Advancement Ceremony if some boys haven't completed badge requirements

[dedkad]

"Dens only meet once a month"...is there some reason the den leaders can't meet once a week, as the program is designed? I am always amused at those who don't follow the program, then ask for solutions when it doesn't work out. The others are correct...once a boy is advanced to the next level, he can't go back and work on badges he didn't complete.

jc2008, I don't know how soccer, football and baseball in your area work, but where we are at, the kids don't get to choose what days to practice. They are assigned a team and that coach decides what day to practice. If it falls on a den or pack meeting day, tough luck. It is much easier to ask the boys in my den to miss just one practice a month to attend a den meeting, then it is to compete with that sport on a weekly basis over the entire season.

[Polaris]

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

KDD,

 

Meetings were 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. We would arrive a little early for play time before the start. The meetings were mixed up with activity and quiet discussions. Often the boys were promised 15 minutes of game time afterwards for good behavior. (Wild Planet Hyper Dash was their favorite---they wouldn't go home.) Family homework was assigned for Duty to God, Family Fun, and Family Outdoor Adventure, etc. Parents were at each meeting and they helped out.

 

I agree 5th grade Webelos is "training" for Boy Scouts, however I don't agree weekly Webelos meetings will prepare them even more. My oldest son crossed over in early March. He has attended every Monday night meeting as well as every monthly campout without any issues or need for an adjustment period. He is doing just as well as scouts from the Packs that meet weekly. (His troop picked up 17 scouts from 4 Packs.) He is on track to earn his Tenderfoot rank before summer camp in mid-June.

 

The boys in youngest son's den are all active in multiple sports.

 

Of course, the den leader coordinated each meeting to insure there were no conflicts in order to achieve near perfect attendance. Last year, we only had one meeting with a missing scout. (He was in the hospital.) We have 5 boys in the den.

[qwazse]

Don't fool yourself 2c, if they won't participate in person, chances are they'll ignore you online as well. This is from experience with a Venturing Officers Association which tried web-hosting its meetings this year.

[Basementdweller]

Too bad the dens can't meet online. Or maybe someone could develop an app so the boys can complete their badges on their own. Then busy families would only have to attend pack meetings when their Scout is actually receiving the awards.

Your being funny, I hope????

[Polaris]

Too bad the dens can't meet online. Or maybe someone could develop an app so the boys can complete their badges on their own. Then busy families would only have to attend pack meetings when their Scout is actually receiving the awards.

.......duh....skip the pack meeting. Advancement chair emails scout shop who ships awards via USPS.

[Polaris]

Too bad the dens can't meet online. Or maybe someone could develop an app so the boys can complete their badges on their own. Then busy families would only have to attend pack meetings when their Scout is actually receiving the awards.

Seriously....pick one:

 

1). Busy families in scouting

2). Busy families not in scouting

[Sentinel947]

This shouldn't be like youth baseball....

 

Participation does not equal trophy.....Do the work get the award and recognition. The boys know who earned it and who didn't, don't cheapen the award for the boys who earned it.

Amen! Amen! Basementdweller has it right!

[jc2008]

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

KDD.

I actually have a spreadsheet I print out with the electives on it. At a meeting in January before they got their Wolf badges, I printed out the spreadsheet and a copy of the elective descriptions and gave them to the parents and had them sit down and check off everything their kids had done this year while we did an activity with the kids.

so i gave them this sheet:

https://dyp.im/mI2kUJ4mC4

 

and then a copy of the electives, like:

http://usscouts.org/advance/cubscout/wolfarrow.asp

[Basementdweller]

The Rank award is just that - an award. Advancement in Cub Scouts is a whole 'nother animal. Advancement happens at the end of the school year (BSA uses June 1) when the boys change grade levels, no matter what, if any awards they have earned. To that end we have always kept our award recognition ceremonies, entirely separate from our advancement (graduation) ceremony.

 

Our dens meet weekly. Those meetings are usually 2 den, 1 outing, and 1 Pack meeting per month. Sometimes there will be extra activities thrown in as well. We use our B&G as a goal to be completed with all requirements for the rank awards. That is reasonable goal, and gives everyone a time frame to work toward. It Is, however, not set in stone.

 

We do award ceremonies monthly. Mostly they are for small accomplishments/awards. Rank awards get the bigger, fancier, ceremonies. The major one is held in February, at our B&G, but we can/have done them at other times when a Scout has completed the requirements (usually later, rarely earlier).

 

Even when the rank awards are completed in February, there is plenty for the boys to do/earn for the rest of the year.

 

Come the end of May - beginning of June, we hold our last Pack meeting of the Scout year. At that meeting we will first do ceremonies to present any final awards earned. After all awards have been presented, we hold our "Graduation" ceremony and move our Cubs from their current, to their next Scout level.

