Recruiting Woes

[Balding Eagle]

How do we handle this?  We have a large Wolf Den with 12 Scouts.  Now with this years recruiting we have even more Wolf prospects.  We have a father willing to be a Den Leader for a second Den but so far we have only signed up two new Scouts with the possibility of two or three more.

 

I think if we have four or five new Scouts this second Den will be fine.  My concern is what if we only have two or three Scouts for a second Den.  Do we try to split the Den evenly or merge into one big Den with multiple leaders?

 

Hopefully we will recruit enough Wolf Scouts for two Dens but I would like you suggestions in case we dont.

 

On another note so far we only recruited one new Tiger.  What do we do if we dont recruit enough Tigers?  We have a few more recruiting dates scheduled.  Hopefully all will work out.

 

Thanks for reading and for your advice

 

[Balding Eagle]

One more issue.  We had a Scout sign up who is 7 years old and in the 1st grade that was supposedly a Tiger in another Pack last year.  Should he be a Tiger again this year or a Wolf?

[scoutldr]

Sorry, duplicate post.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[scoutldr]

I would split the den evenly and then build both dens. According to our training, the ideal den size is 6-8. More than that, form a new den. The down side is you need more den leaders, but that''s how the program is designed.

 

If your Cub is in the first grade for the first time, he should be a Tiger. If he is repeating a grade, he should be a Wolf. If he's transferring from another Pack, you can contact the previous Pack for a transfer sheet which should document what he's done. (It's been awhile since I've been Cubbing, so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[eagle-pete]

 

One more issue. We had a Scout sign up who is 7 years old and in the 1st grade that was supposedly a Tiger in another Pack last year. Should he be a Tiger again this year or a Wolf?

8 year old boys should go in the Wolf Den. His parents may have signed him up as a Tiger by mistake.

 

Also, just to clarify. I'm sure you are aware that he would be in the Wolf Den, but he still needs to earn the Wolf Rank (or Bobcat first, if he hasn't already).

 

Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

[ScoutNut]

I agree with scoutldr, split the dens now and build them both. This will benefit all of the boys.

 

The BSA joining requirements for a Cub Scout Pack are -

 

Tiger CubMust be under the age of 8, have completed kindergarten or be in the first grade, or be age 7.

Cub ScoutMust have completed first grade but not completed third grade, or be age 8 (Wolf) or 9 (Bear).

 

Was your council one of those piloting the kindergarten Lion program last year? If so he might have been involved in that. Or, the Pack he was in might be one of those that runs things their way, instead of the BSA way. Either way, it does not really matter.

 

If your Scout is currently 7 years old and in the 1st grade he is a Tiger. It does not matter what the Pack he was in last year did. ScoutNet will ONLY accept his registration as a TIGER. To be sure of his placement you might want to have the parents bring in paperwork to verify his age/grade.

 

Does this now give you 2 Tigers? Keep plugging away at 1st graders. Get your DE involved in doing a boy talk at the school if possible. Have your Tiger(s) bring in a buddy or 2 and earn the Recruiter patch. Have the Tiger parents talk to the parents of their son''s buddies. While 1 or 2 Tigers will be a small den, it certainly makes for real easy record keeping!

 

[Eamonn]

Balding Eagle

As I see it you are between a rock and a hard place!!

The good people who write the books work on the idea that once we get a kid in to the program, he is going to stay.

While I''m sure the program that the pack you serve offers a wonderful program! Still it seems that no matter what sometime during the life time of a Bear, something comes along that draws a few of the little Lads away.

Sad as this is, take my word for it -It''s true.

You might want to look back over the Pack records and see what the "Fall out rate" Is?

I think a Den of more than 12 is unmanageable.

If you are looking at a Den of 17 - Thats a small Pack!!

But if the records show that historically half the Scouts leave as Bears, having two Dens with only 4 in each Den might be silly.

I do think I''d go for the split, but where possible I''d try and keep the two Dens and the Leaders working closely together so if the time comes that you need to reunite them, it''s not a big problem.

I don''t think a Den of 12 and a Den of 5 is such a great idea, of course if the records show that all the kids stay you might want to look at 3 Dens of 6!!

Ea.

[MOMSCOUT24-7]

I agree that you should split the Den evenly and build from there.

Last year i had a wolf den of 11. It was very hard to get things done at den meeting. Too many "active" boys running around. Outings were easier, because we often had many parents come.

This year we split the group, and added 2 new scouts. Den meetings are much more productive. the two dens still do outings together.

It was hard for the boys to understand why we split them up, but they all adjusted. I think splitting sooner is better than waiting.

[Balding Eagle]

By your responses the consensus is to split the two Dens evenly.  As engineers say, it looks good on paper now how do we go about splitting the Den up?  Easier said than done.  Any suggestions?

 

Eamon, your wisdom is correct.  History shows we do lose some scouts the Bear year.

 

 

[mtm25653]

The dens don''t have to be the same size, as long as both are reasonable - we recruited 12 Tigers, from 2 schools - it worked out that there are 5 from one school and 7 from the other, so those are the 2 dens.

 

It sounds like you have 14-17 Wolves. At 14, I would aim for dens of 8 and 6 or 7 and 7. At 17, 7 and 10 or 8 and 9. You probably don''t want a huge den and a small den.

 

There are a lot of ways to split the den - I would first ask and see if the families in the old den can agree to split themselves, then divide the new boys as needed. Or, have the den meetings on different days, and split based on which is most convenient for families. Or different locations. Or by some arbitrary landmark (north of the highway is one den, south is the other).

[Eamonn]

If you do go with splitting the Dens?

I think I''d try and do it ASAP.

I''d have one meeting with all the parents, explain why the Den needs to be split. Ask for their input. (Even if you know what you think your going to do. -People like to think that they are involved in what''s going on!!)

Maybe have a meeting with the Den Leaders before hand and have a proposed list of who is going where? But be willing to make changes.

The Dens don''t have to be exactly the same size. If 3 or 4 families carpool for Den meetings you might not want to split them.

Do you know where and when the Dens will meet?

You might want to invite your Unit Commissioner to tag along.

UC''s like to feel needed!!

This might be a great opportunity for identifying people who could be selected to serve the pack in some way!!

It might be nice to have this meeting with the Scouts being present but that might not be practical.

But having someone do an activity with the Scouts while someone talks to the parents would be a good idea.

You know what you want to do!! Just remain flexible about how you get there.

Lay out the problem and the idea of how to fix it.

Sit back and listen to the parents. How you get there isn''t as important as the fact that you do get there.

Good Luck!

Eamonn.