Why Join Cub Scouting?
• If you could give only one gift to the young people who are most important in your life, what would it be? No matter what your family situation is, it is within your power to help these children grow into people with a good feeling about themselves and a genuine concern for others. Cub Scouting can assist you in providing this greatest gift of all.
• Cub Scout-age children benefit developmentally from belonging to a small group of peers. Your child will be a part of a den, a small group of Cub Scouts in the same grade level and who are of the same gender. Through this sense of belonging, children build self-esteem and learn to get along with others.
• As a parent, you want to be assured that the groups that your child joins will teach values consistent with good citizenship, character development, personal fitness, and leadership. The values we seek to instill are found in the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
We know that kids do not join Cub Scouting for character building. Youth join because it is fun. Your child will learn great lessons, but they will be far too busy having fun to notice.
READY TO JOIN THE FUN!
Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Law
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
How Does Cub Scouting Work?
In Cub Scouting, you and your family join in on the program with your child, and you will help them along the way. Cub Scouts have a different handbook at each grade level, with adventures that are age-appropriate for their developmental level. As your child advances through these books by working on adventures, they will earn badges and other recognition that they wear on their uniform. As your child grows in Cub Scouting, your role will change with them, from hands-on involvement to guiding and coaching. Your child’s success in Cub Scouting depends on you!
The Cub Scouting program takes place at two levels. Your child will be a part of a den, a small group of Cub Scouts in the same grade level. A den typically meets once a month for cubs in kindergarten to 3rd grade while the 4th and 5th graders meet twice to three times per month. However, the adult leaders set the den schedule at their discretion. All dens, from kindergarten through fifth grade, make up a pack who is led by the Cubmaster. Once a month, the dens, with their families, come together at the pack meeting and Cub Scouts are recognized for the adventures and badges they have earned along with participation in events over select weekends for camping, overnight adventures, and day camps.
What you can expect as a parent?
Cub Scout Pack 335 is a fun family pack serving boys and girls in kindergarten through fifth grade (or 5 through 10 years of age). Cub Scouts, families, leaders, and chartered organizations work together to achieve the 10 purposes of Cub Scouts in a safe and fun environment:
● Character Development
● Spiritual Growth
● Good Citizenship
● Sportsmanship
● Family Understanding
● Respectful Relationships
● Personal Achievements
● Friendly Service
● Fun and Adventure
Your Child’s Safety:
The #1 priority of Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is the safety of your child while involved in any scouting activity. For this reason, we work closely with chartered organizations to recruit the best leaders for our units. We take great pride in the quality of our adult leadership and in our application review process. Each registered adult leader goes through a background check and required to take youth protection training courses every two years. Also, all adults involved in our pack are required to take youth protection training. This two hour course is divided into 4 sections with a 10 minute test at the end. BSA has adopted a comprehensive set of policies and procedures designed to ensure that scouting continues to be safe for all participants. BSA is a national leader among youth-serving agencies in addressing the potential threat that child abuse poses to young people.
For more information visit Guide to Safe Scouting and www.Scouting.org/YouthProtection.
Your Child, Scouting, and You...
