CA Scout Mom

One of the things my husband did with new Tiger dens (he was the pack Committee Chair) was to talk to a parent about being a den leader and explain that he'd help get the den started. So, he'd go to the first few den meetings and attend and be there for the parent leader. That can help to reassure parents b/c otherwise it's very daunting to ask a neophyte parent to start leading a program about which they probably know very little. The second thing that we've done over the past few years is to ensare them by good company, food and friendship. We happen to own an electric boat and it's r

As I mentioned in my post on the co-ed thread, it's taken me about 3 years to become comfortable with the whole Boy Scout program and this after having both my sons go through Cub Scouts! So, 5 years of Cub Scouts for Son 1 plus 3 years of Boy Scouts for Son 1 = 8 years and, might I add, husband was Pack Committee Chair and then after Son 1 was in Boy Scouts for a year or so, became Scoutmaster. I had the added benefit of talking to him about all the activities, etc. that many parents don't have. I also mentioned that I'm the Membership Chair of the troop. I've been trying to give "New Pare

I'm not sure what you're saying here...are you saying that because women were accepted in the troop program as adult volunteers (both as ASMs and Committee members I'm assuming), that the quality of the program suffered? Maybe your troop has men leaping to the fore to volunteer in your troop but that's certainly not the case in our troop! Without the moms, we might not have much of a troop! We hardly have any dads who participate currently. It's the same ones who go on outings and who help at the troop meetings.. We just brought in some new Scouts from the Webelo den of which I was the de

There are other ways to do fundraising, of course, besides selling popcorn. Scouts could offer to do work for a local organization or have a pancake breakfast or spaghetti dinner at the location of their meetings. I think selling is a great skill for boys and in our troop, as I expect in most others, there are the "Show and Sell" opportunities in front of grocery markets, home improvement centers, etc. Since that's a group effort, that makes it more fun for the shy Scouts. But, yes, for many of our parents, myself included, have come to realize that in some situations it's going to be more

I think many boys enjoy science, math and technology and as a country we should be promoting it! Our youth need to be prepared for the jobs of the future, and the jobs of today, many of which involve, yes...science, math and technology. I'd like to see more STEM-related merit badges. One of the most popular non-outdoors outings that our troop makes is to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House in Pasadena. This is NOT to say, however, that Scouts don't enjoy the outdoors because they do! I just feel that there's room for both the great outdoors and STEM. And, full disclosure here--

Our troop also provides free necker, handbook, epaulets, patches, slide and Class B shirt. Our Class B shirts are in dri-fit and have been really popular with the Scouts! In terms of other give-aways, our troop does a rocket launch in the early Spring and all rockets and materials (not kits, the real things, incl. motors!) are free to any Webelos who attend. It's always a blast (haha!) and a good recruiting event without every being stated as such.

I guess your son's troop has plenty of members and plenty of adult leaders? I wish that was the case with my son's troop! My husband is the new Scoutmaster and he would love to have more parental participation even though his focus is on having a boy-led troop. He's working on getting more parent participation with the method he used when he was Committee Chair of the Cub Scout pack which was ultimately successful. (See my long post on Parental Participation post!) I find it highly suspicious that any troop wouldn't appreciate more help so that's a red flag right there. And, you might w

When we first joined the Cub Scout pack when my oldest son was a Tiger about 8 years ago (about your same time frame), that same situation was going on--hardly any parent participation and the CubMaster was also the Committee Chair and very low membership. Then, my husband took over as Committee Chair about 2 years in and decided that every parent needed to participate and laid down those expectations whenever anyone joined, at every pack meeting and event and at leaders' meetings. The message started to permeate and the pack is now healthy and parents participate but it takes time for this