ScoutNut

Dens should not fundraise. If you spend more than $10 per week on supplies than you need to take a look at what you are doing and how you are spending your money. For craft type activites, use recyled materials, what some uninformed types might call trash! Ask your families to see what they have around their house and their work that they might be able to donate to the den. Start a "Den Box" with all supplies collected. Try to keep your activites free. Many forest preserves, nature centers, etc, will do programs for scouts for free. If you are going to do things like rent a

I like the idea of having the parents update the achievement spreadsheet. That's a LOT easier(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

"You should have seen their faces when I asked how much popcorn the CO purchased. Complete shock." I must have missed something. Why would the CO purchase any popcorn? We have been chartered by the same CO for over 50 years and as far as I know they have never purchased any popcorn from either the Pack or Troop. I would not expect them to. One of the guiding principles handed down from Lord Baden-Powell, is that boys earn their own way in Scouting. In both our Pack and Troop it is up to the boys (with help from their families in the Pack) to sell the popcorn.

I believe that would fall under the camping guidelines as a Cub Scout Overnight. As such it can not be done by only your Den. Den overnights are not allowed until you are a Webelos. If you open it up to the whole Pack and have the BALOO trained person help organize it, then it would be fine.

"But if we are cutting corners and developing a bad habit or policy just to skip steps, the scout looses because that is not the real world." Who said anything about "cutting corners" or "skipping steps"? We are talking about withholding an earned award from a scout. That is against BSA policy. It seems we will just have to agree to disagree.

"If the book is not signed, has the pin been earned?" In the case of a Webelos who attended the den meetings when they earned the pin - YES! Weather he had his book with him or not, he was there, he did the work, he earned the pin. Both the boy and the leader knows he earned the pin. According to BSA the award should be given to the boy at the next available opportunity. To withhold the pin until the leader can sign the boy's book is wrong IMO and adding a requirement. For a Tiger's Family Achievements, of course you can not give out beads if you don't know they have been ear

I can't say that I agree with not giving the boys awards or rank that they have earned (and that the den leader knows they have earned) just because they have not brought their book to every den meeting. For Tiger thru Bear, yes, without the book you can not give them awards they have earned at home that you do not know about. You can however give them their beads for achievements that they have done in den meetings and any activity patches they have earned with the den. The beads can be given either at the end of the den meeting (preferred for instant recogniion) or at the next Pack me

BSAT17 - It's great that you not only recognize that the scout has a problem, and that you are willing to work with him so he can get the most out of the program. Unfortunately there is no one thing that will work. What might help is when he is unfocused to have one of the older scouts work with him to help keep him on track. When he is unfocused he will work better in smaller groups without a lot of distractions. Hands on stuff will also help hold his attention better than book study. Make sure that he has notes on what he needs to do/bring for the next meeting. If at all possib

Is the camp your Troop is planning on attending a BSA camp? If so, I really don't see how they could say no co-ed Venturing Crews! Anyway, if you want high adventure in the midwest, you can't really get any better than Northern Tier Nat'l High Adventure Base in Ely, MN. Another one I found is MN's Indianhead council's Lake Superior High Adventure Base. They have sea kayaking and rock climbing in the Apostle Islands. I guess it all depends on what you want to do. There are also lots of State and National parks in the midwest that have wonderful facilites. You could stay at a

Please pardon my burping !!! It usually only does this at work!

The Pack I work with does not have a problem with retaining Tigers. All of the dens (Tigers included) usually have at least 85% of their boys continue on the next year. Yes, we do get new boys starting in each level of Cub Scouts, but never more than have returned from the previous year. At every level, the majority of the boys, started with Cub Scouts as a Tiger. 0(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

And, in this case, incorrect. I am sure that there are many units out there which are having problems with recruitment and/or retention. Most of these problems, I would guess, would be in all levels and not just with the Tigers. There are also many units out there which are doing just fine. (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

BTW - While I realize that you are not a big fan of the Tiger program, making statements like : "The Tiger Cub Program is the most success non issue program in the history of the Scouts. AND the turn over rate is at 99.9999%" without including any specific written reference for where you got your facts and figures, is particularly inflamatory. 0(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Yes, you definately are reading way to much into this. Last minute meeting changes are a way of life. Leaders & parents work, kids have other obligations, emergancies happen. I have no idea why they made a "short notice" meeting change, but I would assume the den leaders had a good reason. You can either make the new meeting, or not. This should not be a large issue. Your Go-See-It response was far over the top. The Space Place site does indeed have an area for Tiger Cubs. However, like the sections for the other Cub levels, it simply refers you to areas in Space Place that

