How do you get a Tiger Den Leader?

[ScoutMomAng]

Our Pack just did it''s fall rally. We had 9 boys turn up for Tigers, with their parents. All are VERY excited about having their son''s in Cub Scouts. However, nobody wants to commit that one hour a week (LMBO) to be the Tiger Den Leader. I said all evening long, "If we don''t have a volunteer for Tiger Den Leader we can not have a Tiger Den" Still, everbody claims to be busy every Tuesday from 6 to 7 pm and can''t be the den leader.

 

Please HELP before the pack ends up without a Tiger Den! Also, on another note....

 

Last years Wolf leader all but disappeared half way through the year and did the same thing the year before as the Bear Leader with her older son, but for some crazy reason wants to come back and be the Bear leader for this year. However, last year''s wolf parents have said, "if she comes back we are not staying as cub scouts", but NOBODY else wants to step up and be Bear Leader.

 

PLEASE HELP BEFORE the pack dissolves.

 

YIS

Angela

[Lady_Leigh67]

You mentioned Tuesday''s from 6 to 7 that everyone is busy. I take it that you do Den Meetings with the other dens at the same location and time, instead of at someone''s home.

 

Maybe bring to their attention that this is not a babysitting service and that the Adult Partner must be with the Tiger Cub at every event, including Den and Pack Meetings.

 

What we are doing, we are making sure that the new leaders we have this year are getting assistance from one of the existing leaders during the first 4 den meetings (2 in September, 2 in October). That way, until they go through the available training offered here in October, they won''t feel that we have left them alone and wandering around, you know.

 

Could you give the iniative to one parent to set a new date/time/location for the Tiger meetings. Oh, and remind them that each family can host a den meeting each time.

[DenZero]

I''ll be going through this later this week when we have our first pack meeting of the school year and find out if our recruiting efforts have been successful. It will be interesting how it comes out. I suppose you could combine the Tigers with anoher den (Wolves maybe?). I tried combining the Tiger and Webelos dens last year, but it didn''t work very well.

 

I''m wondering if the 6 to 7 pm time slot is a problem for most people. We like to eat dinner as a family, and it would be awkward for many parents to wait until they get back from the pack meeting to start making dinner. You might have a better response if you held the meetings later.

 

[Lisabob]

I don''t think you should combine the Tiger den with another den. Too many program differences, and 1st graders have the attention spans of gnats.

 

Three things to consider:

1) Since parents have to be there anyway, it isn''t a time commitment issue on their part - it is more that they don''t know what they''re getting in for and probably are leery about jumping in with both feet as a result. (see #3 below)

 

2) There''s no reason it has to be on Tuesdays from 6-7 if that doesn''t work for the people in the den. Let them come up with a mutually agreeable time and location, as long as it isn''t the local tavern!

 

3) The "there won''t be a program unless you lead it" line is true. However, depending on the group, it can be over-done and scare them off. Remember that they have been part of this program for less than an hour and already they''re being pushed into running it! Some people will naturally step up and say sure, but a lot will hang back, especially if it is a young group of parents (1st/only child) without much experience in civic organizations. They''re just not used to volunteering yet.

 

So balance that with explaining that being a Tiger leader is not rocket science, talking about all the resources available to them in specifics, not generally (maybe show them program helps, den meeting in a box, Tiger Den Leader book). Let them know they can come to you (or someone specific - CM? previous, good, Tiger DL?) if they need help with den meeting ideas and planning. Maybe offer to plan out the first couple of meetings with them to get them started. Make sure they understand that every parent is going to be involved so that even the one who steps forward isn''t the lone victim...er, volunteer.

 

As for your would-be bear leader, naw, don''t go there with this repeat offender. You may need to do some quiet asking to get another DL - remember, it is usually more productive to ask someone individually and face to face, rather than a general plea to a group. This is even more true if you know these people. So target the one(s) you think would be the best leaders and take him/her out for coffee.

 

Let us know what happens and good luck!

 

[scottteng]

I would explain to the Tiger cubs adult partners exactly how the Tiger program works that each of them will be expected at every meeting and that each will be expected to lead a months worth of meetings. Then I would tell them that between themselves they need to elect a Den leader and asst den leader to represent them to the pack and be responsible for keeping track of what adult partner is doing todays meeting. Providing an outside Tiger den leader is pack suicide, Tigers is where you grow your new cubs and your future leaders.

[kenk]

It is critical that they know that the Tiger Den Leader only coordinates with parents to make sure they are setting up the monthly program AND tracks the den''s advancement. They certainly don''t do all the work themself.

 

By the way, through my five years as den leader our den ran the program much like the Tiger den. Each parent signed up for a month''s program and prepared/lead the meetings and activity(s). I started out the Wolf year trying to do it all myself (with an assistant) but with both my wife and I working full time it was just not possible. I asked the den parents to step up and help and they did - with flying colors. We had the best den - probably because we had so much parental participation.

 

At the start of each year I went through the advancement and the national monthly program schedule, selected topics for each month - ususally, but not always matching the national schedule, and then presented that schedule to the parents. They signed up from there. Some parents had to do two months, but we split them over time as much as possible.

