Get Trained
Training is important. It gives you valuable information about the methods and goals of the Cub Scout program, Youth Protection, the Pack organization, leader resources, and so much more. Training will provide you with valuable ideas that you can use to plan your den meetings and other activities.
Training is also much more accessible than you think and a lot less time consuming than you might guess.
Want proof?
OK. As you sit here reading this Leader Resource CD, you are one click away from your first training session, and it is training that you can complete in less than 15 minutes!! Sound too good to be true? Try it. Take 15 minutes right now and complete Fast Start Training for your leadership position.
There! Wasn't that easy? Ready for more? The next step would be to sign up for a one-day training session called New Leader Essentials and Cub Scout Leader Specific training. These courses are typically offered on a Saturday from about 8am to 3pm. They may be offered real close to you (within your district, maybe even at your pack's meeting place) or they may be somewhere else in the council. Ask your Cubmaster or Committee Chairman to find out about these training classes and to let you know when and where they will be offered. (Or, check the Council and District websites for yourself. Look for the calendars.)
The New Leader Essentials course will be the morning session. All BSA leaders go through this same NLE course. You'll learn more about BSA history, goals, ideals, methods, youth protection, etc. You'll probably watch a video or two.
In the afternoon, you'll break out into small groups where all of the Cubmasters and Pack Committee people will go to one room, Webelos Den Leaders will go to another room, Tiger Den Leaders will go to their own room, and Wolf and Bear Den Leaders will go to still another room. In the breakout group, you'll spend a few hours learning more about one specific role within the Pack.
At the end of the day, you'll be presented with a card certifying that you've been trained and you'll also be presented with a 'Trained' patch to wear on your uniform. (Please take the time to sew it on - it tells the parents that you care enough about the program to have invested your valuable time in getting the necessary training.) Also, you should be aware that in order for your Pack to be rated a 'Quality Unit', most of the leaders have to be trained. (Wouldn't you feel bad if your pack missed the opportunity to be declared a quality unit because they needed at least one more leader to be trained and you were not trained?)
OK - getting help makes sense. Where can you get help?
All around you!
If your den is a Tiger Cub den, parents are required to participate. Everything your
Tiger Cubs do they do as part of a team with one of their parents. Make sure parents
understand that. If a Tiger Parent leaves the meeting, the Tiger Cub goes with them.
And it goes beyond that - not only are they required to stay for the den meeting,
they are required to help run some dens meetings! That's right, as a Tiger Cub den
leader you will run the first few meetings to get things off to a good start. But one
of the things that you'll do early on is to start signing Tiger Cub teams up for
specific meeting dates and topics. And on those dates, you get to sit back and participate
with your Tiger Cub while someone else runs the den meeting. Eventually, you and your Tiger
Cub will run another den meeting, just like everyone else. But the points is: don't
kill yourself trying to have something planned for every Tiger Cub den meeting. It's
not what is expected and it's actually the wrong way to run a Tiger Cub den!
(A little more on Tiger Cubs - during the course of the year, the Pack will start
recruiting some of these Tiger adult partners to take on den leader and pack committee
positions to help make the pack go. By getting them actively involved right away, you
are doing the pack a big favor. If you try to run all of the Tiger den meetings
by yourself, you are actually doing the pack a big disservice!)
OK, so you're not a Tiger den leader and after reading this section so far
you're now thinking to yourself "those Tiger leaders are lucky - they get to ask
the parents to help prepare den and run den meetings".
Well, rejoice! There is no rule that says that Wolf, Bear, and Webelos Den Leaders
can't ask parents to get involved and run a den meeting. I strongly encourage you do get
the parents involved in any way that you can. Ask the parents about their jobs, hobbies,
backgrounds, and interests. Look for any opportunity to tie a parent's knowledge to
one of the Scouting program activities. Just be sensitive to single parent situations
(especially if the Cub Scout has siblings that need to be looked after) and parents
who are honestly up to their eyebrows with other responsibilities. (If Johnny's Dad has been working 14 hour days
for the last 8 months, it might not be a good idea to pressure him into running
a den meeting.) Just be sensitive, fair, and firm.
On nights when your den meets at Sunrise, 2-deep leadership will generally not be
much of a problem - there will be plenty of other leaders around. But any time
you want to change the time or place of your meetings or go on a field trip, you must
have another registered leader available or the activity must be cancelled.
