Advancement notes: Girls in Cub Scouts, OA crossover ceremonies, more

Periodically, the Boy Scouts of America’s national advancement team updates everyone involved with advancement with the latest trends, ideas and changes. Here are a few topics covered in the latest update:

Order of the Arrow Cub Crossover Ceremonies

If you’ve been around Scouting for long, you’ve probably seen an Arrow of Light or Crossover ceremony performed by the ceremonies team of your local Order of the Arrow lodge or chapter. Continue reading “Advancement notes: Girls in Cub Scouts, OA crossover ceremonies, more”

Three things you must do now

It’s already mid-August, which means school will be starting very soon for most, and with it the Cub Scout program year. Packs should have been planning their recruiting activities – Boy (and Girl!) Talks, exhibits and demonstrations at school activity nights, School Nights for Scouting (evening presentations and orientation for new Scouts and families) and the first whiz-bang pack meeting.

But there are three things you need to do as soon as possible. Continue reading “Three things you must do now”

Family Scouting Early Adopter program

In October 2017, the Boy Scouts of America took the historic step of deciding to allow girls into our Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting programs  The introduction of Family Scouting, as it’s known, into Cub Scout packs was to begin by the fall recruiting season in 2018, while the parallel program for girls of Boy Scout age is due to start sometime in 2019.

Now, under the Early Adopter program, councils which opt-in are allowing packs to begin recruiting girls this winter. Continue reading “Family Scouting Early Adopter program”

Family Scouting is on the way!

By now you have heard that the Boy Scouts of America will begin to allow Cub Scout packs to register girls beginning next fall, and a program for older girls is on the way as well.

This is a long-awaited (and long-feared) advance in our programs. Embraced by many, it’s also criticized by some who fear the erosion of our “traditional” values. But experts up and down have endorsed the concept as a way to unite families and make Scouting more convenient for today’s families fragmented by diverse schedules and activities.

The core of the apple is this: Continue reading “Family Scouting is on the way!”