Webelos-to-Scouts Transition
Prototype Unit Handbook: Request for pack and troop forms
I am beginning a project that I want to complete by May 30th. I am looking to design a prototype of a new parent handbook.
I am asking for your help.
First I am asking each unit to email me a copy of their current handbook, annual calendar and handout on costs of membership by May 5th. We will use these as sources of best practices. Documents in a word processing file are preferred.
Second, I am looking for a panel of editors to assist in assessing the result and focusing on simplification and clarity.
Some of the concepts I will be building come from Scouting Magazine’s article last spring. They had to be more generic nationally. Ideally we as a district can put in more specifics in a prototype.
Outdoor leadership training available
Del-Mi District is offering Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills and Webelos Outdoor Leadership at their camporee on April 16, 2016 from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. One class: credit for both courses! Reservations can be made here.
Their camporee will be at Camp Belzer . . . close to home.
IOLS is required to be certified as a Trained Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster. It is often hard to get it on your schedule.
Webelos Outdoor Leadership is required to take Webelos on a den campout. The magic of this 2-in-1 training is Webelos leaders can get trained on both programs.
The training never expires so get it done today!
The Scout Staff
I am fascinated by the old use of the Scout staff or walking stick as part of the scout uniform. The scout was expected to be able to use his staff for many uses. Take a look at this article on ways to use the staff and use scout craft.
The scout staff is also the way that a scout can make his uniform his own. He can add handles. He can add medallions.
In Del-Mi District, many troops give a Webelos crossing over into scouts a scout staff at the cross-over ceremony.
Packs: Cross-over Ceremonies
Since Order of the Arrow, the scout honorary society, provides ceremonial teams as part of its cheerful service to Cub Scout Packs, our District’s chapter needs the Packs’ assistance.
The Chapter is looking for information from the Cub Scout Packs about when their Blue and Gold Banquets or Cross-over Ceremonies will be. The Chapter needs to put these dates on their calendar as soon as possible.
The purpose of providing ceremonial teams is to provide the young Webelos with their first taste of how Boy Scouts differs from Cub Scouts. The Boy Scouts provide the ceremony, not the parents. The Boy Scouts welcome the Webelos into Boy Scouts, not the Scoutmaster. The Webelos are welcomed into the boy-led fraternity of Boy Scouts.
Since many of the ceremonial team performers are in high school, their schedules are already heavily booked. The Chapter needs scheduling information to be able to put together a team to serve your pack. The Chapter also needs to know how many performers it needs to recruit to successfully serve all interested packs.
Using an Order of the Arrow ceremonial team is not required of Cub Scout Packs, but it is strongly recommended.
Please help your OA Chapter better serve you, by sending your Blue and Gold Banquet and/or Cross-over Ceremony dates, times, and locations to District Commissioner Jeff Heck as soon as possible.
To get a feel for what a cross-over ceremony might look like, here is an example from a different chapter of what they did with the idea.
Pack Membership Coordinator Recruitment
This is the time of year that it is so important for a pack chairman to recruit a pack membership coordinator.
One of the hardest parts of recruitment is explaining the nature and duties of the position. Units that have had the luxury of having one parent assist in year one and then do the job in year to have the advantage of on the job training.
For most other packs, most of the training has to be done using other resources: classes, literature, or on the job experience.
BSA has put together a wonderful website for all packs, troops, and crews to be able to use for different recruitment purposes. There are even YouTube videos for the membership coordinator to learn their job. This is different than the usual E-learning process because there is no login required.
Take a look at this website to find out what you can do to improve your recruitment this fall.
New Cub Requirements for 2015-16
If you are not aware, BSA has issued new requirements, handbooks, and leader guides for Cub Scouts. This is a major overhaul of the program.
This new set of requirements will affect everyone in scouting. The surprising part is how it affects Boy Scout Troops.
As we have linked before, BSA through Scouter magazine and Bryan on Scouting has given us some summaries of the changes. We, as leaders, need an overview that tells us more.
Difficulties of Webelos to Scouts . . . for Adults
Frank Maynard is a long-time Troop Committee Chair. He hosts a blog at BlogWhiteBlather.com. Frank focuses on running the troop and the issues that scout leaders have in working with the parents.
One of the major issues at any campout is the new scout leader who just came from Cub Scouts. He tells a story about the common experiences that happen.
In his Soul to Work blog, leadership author Scott Mabry explains this very well. He tells us that the more we hold on to our old expectations, the more anxiety results and the more frustration ensues. It’s because, as leaders, we have become accustomed to being responsible for our portion of the Scouting experience, and we feel that we have failed if things go wrong. Now certainly we can’t just stand back and let a patrol or the troop flail about aimlessly, but neither is it our responsibility to do it for them. Our job goes from providing the program for the Scouts to providing them with the tools to spin their own program. It’s helping them discover for themselves which way to go, not pointing them in the direction we think is right. We have to let go of the way we did things before, as well as the idea that our reputation is staked on whether we have a snappy troop.
What Cub Scout leaders need to know is that, as leaders of Cubs, they are responsible for putting boys in tents, in the outdoors, and in other experiences that are hands-on experiences. Their job is to assist the Cubs with discovering themselves and their world. Cubs need to know themselves and some basics about the world before they can learn the next step. The Cub leader is the teacher, babysitter, and cat-herder.
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