Common Traits of Highly Successful Packs

[Bob White]

Here are some elements I have seen exist in packs that have teriffic programs. These are the packs that recruit and retain Cubs in large numbers and have 1/3 or more of the families involved as volunteers. I thought it might help packs that are looking for ways to improve or want to have a measuring tool to see how they are doing administratively.

Hope it helps,

Bob White

 

They have Trained, Uniformed Leaders.

 

Everybody smiles and plays nice together.

 

They: Think Big..Have a Plan.. Put it in writing.

 

They sell popcorn.

 

They use ceremonies.

 

They keep the parents informed

Den and Pack Newsletters and a printed calendar

 

They select specific people to do specific jobs

 

They control the length of meetings.

 

They have the Den Leaders meet separately from the committee

 

They start and end all meetings on time.

 

They remember that Cub Scouts learn by doing. This is a hands-on program.

 

They attend The monthly Cub Scout Roundtable

 

[Twocubdad]

Thanks, Bob. Much wisdom in a few lines. I can honestly say that the only one our Pack doesn't do in have Den Leader meet separately from the committee. Hmmmmm.....something to think about....

 

Here are a couple of additions:

 

-- They go camping and participate in other outdoor activities.

 

-- They support district and council summer day and resident camps by encouraging boys to attend and supplying more than their share of adults.

 

--They train their replacements.

 

-- They stick to the program by encouraging the boys to work toward advancement.

 

-- They provide opportunities for the boys "to help other people" through service projects.

[sctmom]

And the camping and other events include ALL family members.

 

I've heard of some packs that still only have dads to camp. Our pack included everyone, after all it was FAMILY camping. We had a few grandmothers who enjoyed going along.

 

[Twocubdad]

Amen! Not to be sexist about it, but it's the mom's who show up on campouts with the big tins of brownies and cookies! The more the better!

 

So what do you do to encourage moms to camp? The two primary objections I hear are "I am NOT sleeping in the woods" (my wife) or "It's a guy thing. They need to do this with their dad."

 

Any suggestions?

[sctmom]

See my post under Camping about getting moms to camp.

 

WE MUST FEED PEOPLE --- it's in the secret mother's handbook, right along with "That's dangerous, you'll put somebody's eye out."

 

[tdyer56]

And let's not forget that one large key to having a successful pack is parent involvement.

 

Make opportuniies for them to participate in cerimonies, work on events, and anything else they can...even if not registered. Then get'em registered.

 

Tim Dyer

[CLangenhop]

It's easy to overlook how much of a burden the administrative side can be. I would add that highly successful packs have good advancements software, an informative website, and up-to-date e-mail lists.

[forestengr]

I took over as Cubmaster of Pack 93 in Orcutt, CA 1 1/2 years ago with 8 boys in the Pack, my 3 included. Today we have over 80 boys, 27 registered adult leaders, 14 certified rangemasters, 5 certified water safety instructors and a waiting list to join so I consider our Pack successful. Here's what we did to change the Pack and create a highly desired program.

 

1. We switched from an indoor style Pack/Den meetings to almost exclusively outdoor oriented. Our total amount of time we spend in an indoor setting is 2 pack meetings a year. I cant stand indoor meetings and dislike cutsie songs unless they are around a campfire!

 

2. Make the program attractive to parents, especially dads. The reason I say this is I have no problem getting moms to take part. And there is a false rumor out there moms dont like to camp, at least ours love it! Dads are the challenge. Dads dont like to do arts and crafts, Dads like to camp, fish, and explore. The more interesting to parents the more they care about the Program and will be come involved. Get them to head the committees and activities. We do a committee sign up in September. I do a talent ID sheet the beginning of each year to target potential instructors at events.

 

3. Develop a ceremony series based on an outdoor philosophy. I tweaked ours to incorporate the spirit of the wolf, deer etc.

