Denners - use them or not?

[blw2]

Just reading another thread and it raised a question for me....

I have just started late in the year as Assistant Den Leader in my son's Tiger den. Moving to Wolf next year as assistant DL.

We haven't used the Denner concept at all..... basically, our Dl has done it all with help from paraents taht are willing to step up durring the meeting.

 

My question:

How many of you don't use Denner's, and why?

..... or maybe the question is should I suggest to the DL that we start using Denners?

[Cito]

Have not tried using Denners yet. In fact I haven't ever seen a kid wearing Denner cords. I'll have to watch for them at Scout Show next weekend.

[ZScout5]

Recently, the use of denners in our pack has gone down, as den meetings are held more and more at the school instead of at den member's houses. Not sure why although it is not easy to have 6-8 cub age boys in a house.

Before, parents signed up to have one month's den meetings at their house. It was a good way to keep parents somewhat involved as after Tiger year, they are not required to stay at den meetings. The scout whose home we would be at for the month, was the denner for that month. The scout and parent helped the den leader prepare for the meeting, set up, and clean up. The scout may also have led the pledge or promise.

The scouts really liked their one month mini leader role, plus having scouts at their house. It can be a confidence-booster too. Even with meetings being held at the school, I think parent and scout should still sign up to help one month and the scout as the denner.

If your den also has a den chief, the denner usually gets a kick out of working with the older boy.(This message has been edited by ZScout5)

[Brewmeister]

Our Webelos dens do but the others do not. It is up to the DLs.

 

Boys are elected for a period of a few months.

 

We keep it simple--as the denner, you are the "go to" guy for the DL. You will collect dues, get your den organized when things need to be done, etc.

 

It works fine.

[ForTheBoys]

We didn't start using Denners until they were a Wolf Den. I don't think it would be a good idea for a Tiger Den. When they were Tigers we really used the parent rotation technique so each boy had his time to "help". When they started the Wolf year they each were an Asst. Denner and a Denner for a month. I assigned the positions then. When they became Webelos they were able to vote for the Asst. Denner who then became the Denner the following month. They could not vote for themselves and you had to be present at the Den meeting to be elected. The elections still rotated through the boys since only those who had not been elected earlier in the year were eligible. Now that we have gone through a full rotation the elections are open to anyone regardless of when they were last elected. It will be interesting to see how this works out - one more year to Boy Scouts!

 

I like having the Denner/Asst. Denner available to actually lead some activities. I'll tell the Denner something like "please set up the room for the meeting - you are in charge so get the other boys to help you". Then I can take care of something else.

 

FTB

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello For The Boys,

 

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Well, the Tiger Cub program includes Denners:

 

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http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Tiger_Cub_Den_Leader >>

 

 

I'm thinking about doing this very simply, and appointing a new Denner for each of the two Den Meetings the Bobcat den will have in may before boys form their regular dens for next year.

 

One of my aims is to SHOW brand new parents how the Cub Scout program works. So showing how Denners can be used seems like a good idea.

 

>

 

 

I'm just imagining possibilities right now. Since tardiness was an issue Monday, perhaps appointing the Scout who is on time as the Denner for that meeting. I'm expecting to have two teams of three Bobcat figure out how to set up tents as an activity ---perhaps the Denner can unpack the tents or be of help in some other interesting way during the meeting.

 

Keeping it simple! Boys love to be picked out to do something special.

 

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

[ScoutNut]

Denners are not needed in Tiger dens that follow the BSA Tiger program of Shared Leadership.

 

A Tiger Cub Scout is one half of a Tiger/adult Tiger Team. When using Shared Leadership each Tiger Team takes turns planning/running meetings. This gives each Tiger his turn to be in the spotlight, and helps both the Scout and the parent learn a bit about leadership.

 

Denners are great for Wolf thru Webelos dens. As with other aspects of Scouting, their responsibilities should be gradually increased with age.

 

The Denner program is not an award for a Scout to earn. It is a program element.

 

I used denners in my son's Bear and Webelos years. I have never used them with any of my Tiger dens.

 

[AKdenldr]

Started them with my Bear den, so successful that the whole pack now uses some form of them. My guys would be denner about 6 weeks. They love the denner cords. We would make the transfer a part of a closing den activity. Assistant is the next guy up.

 

Mostly I needed denner to call everyone to remind them of the meeting and any extra details. This was actually a new thing for most boys -- talking on the phone and covering all the details. To prepare for this we made a phone roster and secured it in every boy's handbook (front inside cover). Thankyou notes were also part of the denner responsiblity. An email went home to parents to cover what the duties were at the beginning of the position. Also, who was denner was printed on den schedule. We elected for the position, but if I were to do it again, I would assign.

 

In the meeting I would increasingly use the denner to get the scouts to do the tasks. ('Denner can you get someone to pass out the snack?')

 

Other dens have other duties. But I highly recommend a denner system.

 

-- AK

[Fehler]

Denners yes, but those dang cords never come back.

[Proud2BScoutParents]

Seattle Pioneer, You made a good point in your post. I like that the scout that is on time is the Denner. Just starting as a leader this year I have rotated the scouts every couple of weeks (10 scouts) To get used to being in a leadership role. I have yet to have all 10 scouts at a den/pack meeting anyways, so it works out that they rotate. I think next year we will concetrate on doing the Denner and an Assistant together, so that they can take a more active role than they did this year for proper leadership training.

I am researching information how to go about it properly, so they will be better prepared.

[Austinole]

I've been doing Denner since Wolf. The cords didn't last long. The pin got ripped out.