Homepage
C.O.P.E.
Challenging Outdoor Personal Experiences—is a Scouting program that includes group initiative games, trust events, and challenges that reach from the ground to the sky.
Jayhawk Area Council has a long history with this program, and we are excited to bring it back! Our Low C.O.P.E. Course has been inspected and is back open for scouts and non-scout groups to participate in. We have several dates available over the next year for scout groups to sign up and take the challenge. Our fall event date is August 8-9th and this event is open to all scouts ages 13 and up in our council with registration going live soon.
Our Volunteer COPE/Climbing Committee is currently in our Phase 2 of projects to continue expanding our course to it’s original size and beyond! Over the summer we will be performing repairs and improvements on our Climbing Towers and a three part High C.O.P.E. Course element (Giants ladder, Balance Beam, and Rappel) and should have them opening over the 2025-2026 year!
The Jungle Gym, Monster, and Zip Line will all be updated and reopened over the next few camping seasons, so stay tuned for updates as we bring our C.O.P.E. program back to the Jayhawk Area Council! Join us for our inaugural reopening event on August 8th and 9th!
August 8-9th, 2025
March 13-14th, 2026
May 8-9th, 2026
June 19-20th, 2026
For more information or to lock in a date please contact Kurt Garner @ Kurt.Garner@scouting.org.
Theisen to Join Jayhawk Area Staff
Scout Executive Wayne Pancoast is pleased to announce that Nicholas Thiesen has been hired as the Sojadi District Executive effective May 20, 2025.
Nick Theisen (pronounced Tyson) graduated from ITT Technical with an associate degree in Computer Aided Drafting along with some additional certifications. He currently lives in Post Falls, Idaho and has spent the last ten years working for Buck Knives, Inc.
Nick has a combined 25 years of Scouting experience. He is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow and is Wood Badge trained. He has served in numerous volunteer roles including Assistant Scoutmaster, Den Leader and Unit Commissioner. As a commissioner, he has earned his doctorate at the College of Commissioner Science and has most recently served as an Assistant District Commissioner in charge of recruiting. The den he served as den leader recently crossed into a troop. He is a District Award of Merit recipient and has earned the Arrowhead Award, Commissioner’s Key and Distinguished Commissioner. This year, he took the inaugural online Commissioner Seabadge.
Nick is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has served on the honor guard and held numerous roles including Grand Knight. He is excited to join the Jayhawk Area Council.
Please welcome Nick to our council.
Ian Lamb Receives Promotion
It is with mixed emotions that I announce Ian Lamb has been promoted to the position of Field Director for the W. D. Boyce Council in Peoria, Illinois. In his new role, he will serve on the council’s management team and provide direct supervision to the field staff covering 14 counties in central Illinois. He will begin his new assignment on May 6.
Ian joined the Jayhawk Area Council on August 16, 2018 as the District Executive for the newly created Sunflower District. He was promoted to the position of District Director on January 1, 2022 with primary district service for the Pony Express District. He has also covered the Sojadi District during his tenure on the Jayhawk Area Council Staff. In addition to his district assignment, Ian has been our staff advisor for the council’s annual product sale and for the Dzie Hauk Tonga Lodge of the Order of the Arrow.
Ian is an Eagle Scout from Haysville, KS. He and his wife Amira currently live in Lawrence, KS. He earned his Bachelor of the Arts degree in Sport Management from Wichita State University. Ian also holds an Associate of Arts degree from Cowley College. He served as an Assistant Webelos Den Leader for Pack 328 in Arkansas City, KS for two years. He is Wood Badge trained through our council course and was inducted as a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow through our Lodge.
Please join me in congratulating Ian and Amira as they embark on their next chapter.
Wayne R. Pancoast
Scout Executive
Scouting America, Jayhawk Area Council
Make sure your Voice is Heard
To impact membership growth, Scouting America must focus on Supporting Unit Leaders and provide them with the information, tools, and support they need to execute our world-class programs.
Scouting America’s 2025 organizational goals to enhance performance, drive growth, and ensure we continue to deliver exceptional value to units and members include a “Satisfaction Index” goal. The goal metric for determining if we are improving in this area comes from the Voice of the Scout Unit Leader Council/District satisfaction score.
