Leader resources

Cub scouts is a wonderful program and the BSA (our parent organization) provides countless resources for delivering a quality experience. For many parents that want to be involved it can be a daunting task to become a leader, especially for parents who haven't been involved in Cub Scouts themselves. Fortunately, there are many resources available and anyone can become a leader, no previous experience is necessary. This page lists some of the resources available, all of which are available both to parents as well as leaders. In order for everyone to have a basic understanding of the cub scout program, this page will first outline some of the terminology that is often used:

Cub Scout: An elementary aged child that is involved in the Cub Scout program. Cub Scouts can be in kindergarten through the fifth grade.

Den: A den is a group of cub scouts that are all in the same grade in school. There can be multiple dens for the same age group if a large number of cub scouts are registered for that grade. However, most grade levels have a single den. Dens meet weekly to work on rank advancements. Den meetings are planned and organized by a Den Leader. Den Leaders are usually parents that agree to become registered leaders and complete some training. Most dens have a den leader and an assistant den leader.

Adventure: An adventure is an achievement that scouts work on at den meetings. Each adventure usually takes two or three den meetings to complete. When a cub scout completes an adventure they are awarded a belt loop that can be worn on their cub scout belt. Adventures can be lead by den leaders as well as parents.

Rank: A rank is an achievement that dens work on throughout the scouting year. Each grade level has a specific rank they are working on. Kindergarten aged scouts work on their Lion rank. First grade scouts work on their Tiger. Second graders work on their Wolf rank while third graders work on Bear. Fourth and fifth graders are known as WEBELOS (which means WE will BE LOyal Scouts) and work on the WEBELOS rank followed by the Arrow of Light. Each rank is achieved by completing a number of required and elective adventures.

Pack: A pack is simply a group cub scout dens. For towns where scouting is very popular packs are often organised around elementary schools. However, there is no requirement that cub scouts in a pack must all be from the same school. All elementary aged students are welcome at any Pack. All the dens in a Pack meet once a month for a Pack Meeting. Pack meetings are times when the pack can play games, give out awards and have interaction among the dens. Packs are overseen by the Cubmaster. The Cubmaster helps to plan and run the pack meetings. The Cubmaster is sometimes also a den leader and may provide program guidance to the den leaders.

Charter Organization: Cub scout packs are not legal entities. Packs are sponsored by organizations (usually non-profit) and those organizations are referred to as the Charter Organization. The Pack 77 charter organization is Christ Church of Andover. Christ church provides us with a place to meet and storage for our materials. The charter organization provides a leader that is the interface between the pack and the organization. This leadership position is known as the Charter Organization Representative (COR).

Committee: The committee is a group made up of a minimum of 3 leaders, known as the Key 3. These three leaders are the Cubmaster, COR, and Committee Chair. The committee's responsibility involves any administrative tasks necessary for the pack to operate. This includes finances, managing calendars, the website etc. Most den leaders are also on the committee and there is also usually a treasurer and secretary. Our committee meets monthly and all leaders and parents are welcome to attend.

District: All of these things together are known as the Unit. The term Pack and Unit are interchangeable. In cub scouts, all the units in a geographic area are organized into something called a District. Pack 77 is part of the West Wind district.

Council: Several neighboring districts form a council. In our area, we are part of the Spirit of Adventure council

In addition to YPT, there are several other training modules that we encourage leaders to take. It is suggested that all leaders (den leaders, pack committee members, cubmaster, etc.) take the Pack Committee Member Training. This training class is a great introduction to how the Cub Scout organization and Packs operate.

Den Leaders should plan to take the Cub Scout Den Leader & Assistant training program. This module goes over recommendations on how to run den meetings including annual planning, advancement and other things.

Cubmasters and Committee chairs should take the Cubmaster & Assistant and Pack Committee Chair modules, respectively.

All of these classes are available on the my.scouting web portal. Navigate to https://my.scouting.org/ and login. Once logged in, all the training classes are available by clicking the "My Training" button.

For more information use the following links:

• Youth Protection Training

• Leader Training Information

• My Scouting Portal

• BSA Training Portal

Den leader Resources

• Annual Planning Worksheet

• Den Meeting Plan Worksheet