I’ve been checking daily for the past 2 weeks to access the NOVA awards training but every time it gives me the 404 page not found error. I know this is something that is being monitored but I would like to get trained so we can set up some activities for our kids. Are the individual classes that make up the NOVA training listed in the all classes catalog and if so is there a list of their names somewhere I can reference? If not what are the recommended ways to be trained right now? Our council does not have training for NOVA on their calendar. Thank you.
As National is ending NOVA Program - this may be more of a Council question
Correct. This is now managed 100% by the council.
“STEM Scouts” v.s. “STEM Nova Awards”
I am confused by your statement. Can you cite a source?
History:
- Difference between STEM in Scouting and STEM Scouts (scoutingmagazine.org), May 2015, in Scouting magazine.
STEM Scouts
- My first observation was that the “STEM Scouts” program is no longer listed on the national BSA® programs page.
- 2015 homesite was https://stemscouts.org/ and is currently returning a HTTP ERROR 503
- I think that is what is going away.
STEM Nova Awards
Awards Central | Boy Scouts of America (scouting.org) “NOVA Awards Program” has a current web link to:
- STEM Nova Awards https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/
There appears to be some confusion at the Scout Shop site with a NOVA PROGRAMS search category that includes STEM Nova Awards items.
2022-10-28-A
STEM Scouts is ending. National will no longer order or control NOVA awards of any kind. Councils can contact supplies on their own, if they still wish to run the program in council. I have heard Supply Group is already out of some items.
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@CharleyHamilton - Thanks for the FAQ reference which states:
Q: Will STEM Nova and Supernova awards be available in Scoutbook and Internet Advancement 2.0?
A: Yes.
2022-10-28-A
I just recently did all the STEM training and from what I can tell that was a formal program that requires scouts to meet once a week similar to a Cub Scout program. I was under the impression that the NOVA training was different since those awards are listed in the cub scouts advancements. It’s also listed as a separate training page under my training from the STEM training. I’m a licensed engineer and as a female I would love to be able to introduce the NOVA awards topics to our girls.
I would recommend reaching out to your council staff to find out who their NOVA program lead is. That might get you some more clarity on what the council is doing.
I’ve done a lot of “engineering outreach” (I’m a structural engineer) in the context of Engineering MB. When I was a Den Leader, I usually worked it in as part of various electives.
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I have already reached out to them and awaiting a response. We have completed every advancement for the girls the past few years so was hoping to give them something else special to have.
Training for Stem Nova counselors and Super Nova Mentors are now done by the local councils. They will set the standard for counselor registration. All Stem Nova counselors and Super Nova Mentors must be registered in those positions similar to MBC
Ron
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Adult Application Scouting Position Code
Code Position
52 Supernova mentor
58 Nova counselor
New 2022 Form
Boy Scouts of America. 2022. Adult Application. PDF. Irving, Tex.: Boy Scouts of America Inc. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/524-501.pdf (accessed 2022-10-31).
Reference
Boy Scouts of America. ©2019. Registration Guidebook of the Boy Scouts of America. PDF. Irving, Tex.: Boy Scouts of America Inc. https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Registration-Guidebook.pdf
2022-10-31-A
National is not ending the Nova/Supernova program. They are dropping their support and management of it. The program still exists. The awards are still available. National has said that the program will now be run by the individual Councils.
The program is used much more at the Pack level than Scouts or Venturing.
If you scroll down on
you will find training ppt’s. I haven’t gone through these as they just recently updated them.
The training is not listed on the BSA Training courses as far as I know.
You might find training at University of Scouting events. That’s how we are handling it.
Signing up to be either a Nova Counselor or Supernova mentor is done through your Council, or in some cases through the District Adv Chair. Depends on how it’s set up locally.
The Nova Counselor position doesn’t have any requirements other than YPT. To be a Supernova Mentor you need to have both a STEM education and experience. Remember that at the Pack level the Supernova Mentor can work with a group, and have their own kid be in the group. At the Scout level Scouts must work individually and Mentors cannot work with their own kids.
You can find an active BSA STEM group on facebook. On that you can find folks who are offering Novas through online groups.
Donovan
You are confusing STEM Scouts with the Nova/Supernova program. They are very separate and different.
STEM Scouts never did go far. That is being dropped. It was very separate from traditional Scouting.
Nova/Supernova is no longer supported by National. But still exists and is integrated into the Scouts program. Control has been given to Councils. There used to be a National STEM Committee which ran this program. That went away. They were the ones who wrote the requirements. All requirements are now fixed in place. At least until National drops a bunch of STEM Pack belt loops again. That hurt the program.
If the ScoutShop system is out of any of the awards the Council can order them directly from the vendor.
If Supply Group is not producing awards, and councils have to write the check to produce awards in much smaller volumes, therefor at a much higher price per award, it does not have much life in it
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@DavidSchilpp - i am equating local council support to another fee increase and at that point this is no longer a market i want to be in.
Thanks! I reached out to council when I first made this post but haven’t heard back yet. I guess it’s time to try again.
Virginia Sutton
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