Webelos I den membership requirement

[eghiglie]

The 2nd requirment for the Webelos Badge is to 'Be an active member of your Webelos den for 3 months (Active means having good attendance, paying den dues, working on den projects)'

 

I know that 3 months means but its when to start the clock.

 

Our Den graduated from Bear to Webelos I on May 21.

 

The entire Den attended Cub Scout Day Camp from July 10 to July 14. At Day Camp the Citizen and one other Badge was earned. The Den Leader was the Day Camp Director and all the parents helped at Day Camp at least one day each.

 

The 1st Den meeting was August 13. Fitness was started then and finished August 25

 

There is some disagreement over the when to start the clock. July 10 and August 13 have both been suggested.

 

So any thoughts as to the correct date to start counting the 90 days?

 

There are two other Webelos requirments left to do but we expect to have them done October 15.

 

Thanks for any suggestions to this confusing topic.

 

 

[msnowman]

I'll be interested to see what others have to say about this as well. We bridged our Bears to Webelos on June 11th. June 1st seems to be the "magic day" were everybody moves up to their next rank. During the summer they have worked on Outdoorsman & the Outdoors Award as a den, They have earned the Fishing Beltloop as a den, as well as attended summer resident camp. So, would their 3 months start on June 11th? Or Sept 10th when we had our first formal den meeting?

 

My gut feeling would be to start on the bridging date if they participated in summertime activities as a den, but others may have better insight.

 

YiS

Michelle(This message has been edited by msnowman)

[OneHour]

Your Bears start to work on their Webelos requirements once they got their bear rank advancement. Webelos year was meant to be a 1.5 year program. There is a minimum required age/grade level/ and/or arrow of light before they can join a troop. I can see a Webelos II den transition to boyscout in December of their 2nd year, but most will transition in the Spring of their Webelos 2 year. If your den happens to finish the required activity pins early as well as the other requirements, then work on getting all 20 pins and visit as many troops as you can.

 

As for finishing the Webelos badge, in our Pack, on an average our Webelos dens start their "clock" for the 3 months requirements at the start of school since that's when we start to meet regularly eventhough we do have summer activities.

 

When all else fails, Do Your Best.

 

1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[Lisabob]

I don't know about all of you but the only time this became an issue for us was when we had a couple of over-zealous and ultra-competitive parents who wanted their boys to be "first" in everything, including first to get (never mind "earn") the webelos badge. Sheesh. If that's the case for you, have a friendly conversation with those parents NOW and hopefully spare yourself further grief down the road.

 

But generally I'd be inclined to say that if the boys were active scouts during the summer then the clock should start earlier than later. On the other hand if they haven't been seen since school let out or you had no den or pack meetings of any sort for them to participate in, then start the clock with your first meeting of this school year. Either way they should be able to earn their webelos badges this fall if they so desire.

 

Lisa'bob

[Oak Tree]

Sure, count it as soon as they are active as Webelos. If a month goes by and they do no activities, that month doesn't count. But again, why would you want to? Is it a race? We normally have friendly conversations with the parents that we try to structure the year so that boys can receive their Webelos badges at the Blue and Gold in February. We've never had a parent tell us that they want their son to be special and get his ahead of the rest. Maybe we've just been lucky, but I'm sure some of it is the way we set expectations.

 

Oak Tree

[CubsRgr8]

Our pack "starts the clock" the day after school ends for all dens. When a boy is no longer a 1st grader, he's a Wolf, whether or not he was a Tiger and whether or not he earned his previous rank. The same applies to all the other ranks.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but why in the world would a week long summer day camp focus on the Citizen activity badge?!?! IMHO that's a terrible choice. Summer camp experiences for Webelos 1 should focus on activity badges that are outdoors oriented - Naturalist, Forestry, Geology - not Citizenship. Yuck, it's like still being in school! And I'd be very interested to learn how they fullfilled this requirement: "Participate in a family, den, or school service project."

[eghiglie]

 

I would like to thank everyone for the input they provided. Its great to have a forum like this to ask questions as many of you have been here before.

 

I would like to respond to a few of the comments to help identify how Cub Scouting in FL has some challenges.

 

All the boys in the Den had earned Bear by December 2005. The boys have from 5 to 11 Bear Arrows as we worked on electives right after Bear.

 

The pack then bridged 5/20/2006

 

But we weren't together as a Den until Webelos Day Camp which was 7/10 to 7/14. This Day Camp was just for Web I and II and was after Cub Day Camp was over.

 

Webelos Day camp focused on the Citizen, Engineer, Scientist and part of Sportsman Badges. Along with loops and pins for Table Tennis, Flag Football, Ultimate and Marbles. Also, each kid got to earn the earn the Archery and BB gun loops/pins. Many never had the chance to earn those pins as Cubs.

 

Its incredibly hot here in Central FL in the middle of July so we have to make sure that they don't get over exposed outside. Also the church where Day Camp is held does not have resources related to naturlist, outdoorsman or forester. We're doing the best we can with the resources. Our service project was to collect clothes for South America.

