March Roundtable

[SeattlePioneer]

I've done several "Fall Recruiting Roundups" with the aiming of encouraging Cub Scout Pack in particular to do a good job of recruiting new Scouts. We've often had a good program, but a rotten turnout.

 

Pack leaders don't seem especially interested in devoting an evening in June or August to recruiting.

 

Frankly, I don't think there's a good time to flog fall recruiting. Packs tend to be either done with their program in June or still very busy with it, and August isn't attractive because of competition with other activities.

 

So I'm doing our Fall Recruiting Roundup in March this year, at our Roundtable. We'll be flogging spring recruiting really, which several packs don't do, but should.

 

And this isn't being promoted primarily as a recruiting seminar, but as a fun activity for pack leaders to do with their Cub Scouts.

 

Recruiting nights should have a REALLY FUN activity to draw boys and parents to the activity, so that's what we will be doing at this model recruiting night.

 

Here's the e-mail we're using to promote this, which is going out to pack leaders in the district. It's a little too wordy due to trying to do too many things, but oh, well!

 

 

Email Title: "Enjoy Cub Scout Rocketry Thursday, March 10th!"

 

 

 

Hello Cub Scout Leaders,

 

The spring season to recruit new Cub Scouts is fast approaching! We are making our March Cub Scout Roundtable a chance for Pack leaders to have a fun night with their Cub Scouts, making and launching "stomp bottle rockets" and to learn some new methods for Cub Scout recruiting.

 

A video of stomp bottle rockets being launched is at:

 

Having a REALLY FUN and attractive activity to draw new boys to your recruiting night is one of those methods. We are inviting each pack to send two adults and their Cub Scouts to our model recruiting night at Roundtable Thursday, March 10th from 7:30-8:30pm.

 

We would encourage a current pack leader to attend with their Cub Scout and a new parent volunteer with their Cub Scout who will help organize the spring recruiting effort and who may become the Pack Membership Chair. See if you can use this fun activity to recruit a new pack volunteer!

 

Spring recruiting is a key to having a healthy Cub Scout pack! We invite pack leaders to do some thinking about when you can do a spring recruiting night and to have that date available at the Roundtable so the district can support your recruiting night by helping to promote it.

 

(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

[shortridge]

Don't know if it's gone out yet, and maybe it's just my read on it ... but I initially interpreted the first paragraph - "for Pack leaders to have a fun night with their Cub Scouts" - as inviting along an entire den or pack, not just their kids. And we all know that some folks don't bother to read all the way through to the end.

 

I'm curious - what are the Cubs going to be doing while you talk over the nuts & bolts of recruiting with their parents?

 

Good luck!(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[SeattlePioneer]

hello Shortridge,

 

 

We'll be e-mailing the annoucement one more time, so we'll clear up that ambiguity ---- thanks.

 

 

The idea is that parents and Cub Scouts will work together in making the rocket out of an ordinary sheet of paper as a gathering activity and for the first 10-15 minutes.

 

After that, Scouts will be launching their rockets for distance in the gymnasium ajacent to the Roundtable site. After the parents get a look at that we'll be starting the Roundtable and continuing with our model recruiting night.

 

The Scouts will be arranging their own competitions while shooting for distance, and the winnder of each competition will get a sticker for a certificate they fill out.

 

The competition will be supervised.

[Eamonn]

A couple of the problems we ran into with District Spring Recruiting, which were aimed mainly at the little guys moving from Kindergarten were.

1/ Most of the Packs and Dens in our area only meet in the summer for special events like Day Camp and Fishing Derbies.

2/ There normally isn't time for Packs to sort out who the leaders will be for the newly recruited boys.

 

Parents will attend a fun event, but by the time the Packs and Dens get back to their normal schedule the event is long forgotten and without good and real follow up the Lad and parent is not only gone, but a lot of times is never coming back.

 

Most of the Den Leaders I know can't wait for summer and having a break from the weekly meetings. It's just too hard having their own kids home all day then having a group more show up on their door step.

Still if it works? More power to you.

Ea.

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Eamonn,

 

 

Personally, I don't like to add newly recruited boys to existing dens in the spring when those dens are trying to finish out their program year.

 

My method is to start a "Bobcat Den" for a few weeks that all the new Scouts enter with the aim of having a sample of high qaulity Cub Scout activities, which include completing the Bobcat requirements in time for our June campout.

 

At the June campout the new Scouts in the Bobcat Den cross over into the newly formed dens for the next Cub Scout year.

 

Our recruiting night will be May 9th. Boys signing up for Cub Scouts get a "Bobcat Handbook" that describes the Bobcat requirements so that boys can start completing those requirements right away. We will be using the rocket launch competition to understand what "do your best means," and that requirement is completed with a ceremony at the recruiting night for those interested in making a promise to "do you best."

