APO Philbreak 2008
 

All-

Does your school have its Spring Break the week of March 9th thru the 14th?

Looking for something *different* to do for Spring Break?

Then we have something that may interest you!!!

APO has arranged for a special APO Philbreak event at the BSA's Philmont Scout Ranch this coming March.

What is Philbreak? It's an alternate spring break event at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. During Philbreak, scouts 18-26 have the changed to enjoy this high adventure base and be involved in both fun activities as well as service work in the back country. Thru the hard work of one of our alumni, we have arranged for a special APO Philbreak session. This means that in addition to the regular Philbreak program, we will be adding some APO-specific program elements, including APO LEADS courses (Launch, Explore, Achive, and Discover).

Full information about the program, including application, a frequently asked questions sheet, transportation information, and equipment list, may be found at this page on the national website: http://www.apo.org/show/National_Pro...Philmont_Ranch

Some basics.

Cost of this event is $115, not including your transportation. You will need to arrive on the afternoon of Sunday, March 9th (if you fly, there is a shuttle service from Albuquerque, but be mindful of the time you need to arrive there!), and everyone will depart on the morning of Friday, March 14th.

The Philbreak program will include both fun activities and service work. You will spend a couple of days in the Philmont back country camping out. You need not have prior camping experience, but it's recommended. You will need to bring personal gear (see the equipment list), but Philmont will provide cold weather camping gear. You need not be a member of the BSA, and if you are not, you will need to be registered with the Philmont Venturing Crew for an additional $6.50. You will need to complete a physical exam and be approved by your Chapter Advisory Chair that you meet the physical requirements of Philmont.

Please see the information on the above website. There is also a Facebook group setup for this event, and the people involved with running the APO Philbreak are involved, so if you have any questions, I recommend you get on that group or send your questions to Billy Russell, the APO Philbreak Liason at wrussell@stmarytx.edu The Facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9258001618

On a person note, I want to see this event be a success. It can only be a success if we get enough APO Brothers to come out for it. So please pass this information along to all Chapters and Brothers you know. Hopefully if this event is a success, it can lead to this being a regular event.

Lame, my spring break is the following week. I went to Philmont in high school while I was still a scout. It really was an amazing experience. If you have the chance to go, do it.

Lame?

Philbreak has 3 weeks this year. We had to choice one, and this was the week we choice. There are sadly going to be people left out, depending on when their spring break is.

And there is nothing stoping people, if they are BSA members, from attending one of the other Philbreak weeks. You just won't get the APO stuff.

Hopefully if this is successful this may lead to an expansion for next year. Who knows?

Yes, lame. It is lame that my school scheduled our spring break for the following week. That is what is lame about my spring break being a week after Philbreak.

Spring Break
 

Actually the selection of that week probably makes it fairly unlikely that it will match up with the spring break for any Catholic Schools. Easter is March 23rd and from looking at quite a few Catholic schools the either give the entire week prior to Easter as the Spring break the way that Duquesne does or it gives both a spring break and an Easter break where the Easter Break is just Ash Wednesday to Easter. And if the spring break were the week of Philbreak, there would be only two days of classes in between the breaks.

Having said that, I don't know whether actually doing it Holy Week would have been any better for most Catholics. And in a year where Easter is really late (April 22nd or later) all Catholic Schools would be splitting spring break from Easter break.

Philbreak this year is running 3 Monday to Friday sessions: Mar 3-7, Mar 10-14 (the one APO chose), and Mar 17-21. The last one ends on Good Friday and includes Ash Wednesday, so would probably be viewed as more of a problem with Catholics.

Note, I'm throwing this stuff out for information rather than a personal objection to the fact that APO chose week 2...

Start of Lent
 

Ash Wednesday is February 6th.

Yeah
 

My wife who is actually Latter Day SAINT corrected me on that as well. I'm Jewish. Now if there were issues involving Passover, I'd know the right dates...

Randy

Oh okay, I was wondering why the dates were getting so messed up with the references to Ash Wednesday. ^_^

Randy..

At least you know when Pesach is.....I couldn't tell you that without a calendar, Jewish or otherwise!! :)

Easy, it's the first full moon after the Purim Hangover goes away.

To relate this back to being at College

Imagine holding a college party where the idea was to get drunk enough that you can't tell the difference between someone saying "Go Michigan" and "Screw Notre Dame".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim#The_Purim_meal

Randy