ScoutNut

The BSA Tiger program is very specific, and different from every other Cub Scout program. The central element of the Tiger program is the Tiger/Adult Partner TEAM. Tiger dens are run using SHARED LEADERSHIP between all of the den's Tiger TEAMS. From the BSA Adult Application that you signed - "I agree to comply with the Charter and Bylaws, and the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America and the local council." You are taking on a failing Cub Scout Pack as Cubmaster. Don't you think that it would be better for the Pack, and it's Cub Scouts, if you started off on the right foot, and set a good example by FOLLOWING the BSA programs, instead of making things up as you go?

The BSA Family program is NOT advancement related at all. It is an optional, extra program available.

We have held BALOO the same weekend, at the same place, as Webelos Outdoor, and IOLS. The only time we combined any part of BALOO was when my son did a couple of DO cobblers, and everyone came together for dessert after lunch. Other than that, everyone was doing their own thing, in their own training, in different parts of camp. We combine parts of Webelos Outdoor and IOLS, and both are overnighters. However, BSA specifically states that BALOO should NOT be merged with any other training. BSA also states that BALOO is not intended as an overnight experience.

Just to clarify - are you talking about INCOME tax or SALES tax? BIG difference. >>"With Girl Scouts its very simple. The council has the number, they give it to all the troops, end of story."

According to the BSA Insignia Guide, adults can wear the Eagle medal only on formal Eagle occasions. This would mean that your white-tie event MUST be a BSA event. For civilian wear (non-BSA white-tie event), BSA has the miniature sterling silver Eagle pin/tie tack.

At 14', you really should have a ridge pole, or center pole of some kind. If you can find a cheap, lightweight, waterproof fabric to use, consder using PVC poles. You can get connecters for the pipe, so you can use 2-7'er's for the ends, 1-7'er for the center, and 2-7'er's for the ridge, and 3 connecters. Or, depending on what you can find in your area, instead of 1-7', use 2-3.5' with a connecter in the middle. this would have it break down into a smaller package. It would be easy, relatively lightweight, and might all fit in an old pole bag.

Keep in mind, the training is aimed at a relatively new Cub Scout parent volunteer, or leader, with minimal camping experience. The goal is to give that new, inexperienced, volunteer, the tools, and the confidence to plan, and carry out a basic, entry level, Pack overnighter for other inexperienced families. >>"Instructor was prepped for 11 folks and almost 30 showed up."

Scout Accounts are NOT a little side business of the Scouts. If that were the case, all of the Scouts would have to file income tax on the amount every year. The money in Scout accounts does not actually belong to the boys at all. It belongs to the unit, and ultimately, the units Charter Organization. If you have a parent of a Scout who is no longer a member of BSA, demanding "his" money, simply explain the money is NOT his, it is the CO's to do with what they want.

I took it last night. I thought it was a pretty good overview.

I can't say that I have ever heard of Day Camp software. Are you the Day Camp Director? All of the DC Directors, and DC Program Directors, I have worked with used simple excel spreadsheets, along with the registration materials for each boy. You might ask when you attend National Camp School. If you are not Camp Director, or Program Director, you would really have no need for software of any kind.

The boys have to be out of kindergarten in order to register as a Tiger Cub Scout. Typically, we will take any Tiger registrations at our last Pack meeting of the school year, at the end of May. After June 1st they are considered official Tigers by BSA. As for running Tiger den meetings during the Summer, I do not think that would work well. While sometimes you might get lucky, and register an entire den of Tigers, the most likely scenario is that you will get 1, or 2 (1 being your son), signed up in May. They are typically siblings of older Scouts already in your Pack, who have been going to Cub Scout meetings for a few years, and don't need to be "acclimatized". The majority of your brand new Tigers will not join until school starts up in August/September. With the couple of Spring Tigers you register, it would be better to simply let them have fun with the rest of the Pack at the Summer Pack activities. If the Pack does not give the Scouts their handbooks, encourage the Tiger's families to purchase the Tiger handbook, and work on the Bobcat, and maybe the Tiger FAMILY, requirements over the Summer with their sons. Also, encourage them to sign up for your District Day Camp. That is a great, fun into to Scouts. Have fun, and relax with your new Tiger this Summer. Remember, in the Tiger program, the Tiger den leader does NOT plan and run all of the den meetings. In fact, they are more of a coordinator, a back-up, and a bridge to the Pack. Just a note - wait until Fall to purchase the uniform. While you might feel you are buying it big enough in Spring to last 3-4 years, if they have a good growing spurt over the Summer, you might end up lucky to get 1-2 years out of it.

In an instance like that, your Tiger Den Leader was wrong. There was an emergency, another parent had agreed to accept the position of Tiger Partner for that one outing. Your Tiger Leader should have had the sick parent send along a permission slip, and all would have been fine. Nowhere in the BSA rules does it say that 1 adult can not be in charge of 2 youth. I had a set of triplets a few years back whose dad was their only partner. He also often had to bring his little daughter with. The 5 of them did very well.

