Scouting Handbook

1) General Rules

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2) Age Groups and Troops

  • Male scouts are separated by school grade into the following groups:

    • Boy Scouts: 6th -12th

    • Webelos: 4th - 5th

    • Cub Scouts: 1st - 3rd (5 ½ years old minimum)

  • Male scouts get registered with Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America) as members of Troop 86 (Rose Bowl District, Greater Los Angeles Area Council)

  • Female scouts are separated by school grade into the following groups:

    • Senior Girl Scouts: 9th - 12th

    • Cadette Girl Scouts: 6th - 8th

    • Junior Girl Scout: 4th - 5th

    • Brownie Girl Scout: 1st - 3rd (5 ½ years old minimum)

  • Female scouts are registered with the Girl Scouts of America as members of Troop 8071 (Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles) 

  • Within these groups, scouts are assigned a patrol:

    • Each patrol has its own flag and yell (gaunch or կանչ)

      • Patrol flags are made and maintained by the scouts and are often passed down from generation to generation.

      • Scouts in a patrol are expected to respect their flags, always know where their flag is, and to ensure their flag never touches the floor.

      • Patrol yells are in armenian 

    • Each troop has a patrol leader who leads the troop and is the primary person responsible for holding the patrol flag and leading the yell.

    • Each patrol also has an assistant patrol leader who helps the patrol leader and is responsible for holding the patrol flag and leading the yell in their absence.

    • If both the patrol leader and assistant patrol leader are absent, the next oldest scout is responsible for holding the flag and leading the yell.

    • Leaders assign scouts to a patrol and decide who the patrol leader and assistant portal leader are.

  • Boy Scouts can be assigned additional roles within their patrols. Holding one or more of these positions is required for rank advancements. These include roles such as:

    • Quartermaster

    • Historian

    • Scribe

    • Bugler

    • Webmaster

3) Leadership Structure

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4) Uniform Requirements

  • Scouts are expected to be in their uniforms for weekly havaks and will not be allowed to participate otherwise.

  • Full uniform is required for participation in award ceremonies and certain external events such as those commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

  • Leaders will communicate in advance when full uniform is required.

  • Scouts are required to wear their colored AGBU Pasadena-Glendale Scouts t-shirts on all troop outings including field trips, hikes, and camps.

  • Scouts are encouraged to always wear their colored AGBU Pasadena-Glendale Scouts t-shirts underneath their button-downs as scouts will occasionally take them off for certain programs such as:

    • Sports

    • Cooking

    • Gyme work

  • For age-specific uniform information, click here.

5) Regular Havak

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6) Required Materials

  • Though not required, scouts are encouraged to show up to havak with a notebook and pen or pencil.

  • Materials for programs are usually provided by leadership, but sometimes scouts are expected to bring materials from home. This will be communicated by your scout’s leaders beforehand.

  • Boy Scouts and Webelos are required to purchase their own handbook from the Scouting America store.

    • Scouts are responsible for keeping their handbooks and for ensuring they obtain whatever signatures they need from the leaders for rank advancements.

    • Unless told otherwise by their leaders, they are expected to have their handbooks with them at all havaks, hikes, and camping trips.

  • Boy Scouts, Cadette Girl Scouts, and Senior Girl Scouts are allowed to bring an approved pocket knife to Havak with them if they have been properly trained by their leaders and have attained their Totin’ Chip.

7) Troop Outings (Field Trips, Hikes, Camping, etc.)

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8) Merit Badges, Awards, and Insignia

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9) Award Ceremonies

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