Polaris

FYI:

 

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305260056

Too bad the dens can't meet online. Or maybe someone could develop an app so the boys can complete their badges on their own. Then busy families would only have to attend pack meetings when their Scout is actually receiving the awards.

Seriously....pick one:

 

1). Busy families in scouting

2). Busy families not in scouting

Too bad the dens can't meet online. Or maybe someone could develop an app so the boys can complete their badges on their own. Then busy families would only have to attend pack meetings when their Scout is actually receiving the awards.

.......duh....skip the pack meeting. Advancement chair emails scout shop who ships awards via USPS.

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

KDD,

 

Meetings were 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. We would arrive a little early for play time before the start. The meetings were mixed up with activity and quiet discussions. Often the boys were promised 15 minutes of game time afterwards for good behavior. (Wild Planet Hyper Dash was their favorite---they wouldn't go home.) Family homework was assigned for Duty to God, Family Fun, and Family Outdoor Adventure, etc. Parents were at each meeting and they helped out.

 

I agree 5th grade Webelos is "training" for Boy Scouts, however I don't agree weekly Webelos meetings will prepare them even more. My oldest son crossed over in early March. He has attended every Monday night meeting as well as every monthly campout without any issues or need for an adjustment period. He is doing just as well as scouts from the Packs that meet weekly. (His troop picked up 17 scouts from 4 Packs.) He is on track to earn his Tenderfoot rank before summer camp in mid-June.

 

The boys in youngest son's den are all active in multiple sports.

 

Of course, the den leader coordinated each meeting to insure there were no conflicts in order to achieve near perfect attendance. Last year, we only had one meeting with a missing scout. (He was in the hospital.) We have 5 boys in the den.

Why did I take Wood Badge? Good question. Reasons: Curiosity about the course, peer pressure at RT from WB staffers, to bring back better leadership/program ideas to my unit, to see how I stack up against other scouter and to facilitate networking. It was a lot of fun and stress rolled up into 2 weekends of adult camping. Of course, the stress was self-induced as I am a classic over-achiever. As a Cub Scouter, I have a better understanding of troop dynamics. As CC, I am better at getting the committee through brainstorming and decision making.

 

That being said, a scouter friend of mine jokingly asked me if he should go through the course. He has been a scouter for 10+ years. He is an active volunteer at the District and Council level. He doesn't think he will benefit from WB at this point. I agreed with him.

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

Keep 'em moving or keep it interesting.

 

I have visited local Packs and the leaders are up at the podium talking while the boys are getting ants in their pants.

 

Obstacle course. Relay team competition. Crawl thru a tunnel made with chairs and a tarp. Solo cup blow. Race with ping pong ball on a spoon. Pumpkin broom push. They always come back sweaty and smiling.

 

K-9 police demo.

 

Dance troop performance. This one shocked me. The local middle and high school song and dance team performed for the scout families. The kids were mesmerized. They didn't move.

 

Camping expo. Different stations with knots, fire starters and tent set up.

 

Ultimate frisbee or another group sports game.

 

Camping equipment team relay. Camping equipment thrown in a pile or plastic tub. Same stuff in each pile. (For instance, hiking boots, whistle, sleeping bag, water bottle, carabiner, etc.). Parent at each line calls out an item on a list and on the Cubmaster's "Go," the scout runs to the pile, finds the item, runs it to another bin and runs back to tag the next scout. The scout waiting to get tagged already knows which item he is looking for next.

 

Sometimes we involve the parents in the games.

 

Another thing we tried this year are shorter meetings. Our meetings may go 45 mins to 1:15 now. The parents have been very supportive of this, so we run a tight schedule with an organized agenda. I have tried to keep announcements to emails and the Pack online management system, but this hasn't worked for us. So, the meeting announcements are very limited.

 

We give out the awards at Pack meeting. Beads are given out at the den level. The scouts and parents know if they miss the meeting, they will have to wait until the next den or pack meeting for the bling.

Pack 212 in Louisville, KY which is chartered by megachurch Southeast Christian. They also charter AHG and Boy Scouts. I am not sure of their membership numbers. To give you an idea of their size, last year they sold $64,000 in popcorn. The 2nd highest sales were at $25,000. Unfortunately, they announced the church will not renew their charter in Dec 2013. My friend told me the church elders had voted to close the program years ago and they are just now getting around to it. I heard a rumor last week the church may shut the BSA programs down sooner based on the vote in May.

