More ideas for den meeting planning

denmeetingIf you’re a den leader, you realize that successful den meetings are planned in advance and have a variety of activities for the boys. The new Adventure program puts everything together so you don’t have to try to figure out for yourself how to run your den meetings. The goal is engagement, with advancement as the most visible byproduct.

The November/December 2015 issue of Scouting Magazine has a great article describing steps to planning better den meetings. In the article, Webelos leader David Kampa describes five big ideas for not only making meetings more fun for the boys but easier for you to plan. Continue reading “More ideas for den meeting planning”

Making meetings less painful

committee_table_200Scouters seem to be addicted to meetings. In your unit, you either conduct meetings with the youth (den and pack meetings, for instance), or hover way in the background during troop and patrol meetings. We have meetings of our own, too – committee and leader meetings, district committee and commissioner meetings, Roundtable, and all sorts of subcommittee and planning meetings.

It seems as though our “one hour a week” doesn’t begin to include the meetings we attend, plan or participate in.

To be sure, meetings are necessary. They facilitate face-to-face communication and instant feedback from stakeholders and participants. E-mail can convey information and can be a tool for collaboration, but nothing takes the place of an in-person meeting for doing business.

And meetings are sometimes rightfully dreaded by most people who are expected to attend them. Continue reading “Making meetings less painful”

A Scout is helpful, but check first

kettledude_250A Scout is helpful. It’s the third point of the Scout Law. And to help other people at all times is part of the Scout Oath.

Scouts help others every day. Service is part of our rank requirements, and troops and packs do service projects regularly. Service to an organization outside of Scouting is a requirement for Eagle.

As the holiday season approaches, we find ourselves helping out in many ways – collecting food and clothing for the needy, staffing holiday shops at hospitals and churches, caroling in nursing homes and running errands for senior citizens.

You might think that helping with one of the most visible and iconic service projects in America would be right up our alley. Continue reading “A Scout is helpful, but check first”

How much are you doing for them?

checklist_200The question came up recently on one of the forums about how different troops handle registration for monthly campouts, and I was intrigued to read the replies.

Many respondents had well thought-out procedures, ranging from e-mailed permission forms to Google documents and the BSA’s new Scoutbook. These systems aim to add some level of reliability and dependability to the process of parents signing their sons up to go camping and to make things easier for them.

It’s great to have a consistent way to reach the parents, to get word back on who is going, and to be able to assign drivers to take Scouts to and from camp. This certainly helps the troop committee members and the Scoutmaster responsible for overseeing the campout.

Most of them, however, miss the point. Continue reading “How much are you doing for them?”

Aligning your values

The Scout LawSomething drew you in to be a Scouter. Maybe it was your son bugging you to let him join the Cub Scout pack at school. Maybe you were a Scout as a kid, and you remembered the good times and wanted your son to enjoy them too. A friend might have suggested you get involved because you have talents that should be paid forward.

One thing’s likely: you didn’t just look at the mission and values of the Scouting movement and decide that you should become involved.

But it is likely that Scouting’s values align with your own pretty closely. Continue reading “Aligning your values”