PATHFINDER OCTOBER NORTHWEST NEWS

 

 

October Calendar

 

6          6:30 PM      District Commissioners Meeting

7:30 PM      District Committee Meeting

7          7:00 PM      Youth Protection Training @ Gaylans Schaumburg

13        7:30 PM            Roundtable

            8:00 PM      OA Chapter Meeting

10-12                    Pathfinder District Webelos Fall Camporee (The Hollows)

15                                Cub Scout Leader Specific Training

17                                New Leaders' Essentials

24-25                           OA Haunted Hike

 

November Calendar

 

1                                  Scout Night with the Chicago Wolves

3          6:30 PM      District Commissioners Meeting

7:30 PM      District Committee Meeting

8                                  Super Scouter Saturday

11        7:30 PM            Roundtable

            8:00 PM      OA Chapter Meeting

12        7:30 PM      District Annual Meeting

15        9AM – 3PM    Merit Badge Clinic

22                                Wreath Pickup

27-29                           Council Service Center/Scout Shop Closed

 

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).

 

 

Make Your Unit's New Scouting Season a Success!

 

Before we can plan for success, it helps to know what we're trying to succeed in.  For Scouts, the bottom line is to provide a quality program for the Scouts.  With a quality program, the scouts advance and learn, with each lesson or rank providing the foundation for the next.

 

While up at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with my sons' Venturing Crew this summer, I got to see the crew members put into practical use the skills they learned as Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  They had to read a map and use a compass to navigate; gather wood in the rain to start a fire; tie knots to put up a dining fly and to keep their canoes from drifting off; use first aid skills to treat minor injuries; cook over open fires and stoves; and the one that impressed me the most – work as a team to accomplish their goals, which were to have a safe and fun time out in a real wilderness.

 

Every leader in every Pack, Troop, and Crew is part of the Pathfinder District team.    The Pathfinder District and Northwest Suburban Council provide the Packs, Troops, and Crews with support and experience so that they can provide a quality program for their youth.  In order to provide that support, the district and council needs some help from the unit leaders and parents, especially in three areas: membership – recruiting new Scouts; Manpower – Recruit new leaders and volunteers; and Money – raise money to provide a quality program.  I wrote about these areas last month but I feel they are the most important elements needed for a successful Scouting program so I'm going to re-print them.

 

                   Recruit new youth.  Schedule appearances at local school information days and evenings, schedule boy talks for Cub Scouts with our District Executive, and encourage your current Scouts to recruit their friends into your unit.  Youth are the lifeblood of the Scouting program.  Without new youth coming in every year, the Scouting program will disappear.  With new youth come new parent volunteers to help your unit's leaders; new ideas; and of course, new membership dues, and new recruiters.  Once you have recruited new youth members, be sure to submit their applications and registration fees to the council office so that the youth will be eligible for advancement and you and the youth will be protected under the council's insurance plan.

 

                   Recruit new adult leaders.  As Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, or Committee Chair, you will end up doing most or all of the work yourself unless you recruit new leaders to help.  Because your job is bigger without helpers, it is harder to find someone to eventually replace you because your job is bigger than it should be.  Even if you have all of the positions in your unit filled, you should recruit adults as assistants to eventually replace you leaders who move on.

 

                   Fundraise.  Units and the Northwest Suburban Council need money to function.  Some units plan elaborate fundraisers, however an easier solution is to participate in the council popcorn and wreath sales.  The program is already prepared so you don't have to go looking for vendors, and both your unit and the council will come out ahead.

 

Help us help you by working on these three areas this month.

Yours in Scouting, Ray Okigawa

Research Shines a Light on Cub Scout Retention

By Brandi Mantz, Associate Director Marketing & Communications Division

 

            Did you know that most boys who drop out of Cub Scouting do so in May, June and September?

            Did you know that dens that meet more often have higher retention rates?

            The BSA Research Service has conducted studies to determine the reasons boys have dropped their Cub Scout membership.  The findings have been used to develop many Cub Scout recruitment and activity programs.

            Consider a typical family in a Cub Scout Pack.  Their school year ends in May or June. Summer becomes full of family trips and activities.  September rolls around and the family must now decided what extracurricular activities they will take part in for the coming school year.  If this family's pack became dormant over the summer, they now have an even harder time deciding whether to stay in Scouting.  This directly affects our retention efforts.  Those three months when the Cub Scout program meets much less frequently allow for other activities to become priorities in the family's lives.  This is why we encourage every pack to earn the National Summertime Pack Award.  It keeps families involved in Scouting year-round.

            Once in the program, the number of meetings per month becomes a factor in retention.  In our study, one of five boys (21.1%) who dropped was in a den that met less than twice a month.  Cub Scouts and their families are looking for activities, outdoor adventure, challenges and fun.  When the meetings are not frequent enough, continuity is lost and other activities will take their place.

            Cub Scouting vs. Sports.  A common thought is that Cub Scouting loses boys to sports.  This research found that only 17 percent of boys wanted to focus more on sports.

            Boring Meetings.  The top factor influencing the decision to leave Cub Scouting is that the meetings become boring.  When we recruit boys into the program we promise fun and challenging outdoor activities.  Meetings need to be full or activities that introduce the boys to new and challenging things.  Take them outside!

            Training Pays.  Another key factor is poor or disorganized leadership.  New leaders need immediate training, even mentoring, to get them started on the right track.  To address these needs, packs should give the new leader a Fast Start training tape within the first 72 hours of them signing up.  Then follow up with New Leaders' Essentials and position-specific training.

 

*Percentage who say the item had a "major" or "somewhat of an" influence on the decision to drop out.  Base:  194 parents of boys who dropped out of Cub Scouts.

 

Source:            Pro Speak.  June 2003.