The orange shirts (t-shirt & sweat) are still considered to be the official uniform for Tiger Adult Partners. If, for whatever reason, your Scout Shop does not carry them, you can purchase them from other council's Scout Shops or order them from National. Out of my 6 current Tigers, 4 of the Adult Partners wear the orange Tiger t-shirt to every Tiger Den meeting and Pack meeting or outing. Our Tigers usually have at least 50% of their Partners wearing the orange adult shirts. I have noticed at District activites that other units also have some Tiger Partners wearing orange shirts.

"Are you suggesting the Adult Partners wear the Orange Shirts?" Of course! Hats too if they like! "And as a CMA am I not suppose to wear my Leader uniform?" Not to your son's Tiger den meeting. You are there as an Adult Partner only, not as Asst Cubmaster. You wear your regular BSA uniform to the Pack meetings because there your main role is that of Asst. Cubmaster.

Since religious awards are not BSA awards, councils have never requested proof for purchase of the knot. They also do not keep records on who has earned which religious emblem. The only place that you might be able to find a record is with the religious organization you earned it from. I know that for the Catholic awards, in the Chicago Archdiocese, the CYO keeps the sheets that have been signed by the parish representative. You can get replacement medals by giving them the youth's name and approx date earned and they will check their records to verify. I don't know how long they hold

Several of my Tigers opted for knives as a popcorn prize this year. I made sure to let them know that they are not allowed to carry them until they earn their Whittlin' Card. One of the dads piped up and said that Whittlin' Card or no, he first had to earn the Mom Approval Card and that was not going to happen for quite a while!

Please do NOT compare GSUSA and BSA. They are simply 2 VERY different programs. They are NOT comparable. Daisy Girl Scouts do not have Adult Partners because that is the way their program is. GSUSA does NOT involve the family in the same way that BSA does. Parents are not EXPECTED to work with their child on achievements and are not allowed to sign off on their completion. Parents are encouraged to volunteer to help out with different activites. However their activites are strictly at the troop (or above) level. As I said, 2 VERY different programs! Cub Scouts is a VERY family

You said you have a son in Tigers. For the meetings you have signed up to run, open with the PoA. I doubt you will have much luck getting the Cubmaster, Committee, and Charter Organization to force a den leader to use one particular type of opening in their den meetings. However, if you want to try, the place to start is at your Committee meeting. That is also the place to discuss leaders wearing the uniform. Meanwhile, you can make sure you wear your uniform to den (orange Tiger shirt) and Pack (reg BSA Cub uniform as asst CM) meetings. You can encourage other Tiger Partners to

Well, actually, the Cub Scout program does not require it. Opening and closing ceremonies and uniforms are not required in the BSA. They are certainly a good idea, but not required. Opening ceremonies also do not have to be only the Pledge. There are lots of different ones out there. Repetition of the Promise, Law, and Motto (Tiger & Cub), with the Scout Handshake and Sign thrown in is a great way to do both openings and closings. Lots of different variations you can use. As Cubmaster you could purchase a copy of the Cub Program Helps for the Tiger Den Leaders. Ask them

As I said in my response above, I have been the Tiger Den Leader in the Pack for 6 years now. I started when my son was in 5th grade Webelos. I was his Asst Webelos Den Leader and decided that we needed someone in Tigers who had a clue what the program and the Pack were all about, so I took on Tigers as well. It has worked well for us. By the time March or April rolls around, with a new batch of trainings coming up from council, I have usually picked out which parents would make good Den Leaders for the following year. I have never been turned down. Our leaders stay with their De

Definately sounds like the Pack is having some start up pains. These leaders all need to be trained ASAP. Like every other rank in Cub Scouts (not Webelos Scouts), most of the requirements for Bobcat are supposed to be done at home with the family. They can and should be reinforced in the den, but most of the actual work should be done at home. You do not put every other activity on hold until rank has been achieved. (This is where training for the den leaders would help) It sounds like your Pack is one of those that meet all together all of the time. I have never been a big fan

(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)