ScoutMomAng

foto---that is ASSUMING (and you know what they say about people who assume) that the pack actually does go year around. Remember, I said he re-registered in late December and they didn't know anything about the "New" pack fees until Late September. I don't like forced participation either. If you get the information out to the parents and you let them know what is involved, how much money is involved, when you need it, etc. and then they don't jump on the band wagon then there is nothing they can say. As far as fundraisers, maybe your participation in accordance with your presentation??? The first year my son was a cub scout we only had about 10 boys participate in the popcorn sales. EVERYBODY seen how it affected the boys. The second year we had about 15 boys participate. The third year I took over as popcorn Kernal because my husband seen what I did with Girl Scout cookies for two years and he thought my presentation would help. That year we still only had about 25 boys out of 50 participate but we increased our sales by more than 50%! This year, I anticipate the same thing. Our sales aren't done yet because we were affected by Hurricane Ivan which delayed our program but I still anticipate a good outcome.

Hello, My name is Angela. I currently live in Florida but am originally from Detroit, Michigan! MGOBLUE I'm a Girl Scout Leader of 36 girls, and a Webelos leader (currently of 8). This is my second year as a Webelos leader and I love it! This is my fourth year as a Girl Scout leader and I love it! My girl scout troop went from 6 to 8 to 10 and this year up to 36 (all age levels except Seniors)! The girls keep hearing about my troop and keep coming my way and since I can't say no I just keep adding them! I have to say that I do Love the Webelos more than Girl Scouts though. I love working with the boys and their requirements. I have 2 boys in Cub Scouts and one daughter in Girl Scouts. My oldest son is in his second year of Webelos and I will probably cry at the crossing over ceremony but I will be happy that he is moving on to bigger and better things. I have told the Pack master he has me as his Webelos leader for life! I'm not leaving until they kick me out or until we move away (my husband is military). My second son is only a wee Tiger Cub and he LOVES it. My daughter is a Cadette Girl Scout (even though they have changed it to Teens 11-17 WE are still calling it Cadettes and Seniors). I'm glad I found this place because it has helped me along the way. I have used other places on Scouter but am just now starting to enjoy this Forum stuff!

Hi Eri, I'm a Girl Scout Leadaer as well as a cub Scout leader. I came so late to the scouting movement that I didn't start until 4 years ago! I'm kicking myself now for all the things I missed out on as a child! Congratulations on the Gold Award and keep mentioning it to everybody and it's equivilent to the Eagle Award so that more people know what it is! Put it on your resumes, on your applications and anywhere else you can think of. The only way the Girl Scouts are going to get that Gold Award as highly regarded as the boys Eagle Scout is for us to keep putting the word out! Again, Congratulations on all your hard work! Angela

ScoutNut! Thanks for totally understanding! The fees are Den dues, and NOT pack dues. There was NOTHING about Pack Dues, which I mentioned to my sister. And I agree with Anarchist that $10 to $12 a month for an entire year is not bad either. However it does not boil down to that when it comes to paying it. It was sprung on them in Late September to be paid by the first of January. That gives 4 months to pay $135.00 with Christmas and Thanksgiving rolled in there too. I also agree that the boy should have to pay for Pinewood derby costs, I never said he shouldn't. I did say, however, to include the cost of a hay ride and hockey game in the fees, then deny Pinewood derby if they are not paid upfront is ridiculous. Our pack has to recharter by November 9th. But the cost of rechartering is nowhere near $135.00. My Webelos II are only paying a total cost of $25.80 and that covers the national fee, pack dues (only $5.00 because they will be leaving soon for Boy Scouts) and Boys Life, which is totally optional. As a comittee person on MY pack's committee I would never agree to having somebody pay the cost of trips in the registration. If the boy is going to attend those events then they should be paid far enough in advance that the pack can reserve space and prepurchase tickets if need be. I'm not saying he should be given a free ride but what the heck are they using the popcorn money for?????? He's selling it. As for buying popcorn, I have 2 of my own boys in the pack and from both of them I buy the $50.00 tin. That's $100.00 worth of popcorn! Every year I say, "I have no idea what we will do with this much popcorn" but it is always gone before I know it. I myself could afford to pay the $135.00 for my sister, however I won't until they break it down and take off things that he will not participate in or has no way of knowing if he will participate. I also agree with the "Son, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you..." but sometimes that doesn't always work. I know from experience.

