 Van Gogh, we're back with the 11 o'clock rock. You like my hat? It's a Boy Scouts hat. It was given to me by our esteemed guests today Neil Atabara, MD. He is a member of the board of directors And he's the chairman of Onizuka Day at the Boy Scouts Aloha Council. Welcome Neil. Thank you Jay. Great to see you again Always see you every time. Thank you. Okay, and Jeff Solzbach He is the scout executive and CEO of the Aloha Council Boy Scouts of America. Welcome to the show. Thank you Great to have you guys. Thank you so much. It's going on with the Boy Scouts But first the word Boy Scouts established nationally, right? Right in Like that 1910. Yeah 107 years ago. Okay, and Aloha Council established right after that. Yeah, right same year So October 1910 we've been here for 107 years. Yeah We so this was one of the original chapters of the Boy Scouts very early I was that what happened in Hawaii that made it you know jump on the bandwagon Earlier doctor if you will local artist Howard Hitchcock who was at the time an art instructor at Punahoe school He was in California. He saw Boy Scouts. He said this is fantastic He brought it back here to Hawaii and it started here that same year the Rainbow Patrol was the name of the first group of scouts Perfect at Punahoe. Yeah, so somebody was later. So much has happened and still the Boy Scouts totally relevant As a matter of fact, I was thinking about it on the way in and I have decided and I'll throw this down for your consideration The Boy Scouts is becoming more relevant now Absolutely the way the social structure is working here and on the mainland the way the schools are working the way the connection between the Parents and the schools and the laski problem and all that we need the Boy Scouts for that kind of structure This gives kids the opportunity to find to find themselves in a way that perhaps other structures in their lives Don't allow them to do that nearly agree. Absolutely. Yeah Scouting has always been about developing leadership developing good character And you often think about Scouts as being hikers and campers and doing good deeds and they certainly do that But it's really all about character and now we're really getting into STEM. STEM is another challenge a cognitive Challenge that that helps youngsters bring out character with them themselves and STEM is so important And the Boy Scouts can be a connection to STEM This is critical not only for them for their generation or generations because there are more than one generations of the Boy Scouts But it's also for the country and for the state. We need STEM now Neil is very active in the What is it the Academy of Science and therefore the science fair that science fair coming up in April? And so he can talk about STEM as few people can and so in fact he was a hero in the Academy for something the boys in the I'm sorry the science fair and it made him May I say some of it may be more of it than you like to think made him what he is today, right? Science fair and Boy Scouts Played a big role in where I'm today the science fair Was an opportunity to to really kind of compete on a state level it came from Hilo on a big island which is you know not exactly a grand stage and and From the state science fair went to the international science fair. So that was a lot of fun Boy Scouts has been part of my life, you know from very early on probably when I let me guess you're a Boy Scout I was a Boy Scout and Jeff is a Boy Scout We're both Boy Scouts or Eagle Scouts want an eagle always an eagle and it's it's I think always kept me on track as far as as You know doing the right thing trying to give back to the community It's been a huge part of my life. It's no it's no accident that you guys were both Scouts You were an Eagle Scout too, I guess. Yeah, I am an Eagle Scout And so, you know you remain loyal it's like it's like the guys who go to Yale They remain loyal It's for their whole lives So that's that's a gift, you know that you don't find too often The fact is these kids go through this program and it defines them for life. Yeah, this is a fabulous thing It's interesting. It's an award that most people earn before the turn 18 all people do before the turn 18 You know 15 16 17 years old and yet you carry it throughout your life Which is a pretty significant accomplishment to follow you through your life. Yeah, even when When I'm applying to medical school and even residency after that You don't put anything from high school on there But they actually still ask even though it's not on the resume they ask oh, so we're your boy scout and they say then they say oh we're an Eagle Scout and I think they talk to you a little bit different a little bit more respect there I agree. I think absolutely. I mean it stops you in your track Eagle Scout. Oh, that is something When I grew up I went to summer camp in New York State and right next door was a place called 10 Mile River, right? Huge Boy Scout camp huge and it was it was so well respected. You know, what do you have to do with Sam? I've been I've been a 10 mile river Yeah, because it was that good and they made Eagle Scouts there tough. Anyway, I mean, I think it Every kid ought to have the benefit. That's what I think. Yeah, you know society they need it And if it's available their parents should you know, take them down to the Boy Scout We're working hard to get every kid opportunity to be a Boy Scout to be involved in the community through the scouting program And we're gonna talk to you a little bit more about how we can bring scouting to more young people. Yeah, let's