Scouting America’s Solution to Today’s Workforce Preparedness Challenges

Thank you for joining us this Saturday morning.

Ten years ago, the trendy fad in K-12 education – pushed by high promises from big tech companies – was to equip as many students as possible with their own digital device (or “learning platform”). Chromebooks and similar technology became ubiquitous across US public schools.

Today, education experts, regular parents, and even the U.S. Surgeon General are again fixated on personal digital devices in the classroom – principally their removal.

The fever dream of technology-laden students who somehow emerge from their screens more focused and skilled has broken, replaced with a desire to return to old-fashioned engagement, eye contact, and “hands-on learning.”

Now seems the ideal time, then, to look at an organization that’s been doing just that since the 1960s, and looks poised for rapid growth in the years to come.

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Scouting America’s Explorer Program introduces 10- to 20-year-old boys and girls to different career fields. It gives them hands-on experience to learn and, importantly, decide whether something is right for them.

From lawyers to firefighters, plumbers, pharmacists, and more, 5,000 “Exploring Units” exist across the country. There are no merit badges or scout uniforms here – this is a structured career exploration program in partnership with local organizations. The Explorer Program feels more relevant now than at any time since its founding.

Take Explorer Post 50, based in Durham, as an example. Founded in 1998 by Capital Broadcasting Company, the Durham Bulls, and Chief Advisor Ken Bland, who led a similar post in the WRAL TV newsroom in Raleigh for several decades prior, the post is a crash course for teenagers who think they want to get into sports broadcasting.

With 75 active members, some combination of participants produce live broadcasts for every Durham Bulls home game. Directing, producing, operating a camera – it’s all part of the experience. The teenagers make real-time decisions with actual consequences in a live, professional environment.

Nearly 30 years in, the program has focused young minds and shaped careers.

 “My journey in broadcasting began with Explorer Post 50, where I gained the skills, contacts, and confidence to pursue a career in the industry,” Melissa Heilicser said of her experience. “The group profoundly shaped my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful for it.”

Just as importantly, a participant might discover that the field isn’t right for them. Better to learn that before spending four years and six figures on a college degree.

It would seem hard to argue that in-classroom, technology-based learning could possibly rival this experience.

Ask yourself: Are students graduating high school and college with a good sense of what kind of career they want to pursue, and some basic skills to start pursuing it?

The answer has been “probably not” for quite some time, and it’s only gotten murkier since the popular advent of AI. From corporate boardrooms to local Boards of Education, business and civic leaders focus intensely on the need for effective workforce development.

The Explorer Program offers an answer, and some big names in North Carolina agree. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, for instance, hopes to establish a law-oriented Explorer Program in all 100 counties, starting with the Piedmont. Scouting America has enjoyed especially generous support and backing from the business community. Just one look at the recent winners of the NC “Good Scout” award, given annually at the Friends of Scouting Luncheon, yields a star-studded cast of civic leaders:

• Bob Barnhill – Founder & Chairman, Barnhill Contracting Company
• Frank Holding Jr. – Chairman & CEO, First Citizens Bank
• Ward Nye – Chairman & CEO, Martin Marietta
• Temple Sloan Jr. – Founder, General Parts International & CARQUEST; Co-founder, Highwoods Properties; former member of the National Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of America
• The late Bob Ingram – General Partner, Hatteras Venture Partners
• Fred Anderson – Chairman, Anderson Automotive Group
• Bubba Rawl – Co-Founder, Preston Development Company
• Lonnie Poole – Founder, Waste Industries; former President, Occoneechee Council
• Jim Goodmon – Chairman, Capitol Broadcasting Company
• James Maynard – Founder, Investors Management Corporation & Golden Corral
• Van Eure – Angus Barn

The workforce development benefits are clear for the young men and women trying to find their way in life. As for employers, the Explorer Program provides a proven, time-tested talent pipeline. About half of mature Explorer programs build direct hiring pipelines from their own alumni – cutting onboarding costs and pre-identifying talent that already has familiarity with the industry.

Courtesy of rAVE Agency Flickr

 This is particularly relevant in fields facing workforce shortages, like the skilled trades and emergency services. The City of Raleigh Fire Department’s Explorer Program, for example, is led by a former Explorer participant, with additional cadets currently in the training pipeline.

Employers interested in the program have broad flexibility to customize their participation. They can simply join others in hosting a single event or session, or they can create their own post. The first step is connecting with Adam Mottershead, the Exploring Executive for this region. The program provides liability coverage, recruitment help, ready-made curriculum templates, and hands-on support.

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The experiential education pendulum is swinging back, and organizations like the Explorer Program are perfectly positioned to catch it. While school districts debate phone bans and education researchers publish studies on attention spans, the answer to “what comes next” is pressing.

What Melissa Heilicser found at Explorer Post 50 – skills, contacts, confidence – can’t be simulated through an app or a learning platform. It requires a camera in hand, a live broadcast with real stakes, and adults willing to invest their time and expertise in the next generation.

North Carolina’s business and civic leaders have already recognized this. The question now is how many more will follow their lead.