A few items to be aware of this month:
ScoutsBSA joining requirements tweaked
A minor change has been made to the requirements to join a ScoutsBSA troop effective on April 18. Those youth who are ten years old, but who have not yet earned the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light award, need not wait until they’ve completed fifth grade. They can join a troop on or after March 1 of their fifth-grade year. This will allow them to get in the swing of things with the troop, go on a couple campouts, and be more ready to attend summer camp than if they waited until June.
The other alternate requirements – either being eleven years old, or ten years old and earned the Arrow of Light award – have not changed. Satisfy any of the three and it’s off to ScoutsBSA they can go. And they can, if they wish, remain active in the pack instead, choosing to finish up Arrow of Light before crossing over.
The change would appear to mainly pertain to youth who never joined Cub Scouts or who had only been active for a short time – say, those who joined in fifth grade (we’ve had a few, usually when a younger brother or sister joins also). Most who have been active all along would want to finish Arrow of Light, Cub Scouting’s highest award, and many would have done so by March 1 of their fifth grade year anyway.
Summertime Activities
Before you let your Cub Scouts go for the summer, make sure you’ve planned activities to hold their interest. Packs should plan to do something each month (June, July and August), whether it’s an overnight camping experience or an afternoon of fishing, cycling or picnicking. Get the word out to your families so they can put it on their calendars, and remind them about the National Summertime Award that the Scouts can earn by participating.
Unit Leadership Moment
Are you occasionally found in a meeting that seems to have gone off the rails, or doesn’t have much of a point? We’ve written about how to have successful, meaningful meetings before. Here are a couple recent articles that help guide the way to improving the meeting experience.
- Scott Eblin cautions us about holding unnecessary meetings that don’t have a clear outcome in his article Three Questions That Lead to Better Meetings.
- Naphtali Hoff continues a series on meetings with an article that suggests you Say No to Unimportant Meetings. While it’s not always possible to do so, you should carefully consider whether it’s essential to participate, and if you are the organizer, think carefully about whether a meeting is necessary.
This post first appeared on Bobwhite Blather.