well Let's let's do that now. Let's talk about some of the things that are coming up for example on April 29th You have you have a program. What is that program? That's at the Blaisdell. That's three three of 400,000 People coming down. It's gonna be huge. It's gonna be totally huge We're expecting three or four thousand people. It's a STEM Family fun event called the Onizuka Day of Exploration. It's named after the famous Eagle Scout Ellison Onizuka of course from from Kiala Kikua on the Big Island who flew on the space He was from the Big Island. I am so yeah, that was a subtle plug for the Big Island So so we're naming them them. We're naming this event after after him The original name is the Scout Makahiki, which has been around since 1911 and it's actually the the oldest Continuously running Scout event in the country. Makahiki. It's just Hawaii. Yeah, okay You know Hawaii word. It's so famous the word Makahiki. Yeah, you know back then I mean back when when when we were scouts it was You know, there's only one Makahiki was a Scout Makahiki and today there's lots of organizations that call things Makahiki and there's one of the reasons why we're Changing a name at least to the public and also to give it the spend the STEM theme. So it's going to be For the entire community. So we're really changing it to be a community event. We want everybody from the community to come We're gonna have lots of things it's gonna we're gonna have 12 I'm sorry 22 hands-on STEM activities led by science experts from around the state Science things so exhibits and experiments and whether they're going to be yeah, they're going to be workshops You're gonna learn how to do DNA Electrophoresis dissect a mammalian heart. Wow learn how to deploy parachutes Building electric motor. It's great. Yeah, pretty pretty wild stuff And they're you know, we have professors from you age from shaman odd from from Yolani school So that's that's one component would be 22 workshops. It's open to to the public and it's free Another component is that there's going to be 60 Science activity stations and these are going to be run by the scouts. So they're gonna have their sounds like a science fair But it's gonna be more like a with a scout bent It's going to be hands-on, you know, it's going to be using everyday kind of things to make something really cool So things lying around the house to build electric motor to make a light bulb You know, you can make a light bulb with a pencil graph pencil lead. I have to go. I have to be there And lights up we have a balloon hover crafts and and and my troops going to make this thing called a augmented Reality sandbox ever seen that this thing is so cool I miss regular sand you play with it and there's a projector up on top and it scans the topology And then it projects a real real-time image on it So it'll show you where the high points are where the low points are and low points It'll like fill with water and you move the sand around in the water would oh, I have seen this. It's really impressive Really cool. Yeah, that's really cool. So there's gonna be stuff like that plus. There's gonna be an elevated ropes course There's going to be two climbing walls. There's going to be a robotics competition Lego car race food and Mr. Jake the wizard who is this amazing Educator and and science advisor. He's been on on Jay Leno's tonight show He's been on the Discovery Channel Jake the wizard. Yeah, can you send it to me? I want to interview him right here Oh, yeah, I've seen him. He'll blow up this table in front of you. Wouldn't that be fun? You know with Neil on your board and with Neil working as the chair of the Ellis and okazoo Oh You know program here on April 29th, what he what's left for you to do Jeff I'm the cheerleader. I am the cheerleader right now I'm here to support a great group of volunteers There's a group of about 20 volunteers have gotten together to work on this some of them are board members Some are coming from our troops and our packs They're all working together and that will cascade out amongst all of our packs and troops across the island of Oahu To take this on and make this a day for the community and we see it as a community service opportunity So not only is it our scout Makahiki kind of being reinvented But it's also an opportunity for us to reach out to the community and say come on in Learn about science learn about STEM and become a scout for a day and hopefully just hopefully it'll stick. It'll stick That's exactly right. Yeah, that's right. One of our little Opportunities inside the blaze is to have a model campsite which isn't really a campsite We're called the space station and they'll go through five or six different scout type activities as a part of that space Space station most of them are STEM themed as well And at the end they'll have a chance to learn more about the scouting how to become part of that Well, that raises a whole issue about scouts Engaging with each other being in pure groups learning from each other forming teams to do, you know collaborative effort And getting out in the in the outdoors. Yeah, which I'm afraid to say that you know an hour day I say our day I'm lumping up the generations in our day We get out in the outdoors more than it seems to me that a lot of people get out in the outdoors now Especially in Hawaii where we have outdoors, you know, and after we come back from this break I would like to discuss with you, you know the the general activities that the scouts do And how that works in terms of the engagement the activities in the ordinary course