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Membership Monthly
Now that all of the Packs have recovered from recharter and all of the Blue & Gold activity, you probably notice that your Pack Meeting attendance appears to be considerably smaller due to the transition of your Webelos II to Boy Scouts.
Now is the time to implement your Spring Recruitment plan. Do you have small Dens? Only a few Tiger Cubs? Small Webelos I Dens? Spring Recruitment is the perfect time to have Boy Talks at your school to enroll new Scouts just in time for all of the summer activities that your Pack as well as Council are hosting! Use these summer time activities in your recruitment of new Scouts!
In April and May, Pathfinder District Executive Brian Sutilla, will be available (as time permits) for “Boy Talks” at your school, church or organization. If Brian is unavailable, we will 'recruit' other members of our District or Unit Commissioners to help. These recruitment talks can be scheduled to fit within your specific unit's schedule, or be presented to the total available youth. These typically would be scheduled with the host's permission during lunch hours between 10:45 and 2:00. Please contact Laura Sikat to schedule your Unit's date and time for your “Boy Talk.”
We would prefer to have a two-week lead-time so that we can schedule all of our resources. However, if for some reason you already have a time in mind; don't hesitate to let me know!
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A Lesson in Training: From Someone Who Thought He Knew Everything
Many year's ago, I knew of this one leader who seemed to have it all together. This person started out in Scouting as an Adult Partner in Tiger Cubs, and at the second meeting, he took on the position of Tiger Coordinator for his Pack. (Today, that would be Tiger Den Leader). Once the pack saw what a great job he was doing, the pack committee approached him about the Committee Chairman position. He excepted this position without hesitation. When his son moved up to the Wolf den, he continued on as Den Leader and did a great job at that. All during this time, this person understood the need to be well trained leader. He had been to Tiger Cub Training, Pack Committee Training, and he had also taken his Den Leader Training. This person was also going to extra training by attending the monthly Roundtables, and going to Pow Wow. He was even approached by members of the district committee, and he started to run things for the district, and it seemed as though there was nothing he couldn't do.
But then, his son went on to become a Webelos scout after he had completed his 3rd grade. Since the spring of his son's third grade was very busy, he could not find time to take the training before the 4th grade began. His co-leader, who was also very well trained, could not make the training in the spring as well. So that summer, they sat down, and tried to plan what they were going to do as the scouts began their final journey as Webelos Scouts. The plan was great. They had heard about the camp-o-rees that Webelos attended, as well as the lock-in. They had a plan for all twenty Webelos Activity Badges all planned out. It was the perfect plan for the 20 months it would take them until they joined the Boy Scout's mid-way through their son's fifth grade.
Finally, the den leader and assistant found the time to get the Webelos Den Leader training in mid-September of their son's 4th grade year. As they got this training from the Super Webelos Leader, they realized that they had made a big mistake. At this meeting, they learned a lot more then just having a plan in place to get the 20 Webelos Activity Badges, but they learned a better way to get the Webelos program to the boys while working the entire scout year into their program. The plan they had devised worked flawlessly the previous two years, and the scouts had a lot of fun during the Wolf and Bear years. But what they did not consider, is that the Webelos Program is more then just Cub Scout stuff all over again, it is building these young Cub Scouts into mature Cub Scouts ready for the journey which is Boy Scouts. It is taking these little boys, and teaching them some scout skills, and some leadership that they will need to become young men in the Boy Scouts.
If you have not figured it out, the person in this article just happened to be me back in the fall of 1996. I had been in scouting for a very short 3 ½ years, and I had enjoyed success as a leader in the pack and at the district level. In fact, back then I thought I knew the program quite well. But in all reality, I had only known a very small portion of the scouting program. This is the time that I learned that getting training prior to starting a new position is the best thing you can do. It will allow you to better understand what you are about to do, and a time for you to ask questions ahead of time. Even though I had a good program going into my first stint as a Webelos Leader, this plan was re-written within days of taking the training from Roger, as he was able to inspire us to do more then just getting the 20 Webelos Activity Badges.
If you are planning on taking on a new position next fall, then I suggest you get training done this spring. The time you spend learning as much as you can about the program will produce great results with the scouts who are in your care. And to top it off, it will give you a better understanding of what you are about to experience.
Yours in Scouting,
Chris Hommowun
Roundtable Webelos Split Sessions Leader.
PS. I still learn something from every training experience I am involved in. Be it new training, re-training, or being the trainer or a course.
Membership Monthly - Continued...
Troop and Crew leaders should also spread the word about the current Boy Scout and Venturer Carabiner Keychain promotion! This is an excellent way for recruitment to take place at the Troop and Crew level.
Everyone's goal (All Packs, Troops and Venturing Crews) is to recruit at least 4 new scouts before June 30th!
If you missed the Membership session held at the April Roundtable, please give me a call or drop me an email and I will make sure that you receive the membership information that was discussed at roundtable. Of course, if you have any questions regarding Membership, don't hesitate to call!
Laura Sikat
Pathfinder Vice Chair of Membership
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May Calendar
2-4 Boy Scout Camporee @ Camp Popenebee
3 Scouting for Food Distribution Day
5 6:30 PM District Commissioners Meeting
7:30 PM District Committee Meeting
10 Scouting for Food Pickup Day
12 7:30 PM Roundtable
7:30 PM OA Chapter Meeting
26 Memorial Day (Scout Service Center and Shop Closed)
June Calendar (Summer Camping Experiences Start)
2 6:30 PM District Commissioners Meeting
7:30 PM District Committee Meeting
9 7:30 PM PROGRAM KICKOFF MEETING
7:30 PM OA Chapter Meeting
July Calendar (Summer Camps all Month)
9 Scout Night with the Schaumburg Flyers, Game #1
29 Scout Night with the Schaumburg Flyers, Game #2
Meeting Locations:
District Committee and District Commissioners Meetings will be held at the Dunbar Lakes Clubhouse located at 720 Dunbar Lane in Schaumburg (just off of Lakeland Drive west of Plum Grove Road).
Roundtable and OA Chapter Meetings will be held at the LDS Church located at 1320 West Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg (East of Springinsguth).
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