 

Ken K.

[ScoutNut]

"Providing an outside Tiger den leader is pack suicide"

 

As a 10 year Tiger Leader I respectfully disagree.

 

Getting one of your experienced parents, perhaps the ex-Webelos leader from last year, to be Tiger Den Leader might work well. You would give the new Tiger parents the time to get used to Scouting, your Pack and the program. Then when the den leader had a chance to get to know the parents he could ask the ones he felt would do the best job, in a face-to-face request, to take over as den leaders. It could be starting with the Wolf year or even as soon as March or April.

 

One question though, if you have only 1 group time/place for your meetings (tues 6-7pm), and none of the Tiger parents can make the meeting because they are busy, how do you plan to have a Tiger den even WITH a leader?

 

Tigers is NOT a stop and drop deal. Have you explained the Tiger concepts of Tiger Partner and Shared Leadership?

 

 

[SSScout]

Our Pack (unfortunately) fell apart just like that...

One September,

14 Tiger Cub families expressed interest... 12 came to first organization meeting... Gave them the program, had a Den Leader for them...

"Go Sees" already lined up and scheduled..1 Tiger, 1 Adult... Two Den meetings a month: one in someones rec room, one "Go See", One Pack meeting a month... "too much, I don''t have the time for that, Johnny wants to do Karate"(! Johnny is having a ball in the sample Den meeting)..." I don''t know how to do Scouting" ( the Den Leader was in place) NOT ONE family signed the papers. Our Pack folded up two years later, no one would step up and replace the "graduating" parents, no Tigers had come up thru the ranks.

CC and CM (me) and DE did all the usual things, called, assigned , made sure peple went to training. One of the failure reasons was, I think, we had a HANDS OFF Charter org. "Sure, we''ll sponsor you, have fun, bye". Not much "Corparate Identity" there. But, bottom line, we had no one who wanted the responsibilty, thought they had the "talent" (yeah, some are better CM, DL, etc than others, but heck...) to take over when the ''senior''staff moved on. Couldn''t even find a ''shadow'' staff to keep the paper charter in force.

Our last Pack meeting was our June picnic and "Bridging".

The would be Webelos Leader had 2 W2s and 1 W1. By September, he and his family dissapeared and left no forwarding address (his was the W1). The other 5 Cub families disbursed to other Packs. I see them occassionally, they all went on in Scouting. But none of the parents could bring themselves to take on the mantel.

And so our Pack (history of about 20 years total by my information) dissappeared.

The District kept the Pack number on the books for two more years, but it finally dissappeared from the roster. The Charter Org had no interest in reviving it themselves.

Spun off thread... Darwinian Scouting????

[insanescouter]

See if you can get a few of the parents to do it together, and tell them you wont just toss them in blind. They will have the opportunity to be trained and you will personal advice and guide them.

 

Just my 2 lousy cents...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

[momofcandj]

Our CM asked for a volunteer, we only had 3 Tigers signed up, this was just before school started. One is military and simply not in town enough, although his father seems like he will make an excellent stand in for the meetings we need him. That left our current W2 leader that is leaving in Jan and myself, the Bear Den Leader. I told the CM that for Tigers the den leader was more a point of contact, awards & dues tracker and someone to keep everyone knowing what was going on & to organize. This I could handle. Since then we are up to 7 scouts, one father that has stepped to assist, the one that is rarely home will assist as he can. Our Round Up isnt even until tomorrow night.

 

If we get someone else that wants to be the leader I have no problem with stepping down and simply helping out with whatever they need.

 

Hopefully someone will step up if not in Tigers, then in Wolves, I think I will have my hands full when my now Bears are W1s. If not its not a big thing. I ended up taking over the Wolves last year and the parents seemed to think I did a pretty decent job. Now none of my Bear parents can lead for various reasons that make total sense, but they do step up when asked to do what they can.

 

I dont understand how your Tiger parents are too busy from 6 to 7 on Tues if that is for your den meetings, they will have to attend with their Tiger anyway.

 

My Tiger meetings are going to be 530 til 630, that seems to work for everyone so far. They are Weds night as a lot of people have only Weds free, weird...lol. Now my Bears are 530 til 630 on Fri, this works as we dont have to worry about homework getting done. The reason it seems a bit early is most of the parents will feed the kids after the meeting instead of before regardless of the start/ end times.

 

 

[awesome1_in_cc]

My advise is to find a mentor (an experienced leader) to help get the den going with their secondary mission being that of pin pointing & recruiting the leader for the den. Trust me this person will emerge as things go along and the parents gain knowledge of the program and how it works.

 

I have been to so many rounds-ups where we stand-up, deliver the Scouting promise and sign up tons of kids. Then we give the leader speech and all the parents have glassed over eyes. You would think that I had asked them to take over flying a 747 or something. Don''t get me wrong, sometimes a parent will jump right into it with no further thought and do an exceptional job but that is very rare.

 

See if you can find any experienced former or current leaders to act as den mentors for a short period in order to get the new scouts going and start delivering the "promise" we make on round-up night.

 

Just my thoughts!!

 

(This message has been edited by awesome1_in_cc)