 

The next Monday May 16th we have a den meeting in which we go over additional Bobcat requirements and prepare for a hike on Saturday, May 21st which is capped by a hot dog roast.

 

We have a pack committee meeting May 30th that new parents are invited to attend to plan our June camp out.

 

We have another den meeting in which we complete the Bocat requirements and prepared for our overnight camp and crossover.

 

By the time that is completed, new Cub Scouts have had some good Cub Scout experiences. We march in a 4th of July parade and do Cub Scout daycamp in July and are planning a barbeque in August.

 

I've had good experience with the Bobcat Den ----this will be my third time using it in the spring.

[5yearscouter]

We don't really do any spring recruiting, at least not on purpose.

 

the district has a roundup they do at the local small zoo in May-- register for boy scouts for a small fee and get in free to the zoo for the day. We've only kept on average 1 boy per year from that roundup, and they are scouts that we already knew about and they went to the roundup at the zoo as a perk.

 

every other scout has dropped. by the time we get them truly registered (kindergardeners can't be registered until June 1st), find out all their contact info, our pack is winding down on the weekly meetings.

 

Unless the cubmaster or a committee person wants to take them on as a new group, it is incredibly difficult to get them into a den and doing something right away. and if a leader starts leading them until they get thru the first little bit, especially tiger parents, expect that person to KEEP leading them thru the summer and into the new school year.

 

to fully get the most of our pack activities in the summer, you have to pay to register, and get a uniform, and then pay to go to day camp with the pack in June ($85 + late fee after May). July activities are cheap or free, but Day camp is our big summer activity and we just can't get newbies to sign up for it.

 

It's soooo difficult to keep them excited when you don't have weekly activities they can attend.

 

We focus our recruiting on the Fall, but we do it early August, when our schools are back in session.

[AKdenldr]

We've had success doing recruiting for the tiger den in the spring, with the den starting in the fall.

 

But, we do parent recruiting not boy recruiting.

 

We have a parent interest night in the spring for kinderguarden parents. We have a plan for kids that come, but it is an adult meeting. (We don't need to sell scouting to the boys. It's the parents who need to be sold.)

 

Leadership is identified, hopefully. And a list of interested families is developed. Parent talent forms are filled out with a discussion of how they can all participate. Fall the den starts in earnest. Leader gets training that is available in the fall. If they start with a few meetings and field trips they are well on their way and happy with their progress by Christmas. If not, yuck. Messy den with lack of advancement and participation,

 

Of course, all scouting is local, and your mileage might vary.

[SeattlePioneer]

I use the Bobcaqt Den as an opportunity to identify parents with leadership ability, and start directing people that way by healping to lead activities right away.

 

Other parents are asked to start contributing right away as well in one way or another.

 

>

 

 

The problem is, if things fail to launch in the fall you are in trouble. It's all too common for Tiger Cub Dens to fail to form, which leaves a huge hole in a pack that can be the beginning of a downward spiral.

 

That's a major reason why I want to recruit Tiger Cubs in the spring and to identify the new leaders of the den right away. That way you have a program already in motion and ready to take off promptly in the fall.

 

That's my theory anyway.

[Eamonn]

Have to say that I like the idea of the "Bobcat Den."

I've never been a great fan of Venturing as it is set up and thought that "District Crews" might be a better idea.

I'm not sure how once you have got these little fellows and their parents working together you then manage to have them join a local Pack?

You have the great advantage of knowing what you are doing, but very often Tiger Den Leaders have little or no idea.

 

We have tried having Commissioners work with failing units as some sort of Temp Leader. Even when it looks like the unit has been saved, once the Temp stands down things rarely work out. That or we end up losing a good member of the commissioner staff!

I can also see that some of the CM's who do well recruiting Tigers in the fall and have everything in place might be a little upset and think that the District is overstepping the mark.

But again if it works? Good Luck.

Ea.

[SeattlePioneer]

The Bobcat Den is formed by a Pack for a few weeks in the spring to give new Cub Scouts and new Cub Scout families sopecial attention in learning about the program and having a good experience.

 

After having a few meetings to complete the Bobcat requirements, have a quality day hike and hot dog roast, the Bobcat Den is dissolved and the new Cub Scouts are "sorted" into the dens formed when all the Cub Scouts advance into their new dens in June.

 

I've thought about using a "Sorting Hat" like in the first Harry Potter movie to sort the Bobcats into their new dens.... That might be an exciting and personalized way of doing that task.

 

It also helps me as Cubmaster identify new parent leaders and get them used to helping with den and pack activities.