dedkad

Sounds like you only have 1/2 the story, and we are getting even less than that. You say "I tried reaching out to some of these leaders for advice regarding issues I've been facing and no one would talk to me." Are you talking about the issues you are facing with regards to your termination in the pack or are you talking about some personal issues? Have you talked to any of the parents in your son's den to see what they know? No matter what you end up finding out from the leaders or the parents, this does not sound like a situation that would beneficial for you or your son to remain in. Definitely time to start looking for another pack.

Our pack supplies the neckerchiefs for the boys in our pack. At $7 a pop and 50 boys, it's a pretty big expense each year, so we try to collect as many back at the end of the year as we can. At this year's end-of-year Advancement Ceremony, we had a few boys who refused to part with their neckerchief. Does anyone have any good ideas on what we can say at the beginning of the year when we present new boys with their neckerchiefs to try to make it clear that these are merely loaners? Maybe something cool like talking about how the neckerchiefs join the boys to the pack and carry the memories of all the boys who have been through scouting before them, or something like that.

I was just looking at those requirements this evening because my Webelos den is starting to work on AOL requirements. I am frustrated because I sent emails out to the two local troops who we'd be most likely to join, and neither SM has gotten back to me yet. I will be persistent because I never fudge requirements. I'll take my Webelos to another town if I have to just to do something with a troop to meet those requirements. The way I see it, the Webelos need to visit a troop (not necessarily your troop) at least twice. Once with their den for sure. The other could also be with the den, but definitely has to include the parent. Do you know for certain that no Webelos has attended two troop meetings? Do you know for certain that no Webelos has had an individual conference with a SM? An individual conference could be as simple as a phone call or a short conversation, and it could be with any troop the boy "thinks" he might like to join, not necessarily with the troop that he actually ends up joining.

I wouldn't put candy in the targets. I can just see some boys thoughtlessly running out there to get their candy before everyone is done shooting. Saw it happen once even when candy wasn't involved.

@rdcolv

 

We have one Scouter who is "medicine man" on each camp out. We have a form which parents must fill out by hand noting dosage, medicine, time of day, etc. The meds, even over the counter, must be in originals containers and in a ziploc bag with the Scout's name on it. Every med must have the Scout's name on it and accompanied by the above sheet. The Medicine Man makes morning and evening rounds (or others as needed) with another Scouter. We have each boy's med and health form in a binder we take with us. Guys needing rescue inhalers or epipens are allowed to carry one with them but we have a second with us. We always carry emergency meds with us on hikes, etc. to make finding scouts with serious issues (asthma, allergies) information in our health book we color code their cover sheet based on urgency (I.e., guys with serious issues are red sheets). When hiking or out in the wilderness we always carry a personal locator beacon, radios and cell phones to communicate or get help. Lastly, I always get the local hospital info (or local/region CareFlight number if we are in remote areas and need extraction) and make sure all adults have that while at camp.

 

This system works well for our troop. It requires a lot of planning but once in place it works pretty well. Of course, we require all Scouters to observe HIPPA regs and not discuss Scouts' conditions or anything like that. Sounds draconian but we've been entrusted with essentially being parents to 70+ kids and we need to act accordingly.

 

Hope this helps.

You are truly living the Scout motto.

Did you ask the boy's parents what they think? They are the ones who know him best and know what he is capable of and not capable of.

I'm posting here instead of in the Cub Scout forum because I'm hoping to get input from some SM's also. I have 7 Webelos who are working on their Arrow of Light. I believe that only 2 of them will actually be bridging into Boy Scouts. So all 7 boys will be "graduating" from Cub Scouts, but only 2 boys will do a formal bridging to a troop of their choice. How have other packs and SM's handled this situation? Do I let them all cross the bridge, but only the 2 who are entering a troop get greeted on the other side by a SM? Is a SM willing to greet all boys on the other side of the bridge, regardless of their affiliation? You never know, the boys may change their mind and decide to join after all, so I can see how it would be beneficial to a SM to welcome all boys. I know this is a question that I ultimately have to pose to the SM's of our local troops, but I just wanted to know what a reasonable expectation on my part would be before I ask them.

There's the Family Travel belt loop.

 

The Grand Canyon is rich with Indian lore. Maybe there's a Bear elective for something Indian-related.

 

They can start a collection for their Collecting belt loop. Squashed pennies, arrowheads, interesting rocks, martian bones, etc.

 

Have them bring a camera and take pictures as part of their Photography belt loop.

 

Have them keep a daily diary of their adventures for one week as part of their Reading and Writing belt loop.