 

4. Develop an outstanding Pack program. Ours is based on forestry but has alot of other interesting events. Geology field days, fishing trips, Parades, Sponsoring Cub Scout night at Dodger Stadium, airshows, wilderness excursions to national parks, beach parties etc. We teach wilderness skills such as orienteering, backpack camping, camp cooking, etc. We do a Pack 93 Funniest Video Night Night in February where each den produces the crazist video they can and we air them as a Pack meeting. The boys bring their sleeping bags and eat popcorn while scout executives vote on best video. In other words ANYTHING is better than having Pack meetings were the Cubmaster is up in front talking.

 

5. The more motivating the Pack Program, the better it is in the den programs. Encourage den leaders to provide outings in their programs. Dens are the most important and too much emphasis is placed on Pack evens, more needs to be done in helping den leaders produce interesting programs. We only have the boys once per month as Cubmasters, Den leaders have them weekly! Explore all training possibilities for them. We do a Leaders Retreat before every scouting year to assist den leaders in developing their programs and I prefer to train them myself and attend some of their meetings to get them going. Den leaders are a priceless commodity and should be made to feel that way.

 

6. Present most awards at the den level. We give all patches and belt loops at the dens. Only advancements, webelo pins, and big name patches like the WCB get Pack attention. Pack meetings are event based not sit downs.

 

7. Dont rely too heavily on program guides, official sources, and the standard spiel I see over and over again. Develop a program that interests YOU and incorporate scout requirements into it, not the other way around. I am a forester and developed it around forestry.

 

8. I see alot of talk about going to roundtable, selling popcorn, going to training, following program guides etc. Dont get me wrong, they are good things to have but we personally, have not found them to be very helpful. Packs reflect the local personality and I should make it clear to feel free to develop your program accordingly and dont feel married to those avenues.

 

9. Communication. Extremely important. We do a pack website as almost all of our families are linked to the internet. If you want to view it its at http://lospadrespack93.tripod.com. We also have an e-mail chain and Pack Newsletter. Dens also maintain den newsletters and have phone chains.

 

10. Schedule. Plan as far in advance as possible. We do over a year in advance. We meet in March and plan through August of the next year.

 

11. Make your program available to all family members. I see more sisters with Pack 93 T-shirts than I do the boys!

 

12. Den meetings. I have aways said, its better to have two well planned den meetings per month than 4 simple and boring get togethers. My den leaders do 2 meetings a month for 2 reasons;

1) They dont get burned out and

2) They have the time to plan two very good and interesting meetings.

 

A big complaint I get from families that try to transfer from another pack to mine is they say their kid meets weekly in a garage, they sing songs, do a craft and go home. It has no expectations, no excitement. Boys in our Pack meet in a manner that it is not weekkly so it doesnt get boring and they look forward to their meeting. Meet less and plan them better, the parents will appreciate saving their time. Also, parents take part in den meetings, no baby sitting service here.

 

13. Lastly good recruitment. I do a PSA on local TV, newspaper announceet, and letters are given to very parent in my home schools. I do not tell them where to go to sign up but to call me and I interview them. I weed out the baby sitter lookers and identify potential leaders and good involved parents. I let them know the nature of the program, the time committments, and the expectation I place on them to participate. After all that, and if they are still interested I then have them call the Den Leader to discuss whether the boy woud be a good fit. If they call the leader I know then the person is really interested and I give the den leader the final say.

 

(This message has been edited by forestengr)(This message has been edited by forestengr)

[forestengr]

Sorry, I mistyped our URL in the last reply, it is:

http://lospadrespack93.tripod.com

[sctmom]

Welcome Forestengr. Thanks for your addition to this thread.

 

My son is not in Cubs anymore but I'm back as a leader. The pack usually has about 70 boys and active parents. The pack lost a lot of the core group of parents this past few months due to crossover and some people moving away. I don't want to see the pack fold.

 

The Cubmaster is stretched thin and would like to leave in a little over a year. He wants to leave knowing the pack will keep going.

 

I'm tyring to help by recruiting new parents as leaders. I agreed to take on a den that needed a leader. One of my goals for the year is to have 2 of the parents of that den want to be leaders for next year. I hope I can talk it up and identify at least 2 to step forward and be the leaders. The more tips I can find about what we can do to be successful, the better.

 

We do have an active pack. The pack does at least one activity outside of regular meetings practically every month. Some months we are scouting every weekend.

