Re: Cub Advancement & B&G
Bruce Harper (bharper@VT.EDU)
Thu, 29 Jan 1998 09:14:09 -0500
On 1/28/1998, Kevin S. Woods (and others) wrote:
>But in keeping with the desire to transition 5th grade webelos to BSA
>Troops in February (in order to aclimate them before summer activities), I
>encouraged 4th Grade Webelos Leaders to plan their program in order for 4th
>Grade Webelos to earn their Webelos badge by Blue and Gold.
>
>This essentially gives them a full year to complete their Arrow of Light
>and all the other pins they wish prior to 5th grade Blue and Gold and a
>crossover into Troops.
While I don't dispute this movement of early crossover (February instead
of May or June), I will ask that folks inject a dose of reality into
their plans. Scouting is not "one size fits all." Sure, if you pick
up a group of Tigers and keep that group consistently together through
Webelos, you can probably follow the plan pretty closely.
But kids (and leaders) come and go. The Webelos Den that I started with
was not the same Webelos Den that graduated. One boy left the den after
the first year and two boys joined the den at the beginning of the
second year (one a transfer from another pack and one new to Cubs).
Everyone earned their Arrow of Light (awarded at the May end-of-school
graduation), but that was about the soonest it could have been awarded.
There could have been a push to get those who started earlier moved up
and out in February, but then what do you do with half a den for 3 or 4
months?
Sometimes, I think parents and leaders get too caught up in advancement
and acheivement and forget that those short people around them aren't
tiny adults, but young kids. There are times that having fun and enjoying
being a child should come first, with the badges and awards and push to
higher and better things taking a back seat. Three months out of a (one
hopes) lifetime of Scouting really isn't going to make a big difference
down the road.
Bruce in Blacksburg
Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 56, Blacksburg, Virginia
New River District -- Blue Ridge Mountains Council
Bruce B. Harper (540)231-4360 bharper@vt.edu
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