 

Not too sure on how they account for their success other than the church's membership is around 30,000. I guess it doesn't matter too much on their management style since they will cease to exist at the end of the year........

 

SP, if you want more details on their unit, please PM me and I will contact my girlfriend. She has two scout sons (Cub and BS) and an AHG daughter at Southeast.

One technique that would work well for a parent meeting that I have seen used for other things is bring a whiteboard with all the activities you would like to do this year, f,ex write:

Pack Campout

Pack Hike

Pack Pinewood Derby

Pack Blue and Gold

Pack Raingutter Regatta

Pack Can Drive

 

Have this whiteboard up in front of the parents and start with the first activity on the list and say, ok Who would like to organize the . If no one steps up put a big X through the event and say "guess we won't be doing that this year"

 

If these parents have any sort of regard for their kids scouting experience they will catch on after a few big black X's through events that things don't happen unless someone steps up to organize them.

And if everything gets X-ed out, no one can really complain since they sat there and let it happen.

I have always thought about doing this, but I have been too scared to try it! Currently, we place the activities/volunteer descriptions for the year on several pages and go around the room and solicit volunteers. Unfortunately, I had two parents fail to follow through with their project and as usual, I picked up the slack. I know......I know......I am enabling them, but I don't want the kiddos to suffer because of slacking parents.

We just discussed these issues last night at our Pack Parents Meeting.

 

Question: Of the 60-80 boys, what percentage are advancing to the next rank each year? Is it 100%? Do you keep boys on the Charter that should be dropped? The reason I am asking is perhaps the attendance is low at Den and Pack meetings is because the boys are no longer active scouts. Do the Den Leaders reach out and call the parents and find out why the scout did not attend the meeting?

 

That being said, we have good Den and Pack meeting attendance, but we have poor event attendance. Our Pinewood Derby, Raingutter Regatta and Blue and Gold events are the monthly Pack meeting. We will have awards and announcements and then the main event. I know the scouts should receive immediate recognition, but our Pack awards the belt loops, Webelos Activity Pins and other bling at our Pack meetings. Miss a Pack meeting, miss the bling. And, most times, we try to award them with some flair. The scouts and parents know if they miss the meeting, the scout will have to wait until the next Den or Pack meeting to get their awards.

 

Our Pack meetings are fun. As a Wood Badge ticket item, I have visited other local Pack meetings to see how we can improve our meetings. We are doing a good job. We get the boys up and moving around--Ultimate Frisbee, Halloween obstacle course in the gym, stand up and sing silly songs and laugh at me, etc. We also keep thing moving. In between den awards, we will run a skit or a stunt or run on. They don't know what's coming next. The other Pack meetings I attended the adults got up to the podium and talked and the boys had to sit still and behave. Boring!

 

As far as our other events, our attendance is low, perhaps around 30%. This includes our COR service conservation project, senior home visit, campouts, indoor trampoline jump, summer pool party, hike with the CM, etc. Last night, we discussed combining the Journey to Excellence event categories (fitness, outdoor, service) in order to decrease the number of events on the calendar. For instance, instead of our December Holiday Party Pack meeting at the school with a potluck and dance performance troop, we discussed visiting a senior home. There we would entertain the seniors and perform den skits, pass out scout awards, sing carols, etc. Or, go to the local food pantry and help fill food boxes. In other words, combine a monthly Pack meeting with a service project.

 

As far as our campouts go, the best campout is our January lodge event. We have about 50% attendance. This is partly due to the fact it is less than 5 minutes from our homes and we sleep inside a large bunk house. We thought maybe the parents don't camp due to lack of equipment, but we have offered up tents, sleeping pads, cots, etc. and we haven't had any takers. We also had a family ask for a Friday/Saturday campout in order to be at home on Sabbath Sunday. They didn't attend the Friday night or the weekend campout. I think you are either a camper or not. So, instead of scheduling 3 campouts a year, perhaps we should schedule 2--one in September and the other in January.

 

Unfortunately, we are competing with sports and other activities. So, our Den Leaders have been flexible with meeting nights. One of our dens met on Fridays during football season to help increase attendance. Our Webelos den met on Sunday afternoons, which works well with outdoor daytime activities--hiking, washing a car, patrol style cooking and meal planning, etc.

