is interested in Scouting please explore opportunities with our brother troop Troop 204 by visiting their website at troop204.com
There is so much going on in the world right now. The current times are passionate, angry, confused, astonishing and sad. But also you hear stories of encouragement, hope, human acts of kindness, support and communities coming together with empathy and compassion to make changes.
I seek the stories of the amazing acts of kindness and for the stories of people reaching out to make a change in our current world. It's the smallest acts that touch our hearts, of kids teaching the adults how to love without blinders, being brave and speaking out to educate their communities of their personal experiences and fundraising to donate to their local charities and causes they are passionate about... to the larger acts of all the adults coming together to support BLM and all causes that support historically marginalized groups, that will make a change and help create a world of inclusivity, kindness and equality for ALL. Together we can make that change for our youth to have a better world.
I am very thankful for our troop, all of our members and it goes without being said how we all represent the best of what BSA stands for. I know that BSA historically may not have represented our current ideals but times for the BSA program are rapidly changing. The Boy Scouts of American have repealed their ban on openly gay scouts and leaders, allowed girls to join and instituted a bullying awareness program. They have created a diversity and inclusion statement:
The BSA’s Diversity & Inclusion Statement
The Boy Scouts of America promotes a culture where each youth, volunteer, and employee feels a sense of belonging and builds communities where every person feels respected and valued.
Leading by example and encouraging each other to live by the values expressed by the Scout Oath and Scout Law, we welcome families of all backgrounds to help prepare young people to serve as successful members and leaders of our nation’s increasingly diverse communities.
They also are partnering with the mentoring organization of 100 Black Men in America and created an Asian Pacific workforce group and a resource group for Latinos and Women. The BSA Programs fundamental base of inclusion and acceptance is at the heart of what we do as scouts. It is built on the foundational beliefs of the scout oath and laws that we commit to live by. These laws emphasize fairness, friendship and equality and for us to be helpful to other people with care and respect for others.
"A Scout is FRIENDLY. A Scout is a friend to all other Scouts. A Scout offers friendship to people of all races, religions, and nations, and a Scout respects them even if their beliefs and customs are different."
"A Scout is KIND. Scouts treat others as they want others to treat them. A Scout knows there is strength in being gentle. Kindness is a sign of true strength. To be kind, you must look beyond yourself and try to understand the needs of others. Take time to listen to people and imagine being in their place. Extending kindness to those around you and having compassion for all people is a powerful agent of change to a more peaceful world."
This is why it is an important reminder to say that our troop supports Black Lives Matter and all movements that support all historically marginalized groups of POC, LGBTQ+ and women. We are proud to help our scouts to learn to look out for each other and celebrate our differences. This is our opportunity to help guide our youth and for them to become the next generation of leaders who can make a meaningful difference in our communities, our nation and our world. As we say in our closing, " ...today we are scouts, tomorrow we are leaders, we are kind, we are important, we are together!"
Warmly and YiS,
Heather Tzortzis