Why use the Unit Leader Council/District satisfaction score as our national metric? Unit leaders drive retention and recruitment through the quality of the program they provide to youth. Voice of the Scout will help us better understand what support unit leaders need to be more satisfied in their leadership role. An unhappy, unsupported leader cannot lead to their fullest potential.
Once per quarter, email invitations are sent to a quarter of the population of Cub Scout parents, Scouts BSA parents who have children under 14, Scouts BSA youth who are 14 or older, Venturers, Sea Scouts, Explorers, and Unit leaders/advisors. Voice of the Scout emails come from noreply@scouting.org, with the name “Voice of the Scout” in the invitation. Please add the above address to your “safe sender” list so that the survey will not go to your spam folder.
We strongly encourage you to consider completing the survey. If our council has at least 100 responses, we will receive a council-specific report that will help us with our long-range strategic planning. Your input is critical!
Congratulations to the 2024 Silver Beaver Award Honorees
2024 Silver Beaver Award Honorees
The Jayhawk Council Awards Committee is pleased to announce the honorees for the Silver Beaver Awards. Please join us at the Council Recognition Banquet for the presentation of the awards on February 8, 2025, at Washburn University’s Alumni Center.
First, the Jayhawk Area Council would like to thank the Silver Beaver Selection Committee for their time and dedication to selecting the two best Nominations to receive the Silver Beaver Award. The Council is allowed to select two individuals each year, based on our size of Council, for this prestigious Award. The Silver Beaver Award recognizes the time, dedication, and commitment a Scouter has made as an adult to provide leadership and support at the Unit, District, and Council levels. These recipients represent the “best of the best” in providing the best Scouting experience for our Youth.
Silver Beaver Award goes to….
Joe Pilsl –
Joe has been an active unit leader for 15 years and currently serves as Scoutmaster of Troop 180 in Marysville, KS. In addition, he has also served as OA Chapter Advisor for 4 years, a Vigil Honor and Founder’s Award recipient of the DZIE-HAUK TONGA Lodge. Outside of Scouting, Joe has served his community as Assistant Fire Chief for 13 years providing cheerful service to his community.
He earned his Eagle Award in October of 1988 and has been active at the District level assisting in numerous roles and leading numerous Camporees for Oregon Trail, Sunflower and Pony Express Districts. Joe embodies the Scouting program in all he does.
Joe received the District Award of Merit in 2015, was an Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor Member in April of 2021, and is our first recipient of the 2024 Silver Beaver Award.
Carl Richardson –
Carl has been an active member of Scouting dating back to his time as a young Scout in the early 1960’s. He became an Order of the Arrow member in June of 1969 and continues to stay active in Scouting today in a variety of roles including as Charter Organization Representative of Unit 157 in the Sojadi District.
Carl began his volunteerism in Scouting as Cubmaster back in 1989 serving six years in this role before becoming Asst. Scoutmaster. After serving in both of these roles, he decided to serve as both a Unit Commissioner as well as a District Committee member.
Carl was an Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor Member in April of 2001, received the District Award of Merit in 2003 and is our second recipient of the 2024 Silver Beaver Award.
2024 Eagle Class Honoree
Timothy O’Shea –
Tim’s involvement in Scouting dates back to the 1970’s when he began as a Cub Scout. He earned his Eagle Scout Award in April of 1976 and then decided he had an hour a week to give back to Scouting as an Adult. In 1998, he became Cubmaster of Pack 3009 and joined the Troop as a Committee Member the next year.
In 2001, he became Bison District Chair and served in this capacity until 2004. He became Council Commissioner in 2005 and has held numerous positions on the Council Executive Board since then including Council Treasurer, Council Vice President and currently serves as Council President.
Tim received the District Award of Merit in 1997, the Silver Beaver Award in 2000 and is truly deserving of this recognition as our 2024 Eagle Class Honoree. Tim and his wife Deborah are both retired. We thank them both for their numerous contributions to youth here in the Topeka area as well as their dedication and service to Scouting across the Jayhawk Area Council.
Join us on February 8th, 2025 to celebrate these Honoree’s and the 2024 Eagle Scout Class!