 

Remember that every Requirement you do in the Bear handbook that is not used towards earning the Bear badge can go towards earning arrow points. So look over every Achievement and elective in the Bear handbook to cover all your bases.

Just to stir the pot..... Uniforms may not be required, but from the link that Basement provided....

 

For these reasons, among others, all parents should emphasize to their Scouts the importance of wearing the correct and complete uniform on all suitable occasions.

.....AND.....

DO NOT mix uniform parts with non-uniform clothing, such as wearing a uniform cap with other clothing or wearing the uniform shirt with blue jeans. The uniform should be treated as a unitâ€â€worn in its entirety, or not at all.

I wonder if there are any packs that enforce the all or nothing rule?

First of all, you can't complete a requirement for Bear until you are actually a Bear, so anything they have done prior will not count towards their Bear requirements. The requirement you must complete for Achievement 3 is 3j (the Character Connection), not 3i (the outdoor flag ceremony). I know the j looks a lot like an i in the handbook, but if you look close you can see how the j drops below the line. Also, whenever an Achievement includes a Character Connection, you always have to do the Character Connection, so it makes sense that it is 3j and not 3i. I have noticed there are often a few things that are repeated each year when the boys move up to the next level, but the beauty of Bear is that you have soooo many other Achievements and so many options for requirements within each Achievement to earn your Bear rank. Don't want to do something you've already done as a Wolf? Then choose a different requirement or an entirely new Achievement.

 

Also, I don't know what other leaders do, but I do allow certain school activities to count towards cub achievements, like science fair projects and field trips (things that take many more hours to complete than we could do in a single den meeting). I have even chaperoned a few field trips to make sure the right questions are asked and answered by the tour guide in order to meet the requirement. I know DL's who homeschool their kids and work entire lesson plans around some of the cub requirements.

First of all, you can't complete a requirement for Bear until you are actually a Bear, so anything they have done prior will not count towards their Bear requirements. The requirement you must complete for Achievement 3 is 3j (the Character Connection), not 3i (the outdoor flag ceremony). I know the j looks a lot like an i in the handbook, but if you look close you can see how the j drops below the line. Also, whenever an Achievement includes a Character Connection, you always have to do the Character Connection, so it makes sense that it is 3j and not 3i. I have noticed there are often a few things that are repeated each year when the boys move up to the next level, but the beauty of Bear is that you have soooo many other Achievements and so many options for requirements within each Achievement to earn your Bear rank. Don't want to do something you've already done as a Wolf? Then choose a different requirement or an entirely new Achievement.

 

Also, I don't know what other leaders do, but I do allow certain school activities to count towards cub achievements, like science fair projects and field trips (things that take many more hours to complete than we could do in a single den meeting). I have even chaperoned a few field trips to make sure the right questions are asked and answered by the tour guide in order to meet the requirement. I know DL's who homeschool their kids and work entire lesson plans around some of the cub requirements.

Uniforms are just a method in scouting. There is NO REQUIREMENT to wear a uniform. EVER. The scout just needs to cover his heart and not salute. This is all rather interesting give LDS has a reputation of being very lax with requirements. Again not meant to be a knock.

 

 

Seriously? You don't have to wear a uniform to participate in a flag ceremony? Do you have a link from official bsa? I only learned of this requirement from my coleaders, who must have heard it from some other leader, and it's just passed down. I do agree that the LDS are rather lax with the requirements.

We require our color guard to be in uniform. If they're just participating by pledging, then no uniform required. But if they are carrying the flags at one of our pack meetings, then uniform is required. I might be a little more flexible at a den meeting, though. Especially if a boy is running out of time to complete the flag ceremony requirement.

My biggest beef is, where in the Committee Member duties does it state "decides whether boy has earned the award or not"? Shouldn't this be under the jurisdiction of his Webelos' den leader? She already marked my son off on completing the geology belt loop weeks ago. She also believes me, that my son has completed the requirement of doing lawn care for two weeks.

You've already admitted that the Webelos den leader is awarding badges without doing all the requirements. And it sounds like the Webelos den leader has temporarily turned over their duties to the Committee Member. Maybe the Committee Member has seen what has gone in the past and is making an effort to correct the situation, albeit a little too far to the other extreme.

We purchased a timer from Derby Magic this past year to use on our wooden track that we have had for years. Their prices were the best, and I was very happy with their customer service. Not sure what their tracks are like, but the price seems very competitive for tracks too. I would definitely purchase the track and timer at the same time from the same company, just to make sure it all works together seamlessly. We had to do some adjustments to get the timer to work on our wooden track. We run our derby without software. If you are looking to save money or phase the purchases over a couple of years, then I would buy the software at a later date.