I asked the same questions about fundraising. She said they do them but nobody has said what that money is used for. Like I said, I am a Webelos leader myself in Florida. My pack's budget is also about the same for every boy. And I am on our comittee. My sister is probably not on the committee for her step son, however they are just a new family so that was probably not something in the plans of the creating the family. I'm sure it will be this year though. Our pack would NEVER deny a boy from participating in any event. Of course our pack would NEVER set up an outrageous fee either. Our annual PACK dues are $20.00 per boy. That helps to offset the cost of awards, belt loops, rank etc. We use our popcorn to the FULLEST extent. As a matter of fact I am the Popcorn Kernal! I have challenged each boy to sell $600.00 worth of popcorn, to help cover our budget and make an entire year of scouting FREE for every boy. I don't anticipate we will get there but we have things on the list that will get knocked off first. I broke down exactly what my sister said the $135.00 was for. None of it covered camping, none of it covered the pinewood derby or anything related it to it. It covered things that should be a pay as you go thing in my opinion. (Hay ride, hockey game, and other "trips") What if the boy happens to be with his mother the weekends of the trips? His mother isn't going to take him so that means his dad and step mom have shelled out money for an activity that he won't get to go on because mom didn't feel it was important. I think the money should cover things like advancements, new book when he advances to the next rank. I'm not trying to make excuses for NOT paying the money, I think since the fee has been set it's pretty much a done deal with the exception that he re-registered at the end of last year for this year and the new fees were not imposed on them until late September (after school started), and by that time they had already had plans for the weekend of the Hay Ride so that amount should be omitted from the cost. My biggest concern was that it states actually on their form "If the fees are not paid in full by 1 January 2005, the boy may NOT participate in the Pinewood Derby". I think that is unfair. Everyboy should have the opportunity to race in the pinewood derby. He surely won't get to do it when he is a Boy Scout.

I have asked my sister about another pack but this is where he goes to school so all his friends are there. I can see your point about the fundraising, we have had that issue in our pack when my husband was the pack master. Our answer then was to give everyboy a balance sheet. The amount that they fundraised for the pack was credited to their "account", when something came up that the parent wanted to use their account for that is what they did. When they ran out they understood they had to pay out of pocket. It didn't always work either but I don't know that there is a solution to that. However, if the committee got together before the fundraiser and decided how much money they needed to run their pack then that is what they should of told the boys they had to raise. If they didn't raise that then they should take out the uncessary items. But to prohibit a boy from participating in the Pinewood Derby? That just goes a little too far if you ask me. There is so much a boy can learn from building his own car and participating in a competition with something he built himself. I still don't think they should charge for activities they have no guarantee that the boy can or cannot attend, (hay ride).

As a Webelos leader myself this is what I tell my boys when they miss a meeting, but first let me say that the parents of Webelos scouts no longer have the privelage of signing off in the Webelos book. It says it somewhere in the book I just can't put my finger on the page right this moment. However, because the boy has missed the meeting does not mean he can not go back and catch up. The leader should tell him what he missed, what steps they did toward that badge and what he should do to complete it. Once he completes it he should bring it back so the leader knows he has completed it and the leader can sign off or if they den or pack has an advancement person then they too should be able to sign off. The boy should NEVER be forbidden to complete work he missed especially if it means he will earn his Webelos Badge or his Arrow of Light (AOL).

