Spring Recruitment - Cubs

[Daped01]

Tonight is our Pack Spring recruitment sign up night. Yesterday I was in the school talking to the kindertardeners doing boy talks. If it were up to the kids I think i'd have 30 tiger cubs next year. I guess tonight i'll see how good of a sell job I did to the boys! Wish us luck!

[blw2]

good for you!

I've never heard of a spring roundup. Good idea though if you have a summer program.

I would like to do some sort of reach out to the kindergartners for next year though....

[Daped01]

I had never heard of a spring roundup before either, but a few months ago at roundtable it was brought up, I guess we are doing it council wide to bolster our tiger cub numbers for next year.

[NJCubScouter]

Although I have been out of the Cub-Scouting game for more than 10 years, I can recall that some years the district did a push for Tigers in the spring and some years they didn't. The one year I can recall that they did, it worked out pretty well. By the time the fall came around there were already Tiger Den Leaders who had stepped forward, received their orientation to the pack (part of my job as Assistant Cubmaster), had their boys and adult partners uniformed (I think it was still the orange t-shirts back then) and everybody had their books, ready to launch as soon as the new school year started. Other years, when recruitment was in the fall, it took a while for things to get going. (The story of one of those roundups that year, which was held two days after 9-11 (and our area is about 30 miles from downtown Manhattan), is beyond the scope of this topic. Suffice it to say, it was a little different from the usual routine.)

[Daped01]

Holy smokes. I just got back from sign-up and out of just over 30 boys in this years kindergarten class, I have 11 signed up for next year! and I even got 3 adults!

[mashmaster]

Awesome. We do spring round ups and sadly out of over 100 kindergartners last year we got 4 boys signed up. So sad.

[dedkad]

We did a spring round-up last year, but only a couple of kindergartners came and they slipped out early with their parents so we didn't get a chance to talk to them. Recruited again in the fall but couldn't convince a single parent of the 5 interested boys to step up and be den leader, so we ended up with no Tiger den this year. Hoping to recoup that loss with a Wolf den recruitment this spring and fall. That's great that you were able to actually go to the classrooms and talk to the boys. We send flyers inviting them to our meeting, but that's it. Sounds like you are going to have a great year next year!

[jumpyg]

Our pack primarily recruits in the springtime. Summer events they can do include Day Camp (get them shooting BB and archery!), a submarine/baseball game sleepover (alternates every other year), a hike or two, and two other events like a visit to the local trout farm, bicycle derby, etc. In Michigan, you have to capitalize on the warm summer months and get the boys outside!

 

It also gives new leaders the summer months to figure things out and make the first den meetings in September go more smoothly.

[Tampa Turtle]

Having some Boy Scouts in uniform (if possible schedule wise) is good. Also water bottle rockets or stomp rockets, etc. A sample campsite with a tent gets them excited as well. We used to have a dumbed down FAQ for prospective Tiger parents since a lot of them were intimidated with the prospect of camping, lack of skills, perceptions of danger, etc. We also stressed the hands on aspects and that it ws not school--that appealed to certain parents.

[blw2]

....but couldn't convince a single parent of the 5 interested boys to step up and be den leader' date=' so we ended up with no Tiger den this year. ....[/quote']

Boy, we were oh so close to that this year too. On my last round of calls, one of the dads reluctantly agreed to do it. Got off to a slow start and probably compressed the program quite a bit, but the boys I think had fun

 

I had a thought that it sure would be nice to have a grandparent or retired scouter, maybe a retired school teacher that just loved 1st graders and that could be a perpetual Tiger leader. Oh how nice that would be!

[jumpyg]

Having some Boy Scouts in uniform (if possible schedule wise) is good. Also water bottle rockets or stomp rockets' date=' etc. A sample campsite with a tent gets them excited as well. We used to have a dumbed down FAQ for prospective Tiger parents since a lot of them were intimidated with the prospect of camping, lack of skills, perceptions of danger, etc. We also stressed the hands on aspects and that it ws not school--that appealed to certain parents.[/quote']

 

What we do is a brief slide show about all the FUN events we do. The cubmaster will have rockets, pinewood derby cars, etc. on hand as well. Then the boys get split off and go to the gym with a few parents/Cub Scouts in uniform. They learn to play marbles and get their first belt loop on the spot. A snack is also a good idea.

 

While this is happening, parents are filling out forms and being asked to volunteer. Works pretty well.

[Lenae]

I wish there was a pack doing spring recruitment around my neck of the woods. My son is a Kindergartener, and he's so excited to be a Tiger Scout. My husband and I signed up online for training because we are both willing and able to volunteer within the pack as den leaders or wherever needed, but I can't get anyone to reply to my emails or return phone calls! I keep reading that membership is declining in the BSA, and I can't help but think that maybe a contributing factor could be apathy in the lower levels of leadership. At least, it seems that way around here. What's a parent gotta do to get someone to reply to an email?

[JasonG172]

I hope you retain every single one of them.

[blw2]

I wish there was a pack doing spring recruitment around my neck of the woods. My son is a Kindergartener' date=' and he's so excited to be a Tiger Scout. My husband and I signed up online for training because we are both willing and able to volunteer within the pack as den leaders or wherever needed, but I can't get anyone to reply to my emails or return phone calls! I keep reading that membership is declining in the BSA, and I can't help but think that maybe a contributing factor could be apathy in the lower levels of leadership. At least, it seems that way around here. What's a parent gotta do to get someone to reply to an email?[/quote']

 

Well I know you're not in my neck of the woods, or I'd have returned your email!

A parent jumping in willing to lead the den..... man o man. Let me check with our treasurer to see if we can pay your moving expenses!

[110Percent]

I wish there was a pack doing spring recruitment around my neck of the woods. My son is a Kindergartener' date=' and he's so excited to be a Tiger Scout. My husband and I signed up online for training because we are both willing and able to volunteer within the pack as den leaders or wherever needed, but I can't get anyone to reply to my emails or return phone calls! I keep reading that membership is declining in the BSA, and I can't help but think that maybe a contributing factor could be apathy in the lower levels of leadership. At least, it seems that way around here. What's a parent gotta do to get someone to reply to an email?[/quote']

 

​I had the same problem last year, but the issue was that the Cubmaster was so overwhelmed that my email from beascout.org fell through the cracks. If you know when and where the Pack meets, show up with your son and I'm sure they will welcome you with open arms.

 

I've been the Tiger Den Leader since the beginning of the school year and had a blast with my scouts, all 14 of them. My son missed very little during the summer and would have had nobody in his den if we started in the beginning of summer instead of the beginning of the school year.