Transition to Boy Scouts

[Wood Badge Beaver]

How does your Troop recruit New Webalos Scouts? How is your Troop special?

[JimmyD]

I know ouyr pack/troop attends the blue and gold banquet and does the Order of the Arrow Ceremony followed by the cub scouts crossing over to the boy scout troop in a ceremony and then reciting the scout oath with their fellow troop members. We present them with their necker cheifs and a certificate. THen usually one of the boys who is an arrow of light receipant reads and then gives them their patches and a gold painted arrow. The Den Leader would read the points of the arrow of light. I know there are plenty of different types of ceremonies online on various sites.

[purcelce]

Here are three simple (not easy) ways to get Webelos/New kids into your troops.

 

1. Great Program - The boys attend and stay if the program is fun, exciting, and never stale. Keep meetings intersting. Campout out at different locations. Heck, throw in an occasional "fun" merit badge class in the meetings (I'll get a lot a flack from some folks on this, but I've seen it work).

 

2. Advertise - Get the word out about your great program to the masses. Use the Scouts to recruit. Invite Webelos II dens to your meetings. Network with other Scouters in your area.

 

3. Get your adult leaders trained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by purcelce)

[Proud Eagle]

Obviously you need a good program to keep those that show an interest coming back. However, all the program in the world won't get you any new members if no one outside the unit knows about it.

 

 

I would say the key thing is to develope some type of relationship with the cub units in the area. Optimally your SM or an ASM would make periodic contact with the pack leaders in the area to keep lines of communication open and your unit would provide den chiefs to some webelos dens to develope contact with the individuals.

 

At the very least you should work with the leaders of the webelos dens in your area to get them to do the Arrow of Light requirements that involve a troop to be with your unit.

 

Doing some type of bridging ceremony can be a major plus. However, by the time the of the bridging ceremony they will probably have chosen to join or not join. This mainly helps the new scouts and parents feel appreciated.

 

Those are just my thoughts. They aren't based on any sort of consistent good recruiting program, because I have yet to see such a thing. There a good year and bad years for recruiting as far as I can tell. Extra efforts can help, but it doesn't provide any certainty.

[EagleBeaver]

We just had an overnight lock-in at a local church this past weekend to recruit Webelos scouts. We went to a local game spot for a couple hours with miniature golf, go-carts, games of chance, ... and then stayed up all night in the church's activity room with games, pizza, movies. It's not outdoorsy, but it does give the Webelos lots of time to interact with the troop and see what they're like.

We also offer to attend individual Webelos den meetings to promote the Boy Scout program - if we had more Den Chiefs this would be taking place naturally.

 

Paul

[CubsRgr8]

Several troops in my neck of the woods offer a weekend cabin camp outing in December/January as a recruitment tool. The Webelos and parents join the troop Saturday late morning and stay through Sunday.

[Bob White]

I really believe that nothing recruits better than a strong year round program. As far as people outside the unit knowing that never seems to be a problem. Kids talk to other kids, parents talk to other parents, leaders see things and talk at events.

 

But we also make a point to meet the Cubmaster and Webelos leaders from the packs near us. We have a campout or lock-in every Winter for Webelos to meet the Scouts. We do a Scouting orientation for parents at that time as well.

We assist at crossover ceremonies, and have pictures of our adventures and our activity calendar on display in our meeting hall.

 

At this point in time we are expecting two New Scout patrols in February.

 

Bob white

[SR540Beaver]

First of all brother Beaver, welcome to the forums! I second the motion on a lock-in or campout. Let me tell you about the experience we had weekend before last. We attended Webelos Woods with a troop. The whole idea behind Webelos woods is for troops to recruit Webelos by giving them a taste of what Boy Scouts do at camp. To me, it was unsuccessful. Our boys were integrated into the patrols. However, the scouts had to man one of the "stations" of the games set up for the Webelos to compete in. What this meant was that the Webelos spent the day with the Webelos leaders going from station to station while the scouts ran the games. No interaction. The only interaction was cooking, eating and cleaning. What often happens on these campouts is akin to kids going to their first dance. The boys sit on one side of the room and the girls sit on the other staring at each other across an empty dance floor. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your view), the campout served it's purpose. The patrol my son was assigned to didn't have a lantern and had to cook by flashlight. The other patrol did have a lantern. Why one did and the other didn't, I don't know. It is very telling that the patrol has done little to make sure they have light at camp. The patrol leader left his patrol to deal with our boys in cooking and cleaning. He went to his tent and ate an MRE and therefore claimed he did not have to participate in the clean up. A fight almost broke out between one of our Webelos and one of the scouts. Our Cubmaster had to step in to stop it. The Webelos kept drifting over to the adults campfire because the patrols didn't bother to build one of their own. Our boys retreated to their tents to play gameboys and watch TV on their Watchman. This is one time I was glad they brought them! My son was in tears the second night and wanted to go home. This troop is talking about inviting us to a campout where they can actually spend time with our boys. Maybe that will be a better experience....maybe not. Bottom line is to get the boys together where they can actually interact and let them see your real self. No artificial dog and pony show where you pull out the stops. Let the chips fall where they may. BTW, I doubt we will go to this troop unless they redeem themselves.

[Proud Eagle]

yeash!

 

That sounds like it was about a thunderstorm and an injury away from being an unmitigated dissaster.

 

I hope that was either a very bad weekend for the troop, or you can find a different troop that has its act together.

