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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.