Author: Jeffrey Heck
ScoutmasterCG: Top 10 Ways to Frustrate Youth Leaders
It is time again for our monthly weekly homage to Clarke Green at ScoutmasterCG.
Clarke, a thirty-year veteran as a scoutmaster, points out 10 ways to frustrate your youth leaders. While Clarke’s articles always have their sweet spot for the boy scout program and higher, I contend that many of these lessons need to be learned by our Cub Scout Leaders, too. Even more so, we often commit the same errors at home with our own children.
I would be fascinated to hear from readers in the comment section below or on Facebook about their thoughts on this article. (Remember to comment, you must have a Word Press or affiliated user name. Comments are moderate for spam, germaneness, and compliance with the Scout Oath and Law.)
So do any of you have personal stories where you violated one of these 10 pointers? What did you learn from the experience? How do you handle similar situations now?
While you are looking at Clarke’s site, make sure to check out his latest book So Far So Good (print or audio). It is the story of a new Scoutmaster learning the ropes as he works with the scouts. While it focuses on boy scouts, Cub Scout leaders can learn, too. They can learn how to teach without being classroom teachers. They can learn more about the goals the Cubs will be attempting to achieve in Boy Scouts, so that the Pack is better preparation for things to come. The Cub Leader can learn how better to explain scouting to new parents, increasing parental involvement and scout retention through better understanding.
Just don’t frustrate your youth unnecessarily!
REMINDER: Roundtable at strange location
This Thursday’s Roundtable will be at the Scout Service Center 7125 Fall Creek Blvd, N Dr, Indianapolis, IN. We will start at 7:00 pm with the Council’s Ideal Year in Scouting presentation.
When Council complete its agenda, Con is arranging a break-out room for us (no word on the room number yet). We will discuss district-specific issues and topics during the break out session.
All packs, troops, and crews should have a representative present. This presentation is important for all scouters to be able to improve the unit’s annual planning process. However, the topic is absolutely crucial to newer unit leaders, committee chairs, and Chartered Organization Representatives. If you have never participated in this recently inaugurated annual event, participation is a must. If you have participated, it is a wonderful method of bringing more recently initiated unit scouters up to speed on how to do annual planning.
We look forward to seeing all units present.
2016 Popcorn Preview
From Tom Petersen the District Popcorn Kernel:
2016 Popcorn Sale – Save the Dates!
The school year is almost over and summer camp is just around the corner. This is a perfect time to start planning for your Unit’s 2016 Popcorn sale.
Here are the critical dates to help you mark your calendar.
Important 2016 Popcorn Sale Dates:
- August 1st- Online Sales Begin
- August 28th- Initial Orders Due
- September 17th- Popcorn Sale Begins
- September 17th-25th – Blitz Week (Note: This blitz will NOT be limited to take orders only. Any type of sale will count.)
- October 23rd- Popcorn Sale Ends
- November 1st- Final Order and Prize Order Due
- December 2nd- Final Payment Due
Stay tuned, a more detailed calendar will be provided at a later date.
Selling popcorn is a simple and efficient way to fund your Unit’s activities.
If you have questions, please contact me.
Tom Petersen
North Star District Popcorn Kernel
thomas.w.petersen@outlook.com
REMINDER: Committee and Commissioner Meetings Thurs 5/5
Just a quick reminder that the District Commissioners meet at 6:00 pm Thursday, May 5th at Second Presbyterian Church, Room 407.
Immediately afterward, the District Committee meets in the same building at 7:00 pm, Room 401.
See you there!
Congratulations to District Award Winners
On Thursday, April 28, 2016, the District held its Annual Appreciation Dinner at St Alphonsius Church in Zionsville.
Thank you to Tucker Herbold for chairing the event and Con Sullivan for the detailed logistics work.
In addition to our regular District participants, we were honored by the presence of Scout Executive Patrick Sterrett and Assistant Director of Field Services for the Western Section Marilyn Lopez.