Faith: I think you were going a little above and beyond. You were trying incorporate something scientific into the activity, when I think all you really need is to decorate it toward the theme. So I think changing up the targets is a great idea. Just have them shoot at something shaped like something that evokes science, like a diagram of an atom, or the solar system. Tell them their bb guns are are actually death rays, and they are going to destroy the planet of Alderon. Or they have to split the atom the way William Tell split the apple.

The solar system would make a great target! You can give different points for different planets.

I'm really interested in the idea of den activities at a pack meeting. In my time, we've never organized a pack meeting that way, so I'm curious how you'd do it.

 

Would your pumpkin carving by an example of a den activity, or are you thinking of something different?

What we did this year was assign each den leader a pack meeting. It was their den's responsibility to come up with the program for that month. As one leader put it, it was their job to "entertain" the rest of us for 1 hour. Many of the dens used that as an opportunity to showcase or complete some of their den requirements. For instance, my Webelos put on a puppet show to earn their Showman badge. The Bear Den constructed a bunch of games to meet one of their requirements and the whole pack got to play them. The Tiger den leader scheduled a hike for the pack to meet his hiking requirement. Some dens had a speaker come to speak to the whole pack on a subject that would meet a den requirement. So I wouldn't really call what we are doing at the pack meetings a den activity. It is a pack activity that meets a certain den's badge requirements.

In my opinion, Wood Badge is fine, but is oversold and over promoted.

 

MOST council assemblies of Scouters will feature an overly long promotion of Wood Badge in my experience, when 90% of the people in the audience have already taken it. I find that WASTE OF TIME to be annoying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KDD, our Roundtables are at the Elks Lodge, so I get my drink after.

We have our meetings at a school and do our recruiting solely at that school. We try to keep visible at the school and make sure people see the boys in uniform having fun. That helps get boys interested. We send out flyers to all the 1st through 4th grade boys at the beginning of the school year, and we sometimes go and speak at the Back to School night. We are lucky that our school is so supportive of Scouting. Sometimes we get referrals from the local Scout office when people call there looking for information, so make sure you have your Pack info on file with your District.

"Dens only meet once a month"...is there some reason the den leaders can't meet once a week, as the program is designed? I am always amused at those who don't follow the program, then ask for solutions when it doesn't work out. The others are correct...once a boy is advanced to the next level, he can't go back and work on badges he didn't complete.

jc2008, I don't know how soccer, football and baseball in your area work, but where we are at, the kids don't get to choose what days to practice. They are assigned a team and that coach decides what day to practice. If it falls on a den or pack meeting day, tough luck. It is much easier to ask the boys in my den to miss just one practice a month to attend a den meeting, then it is to compete with that sport on a weekly basis over the entire season.

The Rank award is just that - an award. Advancement in Cub Scouts is a whole 'nother animal. Advancement happens at the end of the school year (BSA uses June 1) when the boys change grade levels, no matter what, if any awards they have earned. To that end we have always kept our award recognition ceremonies, entirely separate from our advancement (graduation) ceremony.

 

Our dens meet weekly. Those meetings are usually 2 den, 1 outing, and 1 Pack meeting per month. Sometimes there will be extra activities thrown in as well. We use our B&G as a goal to be completed with all requirements for the rank awards. That is reasonable goal, and gives everyone a time frame to work toward. It Is, however, not set in stone.

 

We do award ceremonies monthly. Mostly they are for small accomplishments/awards. Rank awards get the bigger, fancier, ceremonies. The major one is held in February, at our B&G, but we can/have done them at other times when a Scout has completed the requirements (usually later, rarely earlier).

 

Even when the rank awards are completed in February, there is plenty for the boys to do/earn for the rest of the year.

 

Come the end of May - beginning of June, we hold our last Pack meeting of the Scout year. At that meeting we will first do ceremonies to present any final awards earned. After all awards have been presented, we hold our "Graduation" ceremony and move our Cubs from their current, to their next Scout level.

 

There have been times when Cubs have not finished the requirements for their rank awards. BSA allows some extra time to complete those requirements (for the RANK award ONLY, no others including Electives). We explain that the Scout can only work in ONE level at a time, and that until he has finished work on his current (old) rank award requirements, he can not work on anything at his new Cub level.

