Please Help How to handle

[alexsma]

Hi everyone, this is my second post. Last spring I posted about questions about becoming a new leader. This year I have taken on the challenge of Tiger Den Leader. I am very excited to be involved and get to do some great activities with the boys. But I am unsure of how to handle this problem

Last Saturday our district held a camperall at local fairgrounds. The Boy Scouts and the Webloes 2 Dens, camped out the entire weekend. While the Cubs and their families were invited out to spend the day. We were told by others in our pack that the last one 2 years ago was great! So we signed up, the theme was Be Prepared. For the programs they had several scenarios that were to be set up and the Cubs were to be the victims, while the Boy Scouts would respond and give first aid.

First of all none of the plans that were laid out came to life, the programs that ended up happening was disorganized and not age appropriate for the cubs. At one point our group was sent into the arena for a two hour power point presentation on GPS!!! This was for Tigers to Webloes 1 aged cubs. Let me tell you right off the bat that our pack has a very high amount of ADHD children. There was no getting them to sit thru that at all. Ten minutes and they were done, most of our leadership was disgusted with the program and eventfully spilt off and did our own thing. With our Cubmaster/Scoutmaster and Assistants doing their own first aid presentation that did appeal to all the boys.

Who at council level should I sent the well worded, direct letter too. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks in advance, I gotta go and back cookies for our open house tomorrow.

Thanks,

Alexsma.

 

[Tami the Mom]

I would start with your district commissioner and executives- they could point you to who put the event together. These things are put together by committees, so when the time comes for the next one, maybe you could volunteer to help make arrangements. They may have put their focus on the Boy Scout activities and not the CS time.

 

We just had a camporee this weekend in Fort Ti, NY that was fabulous. I hope your next one is.

[frank10]

Bring it up at the next round table.

[madkins007]

I am sorry you had a less-than-stellar time, but I'd advise you to think carefully before mailing any letters (or talking to anyone with ANY 'heat' left in your voice).

 

Imagine for a moment YOU are the volunteer (individual or committee member) who planned an event that did not come off well, and YOU got your letter from a stranger outside of your unit- heck, outside of your program!

 

What would your response to your letter be? I think I'd be rather ticked unless the letter was VERY carefully worded.

 

Options I WOULD suggest:

 

1. Send a letter with some helpful ideas for the next such event WITH an offer to help at least discuss any ideas. (Scouting Rule Of Complaining: Try to have a suggestion for improvement, or offer to help yourself.)

 

2. In the future, have a Plan B. There are a million things that can go wrong, even with a well-planed event. It is nice when THEY have a Plan B (or C, D, and E), but because of logistics, it is tough to have alternatives that suit everyone. You all came up with a Plan B, but it would have been easy enough to have planned and packed for one- just in case.

 

3. As a general rule of thumb- it is REALLY rare to have an event that appeals to the huge variation in ages that Tigers to Boy Scouts covers. Heck, it is tough enough for grade schools to come up with a good all-school program! I do not mean this is a mean way, but it is generally best to approach any such attempt with an eye towards watching out for your den's own interests.

 

[ScoutNut]

Since it was a District event the person you should talk to is your District Executive. I also don't think a letter is the way to go. I would do it more casually. If you see him/her the next time you are at your council offices mention that your boys were dissapointed the event was geared for much older scouts. Another place to bring up comments on the event would be at your next District Roundtable.

 

Although slamming an event is never a good way to approach things, I am certain that feedback, both good & bad, would be welcome. It will help shape next years event.

 

[cc329]

Sorry you had a rough time at the camperall.

 

I am wondering, was this weekend trip actually planned for ALL aged scouts, or was it planned for BOY SCOUTS and the Cubs were just invited along?

 

We had a similiar experience at a camp we went to as Webelos I. We spent a winter weekend at camp with the Boy Scout troop, and also had a Be Prepared theme. We had 12 different stations set up around the camp. We had a map to find each station and then complete the task at each station.

 

One station had mock accidents set up, with the Cubs as victims. The Boy Scouts were the rescuers. The Cubs loved that.

 

Another station had pretend water rescues, all ages could participate. They loved that too.

 

Another station made us build using lashings. The Boy Scouts could do it. We were Webelos I - we didn't know how to do lashings - they were frustrated with that.

 

Another station had us build a fire to melt snow to make water. You made the fire with only what you had with you. The Boy Scouts knew to bring matches. We're 5th graders, we don't carry matches - they were disappointed.

 

Another station had them pulling their sled across a gully where they could have gotten hurt because they we to small to cross safely. The Boy Scouts could do it. We didn't let the Cubs do it. Again they were disappointed.

 

My point is, the weekend was geared toward the Boy Scout aged boys. It was a camp designed basically for them, and the Cubs were invited along just to get an idea of what Boy Scouts was like.

 

None of the leaders running the stations expected our Webelos to know how to do lashings or build fires. They just wanted the boys to get an idea of how to do these things.

 

Could this have been the intent of your camp? Was it just to expose the younger Scouts to what Boy Scouts is like? If that was the case, then I'm not sure I would write any letters, because the camp volunteers did what they expected to do - set up a BOY SCOUT campout.

 

If the camp WAS supposed to be set up for all ages, then I would suggest someone from the Cub Scout Pack volunteer to work with the Camp Committee. That way, next year, the Cub Scouts will have a voice in the programming and be able to have some Cub appropriate activities too. (I can't believe even a Boy Scout would want to sit through a 2 hour GPS presentation).

[alexsma]

Thanks for all your advice, we talked it over as a group. Our pack leaders that is, and it was decided that our Cubmaster would bring it up at the next round table. It wasn't just a weekend planned for the Boy Scouts there was two different programs to be planned. But they fell though. Oh well, I will know next time. The interesting thing is that someone with promotions for council was there taping and taking pictures and there was a video put together with lots of our boys in it. Hopefully our pack can get a copy.