3scoutsmom

Hi everyone. I'm a Pack Committee Member, designated as a go between for the Tiger leaders and Pack leadership. The idea was that the new Tiger leaders would have someone to go to if they need assistance during the year. My youngest son is a Tiger and I have two older boys who are now Boy Scouts, so I guess I have some experience (although this is my first year as a leader.) We have 12 Tigers, split into 2 dens, one with 8 boys, the other with 4 (was 5 but apparently one boy has dropped out.) The split was based on which night worked for the families, which is why the numbers aren't even. I myself had to choose a den based on my schedule, and became assistant Den Leader in the larger den. The leader of our den has done a wonderful job. We have a shortened Pack year, but it looks like all the boys in this den will easily accomplish all the requirements for the Tiger Badge and quite a number of electives. The meetings are regular, fun, and the parents have been very responsive. The smaller den is like the night to that den's day. Very long story short, they haven't earned any achievement beads at all, they've been meeting but doing what the den leader calls "crafts", completely unrelated to the handbook. There is no assistant, the one person who was interested was the one who dropped out. The leader hasn't called me once for help, and has turned down offers of assistance from me and from the other den leader. It seemed like all was well for the first few months, but obviously not. Our Pack year ends in March, traditionally we don't hold regular meetings again until September (that's a whole nother issue!) There is simply not enough time for the boys in the smaller den to earn the Tiger rank before then, and it honestly looks like the parents aren't motivated to even try. The den leader accepts responsibility but seems to have an "oh well" attitude about the whole thing. At this point I just want the boys to get some kind of reward, even if unofficial, when we award ranks to the other Tigers. They haven't been included in achievements during Pack meetings since they got their Tiger Totems in October. I realize this is probably more of a vent than anything else, but I'm hoping there might be some ideas on how to encourage the boys to continue into Wolves, even if the boys most likely won't earn the Tiger Rank. I'd also love any hints on how to get more parents to become active- because at this point there will be no Wolf leadership for that den at all, and we as a Pack will not allow a den with more than 9 boys, so they can't all join the other den. Thanks!