 

There have been times when Cubs have not finished the requirements for their rank awards. BSA allows some extra time to complete those requirements (for the RANK award ONLY, no others including Electives). We explain that the Scout can only work in ONE level at a time, and that until he has finished work on his current (old) rank award requirements, he can not work on anything at his new Cub level.

 

If any did choose to stay at their "old" level to work on their rank award we would have included them in the Graduation ceremony. They would have received their new necker, and slide, but their new Handbook would be held until the first den meeting of the new school year. They would then have their rank award ceremony at either our end of summer picnic, or the September Pack meeting (Scout's choice).

 

No boy has ever taken us up on the added time. They are ready for the new stuff, and are really not that excited about the bling. That is all the parents.

All cubs advance in rank June 1 or at the end of their school year.

 

So if a lad hasn't finished his wolf at the end of school, tough luck he advances to Bear without his wolf patch........

 

The neckercheifs mean nothing.....Just show what rank they are working on

 

 

So if it was me.....I would call all of the boys up front who actually completed the rank requirements and award their patches.......Then call the remainder of the den of to change neckercheifs..... NO PATCHES

[resqman]

Busy families is a lame excuse. It is about priorities. Either the family wants to particpate and thinks scouting is important or they dont. Sports, Band, Karate, Swimming, etc. are all choices. Scouting is a choice. Coaches dont allow partial participation. Why should Scouts act any differently? If the scouts and their families can not complete all the requirements only meeting once a month, than meet more often like the program is designed. If den meeting night conflicts with sports,band,etc, then the family either has to decide to choose a different den/pack that meets on a night that does conflict with sports or choose a different sports team that practices on a different night and doesnt conflict with scouts. Choices. We all want everything. We cant have everything. Learn that choice at a young age and it solves many problems throughout your life.

 

My son was an over involved sports player. We was a member of up to 3 teams at the same. 8 practices in 5 days with 3 games the same week. Yeah he attended double practices several days a week. Yeah he was tired. Yes he had to schedule his eating, school, homework, "fun" time, and every bit of his life. It was a choice he made. It was a family choice as well since he had to be driven to and from all these activites. It meant the family schedule had to be adjusted to get all family members to and from all the other obligations.

 

He did not join Boy Scouts until almost 15. He continued to play sports with the high school team and travel team. He had to often choose to attend a Scout event or a sporting event. He wanted to earn the rank of Eagle. He reviewed every scout event to determine if he could complete enough requirements to make it worth while. He attended a district camporree without his troop because he was able to complete many requirements for a required MB. He also was able to complete a number of additional requirements for rank requirements he needed. That weekend really paid off for him towards completeing Eagle. He made a choice. He was able to earn the rank of Eagle in 3 years and 2 months. Just 2 months before his 18th birthday. As a family we offered him opportunities to be involved in scouts and sports. He had to to the hard work and make both successful.

 

Families see scouts as a drop in when it is convienent type of activity. They see sports as a must attend activity. Tell the families that you think scouts is equally or more important than sports. As the leader, you will be holding meetings on this day every week for the next 9 months. By the way, that just happens to be the same night as the Pack meeting so it is easy to remember. Attendance is expected. If the scout does not attend, he will not advance. He will also miss out on a lot of fun. You support the scout being involved in other activies including but not limited to sports, theatre, band, dance, martial arts, school plays, etc. We understand that occasionally a scout cannot attend. Just like when you miss practice, the coach will not start you, when you miss scouts, you may not advance. Choice.

 

If scouts did not complete the requirements for advancement, they dont get the patch. Cub scouting they still advance to the next rank due to age/school. Bring up the ones who completed the requirements first and celebrate their achievements. Bring the remainder and congradulate them for Doing Their Best and wish them well on the next years adventures. No trophies for second place.

[King Ding Dong]

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

Jc thanks that is good, but I still wonder if that is the best approach. Shouldn't th Cub be using his book and marking things off ( the paw prints) ? Taking some degree of responsibility for his advancement. To that end bought the spiral handbook for my wolf this past year.

[jc2008]

Busy families is a lame excuse. It is about priorities. Either the family wants to particpate and thinks scouting is important or they dont. Sports, Band, Karate, Swimming, etc. are all choices. Scouting is a choice. Coaches dont allow partial participation. Why should Scouts act any differently? If the scouts and their families can not complete all the requirements only meeting once a month, than meet more often like the program is designed. If den meeting night conflicts with sports,band,etc, then the family either has to decide to choose a different den/pack that meets on a night that does conflict with sports or choose a different sports team that practices on a different night and doesnt conflict with scouts. Choices. We all want everything. We cant have everything. Learn that choice at a young age and it solves many problems throughout your life.

