GLEN JEAN, WV (WVNS) – The Scout Oath has included the term “mentally awake” for the last 115 years, but at the 2026 National Scout Jamboree, there are more opportunities opening up for scouts to learn more about what that means pertaining to mental health.
Finn Diringer, Aaron Langlois, and Rich Whitney helped set up a tent dedicated to this during the Jamboree.
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“We want to give scouts and anybody participating in our program the tools to understand their habits and what they’re doing, and how they can actually change those habits,” said Finn Diringer, the Young Adult Lead.
They began work on this concept back in 2023.
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“Recognizing the importance that all of us have to focus on our mental, emotional, social health, as well as the physical and how all of that comes together. This is an integral part of all of that and bringing us to be a more healthy person. I would say that coming together over the past couple of years planning this – this has actually given us the tools to better help ourselves and ultimately help others,” added Aaron Langlois, the Elevate Your Wellbeing Lead.
These 3 wanted to be intentional in educating Scouts and scout leaders about being a stronger, complete person.
“They can stop by and pick up a wellness way finder. Within that, they can start with the Kaizen quest,” said Rich Whitney, the Peak Wellness Lead. “Kaizen is a Japanese concept that means good change, and so, we’re helping them to create habits sort of like atomic habits where they can look at their day and set some intention and while they’re here, we want them to think about their tri-goals, their stretch goals, and their reach goals and figure out why it is they’re doing things at the Jamboree. All this fun stuff. What does it mean to them?”
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