That is that is when you're not having elves in okazuke day Ok, we'll be right back. Good I pity the fool who ain't watching this show at 12 o'clock on Friday afternoon Stan the energy man watch it I'm Ethan Ellen host of likable science here on think tech Hawaii every Friday afternoon at 2 p.m You'll have a chance to come and listen and learn from scientists around the world Scientists who talk about their work in meaningful easy to understand ways They'll come to appreciate science as a wonderful way of thinking way of knowing about the world You'll learn interesting facts interesting ideas. You'll be stimulated to think more Please come join us every Friday afternoon at 2 p.m here on think tech Hawaii for a likable science With me your host Ethan Allen Okay, we're back. We're live Neil Avara and Jeff the souls rock You know the breaks, you know, sometimes the best part of our show right and we're talking about how you guys are building That special generation and how neal is bringing something special to it that he has had years of experience With not only as a scout, but as an organizer of the science fair So can you talk about the generation you're trying to build here in hawaii and how that relates to the future of our of them and our state Yeah, so you know the current generation of young people Right before the break we talked about, you know, what are they doing today? What are they interested in are they getting outside? Are they getting away from their screens and all that type of thing that you know We're all concerned about as parents and as community leaders scouting still does all that the outdoors We think it's still the best classroom for young people It really pushes them into the elements and forces them to confront things that they maybe don't confront otherwise You have to live with consequences when you're outdoors Decisions you make our decisions that you're going to have to live with and that builds leadership It builds character builds Perseverance of young people which is all part of what scouting does through the program day in day out that said 30% of all of our merit badges today And there's over a hundred merit badges are science related And so science and STEM is really a core part of the scouting program It always has been we're just taking a kind of a new direction as we reinvent our makahiki. Yeah. Well, that's great And I remember, you know, I have a godson who went through the scouts and he was an eagle scout too here, right? And Boy, I went to that ceremony where they invested him as an eagle scout and I saw these hundred merit badges I couldn't believe in all these really sophisticated things. You know, some of them are college college credit courses kinds of things Some of the things you mentioned, you know as the exhibits and in the makahiki and I said to myself Gee, this is great value. This is like school But but it's easy in you know in terms of You know finding comfort with it and learning can be fun and getting outdoors and having your buddies do it with you and all that stuff So, you know, to me, this is really critically important to bringing people together in a world that might otherwise isolate them You know, I don't I don't think Hawaii is different from other places kids become isolated And what we can do that special was to gather and bring them together and let them learn from each other And give them value and nutrition and which is what you guys are doing And that's relevant just as it was in 1910 one of the great things neil mentioned our event uh on april 29th We'll have over uh 2000 scouts and families there as part of the scouting community They come from all over the island so they come from right here in Honolulu They come from the Waianae coast they come from up on the north shore from all over the island coming together Uh, they're gonna look kind of similar. They're gonna be in their scout t-shirt So they'll be in their scout uniforms. How about the red hats? Some will have red hats here. That's right Yeah, uh, and so you won't know where they're from when you see them because they're all going to be scouts They're in the room coming together for a common purpose and learning together That's great. So did you need to reinvent? I mean you're talking about reinvented the makahiki That's been going on as you said a long long time for the beginning Um, how was it doing before you reinvented it? Uh, was was there a need to evolve it a special way? It's a great question in 2010 we took a shift from having the For a while the makahiki was actually done in a campsite. It was done off by itself and we said You know what 2010 is a centennial anniversary for Boy Scouts Let's go out into the community and bring the community You know to scouting, but we didn't really know how to do that Uh, because we really still doing kind of the same old same old thing which was more inward focused It was scouts getting together challenging each other doing different types of competitions But how do we actually reach out and bring the community into the program? We weren't sure how to do that at the time. And so this is one way we're doing that We want to stay relevant. I think that's really important to us So we're relevant and we want to really find a way that people can approach scouting in a way that maybe They're not used to as neil said, you know, they're used to seeing scouts hiking camping doing community service Those are all things that scouts do but what else do scouts do and we're going to show them? Yeah well, you know I was thinking as you were describing this