Hi! I'm a Webelos leader in Panama City, Florida. I read your post today and I think I can help! First of all it is VERY possible to earn one activity badge per month! Some however, do requirea little more work than one month (i.e. Citizen). But those that require more than one month also usually have belt loops that they will earn to complete requirements and those will be the awards they will earn for that month at the pack meeting. Fortunately there are not many activity badges that will take more than one month. Second of all...use your resources wisely. Find out from your parents their hobbies. Maybe you have a dad that knows some woodworking. He can help you on several badges (craftsman, engineer etc.). Maybe you have a mom that is good with crafts, she can help with the craftsman activity badge! Find outside speakers to come and talk to the boys about some other things! Nobody ever said you had to know how to do it all by yourself! There have been several badges that my boys have earned that I did not do a thing for except set up the meeting! For example, my boys just earned their Geology activity badge, belt loop and academics pin and all I did was contact the Florida Geological Society! They did all the work for me, except the driving from here to there and back. Use the internet! There are several places to go that can give you step by step instructions on what to do to complete a badge! Plan out a couple of months worth of activity badges ahead of time and always try to stay one week ahead of yourself. For example if you meet on Tuesdays then for the upcoming Tuesday you should've already had in place the stuff ready for this meeting the week before (make sense?). As a first year Webelos leader the most important thing you should do is first concentrate on Fitness and Citizen. Both of those badges are REQUIRED to get the Webelos badge. To keep your boys in line, pick a denner and an assistant denner. They will help you set the example. Learn the Cub scout sign. This sign they should know when it goes up their mouths go shut. I have only 8 boys this year. Last year I had 15 boys. They learned the sign in a hurry. I don't speak when my sign is up and they soon realize that sign means they are off task. Also, I have incorporated, recently, that if I have to tell them to stop doing something more than once in a den meeting they owe me some exercises. I start out with push ups, then jumping jacks then a 50 yard dash. It isn't punishment because in realization they are working on their Athlete Activity Badge! Tricky I know but its killing two birds with one stone if you know what I mean. Make sure you time their 50 yard dash, count their push ups in a 60 second time frame and their jumping jacks in a 60 second time frame, and document it but don't tell them you are documenting it for their sake. None of my boys realize they are working on their Athlete Activity badge! But several are showing improvement! If you have powerpoint on your computer I'd be more than willing to send you the power point training I helped my husband put together for Webelos, just e-mail me. I love webelos and I will stay a Webelos leader for a long time to come, even after both my boys move onto boy scouts! They are a great age group to work with. One other important thing to remember is that your meetings should only be one time per week for no more than 1 hour and 15 minutes, and their attention spans are short so keep your activities changing or make sure they are hands on. No lectures. This age HATES lectures, they get that all day at school. If you need anymore help please feel free to e-mail me. Oh yeah...and some requirements say "with your parent...." make those homework. Emphasize how important it is they work with their parent on this activity and how important it is to have it back by the next meeting.

I'm a Webelos leader in Florida. My sister is the step mom of a second grade boy (second year in second grade) and is a Bear Scout this year, in Michigan. Last year he was a Wolf Scout. This year his pack has "decided to do something different". The registration fee this year for returning Bear scouts is $135.oo!!! I think this is outrageous because first of all it does not cover anything scout wise. It pays den dues, blue and gold dinner, some hockey game, some hayride (which he already missed), and his pinewood derby car kit, boys life magazine, and maybe a few other things but that seemed to be the most of it. The biggest kicker is that if the fees are not paid by January then the boy can not participate in the Pinewood Derby. I think this is an unfair call. First of all why are they including fees for things the boy may or may not attend (hay ride, hockey game etc.)? Suppose something happens and the boy can not attend these events??? Doesn't $135.00 seem like a lot of money when registration is in the ballpark of $10.00 per year, boys life is only 10.80 per year, and den dues should be no more than $1.25 per week???? And can they really tell a boy that he can NOT participate in the Pinewood Derby? I thought scouting was supposed to be for every boy everywhere. Can something be done about the outrageous fees? Why aren't they using the money from the fundraisers for some of the stuff they have, like the blue and gold dinner, and the pinewood derby? Who should my sister call? They can't afford that amount for registration and sometimes the boy does not deserve to go to special outings like hockey games, hay rides, etc. I believe scouts should never be taken away as a punishment but the extra activities should be. If the boy deliberately does not do his homework and pulls failing grades just because he "didn't want to do it" then he should not be privvy to extra activities like a hay ride, so why should she pay for it up front when she doesn't know how he will behave???