Neil Rana has been involved in scouting since first grade. He “crossed over” from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts in fifth grade, when he joined Troop 302, chartered at First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem. Now a sophomore at Liberty HS, Rana is a senior patrol leader for his troop, through which he has served the community for years.

During 2020, though, Rana discovered that taking care of the community also means taking care of the troop. When he read the recent series on teen mental health in the Bethlehem Press, Rana reflected on what Troop 302 did during 2020 to help members stay socially and emotionally healthy.

When Americans were told to stay home for “two weeks to flatten the curve” in March 2020, local scout troops paused their activities. Repeated school closure extensions and the eventual cancellation of the school year, however, set off warning bells. Troop 302, led by Scoutmaster Sam Phillips, knew that they needed to do something.

“Our whole leadership team,” Rana explains, “adults and youth, met in June 2020 via Zoom, and decided we needed to start holding meetings every Monday night over Zoom to promote the advancement of scouts.” These weekly meetings included breakout sessions for smaller groups for demonstrations of skills like knot-tying.

Echoing what the Press heard from Rob Nicolella of Catholic Charities about teen anxiety regarding long-term goals, Rana tells us that a shutdown would jeopardize scouts’ ability to earn merit badges on their path to Eagle Scout.

“Because we age out at 18,” he says, “there’s a time limit on getting that done.”

Rather than let anxiety build among troop members, however, leaders scheduled skills demonstrations over Zoom, and in September 2020, began regular in-person meetings for demonstrations requiring more open space.

“We decided to meet at a local park every other week, so we could have proper presentations in person: skill demonstrations like setting up a tent or setting up a backpack for a backpacking trip,” Rana says. But it wasn’t all about earning merit badges. Rana describes playing “COVID-friendly games” that could be done with six-foot distancing, “so everybody could stay engaged, meet together, talk together, and keep the mental health up, along with meeting with the leaders to get sign-offs [for merit badges].”

For the scouts, another benefit of regular meetings was spending time with adults who knew them. Rana says he believes the adult leaders “would be able to tell” if their scouts were becoming depressed. He notes that the leaders were able to gauge troop members’ moods by cues like making eye contact and speaking confidently during Zoom meetings.

Troop 302 even managed to hold its annual week-long campout, with coronavirus protocols in place. Scouts worked on skills and enjoyed fellowship, albeit six feet apart.

“The whole time,” Rana says, “we wore masks, ate meals at tables and chairs six feet apart, used single-occupancy tents, had hospital-grade disinfectants, and spent most of our time in outdoor areas for constant ventilation.” Despite the restrictions, the scouts stayed connected to the troop and stayed on track in the pursuit of their goals.