Den Chief Recruitment

[gcnphkr]

Our troop has not done a very good job of providing Den Chiefs to our area packs. I find it difficult to motivate a scout to be a Den Chief. They tend to want to do something requiring less effort like Chaplain's Aide or Librarian. We are a large troop with 60 scouts, about half of which are First Class and above, so we should be able to supply 4 or 5 Den Chiefs. Right now we have one.

 

We've changed our first year program this year and it looks like we will get about 80% to First Class by next year's Crossover. That should put more pressure on scouts to do this as there are only a limited number of POR in the troop. So this may correct itself with time, but I would like to get some started soon with Fall Roundups beginning.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Karen_216]

Do you take some boys out to pack meetings or local pack events? What about the pack recruting nights to keep tehir possible new recruits entertained? Pick out a few that are responsible and have them go to some pack functions. Try to motivate them- "man these little guys really look up to scouts- having a den chief will give you a bunch of kids that will admire you for life!!".

Just throwing out some thoughts!! I know how much packs appreciate a good den chief!!

[gwd-scouter]

We have very few Den Chiefs in our District. Those Scouts that do serve more often than not are older brothers of Scouts still in the Pack whose parent is a den leader, cubmaster, scoutmaster etc. Both of my sons served as Den Chiefs and both would tell you it was the most fun POR they had.

 

Sadly, we have Scoutmasters that rather than encourage Scouts to work as Den Chiefs actually seem to discourage it.

 

To help in your Troop, why not check around with the Packs in your area and see if they'd like some help with a specific event like Pinewood Derby. Or maybe a Den Leader would like some help teaching knots to his/her Scouts. An older Scout could certainly help with those one-time events. Then, once a couple of your Scouts have seen the fun they can have with the little guys they may be more likely to step up and ask to be a Den Chief.

 

Nothing raises a Boy Scout's spirits more than a little guy dressed in blue saying, "I want to be a Boy Scout just like you."

 

 

[shortridge]

Part of the problem with recruiting den chiefs seems to be that the older Scouts don't want to spend time with the young'uns... they've BT/DT, and it's not cool. So combatting that mindset by exposing Boy Scouts to the Cub atmosphere is crucial.

 

* Volunteer the services of a troop or patrol as staff at a Cub event - a Cuboree, Cub Adventure Day, chariot race, Pinewood Derby (as previously suggested). Most day camps that I've encountered also need help!

 

* Have the troop sponsor an event for the Cub pack - bike rodeo, outdoors skills demonstration at an already-planned local campout (so you're not adding something else to the troop schedule), etc.

 

* Look to Order of the Arrow members - start talking up the folks who've already done Arrow of Light ceremonies at B&Gs.

 

* Bring interested den leaders to a troop meeting to discuss the job and make a direct pitch. It's easier to commit once you've met your prospective partner/mentor face-to-face.

[infoscouter]

If you can a Scout interested, you may want to have him take the new Den Chief Fast Start.

http://olc.scouting.org/courses/dc/base.html

 

Some of the reluctance may be because they don't have younger siblings and don't have any idea how to relate to younger boys. The online course does a good job with information about boy behavior, etc.

[Stosh]

My boys know that they won't be seriously considered for DC unless they have had PL and APL of the NSP experience. The DC's routinely move into TG with their den when they come back into the troop leadership. Only the best get recommended for DC because these are the boys that will be the lead PR men to assist these boys coming into Scouts. Like TG's these DC's are the most respected boys in the troop, those that can really mentor and guide.

 

A commitment of 1 year is expected as a first time DC and the boy is to make every effort of doing well as a DC AND qualify for the National DC Award.

 

If this is too much work for the boy, then he isn't up to the standards of being a good DC. Not everyone is suited for such an important position and not everyone will get offered the chance. Those with NSP PL experience are usually looking for the challenge and usually do quite well as DC.

 

Like I said, I know boys in my former unit that put in 2-3 years of DC experience and loved every minute of it. A good DC can make or break the Webelos crossover and first year in the NSP process. Every DC who chooses not to be the TG for the NSP is offered the chance to go back and do another den.

 

The DC and former DC's are some of the best scout leaders I have ever worked with.

 

Stosh

[NeilLup]

As with a lot of Scouting activities, I believe that it can be useful to look at it from the Scout's point of view and ask "What's in it for me?" and "What is the ratio of work and effort to rewards and benefits." Not just personal satisfaction and rewards in the Pack, but in the Troop too.

 

If the other kids in the Troop mock the Den Chief for "playing around with little kids" and "being a baby", it will be tough. But if the Den Chiefs get a lot of praise and reward at Troop Meetings and Courts of Honor, if Den Chief service is honored. If, for example, when OA elections come around, the Scoutmaster makes note of Den Chief service and reminds the Troop members that service is something to be considered and that since the Den Chiefs do their service mainly in a Pack, they aren't viewed and watched doing service in the Troop. However, Den Chiefs put in a lot of time and a lot of service and OA voters should consider that in deciding how to vote.

