How do you promote optional awards?

[EagleG]

How do you go about promoting optional awards like the National Summertime Award, Outdoor Activity Award, Leave No Trace, etc.?

 

I am a relatively new leader (

[CCbytrickery]

We promoted the Outdoor activity award and the Leave no trace for our (now Wolf, then Tiger) den. We worked on them throughout last year.

 

We tell the parents to look in the books or online for optional items (such as belt loops, awards, etc) and to do the paperwork if their Scout earns them.

[AKdenldr]

As young Wolves we went to daycamp. That set us up for the Outdoor Activity award. I tracked kids outdoor participation and in the fall at the parent meeting covered what they had remaining. In the main the kids had done enough with family to have completed it.

 

In our bear summer I planned 3 hikes and we did LNT. For the next parent meeting I printed out copies of common in our area beltloop requirements and hand out, with web address for additional ones.

 

In my limited experience my parents were still figuring out scouts and not really ready for the optional awards until after the B&G in the Wolf year.

 

My den families were not too interested in the summer activity awards. (Although the leaders sons did earn them.)

 

-- AK

[Scoutfish]

We casually mention them in passing. We don't push them, but we don't blow them off either.

 

WE tell parents that there are extra awards a scout can earn, and they are all listed at scouting.org ands most are in the books.

 

I also tell them about all the beltloops and pins that can be earned.

 

But I do make a point of saying that scouts and parents shouldn't go after the awards for sake of having it, but it should be used as a reminder of an accomplishment a scout has reached.

 

I also remind den leaders when a den/ pack activity qualifies or partially qualifies a scout for a beltloop.

 

As for Summertime activity awards, I hand them out, but do not announce them beforehand.

[momof2cubs]

Oh a topic after my own heart! As Awards Chair it is deemed somewhat my responsibility to educate parents on optional awards. But I think sometimes it becomes a leading horses to water kinda thing. Some parents have no interest in spending time with their children doing scout stuff unless it is a pack or den event and they don't have to do the work.

 

Here's what I do: I punt mostly to the den leaders. I give them links to the awards and their requirements (i.e. loops, pins, LNT, outdoor, etc) and request that they forward to their den parents. We also tend to make a big deal out of awards in my pack, so kids will ask their parents and den leader how they can get that award too. Our dens (not all, but most) do a pretty decent job incorporating optional awards in their den meetings, specially belt loops.

 

With my own dens, I give the parents ALL the info they need (the book, web links, etc) and emphasize that scouting can happen anytime and anywhere. At the same time, I DO check belt loops. Just because you take your kid to the pool twice a week does not mean he earned the swimming loop.

 

At the end of the day, it is mostly kid driven. Kids want bling. And also, parents tend to be competitive and want their kids to have bling, so they research.

[Scouting4Ever]

We list the optional awards on our website.

 

In our Pack communication we might highlight one a month, as Den Leader I pick one and work on it throughout the year. These would be belt loops, pins, Say Yes to Reading, etc.

 

We earned the Leave No Trace and Emergency Preparedness the Tiger Year, World Conservation Award the Wolf Year and the Whittling Chip the Bear Year. We are planning to have it organized that they can earn their Webelos Super Achiever Award when they are at that rank.

 

We have some that do it, and some that don't each year.

 

 

[Twocubdad]

Where appropriate, let the DLs promote them, particularly the awards where some of the requirements fit into the den program, like the Outdoor Activity Award. One thing I always found helpful was to provide the parents with a handout, score sheet, requirement list or Internet address for the info.

 

For something like religious emblems, where it's largely a matter of individual initiative, or something that you really want to jumpstart within the pack, my trick was to find a couple likely candidates, sell them on the program and help them earn it, then make a BIG DEAL of the presentation at a pack meeting.

 

Nothing like a little patch envy to motivate boys.

[Basementdweller]

I don't promote the awards. the boys earn them and are surprise when they get LNT for doing a project and taking my CM hikes. They are surprised when they get the outdoor activity award for going camping and attending scouts own.

 

 

Promoting awards creates an environment where they expect awards for everything. How many times Have you heard from a parent....What does he get from this hike, trash pick up, or good deed???? I want to prevent this mentality.

[ScoutNut]

Pack activities should not be focused on advancement or optional awards. They should be focused on having fun.

 

I suggest bringing info on all of the optional BSA programs/awards to your next Pack Leaders meeting, educating the den leaders on them, and having them pass on the info to their den families.

 

Encourage them to look into integrating some of them into their den program.

 

Remind your den leaders that often Pack summer activities will just naturally fit in with many different outdoor requirements.

 

All completed awards, advancement or optional, should be reported to the Pack Advancement Chair monthly for recording and purchasing.

[jrdalys]

Similar to others, we make parents and scouts aware of the awards, and let them achieve them if they wish. We DO make a point of telling the boys about activities in the Pack or Den that might 'count' as requirements for the awards though.

 

On a (somewhat) related note...my CM and I (I'm a DL) have felt that the LNT award wasn't too well thought out. It's a large diamond shaped patch that really doesn't go anywhere on the uniform (though we've seen boys/parents trying to sew it in various 'creative' locations) except in the 'temporary' patch spot. Our council is big on the 'segments' that only really work around a circular (typically District) patch on the right pocket, so that spot doesn't work. Sure they could sew a loop on it and hang it from the button I guess, but that isn't the best either.

 

Kindof a bummer when the boy earns the patch and discovers that they really can't put it on their shirt.