Pack 356's goal is to have 3 leaders registered for every den. We have found that
by having 3 Leaders for each den, the dens have
much more flexibility in doing special activities such as bowling, field trips, etc and
the leaders can spread the work load out so that no single leader is overwhelmed.
So where do your co-Leaders come from? The parents in your den, of course!
The Pack leadership will do it's part to recruit additional leaders from all of the
dens, but to be honest, no one is in a better position to observe parent interest and
willingness to participate than you are. You're also in a better position to approach
parents and ask that they register to become assistants. (Here's a hint - for one
of your first meetings do an ice-breaker activity that requires the scouts to find
another scout who likes spaghetti, was born in another state, has the same favorite color, etc.
One of the questions should be 'Find a scout who's Dad was a Boy Scout.' Once you've
found out which parents are former scouts, ask them about signing up to be assistant
leaders first.)
Find out who the Trainers in your Pack are and don't be afraid to talk to them
frequently. Let them know what you are doing and ask about any problems that you are having
or things that you don't fully understand.
You should never be reluctant to approach your Cubmaster about anything related
to the Pack in general or your Den specifically. If you are having problems with parents,
Scouts, assistant leaders, program ideas, etc and you do not talk it over with your
Cubmaster, you are doing the Pack a disservice.
The Den Chief must be at least First Class rank and must attend a Den Chief training
course.
If your den does not have a Den Chief and you are interested in working with one, let
your Cubmaster know.
(One last point - although they can be a great help to your den, please keep in mind that
Den Chiefs are not adults. View working with a Den Chief as an opportunity not
only to gain some help for your den, but also a chance to help a young man develop
his leadership skills. View yourself as a mentor for the Den Chief.)
Here's a quick overview of some of the more important publications that you should be
aware of as a Cub Scout Leader:
You need to help set a good example by arriving at your Den meetings in a proper
uniform. If you are new to Scouting, you may not know what 'a proper uniform'
really consists of. Never fear! BSA provides literature to spell it all out.
For example, the parent who volunteered to provide a guest speaker for tonight's
den meeting just called (5 minutes before the den meeting is supposed to start)
to tell you that they won't be able to attend the meeting tonite. Oh, by the way,
they forgot to invite the guest speaker. Have fun!
What would you do in a situation like this? Take my advice - sit down ahead of
time and plan out at least 2 full den meetings. Put the plans for those 2
den meetings in your goody box and leave them alone. Then, when faced with a last-minute
cancellation, it's just a matter of pulling one of the plans out of the goody box and
following the plan. Backup plans can be related directly to a requirement that the
Cub Scouts need for rank advancement or they can be something like a game, skit, craft
project, etc.
(Remember that each time you use one of your backup meeting plans
to write up another and replace the used plan.)
Here is another situation that will arise from time to time: you planned an activity
for tonight's den meeting that you thought would last about 45 minutes.
But after 20 minutes, all of the Scouts have finished it! Now what do you do?
Once again, it pays to plan ahead. After looking over this resource CD, the BSA publications,
and some good websites, you should be able to find a few den activities that you can carry
around with you. Then, if things don't go as planned, just pull out one of these
activities and have some fun.
Two very valuable forms of training that you should be aware of are Roundtables and Pow Wows.
The format of a Roundtable is that 1/2 of the meeting will be general District
announcements and information pertinent to all units and 1/2 of the meeting is
break-out sessions (some of which are Cub Scout specific).
If you do not have a representative in attendance at the monthly Pack Leader meeting,
Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating for a Cubmaster or Committee Chairman
than to hear comments like "we didn't know about that" from leaders or parents of a
den that is never represented at the monthly Leader meeting.
Here are some suggestions for helping you organize:
Get Help
Parents
First and foremost - you see all of those tall people who bring their sons in and
drop them off for den meetings, then try to sneak out the door? Grab them! Don't
let them go. They are one of your key resources.
Assistant Den Leaders
BSA requires 2-deep leadership for all Cub Scout activities. That means that any time
Cub Scouts other that your own son are with you for the purpose of participating in
a Cub Scout activity, you need to have another leader around.