 

My son was an over involved sports player. We was a member of up to 3 teams at the same. 8 practices in 5 days with 3 games the same week. Yeah he attended double practices several days a week. Yeah he was tired. Yes he had to schedule his eating, school, homework, "fun" time, and every bit of his life. It was a choice he made. It was a family choice as well since he had to be driven to and from all these activites. It meant the family schedule had to be adjusted to get all family members to and from all the other obligations.

 

He did not join Boy Scouts until almost 15. He continued to play sports with the high school team and travel team. He had to often choose to attend a Scout event or a sporting event. He wanted to earn the rank of Eagle. He reviewed every scout event to determine if he could complete enough requirements to make it worth while. He attended a district camporree without his troop because he was able to complete many requirements for a required MB. He also was able to complete a number of additional requirements for rank requirements he needed. That weekend really paid off for him towards completeing Eagle. He made a choice. He was able to earn the rank of Eagle in 3 years and 2 months. Just 2 months before his 18th birthday. As a family we offered him opportunities to be involved in scouts and sports. He had to to the hard work and make both successful.

 

Families see scouts as a drop in when it is convienent type of activity. They see sports as a must attend activity. Tell the families that you think scouts is equally or more important than sports. As the leader, you will be holding meetings on this day every week for the next 9 months. By the way, that just happens to be the same night as the Pack meeting so it is easy to remember. Attendance is expected. If the scout does not attend, he will not advance. He will also miss out on a lot of fun. You support the scout being involved in other activies including but not limited to sports, theatre, band, dance, martial arts, school plays, etc. We understand that occasionally a scout cannot attend. Just like when you miss practice, the coach will not start you, when you miss scouts, you may not advance. Choice.

 

If scouts did not complete the requirements for advancement, they dont get the patch. Cub scouting they still advance to the next rank due to age/school. Bring up the ones who completed the requirements first and celebrate their achievements. Bring the remainder and congradulate them for Doing Their Best and wish them well on the next years adventures. No trophies for second place.

There of course is the Lone Scout option for kids who cannot make meetings. They just do everything under the guidance of their parent or approved counselor

[mdp3612]

I'm sorry but I can't see how a organized Pack can effectively operate with Dens meeting once a month. We meet weekly with Pack meetings every other month. Between pinewood derby work shops, weekend outings, overnights and comunity service projects we have an extremely busy year and that not counting the summer event and Parents Meetings (Pack Commitee Meetings). We have a busy year ( 12 months) and we have about a 99% den meeting attendance and about 70% outing attendance so our parents understand the commitment. All our boys meet rank requirements and end up with other awards that we have time to perform through the year. One example this summer we will meet as a group and do the World Conservation Award. I've also found if you make the meetings fun for the parents along with the kids you get more family involvement which equals better attendance. I have had numerous parent tell me they look forward to meeting nights.

[jc2008]

"Dens only meet once a month"...is there some reason the den leaders can't meet once a week, as the program is designed? I am always amused at those who don't follow the program, then ask for solutions when it doesn't work out. The others are correct...once a boy is advanced to the next level, he can't go back and work on badges he didn't complete.

dedkad, I totally know where you are coming from. We had one of our scouts who took up football and literally missed 2 months of meetings because of his practice schedule. I just emailed his family with what we were doing so they could keep up and when the season was over he was back to normal with our meetings. Even in that sort of situation, its still the same thing, they could decide to miss one practice a month to attend a meeting. But the other meetings were still going on for the other kids who could make them. The sports coach isn't competing with you to get them to attend practice/games, you don't need to compete with him. Just do what you do and keep the parents informed of what is going on with the den for the meetings they cannot attend.

 

I had one parent come to me last summer concerned that their child was going to miss a lot (if not all) meetings in the fall due to their practice schedule. And I just reminded her that Scouting is a year round activity and we will be doing this with our kids for X amount of years until they are finished with Boy Scouts. Missing 1-2 months of meetings isn't as large in the grand scheme of scouting as it would be to miss a month of practice for football when you only are playing football for 2 months out of the year.

[jc2008]

Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement.

 

My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL activity pin requirements during 4th grade. During 5th grade, we will work on "Scout Rank" requirements, troop activities and their SMC and finish up early. We found we have better success with attendance if we aren't competing with sports, church, drama club, etc. and filling up the parents' schedules with tons of scout meetings--only to pick the ones they were not going to attend. An organized den leader can make it work. And yes, it goes against the JTE 2013 Silver Level recommendations, but it works for our families.

KDD, yes I agree the cub and his parent need to take some responsibility and mark off their book. We had parents who did that. But I also had parents who did not keep up with their book. If they have their book filling out the sheet for them was easy because they just went through their book and marked it on my list. The other parents had to read through all the activities to see if their kids had done them while sitting at the den meeting.

 

If they were Boy Scouts it would be a different idea, but Tigers and Wolves are still young and I don't want them to lose out on the bling that they have earned just because their parents aren't going over the book with them.

 

But in an ideal world, yes you are correct, the parents should be doing it already.