that in in this country In the sort of the opening of the west There were these great gatherings Between the settlers and the cattlemen in the member way back when you know in the days of lewis and clark And they got together every now and then an open clearing And so this was this was part of the rich culture of of finding the west And I think when the boy scouts were established This was how to be makahiki and kind of gathering like that how to be part Or how to be an extension of what was going on in the country So it's really deep roots is what it is And very valuable to see it play and it's completely still to me totally relevant In fact is something we have to look back to you know, we can't forget our own history Especially in the case where it's been successful the way it's been for you So when when they get together What exactly what kinds of things do they do it customarily now before the evolution sure what were they doing and what You know, were they not including science then some of them were but it was I think more It was the two types of activities. Some of it was more like carnival type activities Where they're actually doing different types of games and competitions Some of it was showing scout skills everything from fire building and not tying we had a in the past makahiki We've had some historic Hawaiian games were you know, you know things like Throwing the rolling the rocks and things like that that were historic games that were part of Hawaiian tradition So those are all things we brought forth to the makahiki Science not so much that wasn't things that we really were so that's the new element. That's the new element. Yeah Well, that's fabulous. So you got to have a guy like Neil for sure Absolutely, but tell me about your board. Tell me about your executive. Tell me about your staff. How does it work? Where are they from? What do they study? What do they bring to you? Yeah, so our board of directors are 60 people on the board So we've got a big group 60 60 60 they represent Most walks of life throughout our community here in Hawaii We have people from each of the islands that are part of our board of directors We have attorneys. We have business people. We have people that are working. We have parents So the board is really a diverse group of people With doctors on the board. So you name it. That's part of our board Their job is to provide stewardship to provide provide governance and leadership and to give Direction and Neil is one of the board members who picked up and said here's an area where I can contribute and give direction Oh, perfect choice. Yeah good good work. But so you're looking for people who can help in certain areas Yeah, always always. How about your staff? What do you get them from? What are they? What is their training? What are their background? I mean in general, I'd say our staff today are about half Alumni of the scouting program. So about half of them were scouts themselves. Some Eagle scouts Some not the other half are people who are interested in young people And really helping to nurture the next generation and bring them forward and into adulthood Are they engaged they need to come out? Yeah, they're gonna be there. They'll be there. They'll all be there. Absolutely. They'll be there 100% Yeah, that's great. So, um, you know, uh, Neil, what's it like for you? You put a lot of time in Do you don't you fundraise? Do you fundraise? Because I know you're good at that. Tell me. Tell me how you handle that kind of thing And what what's like being on the board? What's like being the chair of the Onosuka? Makahiki. Well, it's a great privilege to be on the board. I mean, it's um Uh, I see it from a whole different perspective, you know I've always been in the scouting program as a youngster got all the way through and I see it from that aspect And it was fascinating to me that the work that the board does is largely transparent Or actually largely invisible to from a scout perspective And I think that's the way it should be A scout should just go out have fun Learn as they go along and maybe not even realize it but not have to worry about Things like fundraising or things like organizing on on a broader level But on as um as a parent and and as a leader in my in my troop and as a board member Now I see it from a different aspect And it's it's um, it's more challenging in some ways, but it's definitely more gratifying I think I actually get more out of scouting as an adult than as when I was as a as a youngster Because um, I can interact with my with my sons with my two sons Who are both scouts? I'll assume Yeah, they're both And the truth you mentioned is their troop That's right, right right three twenty five Three twenty five shout out to three twenty five And I get to um, um interact with with their friends, you know, I think I would not have been able to Understand the things that they go through and and their peers if if I weren't so actively So I I'd like to um Give a plug for being being an adult leader to Be a scout and and also be an adult leader because you get a lot out of it Yeah strikes me from what deal says, you know that as as you alluded to in the first place Um scouting is lifelong and therefore it doesn't stop when you sort of take the uniform off where you You know finish the program so to speak Be ego scouting all that um that it plays out in the in the community So for example, I want to form a partnership and the fellow on the other side of table says I'm an eagle scout And I say I'm an eagle scout There's more chance that I'm going to have a good