 

Good luck on your search for a quality unit. (and no, I don't mean one with the patch and ribon, though that is something to look for)

[Adrianvs]

Regarding the ceremony, remember that it isn't an Order of the Arrow event so it can be performed by any competent ceremonialists. It doesn't even need to have a native american theme, but this is usually an impressive and meaningful way to convey the significance of the event to the youth. It also fits well with the outdoor focus of scouting and Boy Scouting in particular. Just be sure to have some role for the troop in the ceremony as it is what they are crossing over to.

[LisaSandoz007]

Hi everybody!

I am new here, so I will give a short intro.

My name is Lisa Sandoz. I am involved with Troop 007 in Granada Hills, Ca. I came here looking for an answer to some recruiting problems that I am having. There are some wonderful posts and ideas here. We do or have done most of this stuff, including the mistakes! BUT, the problem I am having is HOW DO YOU CONTACT THE PACKS TO DO WEBELO RECRUITING? We have a Webelo Weekend planned, good strong program, enthusiastic (though small in number) group of Boy Scouts. But no way to contact the packs. Our DE will not allow usto have a list of packs and cubmasters. We have passed out flyers at parades. We talk to kids, whether Webelos or non-scouts every chance we get. Can you offer ideas? Is there something inappropriate about desiring to contact the cubmasters of local packs to tell them about our event? Any advice is appreciated.

 

YIS,

 

Lisa

[LisaSandoz007]

Hi everybody!

I am new here, so I will give a short intro.

My name is Lisa Sandoz. I am involved with Troop 007 in Granada Hills, Ca. I came here looking for an answer to some recruiting problems that I am having. There are some wonderful posts and ideas here. We do or have done most of this stuff, including the mistakes! BUT, the problem I am having is HOW DO YOU CONTACT THE PACKS TO DO WEBELO RECRUITING? We have a Webelo Weekend planned, good strong program, enthusiastic (though small in number) group of Boy Scouts. But no way to contact the packs. Our DE will not allow usto have a list of packs and cubmasters. We have passed out flyers at parades. We talk to kids, whether Webelos or non-scouts every chance we get. Can you offer ideas? Is there something inappropriate about desiring to contact the cubmasters of local packs to tell them about our event? Any advice is appreciated.

 

YIS,

 

Lisa

[Bob White]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to the form. First a bit of scout leader training. The Term is Webelos with an "s" at the end, it means "WE BE LOyal Scouts".

 

I haven't the slightest idea why you cannot get a contact list of cubmasters from your DE. That should certainly be available to you for such anactivity. Here is an option. Contact your Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner, They will likely have a similar list or maybe even an e-mail list you could make use of. Try your DE one more time let him know you just want the Cubmaster contacts and not the youth. If you don't get cooperation then give a call to your council's Field Director (your DE's boss) and ask why the list cannot be made available to you.

 

Don't give up. You are doing the right thing, a well planned troop activity is a powerful recruitment tool.

 

Good Luck,

Bob White

[LisaSandoz007]

hi Bob,

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I DO know that it is Webelos!!-- fingers faster than brain sometimes!

 

We went to our Field Director last year. got stonewalled. We went to our Field Director this year. She stated that we were entitle dto this info. DE STILL refuses to give it to us. Went to Rountable Commish-- he does what the DE says. My hubby, the SM has talked to the DE several times already this year (I have not spoken to the DE personally for two years, but he makes me so angry I become apoplectic!)-- pointing out that his policy is not consistent with National's policy. His answer? National does not tell us what to do, and policy is different from reality. And, "you can't pitch your event to a pack that has a troop with the same number." And "almost all of the packs have been "assigned" to troops". And, one of my personal favorites, "there are many more troops than there are packs." When hubby pointed out that that goes way against National's statistics, the DE, says, well, that's the way it is here. Of course, the Field Director and the Registrar both say that is not so.......Oh, and IF the DE were correct (dare I say, if he were TRUTHFUL?), then could someone explain to me why there are several instances where troops have been "assigned" mutiple packs.......?

I say this things to suggest that we are dealing with a DE who is not on the up and up.....there is a bunch more, but not germane to my particular problem of recruiting right now!

My next step will be to go BACK to the Field Director. I suppose that from there I need to go the Scout Exec. And from there, should I bring my frustration to the attention of National?

I am feeling really down to the wire pressured this year, because the SM (hubby) is leaning very strongly towards shutting down the troop that he, myself and our son have struggled and worked HARD for for five years. My son wants to turn 18 and come in as ASM, and eventually (many years off, I hope!) bring his own son(s) into "his" troop. We are committed to Scouting, but we are feeling the hurt of not only a lack of support, but what we see as tactics that are geared towards negative growth.

So, if you have any other ideas or suggestions, I am absolutely ALL EARS, and I thank you sincerely for your response!

YIS,

Lisa

[Bob White]

Lisa,

You have a very unusual situation. It's hard to believe that local professionals would have that attitude toward recruitment. Most DE's understand that that Webelos recruitment is a part of the free enterprise system. They go to the troop that does the best job. You may not get the majority of Webelos from a pack whose Charter Organization also has a troop. But that troop won't always get 100% either. family may be a scheduling conflict with their meeting night, there could be personal conflicts between youth or adults that keeps them from wanting to join.

 

The goal of scouting is 100% transition. So, it is in the DE's best interest to let you talk to those packs. In addition, the District has a responsibility to help your troop gain in membership. At some point in time the District convinced your Charter organization to have a troop. The District now has a responsibility to help keep it going. If they won't let you talk to existing packs then they have the responsibility to start a new one. That is the DE's job not yours.

 

I would get a meeting with the Council's Scout Executive and nicely but firmly remind him/her of the council and district's responsibility to support ALL units not just Charter Organizations who have packs and troops.

 

Next stop is a call to regional, if what you are saying is accurate the council is not doing their job when it comes to recruiting.

 

Good Luck