The Summit Award is the highest award for youth in the Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America. It requires Venturers to earn the Pathfinder Award, participate in adventures, and demonstrate leadership, service and personal growth.
Award
The award consists of three elements: a badge, a medal and a knot insignia. The badge is a rotated square cloth patch, with the Summit Award emblem and the words LEAD THE ADVENTURE above. The badge is worn on the left pocket by youth have earned the award. The medal is an antique silver colored roundel with the words LEAD THE ADVENTURE in the border. The inner border is inscribed with a compass rose. Superimposed on the roundel is a silver eagle in flight with the Venturing emblem below. The medal is suspended from a white ribbon with green stripes; the ribbon is suspended from an antique silver colored bar bearing the word SUMMIT. The design incorporates elements from the Exploring Silver Medal issued between 1954 and 1965. The medal is worn on formal occasions. The square knot insignia is a rectangular cloth patch with a silver knot and border on a green and white background. This is the same knot previously used for the Silver Award. The knot is worn above the left pocket by adults who have earned the award.
History
The Summit Award replaced the Silver Award on June 1, 2014, with the Silver Award discontinued as of December 31, 2014. The first recipient of the award was Jeremy Felty, on February 16, 2015. He was given the award at his Court of Honor by former BSA National President, Wayne Perry.
Requirements
Adventure Leadership Service Personal growth
Silver Award
The Silver Award was the highest award in the Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America from 1998 through 2014. It required Venturers to first earn one of five Bronze Awards, earn the Gold Award, have one year's tenure in a crew, and fulfill requirements relating to emergency preparedness, leadership skills, and ethics-in-action. The Silver Award was replaced by the Summit Award starting in 2014 and was discontinued on January 1, 2015.
Award
The award consisted of a medal suspended from a white ribbon with green stripes; the ribbon is suspended from an antique silver colored bar bearing the word VENTURING. The medal is an antique silver colored roundel with red, white and blue enameled stripes, the universal Boy Scout logo at the top with a superimposed eagle in flight, and the words VENTURING SILVER in the border. Recipients may wear the corresponding square knot insignia, with a silver knot and border on a green and white background on the BSA uniform.
Origins
The original Silver Award was first issued from 1949 to 1954 as part of the BSA's Explorer program. The award was restyled in 1954 and awarded through 1958 when Explorer was renamed to Exploring and advancement was dropped. Air Explorers continued to be able to earn this award through 1964. A total of 18,047 Explorers earned the Silver Award between 1949 and 1958. The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart.
Purpose
The purpose of the Silver Award was to:
Provide a pathway for personal development.
Encourage Venturers to learn, grow and serve.
Recognize the high level of achievement of Venturers who acquire Venturing skills.
Identify trained and highly motivated Venturers who will be a training, leadership, and program resource for other Venturers, Scouts, organizations, and the community.
