PROVO — A common thought among Scouting enthusiasts is that Scouting will provide valuable life experiences and take you places. A handful of Utah County teens is about to find out just how true that adage is.

Six Venturer Scouts from Utah County were selected as part of a 36-member Scout crew to represent the Western United States at the 21st World Jamboree in London.

Alisha Van Wagoner and Glen and Elisa Thurston of Provo; Jaimi Pinnock of American Fork; and Deborah and Mary Peterson of Alpine will be part of the contingent traveling across the Atlantic.

The World Jamboree is a gathering of nearly 40,000 Scouts from across the world, and this year will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Scouting. The Scout Association of the United Kingdom will host the event from July 27-Aug. 8.

The 36 Scouts who will represent the Western Region were designated World Jamboree Crew 432. Nineteen boys and 17 girls make up the crew, with ages ranging from 14 to 17.

"We signed up and they had a certain number of slots open for our specific crew," said Elisa Thurston, 15, a freshman at Timpview High School. "They wanted people from all over the western part of the U.S. They chose us for our qualifications and some of the other things we've done."

Deborah Peterson found out about the opportunity while working at the Jeremiah Johnson Day Camp in Millcreek Canyon.

"I was just kind of in the right place at the right time, I guess," Peterson said.

The Utah County six are all members of the same Venturer crew in Utah Valley. Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America, designed for older teenage boys and girls.

"I like that we have the opportunity to go through things that normally are only reserved for boys," said Mary Peterson. "Girls don't get a lot of the same opportunities that boys do (in Scouting). It just opens up the way for us to it a little bit more easily."

The Utah County crew meets once or twice a month for service activities, bowling outings and movie nights.

Before the trip across the pond, they'll join with the rest of Crew 432 over Memorial Day weekend for a preparation period.

The crew selected Snow Canyon State Park in southern Utah for the event because of its central location in the region and the appeal of high adventure and desert camping.

"We'll be preparing to go to the jamboree — having our travel uniforms inspected, making sure we have the right patches, just getting everything ready," Thurston said. "We're basically going to get to know each other a little bit better."