 

The parents in the Den (all 10 of us) are not getting it done quick to have a race but because public school started 7/31/2006 this year in Seminole County FL. Once homework and sports kicks in there are limited chances to have den meetings. You read it correctly, school in the County the Den lives in started 7/31/2006, it is not that much fun. School ends in May, and our Blue/Gold is in Feb. But soccer and baseball leagues run for quite a period here. Also homework is quite a load here until the State mandated school testing is done.

 

The entire den so far has earned the same badges at roughly the same rate. We work on requirements in the early months knowing that with holidays and other things we need to support.

 

I have been very fourtunate this year to lead a Den that has boys in it since Tiger/Wolf and parents that provide active leadership to both the Den and Pack. The Den has also rotated the leadership so that no one gotten burnt out.

 

[LongHaul]

All Bear leaders should take note of this thread and not make the same mistakes. The Den in question became Webelos Scouts on 5/20/2006, 5/20/2006 becoming day one for the purpose of rank advancement as this would be the first day a boy could begin working on Webelos Rank advancement. No where does it say that advancement must be completed as a den, in fact the Fitness Activity badge has quite a few requirements which are to be completed with a family member. If a boy begins working on any of the requirements for any of the Activity Pins he is active. If the Den does not meet in a given month then the boy has attended all of the meetings for that month! If no dues were collected he has paid all den dues required. If there were no den projects then he has worked on all of them. This boy is batting 1.000! The concept that a boy cant be active until all the adults are ready to begin is incorrect. Encourage every boy to look over the requirements which can be done at home and presented to the WDL for review. If a boy is on an organized baseball team all summer why shouldnt it count toward Sportsman because the den didnt meet over the summer, provided the boy follows the requirements and the WDL is aware of the activity before it is done? The boys attended Day Camp and worked on Citizen what more does it take to be active? Think of it this way; did every Webelos Den suddenly become inactive in New Orleans when Katrina hit? Did all clocks for advancement stop? Did they stop being Scouts? My vote is 5/20/06 first possible date for Webelos Badge being 8/21/06.

LongHaul

 

[fgoodwin]

One Hour wrote:Your Bears start to work on their Webelos requirements once they got their bear rank advancement.I don't think I agree with this.

 

Under that theory, a Bear could continue to work on (and earn) Bear arrow points, while also working on (and earning) Webelos activity pins.

 

A boy can't be a Webelos until he completes the third grade; since some Bear Cubs earn their rank at B&G in February (or earlier), they should spend the remainder of their 3rd grade year earning Bear arrow points, not working on Webelos stuff for which they are ineligible anyway.

 

I like the idea of starting the three month clock at either June 1, the end of school (if earlier), or the "graduation" (or "crossover") date, for those boys who continue as Webelos, or the joining date, for those 4th or 5th graders who are new to the Pack & den.

[Lisabob]

I'm in agreement w/ Fgoodwin re: when a boy may begin working on the webelos achievements. (ie, not while he is still a bear/in 3rd grade).

 

I'm not in agreement w/ Long Haul. Yes, a boy can and should be working on webelos advancement if he wants to, over the summer after 3rd grade. But if the den doesn't meet at all over the summer and/or the den meets but the boy doesn't attend, then he hasn't been "active in his den" during that time - he's been active by himself and that's different. To my mind, being an active member of the den means you have to attend den functions at least some of the time. You can earn all the pins you want by yourself but until you attend some den functions, you couldn't fulfill teh 2nd requirement for the webelos badge in my book.

 

Lisa'bob

[LongHaul]

LisaBob,

If the den meets and the boy does not participate the WDL has to decide what percentage of attendance constitutes active. If however the den does not meet then the boy has attended 100% of the meetings. If the boy does everything asked of him he should not be punished. The entire den in question did meet in July for Day Camp and again in August for a scheduled den meeting so the question becomes can advancement occur during June if the den is not meeting? You cant be non active and advancing so the requirement needs to be rewritten to read Be an active member of an active Webelos Den for 3 months. As long as the boy attends when the WDL holds meetings, the boy should not be held accountable if the WDL does not hold a meeting in a given month.

LongHaul

 

[Gonzo1]

There are many good points made here. It shouldn't matter much if it's July or August or the last day of school. The question remains as to whether the boy is active or not.

 

LongHaul, a boy cannot be 'counted' present for meetings that weren't held. If a den didn't meet, nobody met, so he didn't attend 100% of anything. However, he could be 'active' if he worked on advancement items with his parent(s) but was unable to attend a couple of meetings if they were otherwise held. He should be considered inactive if he didn't attend any den/pack function for a month. That scout may have gone to another district or council event and could have been considered active.

 

The organized baseball should count for the pin.

 

No scout, epecially this age, should be held accountable for actions or inactions of adults.

 

I also agree that the requirement could be worded differently.

 

Remember, it isn't a race, award the Webelos badge at a pack meeting or B&G, Webelos II to Boy Scouts crossover should be in mid January to mid March timeframe. The award is for accuracy of completion, not speed of completion.

 

Gonzo1

[queenj02]

Find out what your pack year is and go from there. Our pack year runs from Sept-Aug, so I started the clock Sept 1. We had our crossover ceremony later that month. We are now Webelos II as of this Sept and will crossover in Feb to the troop.