 

I know of one District that had a very good record with Den Chiefs. They had a very good District wide training annually for Den Chiefs and had Den Chiefs as staff members for the training. They also had a special weekend camping fun event only for current Den Chiefs. They made a really big thing about receiving the Den Chief Service award.

 

Having said that, there are a lot of Districts that don't do well with Den Chiefs. A number of years ago, I checked and National sales of Den Chief cords were fewer than one per District per year. I believe we are doing better than that now.

[NeilLup]

As with a lot of Scouting activities, I believe that it can be useful to look at it from the Scout's point of view and ask "What's in it for me?" and "What is the ratio of work and effort to rewards and benefits." Not just personal satisfaction and rewards in the Pack, but in the Troop too.

 

If the other kids in the Troop mock the Den Chief for "playing around with little kids" and "being a baby", it will be tough. But if the Den Chiefs get a lot of praise and reward at Troop Meetings and Courts of Honor, if Den Chief service is honored. If, for example, when OA elections come around, the Scoutmaster makes note of Den Chief service and reminds the Troop members that service is something to be considered and that since the Den Chiefs do their service mainly in a Pack, they aren't viewed and watched doing service in the Troop. However, Den Chiefs put in a lot of time and a lot of service and OA voters should consider that in deciding how to vote.

 

I know of one District that had a very good record with Den Chiefs. They had a very good District wide training annually for Den Chiefs and had Den Chiefs as staff members for the training. They also had a special weekend camping fun event only for current Den Chiefs. They made a really big thing about receiving the Den Chief Service award.

 

Having said that, there are a lot of Districts that don't do well with Den Chiefs. A number of years ago, I checked and National sales of Den Chief cords were fewer than one per District per year. I believe we are doing better than that now.

[gcnphkr]

Thank you all for your replies. Especially getting scouts involved in individual events to remind them that they enjoy working with younger scouts. Our troop OA ceremony and dance teams do 6 to 8 pack events each year and some of our scouts work Tigeree and District Pinewood Derby. We also host a camp out that we invite the cubs to and we are considering hosting an "Activity Pin Roundup" this Fall. If we watch for scouts that do well at these events we should have a good idea who to work with. We also starting a unit team of adults whose primary responsibilities are being liaisons with the packs, attending pack leader meetings to find ways for us to help and to train and work with the den chiefs.

 

NeilLup, yes, I can see the need of making a point of praising the den chiefs.

 

gwd-scouter: Sadly, we have Scoutmasters that rather than encourage Scouts to work as Den Chiefs actually seem to discourage it.

 

I do not understand this mentality. 95% of our scouts come from packs. We get the occasional boy who joins that was never in Cub Scouts, but likely only 1 or 2 a year. If a Boy Scout troop is not helping the pack GO the troop will not GROW.

[scoutldr]

A bit of historical trivia...when Cubs first began, the Den Chief WAS the "Den Leader"...the "Den Mother" was there to assist.

 

In my experience, the hurdle is the time commitment, which even the parents balk at. We are asking the scout to attend 3-4 den meetings, a pack meeting, and even CS Roundtable per month IN ADDITION to his troop and maybe OA obligations. Not to mention day camp, resident camp and pack family campouts. That's not a very attractive proposition just to get a POR signed off (i.e., "what's in it for him").

[fgoodwin]

My son (currently a Life Scout) served as a den chief for two years, and loved every minute of it.

 

But like gwd-scouter said, his ex-SM at first discouraged him from doing it. The job has become so popular that the SM unilaterally changed the requirement so that Scouts had to be Star working on Life to serve as a DC (i.e., First Class Scouts who needed a POR to make Star weren't allowed to serve as a DC).

 

That's one of the reasons we are no longer in that troop . . .

[gcnphkr]

fgoodwin: The job has become so popular that the SM unilaterally changed the requirement so that Scouts had to be Star working on Life to serve as a DC (i.e., First Class Scouts who needed a POR to make Star weren't allowed to serve as a DC).

 

I guess that is a good problem to have. If I have to make such a choice I think I would tend to go the other way. I figure a 12 year old First Class Scout may be with those cubs/first years for 2-3 years. A Star or Life less than that and perhaps with less dedication.

[NeilLup]

Hello fgoodwin:

 

I am really shocked that there were so many potential Den Chiefs and so few Dens that the job was reserved for Life Scouts. Amazing. What did the Troop do to make the job so popular?

[fgoodwin]

Neil: most of the Scouts who wanted to be a DC were recruited by their former Pack; many still had siblings and parents involved in their old pack.

 

In addition to the popularity of the job, our ex-SM held the view that the DC job wasn't a direct benefit to the troop; he preferred that boys take PORs that benefited the troop (which is why he hasn't appointed an OA rep in years). Again, we decided some of the troop policies were questionable, so we left.

 

In fairness to the SM, some of the PORs were going unfilled which needed somebody (e.g., QM), so the SM was trying to direct Scouts to PORs that were really needed, instead of those (e.g., DC) that were "nice to have" but not essential (in his view).