 

We have lots of varied activities, so I don't know what the answer is to the event attendance issue.

 

Obviously, you need to start finding your replacement now. We had to ask our current Cubmaster at least 6 times to take on the position. I finally told him, there wasn't a better parent for the job. He finally got it and took the training and accepted the position. Both the CM and I told the parents last night, we have one more year in our term. We have started the process of finding our replacements as well as other chairs. Are the Pack parents aware you need volunteers? Are the Den parents aware their leader has stepped down? This is why I feel it is important to have Parent Meetings and not Leader Meetings. I told our parents in September, you are a Pack leader whether you wear a tan shirt or not. This is a group effort.

 

 

 

Sarah,

 

What happened at your leader meeting last night?

 

As Seattle Pioneer has suggested in another post, your Pack should change the Leader Meetings to Parent Meetings. All the parents are members of the committee and they should be encouraged to attend and provide input and volunteer to help out--especially if you are down to 15 scouts. I assume the CC/CM is running all the events?? At this point, all of your parents need to take on a role within the Pack: Camping Chair, Blue and Gold Chair, Competition Chair (Pinewood, Raingutter Regatta, etc.), Service Projects Chair, Fall Recruitment Chair, Fundraising Chair, etc. Who is in charge of these activities?

 

Your CC/CM is burned out and done. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to transition his position or to ask for help. It is going to be the responsibility of the remaining parents to pick up the reigns. Rather than make suggestions on how to do things, you should tell him exactly what you are going do and then do it. He doesn't need suggestions, he needs volunteers.

 

Otherwise, you will lose members and you will need to move to another Pack.

I agree. The bridge should be reserved for those scouts crossing into Boy Scouts. It is a big deal and it signifies the transition into more adventure and responsibility.

 

Our Pack leaders and AOL parents have this discussion every year as to whether or not they all cross or only those that are committed to Boy Scouts. We had one mom go so far as to talk to the SM about purchasing the troop necker, numerals and epaulettes so her son could cross the bridge and not be singled out. Wise SM told her not to worry about it. When her son finishes up his spring sports and joins the troop mid-summer, the troop will give him a special joining ceremony.

Make it personal and useful.

 

I love coffee, but I hardly ever go to Starbucks. Too expensive. The committee got me a $15 Starbucks gift card and I was elated with the prospect of extravagance.

 

On the other hand, I have no idea where I put my district award plaque........

 

A group of us stopped by Starbucks on the way to University of Scouting. Yep. We depleted the card in no time!

Make it personal and useful.

 

I love coffee, but I hardly ever go to Starbucks. Too expensive. The committee got me a $15 Starbucks gift card and I was elated with the prospect of extravagance.

 

On the other hand, I have no idea where I put my district award plaque........

 

 

As CC, when forming Tiger dens and/or splitting dens in the fall just after recruitment, I place the scouts according to geography (adjacent neighborhoods), the scout parent's preferences to stay with a friend and the Den Leaders' suggestions. (I am sure I spend more time on it than I should.) I then email the tentative den roster to the scout parents/Den Leaders and ask for suggestions. After a couple of more requests for changes, we settle on the final roster. Somehow it seems to work out smoothly each year, but I see where it could get tricky.

Agree with SP.

 

The professional scouters state our Council has lots of camperships that go unused each year. So, you should ask your Council as SP suggests.

 

Campmaster is also likely not aware of the financial position of troop.

 

My scout son's troop does make parents aware of Council camperships and the troop's scout assistance fund. (Although, the troop's scout assistance fund is generally used for scout outings, insignia, activity t-shirt, etc.) Our SM/CC will take the anonymous parent's request for assistance to the Troop Committee for a decision on whether or not to use troop funds to help the scout. Good luck!

Funny you should mention this......

 

I am currently working on something similar as a Wood Badge ticket item. I am putting together a "Pack #### Activity Guide" to include local campsite info. The plan is to post the doc on our Google Drive site so future leaders can easily find pertinent info to schedule events. For now, I am filling in my "Cub Scout Campsite Checklist." I haven't decided on the best format to organize the information. I have it in an Excel spreadsheet, but I may move it over to a Word format and save it to a PDF. I have searched other local units' websites and I have only found one with an events spreadsheet. I was hoping not to "reinvent the wheel," too. I think it would be something nice to share with the folks at Roundtable. Especially the newbies.

