Couples who are both Scout Leaders

[evmori 11]

My wife & I did this in Cubs. I was the CM and she was the Advancement Chair. For three years we ate and slept Cub Scouts! But we had a great time & put together some great Pack Meetings. I also was involved with Roundtable & council. Neither of us served on any other Pack committees.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[mbscoutmom 10]

Lisa'bob, thanks for the long post. I think you must have been where I am before. I have been "shedding" some jobs, since our previous CCs did everything but MC pack meetings. It really pleases me to see the ACMs and DLs working together to put on pack meetings and events. The latest thing I "shed" was the newsletter. My husband was supposed to do it, but he kept putting it off until I had to do most of it at the last minute. This month I just printed a calendar instead. Maybe someone will notice and volunteer?

 

I'm sure we can find a new advancement chair, but the ADL job is really a tough one for my den. We've tried and tried, but none of the other moms and dads will sign up as an assistant. A couple of them stay at meetings with their sons, and help out whenever they're needed, so I'm not entirely on my own. Next year, since his WebII den will have crossed over, my husband will take over as leader; I'll just need to plan the meetings for him--something I like to do anyway.

 

Neither of the two ACMs can become CM. One doesn't really want to do it anymore because his son is now in Boy Scouts. The other is a DL who has no assistant, so he shouldn't even be ACM.

 

I don't want to try to find a replacement for CC right now. It's hard enough finding a new CM. Besides, it would be too hard on the pack to have both positions filled by new people at the same time. I plan on being CC at least 1 more year. Next year, I'll look for an assistant to work with me and take it over the following year. But before I teach the job to someone else, I need to make sure I know what I should be doing!

[mbscoutmom 10]

"BTW - Where ever did you get the idea that an Assistant Den Leader was a part time position????"

 

I think it was mentioned in a class at the University of Scouting. Why would ADL be considered full time? Usually ADLs just show up for den and pack meetings and help out when needed. Sometimes they lead a meeting or two. If an ADL was doing more than that, I would call him or her a DL. In our pack, they usually also serve on the Committee, but that's in addition to their ADL duties.

[jrodriguez2 10]

In our pack we do not have the problem of lack of leadership. We do however have couples that are both active in the pack. We have two couples (my self included) that one of the adults is a den leader and the other is a committee member. I am the tiger den 2 leader and my wife is the advancements chair. I have found that I really did not know how stressfull advancements can be when she is trying to do advancements for 40 boys on a busy month. So I took it upon my self to help with advancements and try to figure a way to make it easier so that when my wife decides to step down that the next person will not be stressed out and quit. I ended up making a excell spread sheet that was devided up into dens with the boys names and blank spots for the den leaders to fill in the activity and put a notation by each boy who should get the award. If my wife was never involved I would have never known how stressful her job can be. So in short I believe that couples are ok but you have to make sure that conflict of intrest is nonexistent.

 

Tiger Den Leader jrodriguez2

[rfwlcdr 10]

I would not discourage either parent if they both want to be involved in the program. I would counsel them about the time involved, like I do with any new volunteer.

My wife and I have both been involved in a variety of positions and our different skill sets and perspectives compliment each other and have resulted in a better program.

In Cub Scouts I served as Cubmaster while she took a Den Leader's job. On the district level, when I moved from CS Roundtable Commissioner to District Commissioner, i commissioned her as Roundtable Commissioner and she continued to improve that program.

We also work together on the Council Day Camps: I am the Camp Director and she brings her wealth of ideas to the table as my Program Director. (I do not recommend attending National Camp School together--the program can be intense).

She also serves as Charter Org Rep for the Venture Crew in which I am the Advisor.

Bottom line here is that if you have two qualified adults who want to be involved in Scouting, bring them on. They might even find that it will strengthentheir family relationships.