Troop 1250: A Scout Is Human

Photo: JV / Unsplash

A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. This is the Law of Scouting, and it has been unchanged since William D. Boyce brought scouting to America in 1910 from England, where it was founded in 1907 by Lord Baden-Powell. Laurel’s Troop 1250 has been around since 1963, when James Van Daniker was scoutmaster. If you want more scouting history, there is a merit badge for that.

In January 2026, I took over as the new scoutmaster of Troop 1250, chartered by Saint Mary of the Mills Catholic Church. Similar to becoming the librarian at my own Laurel Elementary, becoming the scoutmaster of the troop I was in as a youth feels quite satisfying.

The world has changed since I was a kid. There are merit badges for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity now, and there is an official position in the troop as the webmaster. Our flashlights are brighter, tents are lighter, and purifying water is easier than ever. Most of the changes have been to improve the scouting program and experience, but with change comes fear.

“They are adding a thirteenth point to the Law,” a retired troop leader warned me. “A scout is human.” This was, apparently, to prevent artificial intelligence from earning the esteemed Eagle rank. “Can you believe that?”

I could not believe it, and for good reason: the information came from an April Fool’s article. Still, there are apps to help us identify plants just by scanning them with our phones. Software can analyze your rope-bridges to help you improve their design. It might even be possible for a program to help you develop a plan to finish the last thirty requirements you need to earn Eagle when you only have a year left. We do have better tools now.

But it wasn’t Copilot that shoveled dirt at Laurel High school’s baseball bullpens. I didn’t see ChatGPT with boots and bags over at Discovery Park picking up trash and returning that shopping cart to the Giant. There is an Eagle project coming up at Saint Nicholas’ church—Gemini didn’t sign the RSVP. Councilman Simmons provided the troop with a list of Laurel residents in need of being dug out during our recent winter event, and it was flesh and bone that broke the ice and cleared the walkways.

The world has changed, but not really. How can someone be helpful? How can someone be kind? What does it mean to do a good turn daily? One of our most recent Eagles said it best in his last meeting: “Scouting taught me a lot about being a good person, and I know that will help me for the rest of my life.”

The scouts were fine before my tenure and they will be after. For my part, I want to walk through the Main Street Festival as a troop, trudge through the Patuxent River picking up trash along Riverfront Park, and backpack Montgomery Street until it turns into Riding Stable Road, just for practice. I want to double our numbers and wash cars in the church’s parking lot to fund gear for another patrol. I want my son to be prepared for this changing world with unchanging virtues. More than anything, I want to try and leave this world a little better than I found it. A scout is human.

May the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with us until we meet again.

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Shane Walker is the Media Specialist at Laurel Elementary School. More than a lifetime resident in Laurel, he is a lifetime member of its greater community. As a writer, he focuses on inspiring harmony through diversity of thought.