partnership with that And I'm going to be more likely to cut a deal with him to trust him and so forth because we have this Common denominator. We both came up through the same process have the same Exposure of these values, but um, you know Can we say that putting a kid through the scouts program Enriches our business community in Hawaii. Does it does the scouts have an influence in the business community? Yeah And if so, how how is that no question about it? I think the relationships that you you brought up is a key component of that and you know Hawaii is a very relational type of place Yeah, you know that the relationships are strong They're deep being a scouts another connection And when you get a group of scouts together whether they're eagle scouts or not They'll talk about where was their troop? Where did they grow up and how do they actually get through that process? And that's a common thing we all can share together By the way, this Friday night our Eagle Scout alumni group is getting together They're going to have a gathering at Oahu Country Club John Henry Felix right there. We expect to be there. He is the Eagle Scout one of our Distinguished alumni absolutely. Yes, you bet Oahu Country Club Friday night starting at four o'clock We're having a little barbecue there very informal a chance to have our alumni come together share some old stories and Hopefully form those bonds that can help them in their professional lives too Yeah, these are formative years when kids are scouts and and they they they carry that all through and Remain connectives like an alumni associate. Well, that is what it's called. Yeah, you bet alumni association Like from a school that you really like to go to and you always have that bond going forward I think there's um, there's a lot of organizations that focus on community and leadership even sports But the unique thing about scouting. I think is that um, that's the main the main purpose for what for meeting is To help build character in in our youngsters That's actually the only reason that we're that we're meeting So I was talking to young to to parents who have Kids who are thinking about joining scouting and I tell them that you know when they start for Boy Scouts And when they start they're definitely boys, but when they end they are young men And there's a lot of things that happen in that crucial time period And it's a good time for For them to grow in a structured environment Where we start every meeting saying that we're going to work on these things We're going to work on being trustworthy Loyal helpful friendly courteous kind of beating cheerful 50 wave cleaners Those are things those are 12 things that we're going to work on every time we need Exactly what kids need and so often they don't get that you know And if we don't hold our society together, we need lots of people who hold those values who have that structure But I want to ask you one more thing on the way And also I was listening to a story about the the current, you know thinking in the military About how they organize their efforts these days and small groups maybe larger groups And one of the things that they want to be smart And one of the things is whatever they do they learn by it They have a special kind of procedure now whatever mission they go on when they come back They talk about it. What did we do right? What did we not do right? What do we have to do better next time? So you guys are going into the Makahiki April 29th at Blaisdale I get that right Every 20 every 29th, okay, so You're going to be looking for you know new things to learn In this new model of the Makahiki. What do you be looking for? What do you hope to learn about making it even better in 2018? Well, I think the main thing is we want to engage the community We want the community to come see what scouting is like Um, have a have a good time learn some stem and if they like what they see they might even consider joining Secondly, we want our scouts an opportunity to serve We want them to serve the community serve the community. They want to um, because that's part of that's a huge part Of what being a scout is to selflessly serve without thinking of reward And that's that's a lesson that we want to be integral with with the scouts activities in this working for the common good Yeah, we absolutely have to have that you know think tech believes in that so deeply right and that you know Survive as a as a robust healthy society Which Hawaii has the possibility of doing if we all work for the common good, you know We'll all be better off every man woman child and the Boy Scouts are doing just that that's scouting at the core right there It's working as a team scouting every level of scouting. It's always team oriented We call them dens or patrols working together for common good So if I wanted to join if I wanted to find out more about the makahiki Ellison Onizuka makahiki. Yeah this year. April 29th the Blaisdell. Where would I go? Where would I look? How could I join? Yeah our website scouting hawaii.org real simple scouting hawaii.org I could remember that. Yeah scouting hawaii.org. There you go. Yeah, that's it closing words Well, thank you for having us on there. Jay. It's always it's always a pleasure. Thank you, Neil Neil Latavara MD and the chair of the Ellison Onizuka Makahiki this year 2017 and Jeff Solzbach the executive of the Boy Scouts Council What's it the Aloha Council? Aloha Council of America right here. Join us on April 29th. It's free It's for families. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Come down watching