You, the parent, will be key in building the scouting experience with your son and/or daughter with your involvement and leading by example. Scouting is filled with fun adventures and achievements to accomplish the 10 purposes of scouting through active learning with family and friends. The responsibility for a cub's advancement in Cub Scouting lies with the family. Many advancement requirements will be accomplished at the pack and den level but most are done at home with the family. As a parent, you want your child to grow up to be self-reliant, dependable and caring. Cub Scout Pack 335 has these same goals. We believe in helping children be prepared for life through fun and educational activities designed to help our young cubs be physical strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
The Cub Scout Pack
The Cub Scout pack is comprised of dens that is a group of kindergarten through fifth graders led by the cubmaster. Cub Pack 335 meets once a month on a Sunday afternoon typically from 2pm to 4pm at the Phoenix Elks Lodge 335 located at 14424 North 32nd Street, Phoenix AZ 85032. The pack runs many special programs, such as: weekend campouts, hikes, 2L bottle rocket launches, flag retirement ceremonies, memorial services, community & conservation events, bike olympics, and the famous Pinewood Derby to name a few. Candidly, this pack may not be the right fit if you are expecting to drop off your child & go or believe every child should receive a participation medal. The cubmaster believes in the personal growth of each cub through rewarding of good behavior, earning their advancements and learning from their mistakes and failures, all within an age appropriate supportive environment. The pack is run by the pack committee that is comprised of all the pack leaders and active parents who plan and coordinate the details of the monthly pack program and regularly scheduled den meetings. The committee also:
● Selects leadership
● Finds meeting places
● Performs record keeping
● Manages pack finances
● Orders badges and awards
● Maintains pack equipment
● Helps train leaders
● Recognizes leaders
The Den
The larger pack is broken into smaller groups of children by grade levels, called dens. Den meetings are led by volunteer den leaders and assistant den leaders with help from parents. Den leaders and parents decide on a convenient meeting place along with dates and times to meet regularly to work on age-appropriate activities. Lion dens are kindergarteners, Tiger dens are first-graders, Wolf dens are second-graders, Bear dens are third-graders, Webelos dens are fourth graders, and Arrow of Light (AOLs) dens are fifth-graders.
The Advancement Plan
Recognition is important to young children. The advancement plan provides fun activities, gives cub scouts a sense of personal achievement, and strengthens family understanding, participation and appreciation.
The Lion program is for kindergarteners and their adult partners. They work on adventures like the older grades but do not need to earn the Bobcat badge first.
Bobcat
Beginning in the Tiger year (1st grade), or upon joining, all new Cub Scouts earn the Bobcat badge first by learning the Scout Oath and Scout Law, the Cub Scout handshake, salute, sign, and motto. After receiving the Bobcat badge, each Cub Scout works on requirements based on their grade level.
Tigers
The Tiger program is for first-grade children and their adult partners. Tigers, with their adult partners, work towards completing adventures and advancements to earn the Tiger badge. Adventures include indoor and outdoor activities just right for a first grader.
Wolf
A Cub Scout who has completed first grade works to complete advancements and adventures to earn the Wolf badge. Scouts will build upon what they’ve learned as a Tiger and learn about the outdoors, the Outdoor Code, Leave No Trace Principals, community service, our neighborhoods, and good health.
Bear
A Cub Scout who has completed second-grade will build upon what they’ve learned as a Wolf and work towards the Bear badge. Scouts will learn about nature, the value of helping others, how to take care of themselves, having fun, and patriotism.
Webelos
A Cub Scout who has completed third grade transfers to a Webelos den and works on requirements for the Webelos badge. Camping and outdoor programs are an important part of the Webelos program.
Arrow of Light
A Cub Scout who has completed fourth grade transfers to an Arrow of Light (AOL) den and works on requirements for the Arrow of Light Award (the highest award in Cub Scouts). AOL’s are introduced to Scouts BSA and will visit troops to progress into Boy Scouts when they graduate in their 5th grade year.
How Can You Help?
The most important help that you, as a parent, can give your child is to work with them on their Cub Scouting adventures as they work towards earning their badge of rank. The Cub Scout handbook is full of age-appropriate activities; some of them you do together at home. Den meetings are designed for Cub Scouts to complete adventures that are required for them to earn their badge of rank. When you have completed a requirement at home, make sure your den leader is informed so that they can properly record it and your child can be recognized for their achievements. Your role as a parent is the secret to a successful Cub Scouting program!
The den and the pack rely on parent participation to run a successful program. Cub Scouting operates through volunteer leadership. Volunteer leaders are an example of Scouting’s principle of service to others. By volunteering in Scouting, you are also giving your child and family the gift of your time. What could be more valuable? You will have an opportunity to be a positive influence in their life and in the lives of their friends.
The Pack Committee
Every Cub Scout parent or guardian is invited to become a member of the pack committee. Pack committee members perform administrative functions of the pack. The committee meets monthly and includes the responsibilities below.
Committee chair: Presides at all pack committee meetings. Helps recruit adult leaders and attends the monthly pack meeting and pack committee meeting.
Advancement chair: Maintains advancement records for the pack. Orders and obtains all badges and insignia. Attends the monthly pack meeting and pack committee meeting.
