Re: Advice Needed: Good News & Bad News
Jim Sleezer (JHS8@OSUVM1.BITNET)
Wed, 14 Sep 1994 09:04:46 CST
On Tue, 13 Sep 1994 13:58:11 +0600 Cindi Leiser said:
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>
>My husband, the Cubmaster, is proud of the way he has built up the Cub
>Scout program in Cadott, and rightly so. However, he seems to think
>that Jan and I can handle 21 wolves. I know from talking with last
>year's Wolf Den Leader (she had 5 boys) that this is impossible.
>How can I overcome this problem without
>1. Stepping on my husband's toes
>2. Telling boys that they can't join after all
>3. Telling my co-leader, Jan, that she has to take a den
>by herself and having her quit on me?
>
>Other than laying a big guilt trip on the parents (I'm hoping they all
>come!) at the meeting this Thurs., what can I do?
>
YOU and Jan might be able to handle 21 wolves but they will not get the full
benefit of the program. Last year's wolf leader knows!
I would strive to recruit more than four adults. It sounds like Jan would make
a good assistant so why not find a leader for her to support!
Do not be afraid to tell boys that they cannot join. If the adults are not
willing to help, then you really can't serve them. Why should they join if
they cannot be properly served?
I would go for the guilt trip unless parents willingly volunteer.
BTW, my mother had a den of 25 boys because no one else would be the leader.
She did not have an assistant but she did have four den chiefs who did an
excellent job of being assistants. She really had three dens, each led by
a den chief. They were all Den 6, Pack 4, but each sub group had a name--
Dragons, Dinosaurs, and something else I can't remember.
And I have a picture of me (about 3 years old) riding on the shoulders of one
den chief leading the dragon in the Apple Blossom Festival parade. The
dragon has 25 pairs of cub scout blue legs and two pair of boy scout khaki
legs.
Within two weeks of the parade, there were enough leaders and boys to split
then den into four.
I have worked with a great many units over the years and every time two dens
combine to make one large one because there aren't enough leaders the program
suffers and boys are lost, sometimes all of them. Insist on additional leaders
if you want the program to continue to grow.
One recuriting tactic is to recruit assistants first. Once you have the
assistants, then recruit the den leaders. No excuses of "I would if I had an
assistant."
jim Sleezer
Roundtable Commissioner, Pawnee Bill District, Will Rogers Council
Stillwater, OKlahoma
JHS8 at OSUVM1.BITNET JHS8 at VM1.UCC.OKSTATE.EDU (Internet)
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