Pack Trainers
Your Pack may have one or more Trainers - leaders who have been in scouting for
a number of years, have lots of experience, and have volunteered to help other
leaders as needed. Some of the Trainers may actually be certified to run
BSA sanctioned training classes such as New Leader Essentials. (BSA used to
call these experienced leaders 'Den Leader Coaches".)
Cubmaster
Chances are that your Cubmaster has also been in scouting for a number of years and
knows a lot about the program, district and council activities, what other dens
are doing, and so on. If your Cubmaster is doing his job properly, you'll be hearing
from him frequently. He'll want to get a feel for how things are going in your den.
He'll be conducting monthly leader meetings to share information with you and he'll
want to discuss the monthly Pack meeting with you. He'll want to make sure that you are
aware of special activities like family campouts, service projects, training opportunities,
and Pack field trips.
Pack Committee
Besides the Den Leaders, Trainers, Cubmaster, and Assistants, there are other adult
leaders in the Pack. They make up the Pack Committee and, in general, they plan all of the
Pack's activites and fund raising. Develop a good relationship with the committee,
especially the Committee Chairman, and let them know if you have any suggestions for
ways to improve the program or suggestions for equipment or other resources that
you think the Pack should invest in.
Den Chief
As part of the Boy Scout program, there is a lot of emphasis on getting the older
Scouts into leadership positions such as Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader,
Quartermaster, Scribe, Librarian, Bugler, etc. One of the leadership positions is
called a Den Chief. A Den Chief is a Boy Scout who regularly attends Cub Scout
den meetings and helps the Den Leaders. He is a friend to the Cub Scouts and a helper
for the Den Leader.
BSA Publications
There are a lot of BSA publications that are available to help you better
understand the Cub Scout program and plan your den's activities. Pack 356 maintains
a 'library' of many of these publications in the conference room at Sunrise UMC.
Any leader may borrow these publications at any time.
Get a Uniform
Uniforms are an integral part of Scouting.
They help identify the Scouts to the community.
They help you identify Scouts when you are out in a crowd.
They provide a place where the Scouts can display recognition of their advancements and
hard work.
They make the Scouts feel different about themselves (in a positive way!)
Have a Backup Plan
You never know what might go wrong.
Browse the Web
There are literally tons of scouting-related websites at your disposal if you have
access to the web. Some are sponsored by the BSA national organization and
BSA councils around the country. Some are sponsored by Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout
Troops, and individual Scout leaders. Some are professionally done and others
are very amateur. Here is a
starter list
of some websites that you should find
very useful, but don't be afraid to type a scouting-related query into your favorite
search engine to find a whole lot more.
Assemble a 'Goody Box'
A 'goody box' is a box full of supplies and resources that you can use to
execute planned and unplanned den activities. Here are some
details...
Attend Pow Wow and Roundtables
Besides the Fast Start Training and New Leader Essentials/Cub Scout Leader Specific
training, your local District and Council will have some other very useful training
sessions.
Roundtable
A Roundtable is a monthly leader training event sponsored by your District.
Dan Beard District Round Table Meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of each
month, with the exceptions of July and November. Meetings start at 7:30 pm and
normally end by 9 pm. The meetings currently are held at
Raleigh First United Pentecostal Church at 2312 Lake Wheeler Road.
(Note that the dates and location could change at any time, so check with your
Cubmaster or check the
District website
to verify the details.)
Pow Wow
A Pow Wow is a day-long Cub Scout Leader training event organized as a series
of hour or two-hour long classes. Follow this link for more details on
Pow Wows. (I highly recommend attendance at Pow Wow!!!)
Attend Monthly Pack Leader meetings
Your Pack will hold a monthly leader meeting. You should make every effort to
attend this meeting. If you cannot attend, please make sure that a co-Den Leader
or even a parent from your den goes to the meeting.
Stay Organized
Some people are just naturally very well organized and some people really have to
work at it. Whichever category you fall into, please recognize the importance
of being organized as a Cub Scout Leader. In particular, plan out den
activities in advance, communicate
the plan to all Scouts and their parents, and then stick to the plan. When
last minute changes are needed, have a reliable means of communicating the
change in plans to all families and to the Cubmaster and communicate the
change far enough in advance that parents have time to receive the message
and react.
Many documents on this CD are in PDF format.
You can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, from Adobe's website:
www.adobe.com