 

If any did choose to stay at their "old" level to work on their rank award we would have included them in the Graduation ceremony. They would have received their new necker, and slide, but their new Handbook would be held until the first den meeting of the new school year. They would then have their rank award ceremony at either our end of summer picnic, or the September Pack meeting (Scout's choice).

 

No boy has ever taken us up on the added time. They are ready for the new stuff, and are really not that excited about the bling. That is all the parents.

But wouldn't giving them their new neckerchief and slide imply that they have advanced and can no longer work at the old den level? I like the idea of being able to do that because it allows them up on stage with the other boys in their den to get some sort of recognition, but just not sure if that is considered OK.

"Dens only meet once a month"...is there some reason the den leaders can't meet once a week, as the program is designed? I am always amused at those who don't follow the program, then ask for solutions when it doesn't work out. The others are correct...once a boy is advanced to the next level, he can't go back and work on badges he didn't complete.

As Sqyire21 said, the program is easily completed in a matter of a couple of months, so holding monthly den meetings (with a few extra thrown in here and there for field trips and whatnot) is more than sufficient for us to complete the badge requirements. Judge our program all you want, but as one of the largest Packs in the community, I can assure you that it works. Even if you meet weekly, you are still going to have boys who don't complete their requirements because they are just not making the effort or have different priorities. It has not been a problem for us in the past, but for some reason this year it happened to multiple dens. Since we have not experienced this problem before, I was asking for advice on how to acknowledge those who did not finish their badge reqiurements during our Badge and Advancement Ceremony, not asking for a critique on our methods of running the Pack.

We have a unique Pack in that our dens only meet once a month, so it takes us the whole school year to complete our badge requirements. We hold our Advancement Ceremony at our June campout, which consists of awarding badges, moving their name up the Advancement Ladder to the next den level, and getting their new neckerchiefs. We have a few boys who will not be done with their badge requirements by the campout. Our Unit Commissioner said the boys can use the summer to complete their badge requirements. I was thinking that we would acknowledge the boys at the campout and announce that they are going to use the summer to continue working on their badges, but not let them move their name up the ladder or give them their new neckerchiefs at the campout. We could hold another Advancement Ceremony at our September Pack meeting for those boys. What has been your experiences on how to properly recognize the boys who completed their requirements in time for your Advancement Ceremony (probably at B&G) while still acknowledging the boys who are in the process without making them feel so bad that they just want to give up.

When I joined Cub Scouts as a Tiger Den Leader, our Pack had all the dens cross over a bridge to signify their moving up to the next level. We continued that tradition until this year, when I learned that it was supposed to be reserved just for the Webelos crossing over to Boy Scouts. As one of their Craftsman reqiurements, my Webelos built an advancement ladder to be used instead of the bridge. Each boy in our Pack did a leather stamping project and made a leather strip with their name on it that hangs on the rung of the ladder corresponding to their den. At our advancement ceremony this year, the boys will walk across the stage, receive their new neckerchiefs, and move their leather strip up to the next rung on the ladder. I envisioned the Webelos taking their leather strip off the top rung of the ladder and then crossing over the bridge. I had assumed that all boys graduating out of Webelos would cross the bridge regardless of whether or not they were going to join Boy Scouts. Based on comments here, I might have to rethink that. I will probably ask the local Scoutmasters what they've seen in the past and what they are comfortable with, since I intend to have them there at the meeting welcoming my Webelos as they cross the bridge.

Selfishness and immediate gratification. They want it now and are now willing to work for it. They give up easily and are lazy. Their first thought is not "how can I help others" but rather "what's in it for me." Sadly, they are learning this from their parents. I can't tell you how many times parents have said they would do something, then not follow-through because they don't care how it affects others.

In order to get attendance up, you are going to have to start with the parents. If you can't get the parents on board with attending the Pack meetings, then you just won't be able to get the attendance up because the boys aren't going to get to the meeting by themselves. You might try asking some of the parents who do not attend regularly why they don't attend. Are they just too busy? Do the meetings end too late? Do the meetings interfere with dinner time? Are the meetings boring? Do they realize the importance of attending the meetings? Maybe a common theme will arise in their answers and you can make some adjustments. One thing that has helped our attendance this year is having each den assigned a Pack meeting to be in charge of. The boys in that den help plan the activities, do the flag ceremony, and run the meeting. The den leaders use it as a time to complete some of their fun badge requirements or electives for their boys, so you will get around 100% attendance from that particular den for that meeting. And it gets to be a bit of a competition too, with each den trying to top the others. Getting the boys excited about the pack meetings means they will start talking up the meetings to their parents.