Our award winners were as follows:
|
Name |
Award |
|
John Ruggles |
Arrowman of the Year |
| Stephen Heath | Boy Scout Committee Chair of the Year |
| Beth Montano | Commissioner of the Year |
| Jennifer Davis | Cub Scout Committee Chair of the Year |
| Sharla Merrick | Cubmaster of the Year |
| Jeffrey Heck | District Award of Merit |
| Mark Pishon | District Award of Merit |
| Greg Hoyes | Firecrafter of the Year |
| Andrea Klemm | Hooked on Scouting |
| Carolyn Goebel | Hooked on Scouting |
| Emily Blue | Hooked on Scouting |
| Kelly Kappes | Hooked on Scouting |
| Lisa J. Bostock | Hooked on Scouting |
| Sam Dennemann Sr. | Hooked on Scouting |
| Scott Kuntz | Hooked on Scouting |
| Timothy Kappes | Hooked on Scouting |
| Greg R. Hoyes | Scoutmaster of the Year |
| Amy Kiefer | Spark Plug Award |
| Andrea Klemm | Spark Plug Award |
| Carolyn Goebel | Spark Plug Award |
| Christopher Bottorff | Spark Plug Award |
| Chuck Bricker | Spark Plug Award |
| Cynthia Carr | Spark Plug Award |
| Daniel Bradley | Spark Plug Award |
| David Agarwal | Spark Plug Award |
| David DeMars | Spark Plug Award |
| David Gusman | Spark Plug Award |
| Emily Blue | Spark Plug Award |
| Greg R. Hoyes | Spark Plug Award |
| Jacob Massie | Spark Plug Award |
| Jaime Shields | Spark Plug Award |
| James Shields | Spark Plug Award |
| Kelly Kappes | Spark Plug Award |
| Mark Maucere | Spark Plug Award |
| Mark Pishon | Spark Plug Award |
| Michael “Mick” Witte | Spark Plug Award |
| Ronald Penczek | Spark Plug Award |
| Sam Dennemann Sr. | Spark Plug Award |
| Thomas Petersen | Spark Plug Award |
| Timothy Kappes | Spark Plug Award |
| Warner “Turk” White | Spark Plug Award |
| David Bruce | Venture Advisor of the Year |
The Spark Plug Award goes to a person who has shown an energetic dedication to scouting that he or she spreads to other members of their unit or committee.
The Hooked on Scouting Award goes to a person who has been involved with a unit for less than a year (in this case extended back to 2014 because of skipping awards for two years) and has immediately become an invaluable scouter in their unit.
The District Award of Merit is the highest National Council authorized award that a district can give to a scouter.
Scouters of the Year Award (Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Advisor, Committee Chair, Commissioner, Firecrafter, and Arrowman) represent scouters who have represented the best ideals of their registered position within the district.
Congratulations to all of our award winners!
Philmont Contingent June 2016 Vacancies
- Philmont trek and cavalcade participants must be 14 years of age OR completed 8th Grade and be at least 13 years of age prior to participation.
- Participants must have a valid BSA Health Record with all parts, A, B, and C. Especially important is the Body Mass Index compliance.
Memorial Day Honoring Late Servicemembers
North Star District through historic relationships between its Zionsville units and the Zionsville American Legion Post and between some of its Washington Township units and Post #3 of the American Legion (where OA and Firecrafter monthly meetings are held) have honored deceased service members for years.
This year, the District and Troop 56 are working on adding American Legion Post #153 (54th St and Keystone area) to the Posts that we serve.
If your unit is not currently helping to place flags on deceased service members graves in the month of May, in preparation for Memorial Day, please contact Jeff Heck to work with one of these posts.
This is a very important service. As Jerry Gould, a Korean War veteran, explained on Monday night, each post is especially responsible for placing flags on the graves of their deceased members. Unfortunately their membership is aging and can no longer provide the service adequately by themselves. They need the scouts and scouting families to provide the manpower.
Please help with this important Duty to Country task.
The posts have different methods for handling this. Some work on a scheduled basis. Other posts schedule around the scout units’ schedules. We can help direct you to the post that best fits your unit’s needs.
