CC Tonya

Thanks for all the replies!

My goal for wanting to be 100% is for several reasons. The Quality Unit is one. My son has always loved his BL, and enjoyed it even as a Tiger cub last year. As his reading skills increase, he reads it more and more. And we save them too, so he has been known to read back issues.

I think it shows some of the cool stuff cub scouts get to do, and for boys that don't have as much parental support as I wish they did, I like to think it helps inspire them to stick with scouts so they can do that stuff too. Plus, they get something addressed to THEM in the mail each month. What kid doesn't dig that?

Frankly, as a new pack, we didn't really have a clue during roundups that BL was an option--so many didn't check the box and now I wish they had. So on recharter, I'm aiming to fix it. :-)

We've built it into our pack dues, so we can say for $x amount a year, they get that as a "perk."

Tonya

I'm working on our pack's first recharter and have a question about Boys' Life.

I'd really like us to be considered 100% Boys Life for quality unit and so forth. I definitely want every single boy to be subscribed to it and see the value in that. My question pertains more to the adults. Do registered adults also need to be subscribed to BL to be consdiered a 100% BL unit?? Do they have an adult version of Boys life that the adults get? Or is it just a way to sell more magazines?

Thanks!

Tonya

Our pack is less than one year old. We started out with 6 boys (4 Tigers, 2 Wolves) and pretty much each parent had to step up to a leadership role for us to become a pack. Lucky me--I'm the committee chair. I've immersed myself in all of the leadership books, have done all the training I can, go to roundtable, etc., in order to try to provide leadership for the pack. I'm loving it.

Our growth in the Spring & fall roundups has been huge--we are up to 30 boys now from 28 families.

I'm wondering what I can do to further "train" the new parents in the pack. We came up with a parent handbook that we give to each new family, we have a pretty decent website with links to all the scout info they could want. But there still is an element of total confusion with the new parents and ... suprise! Everyone looks to me (still wet behind the ears myself) to provide the leadership.

I was looking at the committee chair job description in the leader handbook and noticed one of the points is to "Provide a training program for adult family members."

What does everyone else do to orient new families?

Thanks for any advice!

Our town has a small historical museum that has artifacts from our city's history. (I had always wanted to visit the museum and never had, so I was really into it) There was lots of farm & household things, a mock classroom, mock kids' bedroom, etc. So we were able to have the kids point out how things are for them, and then be able to contrast it with what they were seeing at the museum. The biggest hit was a player piano they had. :-)

The kids actually enjoyed it, and being a small museum we were only there for about an hour. And the exhibits tied in with the town they live in-names of streets were the same, or people in the pictures had the same names as streets where their preschool was, etc. It turned out to be a really fun visit.

Yes, Carol. Thank you so much. We'll definitely get the award.

Tonya

Well, DUH, huh? Ouch.

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my explanation of what we were doing. We have no intention of blowing off the August activity.

I was under the (mistaken) impression that we had to have 50% participation within each den in order for that planned event to count toward the award.

Our camping trip next weekend may not get that, so I was concerned that after the extreme effort on my part to plan these activities, we would fall short of the award. (The other leaders in my pack apparently don't care)

Thanks to the others who have clarified that its the mere planning that is required for the award--not the 50% participation. I've certainly done that for 4 activities since June that will span through the entire summer.

Its my understanding (and I would love to be wrong), that in order for the dens and individual boys to earn their awards, the pack has to earn the pack award. No pack award, no others. Is this correct?

What about this situation?

Our day camp was the first week after school let out in June. It was too late for the new scouts to sign up-and it wasn't open to Tigers. We had 50% of the wolf and bear den attend. Our webelos patrol is also brand new so camp was full before they could sign up. In June we also did a fishing trip, and in my mind I was thinking of that as our June activity.

Our July event is a camping trip next weekend and I'm very disappointed that we may not get 50% of the den members to participate in the overnighter part. Some may come down for the day and the planned pack meeting, but strictly speaking-we probably won't have the 50% on that one.

We're planning a hike in August and I have no idea yet about participation, but am hopeful since it is more local and only 1/2 day.

I REALLY want that pack award and know there are boys who deserve the individual award too. (My son, for example, lol) I hate to have a few slackers ruin it for everyone.

Reading this thread, I'm wondering if its kosher to count the day camp as a pack activity. Heck, by the end of summer we'll have 4 activities that we've done.

Whaddya think?

Tonya

Thanks, John in KC...

I've actually had the tour permit thing drummed into my head by our DE and Council. I suspect it is something they are really focusing on in particular in our area.

Our Council (San Diego-Imperial) has a pretty fast turnaround time, especially if I fax it and ask them to fax back. (The pinewood derby thing was issued in the span of about an hour).

Tonya

I just did BALOO earlier this month, so what they told us is fresh in my mind...

This is what I plan on doing four our pack this summer:

-Get a permission slip for every scout who is going, even if the parent is going to be there. This includes my son too, just in case something happens if I am off with another group.

-Get a Class 1 on every person going to our family camping trip. Adults, siblings, etc.

-Get a Class 1 for pack files for all scouts, just to have.

-Have a copy of the Class 1 forms with our pack first aid kit, have a copy at home.

-Anytime we meet somewhere other than our regular meeting place, get a tour permit. I even did this when we did the pinewood derby in my garage up the street from our regular meeting place!

May be seen as overkill, but we are a new pack and I want to put in place a set of procedures that are overly cautious rather than exposing ourselves to risk, plus having those medical forms with us on site will be valuable if we need them in case of emergency. I would rather err on the side of caution.

I like the idea of giving den leaders a copy of the Class 1 forms as well, and will probably do that too.

My .2 cents!

San Diego-Imperial has tranings throughout the summer, some even in the Santa Margarita District, which is in Vista (North San Diego County).

http://www.sdicbsa.org/training/content/Schedule.asp?prog=cs

Yours in Scouting

Tonya

Thanks, ScoutNut!

I thought of another one too driving kids around to school (inspiration hits at the oddest of times, lol). It is similar to some of these and it incorporates the "digging in the dirt" theme.

Burying the key words in a tub of topsoil and giving each cub a turn to dig in the dirt to find a word..then putting the word in the right blank of the promise.

YIS

Tonya in San Diego

Our pack just started last October, all but one of our Tigers were awarded their rank badge at the last pack meeting. I am going to be planning the last Tiger den meeting before the boys cross over to a wolf den at our next pack meeting. I'd like the boys to work on their bobcat requirements and earn that badge at the that upcoming pack meeting. Although I've mentioned it to parents and put it in a pack newsletter, I've found that many parents don't yet work on advancement at home. (I'm hoping to change that...)

Anyway, I'd like to have some games for the next den meeting to reinforce the bobcat knowledege. (I don't want badges being awarded without the boys really earning them, and I can foresee "social promotion") Any suggestions? I was thinking about maybe hangman where they figure out a word like "Motto" and then tell me what that is and what the cs motto is. But any suggestions you all have would be great.

I'm so glad to have found this resource and have been reading posts for awhie now.

YIS,

Tonya