Even with "going on 10 in December", if they are still in 4th grade, the earliest they can earn AOL, and move into a Boy Scout Troop, is June. No, I do not feel this discriminates against the boys. It is called age appropriate programing. All problems for this issue fall squarely on the heads of the adults involved - NOT the BSA! If the den leader, and the Pack leadership, had followed the BSA rules, and not taken it upon themselves to rewrite the Cub Scout requirements, there would be no problem at all, for Scouts, Troop, or Council.

The online NLE - "This is Scouting" - is now up on the BSA E-Learning site.

>>"The decision was based on what BSA felt was trademark infringement with using it's name and logo improperly"

>>"I know the adult partner is supposed to work with the boiy but I also know this is not always the case"

Online version of the Health & Safety Sylabus - http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/19-100A.pdf "This course is to be offered to all unit leaders, district staff, and council staff. All leaders should receive this training every two years." It does NOT say "REQUIRED", "MANDATORY", or even "MUST". It states "OFFERED" and "SHOULD", which is BSA speak for it would be nice if they would take it, but we are not forcing it at present. I can understand why they have not made it mandatory as it is pretty much a combined, re-hash of all of the safety portions of the other trainings. As a BIG chunk of it is driver safety, it would make more sense to make that a separate training altogether. It would make a decent online course for drivers. Still no mention of married adults not being a good idea for 2-deep leadership.

Well to start with, you need a new den leader for your den. As Cubmaster, Cubmaster should be your primary/only responsibility, especially with a new Pack. Next, you need a Pack Committee Chair. It is NOT "YOUR" Pack Committee. The Pack Committee is overseen by the Pack Committee Chair, NOT the Cubmaster. Positions your Pack Committee Chair REALLY needs on the Committee - Treasurer, Fundraising Chair (can be Treasurer), Advancement Chair, & BALOO trained Activity Chair. All other positions can pretty much be consolidated, or not used, until you are a bit bigger, and more established. Councils are running their Spring Trainings now - Sign up ALL ADULT LEADERS for training ASAP. Suggest all unregistered "helpers", take the online Fast Start and Youth Protection trainings. Good Luck!

Yep, we have some Sycamores by us too! I usually have the boys look for smaller leaves. With Elm, Maple, Oak, Ginkgo, & even "baby" Sycamores, in the block surrounding our meeting place, they can usually find something smaller than their head!

Nowhere in ANY BSA literature (that I can find) does BSA SUGGEST (even remotely, or in passing) that a married couple can NOT serve as 2-deep leadership, or even that it would be a better idea to use unmarried adults. The only thing the syllabus for the Health & Safety Training Course (which BSA has NOT made mandatory for all registered adult leaders) says on the subject of 2-deep leadership is that 2 adult leaders, one of whom is 21 and one of whom may be 18 years old, are required for all BSA trips and outings. Individual Councils, or Chartered Partners, might, possibly, have made LOCAL rules restricting, or banning, married couples in conjunction with the 2-deep leadership policy. However, BSA National has NOT.

Keep in mind the costs involved. You don't want to be charging your Tiger Teams a huge amount of den dues to pay for all of this stuff. Not every National theme is going to lend itself to an easy slide. Go thru the Program Helps and see which ones will work and only do those. Why stay with only the National theme? You can incorporate Tiger requirements into making easy slides too. Do your leaf rubbings for Tiger requirement #5D. Cut out the leaf shapes and glue them to a heavier background (cardboard, piece of foam, etc). Attach a piece of pipe cleaner to the back, and you have a nice slide.

A Tiger den meeting should not be all crafts, but it should not be all games either. A den meeting should include different activities. A game, or song is a great ADDITION to a den meeting. Games are often used for the gathering activity, to keep the boys involved until everyone is there, and the meeting can start. Your Tiger Teams will have Tiger Den requirements that they will be working on in den meetings. There are also a lot of Tiger Electives which your Tiger Teams can decide to do in den meetings. These can incorporate aspects of both a craft and a game, or outdoor activity. For instance, you can do a craft, and make paper cup string telephones. Then use those telephones to play the "Tell It Like It Isn't" game for requirement #4D. You can make different kinds of paper airplanes (craft), and then take them outside to see which ones fly better for elective #17. Songs are a great for after you have cleaned up, and right before you do your closing ceremony.

Sounds good. Just a few thoughts - Is the Pack going to pay for the flag patches? Do you have an American flag available for your use, or will it have to be purchased by the Pack (or den)? You don't want it to big or it will be difficult to transport.

IOLS is not a subsitiute for OLSWL. Webelos Outdoor is aimed at the CUB SCOUT Webelos level leader, and includes info on doing the outdoor Webelos Activity Badges.

Rick - As I see it, your problem is that boys in your District are going to MBU's in other Districts, and getting signed off completely on difficult MB's, by MBC's at the event, for only a couple of hours of work. Once a registered MBC has signed off on a MB it is a done deal, and no one (including the District Advancement Chair) can take the MB away from the Scout. My question would be - can these MB's realistically be completed, in full, possibly with some work done pre-event, in the time alloted to them at the MBU? If the answer is yes, than you really have no problem. If the answer is no, than you need to have a talk with the DAC from the other District about how their MBU's are run. If you get no help from the other District Advancement Chair, then I would recommend bringing the problem up at your District Committee meeting.