 

 

 

Yes. We regularly had Webelos AOL den meetings and activities (i.e. 3 mile hike) on Sunday afternoons. We had to schedule around TKD, lacrosse, speech therapy, ice hockey, etc. It was the only time we could meet as a group. We scheduled longer meetings (about 2 hours) and met once monthly. It worked well for everyone.

 

 

 

Our Pack meets 9 times during the school year with monthly summer activities. Aug: Popcorn Kick-off and Ice Cream Social with new parent info, Oct: Raingutter Regatta, Dec: Holiday potluck, Feb: Pinewood Derby, March: B&G with rank advancement/crossover ceremonies and Sept, Nov, Jan, April themed meetings.

 

The Den Leaders set their own meeting times based on the scouts' extra-curricular activites. Some meet for 2 hours on Sunday afternoons once monthly. Others meet weekly. Last year, one den met on Friday nights during football season.

 

We are sponsored by a civic organization and we have most of our Pack meetings at the school. The Den Leaders will have meetings at the local arts center, their home or a neighborhood club house. Of course, this makes it difficult for the CM to stop by and visit the dens as we don't meet at the same time/location.

 

Our Pack has 3 campouts per year: one in Sept/Oct and in May with Jan scheduled in a lodge. We will also schedule 2 other Pack outings such as a local hike, indoor trampoline jump, science center, bowling, etc. And Scouting for Food, March senior retirement center event and an April conservation project.

 

Attendance at our outings and campouts is poor, in my opinion. We will have a 25-50% attendance rate. Maybe we have too many events??? But, if we follow the JTE guidelines, we are almost spot on. It seems to be the same handful of families that attend the events.

We have a family race (moms, dads, siblings) and a no-rules race (nuclear power, teletransportation, etc). Generally, after all the scouts race 6 heats each, very few hang around for the family and no-rules race. Pinewood races make for a long day.

 

The families buy their own cars for the supplemental races.

Testing....1....2....3

 

My last 3 replies did not post within Cub Scouts. I am trying in this topic.

 

 

We have a father that works at a furniture store and he keeps our track and gutters in a warehouse. Ask the Pack parents if they have access to an outbuilding, extra garage, a church with storage, etc.

 

 

 

The " enlarge" functionality on My IPad does not work. Can't stretch the type to a readable size.

 

Thanks,

 

I second Second Class.

Thanks for the Active Topics link!! Agreed with Moose. I would like to see if there are current posts within the topic before I open it.

 

As a suggestion, please add categories to the Active Topics. There are some categories I skip over when pressed for time.

 

Thanks for the work!

 

Over the years, we have slowly eliminated some of the junk and added healthier options.

 

One item we have eliminated is carbonated drinks. We no longer ask parents to bring these to campouts or potlucks. We provide drink containers with water and lemonade. I know the lemonade is full of sugar, but it is better than soda. We will have sign-ups to bring sweet and unsweet tea.

 

A very popular item is cut-up fruit. We always run out at Blue and Gold and our December Holiday potluck. But, we do not request chips at these events either.

 

For campout snacks, we usually have cubed cheese, sliced apples/lemon juice, grapes or clementines. There is something about those clementines that the kids love. I think it is the mess they create peeling the oranges. I will sometimes cut up strawberries, mandarin oranges, red onion and throw it on a box spinach. Add goat cheese and salad dressing. The adults eat it, but so will some of the kids. For the make-it-yourself DO pizza, we have turkey pepperoni and reduced fat cheese. Everyone always talks about those DO pizzas.

 

Other ideas include spaghetti and fajitas. Pre-cook the pasta, re-heat and add sauce and turkey meatballs and your salad. For the fajitas, you can grill at camp or pre-cook with cumin, lime juice, garlic and black pepper. Fix-it-yourself and add low-fat sour cream, onions/peppers cooked in foil, cheese, guacamole or salsa on a tortilla.

 

Personally, I believe if the kids are asked to help prep/make their own food, they have a vested interest and are more likely to try healthier options. As an added bonus, you are teaching them there are other menu options out there when they begin to cook within their Patrol.

 

That being said, we still have hot dogs at campouts for the picky eaters and every campfire needs s'mores.