New member coordinator: Manages the transition of new Scouts into the pack and coordinates orientation for new Scouting families. Responsible for the marketing and recruiting initiatives of the pack as well as the growth and retention of the unit.
Secretary: Keeps records of the pack committee meetings and communicates with families about upcoming pack events and activities.
Treasurer: Keeps all financial records for the pack, including the pack bank account, and gives a monthly financial report to the pack committee. Attends the monthly pack meeting and pack committee meeting.
Training
The Boy Scouts of America offers convenient training for parents who volunteer. As a new parent, you can learn all about Cub Scouting and how quality Scouting programs are built. Log on to my.Scouting.org and create an account to gain access to all available training content. For more information about training at all levels of the program, go to www.scouting.org/training.
Youth Protection
Child abuse is a serious problem in our society, and unfortunately, it can occur anywhere, even in Scouting. Youth safety is of paramount importance to Scouting. For that reason, the BSA continues to create barriers to abuse beyond what have previously existed in Scouting.
The Boy Scouts of America places the greatest importance on providing the most secure environment possible for its youth members. To maintain such an environment, the BSA has developed numerous procedural and leadership selection policies and provides parents and leaders with multiple online and print resources for all Scouting programs.
All leaders are required to complete Youth Protection training. All parents are encouraged to take the training. To complete the training online, go to my.Scouting.org and establish an account using the member number you receive when you register for BSA membership. If you take the training online before you obtain a member number, be sure to return to my.Scouting.org and enter your number for training record credit. Your BSA local council also provides training on a regular basis if you cannot take it online.
Youth Protection training must be taken every two years. If a volunteer’s Youth Protection training record is not current at the time of recharter, the volunteer will not be registered. For more information about Youth Protection, please see BSA’s Youth Protection website at www.scouting.org/youthprotection.aspx.
How much does this value cost?
There are several costs associated with Scouting. Please visit the Grand Canyon Council registration cost and schedule for the current membership dues. Additionally, there is a one-time National BSA new member joining fee and a cost for Scouts Life Magazine subscription (optional).
Pack 335 currently has an annual membership dues of $75 per cub scout. This is the bare minimum to cover the cost of advancement badges, awards, belt loops, craft material, etc. for your cub to advance in rank. There are additional costs for campouts, events, etc. that are discretionary to give flexibility to the parents. Our pack also uses donations and fundraisers to keep the costs as low as possible in addition to our leadership being extremely frugal with pack funds. 100% of the money received is used for our program. All the individuals running this pack does so on a volunteer basis.
Click Cub Scout Uniforms to see the list for each rank. Our pack Class A uniform requirements is: shirt with all appropriate patches, cap, neckerchief, slide, belt (I ding a lot of kids at uniform inspection for this... mine included) and navy blue shorts/pants. You will be, or have someone, sewing patches on the shirt as your cub earns various awards from first to third grade. I highly recommend buying a shirt larger than what is needed to keep the costs down. You are not required to purchase the BSA Scout navy shorts or pants. Please use what you have. My advice is to only buy this uniform once.
The handbook is only being offered in eBook form however there are still many hardcover books available. One of your tasks will be to sign up for Scoutbook. This is what I use for my son but we still have many people who like to log the activities, accomplishments, advancements, etc. in the hard cover. Scoutbook will be mandatory and the rest is at your discretion.
In summary, you can expect the estimated minimum cost per NEW Cub Scout in Pack 335 for the first year to be $350 (upwards to $375 depending on your sewing ability). Thereafter, each year will be the National BSA & Council dues and Pack 335 dues.
Regarding additional costs mentioned above for campouts, events, etc. We try to keep the pack event cost(s) for weekend campouts, events, etc. to a maximum of $20 per cub.. We've been very successful so far. Costs for events the are prepackaged is the cost from that vendor. An example is that our pack recently slepted overnight on the USS Midway Airccraft Carrier in San Diego, ate like servicemen & women, toured the jets & helicopters, toured internal rooms of the ship, etc. and that cost was $110 per person paid to the USS Midway Museum. We planned the event and passed the exact cost to the individual. Once again, 100% of money received is used for our program to benefit your child.