Recruitment: Task #1 – Community Event Calendar
Last year in recruitment, we were late in starting to plan due to the administrative state of the district. Now we are starting planning for the August 2016 recruitment campaign. We need your help quickly.
District Vice-Chair for Membership Sharla Merrick and District Executive Con Sullivan are working hard right now to develop a detailed district recruitment plan to support your units‘ recruitment plans.
Part of this planning requires gathering data. Since we are a large group of talented and dedicated scouters with different perspectives, we are hoping to pool information about recruitment opportunities. We think you have the data. Let me illustrate what we are trying to do.
For example, last year, Con Sullivan reached out to his one of his counterparts in Girl Scouts of Central Indiana Tashianna Avery to discuss her recruitment efforts. (Tashianna has worked with Con and me on several projects and has become a valued colleague.) Tashianna shared with Con several of the community events that she was participating in and invited North Star District to come alongside. One of these was the St Luke’s United Methodist Church Backpack Attack. As a result of networking with Tashianna, we gathered a list of over 50 prospective members of North Star District.
While we did not do a good job of converting these prospects last year, we know that we can develop prospect lists easily at community events. In fact the BSA literature on recruitment emphasizes the importance of these types of events for exposure to the community, relationship building, and identifying prospects. It can serve as more than one of the necessary “7 Contacts” to recruit a new scout.
Sharla and Con want to build on this lesson learned. We would like to find as many events in the communities surrounding our units as possible. Then we will prioritize the events with the greatest likelihood of helping us develop prospect lists and community relationships.
Some of these events will naturally staffed by the home unit. For example, Pack 35 and Troop 35 at St Joan of Arc Catholic will naturally want to staff their parish’s French Market in September, if there is a booth there. Even so, we would like to have it on the district list to help develop a district-wide view of recruiting. The hope is we will minimize the number of good opportunities to make scouting connections.
If you have community events, please contact Sharla Merrick or Con Sullivan through your Membership Coordinator or Committee Chair.
Also don’t forget the Cook Out on the Circle on June 16th as a way to contribute to a Council-wide marketing effort. Many of your best prospective volunteers or families work downtown. Your unit’s presence can generate surprising results.
OA Ordeal Weekend May 13-15
From OA Advisor John Ruggles:
Arrowmen,
Whether you are a Brotherhood candidate or a general member, we would love to see you at Ordeal weekend in two weeks (May 13 – 15 at Camp Kikthawenund).Attached are the registration forms and letters. If you plan to come, please follow the instructions in the letters.Hope to see you there.John RugglesChapter Advisor317-201-1851
Fall 2016 Recruitment Campaign
From Sharla Merrick, District Vice-Chair for Membership sends this message:
Hey North Star Scouters!It’s that time of the year — time to work on the yard, take the Cubs outside, and plan for Fall Registration 🙂2016 Fall Registration will be very similar to last year. The mandatory registration night that will be advertised by Council is Thursday August 25th. Each elementary school will need a scouter to staff registration that night. In addition, Packs are encouraged to have an optional earlier Registration Night to better line up with your school calendars.What we are asking from you now is to contact the elementary schools that are affiliated with your Pack and set up your Registration Night(s), Boy Talks, and representation at Back to School Night. Please use the attached Google form to submit the information so that we can coordinate speakers (if needed) and provide you with all signs/packets/stickers/etc. in time. We are asking each Pack to have an adult leader or volunteer with your Pack to speak at your Boy Talks if possible.Please submit the google form by May 15th. If you would rather turn in a printed form you can do that at May 12th’s Ideal Year of Scouting. (Don’t miss the Ideal Year of Scouting Meeting! There will be information available about the New Lions Program for Kindergartners as well as info to help make this year awesome!)
SAVE THE DATE: We will have a Recruitment Kick-Off with supplies, food, and fun on July 15 (location to be determined.)I’ve invited you to fill out the form Cub Scout Membership . To fill it out, visit:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Sqt187BlP7kOcCdLUWE-f5SwE66N_TeGeQlkd_h0-TU/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_linkCub Scouts Have More Fun!Sharla Merrick and Jenny BeyerCub Scout Membership Team
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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