 

I personally disagree with the 2 den meetings a month. Our pack has all den meetings on the same night, same place. Once a month we have a pack meeting on that night. By the time the boys are in Bears, I think they should meet every week possible. For us that is 3 times a month. Then when in factor in not meeting on school holidays, you have some months with only 2 meetings.

 

Don't be married to Program Helps, but it is a great place to start. I pick and choose from the options. We have not traditionally done the themes. Winter time fun for us in the south does not normally include snow --- the theme for December seems to think we are all in snow country. My Bears will build tool boxes that month.

 

As I said in another thread, our kids start back to school the first week of August. The theme assume you start school in September. So, some adjustment is necessary.

 

We don't do den meetings in the summer because so many people are out of town. Also, that is when a lot of kids go stay with grandparents, non-custodial parent or other relatives.

 

[Bob White]

I can appreciate that 2 den meetings is more convenient than weekly however it is not consistent with the needs charactreristics of a boy this age. Two weeks is an eternity for a 7 to 10 year old. information retention is diffult interest is hard to maintain. If a den leader is doing poor weekly meetings having them meet every other week is not going to improve the content or leadership.

 

I agrre that planning and communications are key. But be careful about attitudes of throwing away the book and using only the parts you like. You may have a good program but without the methods of scouting it is not a scout program. You seem to be doing your program but in a scout uniform.

 

Bob White

[sctmom]

You can still do Cub Scouting and meet the goals without using Program Helps. But why? Why reinvent the wheel?

 

A few years ago when my husband was a Wolf leader no one told him about Program helps. I tried to help him plan den meetings. We were in the dark.

 

Now that I know about program helps, wow things are easier. I know what a good den meeting looks like, the meetings have unity and a specific purpose (shhhh...don't tell the boys they are learning). Takes a lot of the pressure off and save a lot of time to follow the meetings they have. As I said, I do some tweaks here and there, but I don't have to. I know the activities written are age specific.

 

[forestengr]

There is alot of disagreement on the meeting frequency. However, the one common trait I have seen in successful packs and ones that hadtrouble getting going was the quality of the den meetings. If a den leader is motivated and wants to provide stellar meetings eek after week thats great. The reality is that can be an overwhelming burden and can lead to leader burnout.

 

Our boys dont forget what they learned but sure do hunger for that next meeting. Leaders have other lives in addition to scouts and that has to be respected.

[janssenil]

I agree that every other week (or every two weeks) works very well in some cases. Just like many, many other Den Leaders, I work outside my home fulltime. Doing it every 2 weeks gives me time to get things together rather than continually throwing things together because I haven't had time to plan. We meet for 1.5 to 2 hours instead of 1 hour per meeting to make up for the time. That too, seems to work out better as it gives us more time to work on things and finish projects. I started with Bears so maybe they are old enough to remember for 2 weeks versus Wolfs. Now I haVe Webelos and they definitely have no problems with continuity. Parents like it because they aren't running every week - they get a week off, too.

 

For out Pack, I can't picture requiring Den Leaders to have their meetings all at the same place at the same time. As volunteers, I think they should be able to pick & choose what's convenient for them. Some meet at their own homes and some meet at school.

 

I, also, don't understand the concept behind not having Den Leaders at Pack Committee meetings. Our Den Leaders are key in planning and getting things done. Without them, very little would get accomplished and ideas are frequently generated from them. Not to mention, their understanding of what's feasible and what's not.(This message has been edited by janssenil)

[Bob White]

The reason behind separate meetings is that the two groups have separate responsibilities.

 

The Cubmaster is the program head. Den Leaders are program people. They are responsible for planning and delivering the program.

 

The committee chair is the administrative head. The pack committee is responsible for the record keeping and support of the program desions made by the CM and den Leaders. The committee doesn't need to be in on your planning process. They just need to know the results so that they can determine how to support the plans.

 

Den leaders don't need to be in on the process of the committee chair handing out assignments. They just need to know the committee is doing the things that need to be done to support the program.

 

The cubmaster is the link between the two groups. By doing it this recommended way the meetings are shorter and more productive.

 

Bob White(This message has been edited by Bob White)