Going Camping!

This weekend is our pack's spring campout.  We are going to a state park at a large lake that is about an hour or so away from where we live.  The weather is supposed to be really nice, and we have a lot of fun activities planned for the boys.

One of the nice things about this park is that they pretty much dedicate one whole area of the park for our pack to camp and have free run in.  This is great for the boys - we emphasize the buddy system, and as long as they stay with their buddy within our area, we don't need to worry about them too much.  All the parents in our pack are really good about keeping tabs on each other's kids, and the kids like having a little freedom to explore or hang out with their friends around one of the campfires.  It's a small enough park that getting lost is really not too much of an issue.

The hard part about going camping is always the preparations.

I suppose I should take a moment here to explain some of the traditions in our pack: we traditionally have a "pig out" event right after lunch, where everyone brings a dessert to share, potluck-style.  Then we gather around a campfire and enjoy some skits while we pig out on all the desserts.  This may seem a bit unusual, as most campfires are done in the evening to wind down the day.  However, we usually have two special events going on at night on Saturday night: in the fall, we do our special Bobcat award ceremony for all new Scouts, and in the spring, we do our Arrow of Light award ceremony for the departing 2nd Year Webelos Scouts.  Other packs do these things differently, and that is fine.  However, in order to accommodate these special events, we developed the tradition of the "pig out" and campfire right after lunch.  It works for us!

We also traditionally eat a common meal together as a den, usually dinner on Saturday evening.  This means we have to plan our skit for the "pig out" and our den dinner in advance before we go.

Before we could get to the planning part, we had a little business to take care of first.  Not all of our Scouts are going on the campout, so we have to accommodate them with activities at our den meeting as well.  So, at our den meeting on Tuesday night, we first finished working on the Art pin as part of the Cub Scout Academics and Sports program.  As with most packs, the boys in our den all finished their Tiger badges back in January, well ahead of the Blue & Gold Banquet.  We have been filling the rest of the year with various Tiger electives, as well as belt loops and pins.  It turns out that we have several boys in our den who are budding artists, and our Assistant Den Leader enjoys making art as well.  I figured this would be a great opportunity to leverage her interests, and have her teach something the boys would all be interested in.  I think it worked out really great.  Part of being an effective Den Leader is learning to delegate and trust other people to do some of the work for you.  Whenever you recognize a talent in that person, have them run with it!

After that, we let the boys who were not going camping go home around 7:45.  We spent the rest of the meeting time with the boys going camping from our den (there are five) planning the skit and den dinner.  I took BALOO training last weekend, and got some great ideas for campfire foil wraps for dinner this year.  We will have the boys make campfire pizzas using English muffins, and the adults will be enjoying a chicken and sausage jambalaya.  Should be some good eats, and I know the boys will enjoy making their own dinners!  We will use this to fulfill a requirement for the Nutrition belt loop, too.   I made a signup sheet with all the ingredients, and asked our parents to sign up for several items on the list.  I am really proud of all our parents - we have a great group in our den, and they really stepped up.  Some dens choose to collect cash and send somebody grocery shopping, and that works OK, too.  I figure since everyone is going shopping for the rest of their meals anyway, it wouldn't hurt to ask them to pick up a few extra things for our den dinner.  Again, it's all about whatever works.

I also started planning our next den meeting after the campout, in which I will be teaching the Computers belt loop.  More on this soon.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That...

Sometimes people ask me where I get all my ideas for activities for our Scouts.  Unfortunately, I don't have a simple answer to this question.  My ideas come from an amalgam of sources.  Some of them come from activities I did when I was a boy, that I know boys today would still enjoy doing.  Some of them come from great online resources out there, like Scouting.org, Scouter Mom, Scouting Magazine, Baloo's Bugle, and more.  Some of them come from Roundtables and training sessions I have attended.  Some of them just come from various packs we have been involved in with our boys over the years.

Let me explain: unfortunately, my career over the last several years has not been the most stable.  Part of that was due to the economy, and part of that was due to some sub-optimal choices on my own part.  I will be the first to admit it - I'm not perfect.  We have moved around like military brats over the last few years.  I am hopeful that the job I am in now will allow us to stay in one place for a while, once we relocate to Oregon again this summer.  A beneficial consequence of this is that we have been fortunate to have been involved with several different Cub Scout packs over the years.  I have seen a variety of packs, ranging from the pretty good to outstanding.  I suppose this has given me a certain amount of insight as to what works, from a field perspective.

Here are a few tips I have discovered on how to have a successful den, largely gained through trial and error:

1. Be consistent.  Try to have a set place and schedule for your den meetings.  It is really helpful if you can meet at the same place every time, although I do understand this is not always feasible.  However, if you set the expectation early on that "we will meet twice a month as a den, usually on the first and second weeks of the month, at (place and time)" - then the boys and parents know what to expect, and can plan the rest of their schedules accordingly.  Of course there will be variations - you have to work around holidays when most people will be out of town.  But do your best to be consistent.  If the boys know there is a meeting planned, they will generally be more apt to show up.
2. Make it fun.  You have to remember you are dealing with young boys.  Young boys are not wired to sit still for long periods of time.  There are times you can sit them down and have a teaching moment with them, but make your lessons interactive.  I remember this lesson well from when I took a week of training as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Illinois once: people tend to remember only a small percentage of what they hear, a modest percentage of what they see or read, and a substantial percentage of what they do.  Sometimes you have to give an oral lecture to explain a concept - but keep it short, and give the boys a chance to interact and ask questions.  Then turn them loose and let them do something!  You also want to alternate "quiet" and "active" times.  Give the boys a chance to play a game, sing a song, do a yell, or something else fun.  The fun stuff keeps them coming back, and you can still work in some advancement during the quiet periods.
3. Communicate.  Do your best to keep your parents in the loop about what's going on with the den.  Parents really appreciate this.  Email is fine, although a few parents may not check email very often.  Find what works - call those parents, send them a text, or whatever it takes.  If a Scout did not come to a meeting, try to call or email the parents and let them know he was missed.  It's the little things like this that show you care and are interested in their son.  I typically make an announcement sheet that I pass out to the Scouts and parents about once a month, letting them know of upcoming events and activities going on with the den and pack.  Also, take the time to briefly explain the traditions and methods of Scouting to the parents.  If you do not come from a Scouting background yourself, that is OK.  Go to training, or ask some of the more experienced Scouters around you if you are not sure what the Blue & Gold Banquet is for, or why we do various other things we do in Scouting.  In time, you will get the hang of it and be an old pro, just like the rest of us.  The bottom line is that you want to get the parents in your camp - they are the ones who will help you at meetings, and work with the boys on the advancement at home that you either cannot or do not have time to cover at den meetings.
4. Persevere.  It's OK to have a bad den meeting sometimes.  It happens.  I have definitely had my share, as nearly every den leader has.  Don't let it get you down, and get discouraged.  Learn from what didn't work, and endeavor to try something different next time.  Also, you would be surprised - there have been times where I thought the Scouts didn't learn a single thing out of something I was trying to teach them, only to have them blurt out with a key point from the lesson later on.  Sometimes they will surprise you with what they got out of an activity, even if it didn't go according to plan.  The worst thing you can do is give up.  Try, try again until you find something that works.  Every group of boys is a little different.
5. Prepare.  Another confession for me: this has been one of my biggest growth areas.  I used to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, we'll-figure-it-out-when-we-get-there type of leader.  After several den meetings where that did not work out so well, I decided to take my preparation for den meetings much more seriously.  I usually try to plan out about a week in advance what I am going to do at a den meeting.  This gives me enough time to gather supplies or prepare activities ahead of the den meeting.  Also, if you have assistants helping you with the den meeting, you have sufficient time to let them know what you are planning to do, so they will be able to help you gather materials and prepare for the den meeting.  The process is fairly straightforward: decide what achievements you want to accomplish, figure out some activities to help you accomplish those achievements, and then set an agenda for the meeting.  I have a fairly boilerplate agenda that I use for most den meetings.  I'll share this in a future post.  The Scouts like it, because the meeting basically has the same order almost every time, but there is enough variation to keep it from becoming too mundane.

Well, I suppose this is enough rambling for one post.  We are having a den meeting tonight, and I'll tell you a little more about it tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Welcome!

I decided to start this blog for several reasons.  We are a Scouting family currently based in Texas, but we will be relocating to Oregon this summer.  I thought it would be fun and worthwhile to chronicle our move in the context of our lives as Scouts and Scouters.  It will also help our old friends keep in touch with us, and provide a glimpse into our new Scouting adventures in the future.  I am also mentoring a future leader who will replace me, and I thought this would be a great way to share from afar my knowledge and experience with her and anyone else who might be interested.

So who are we?

My name is Chris.  By day, I work as an applications engineer for a computer software company that is owned by a large European chipmaker.  In layman's terms, I look at applications of our computer software, and help our company's software developers find ways to improve our software.  It's a fun job, and I work with some great people.  I am also a husband to Heather, and the father of three sons, all of whom are currently involved in Scouting.  I currently serve as a Tiger Den Leader for our youngest son's den.  I am BSA-certified as a fully-trained Tiger and Webelos Den Leader, and I will be completing the training for Cub Den Leader (Wolves/Bears) to complete that certification soon.  I also recently completed the BALOO training course.

I myself was involved in Scouting as a youth many moons ago.  I earned my Arrow of Light award as a Cub Scout in 1984, with a pack in Texas that is now defunct.  I went on to Boy Scouts with a troop in Texas that is still going strong, where I earned my Eagle Scout award in 1991.  (Yes, I took my sweet time...I probably could have done it much sooner, but I did finish it in the end.)  I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow as an Ordeal member in 1988, and I earned Brotherhood membership in 1989.

Aside from me, Scouting is something of a tradition in our family.  My dad was a Life Scout who nearly made Eagle as a boy himself.  His dad - my grandfather, who grew up on a farm in a rural part of Iowa, was a Lone Scout.  On Heather's side of the family, several of her relatives were involved in Scouting, too.  (I'll let her elaborate more on that, if she chooses.)  So, as in many Scouting families, our boys come by it naturally from both sides of the family.  Thus, we got them involved in Scouting, too.  It's more than just family tradition with us, though.  We believe in the principles, values, and methods of Scouting, and we think it is a great way to train our boys to become future leaders of men.  I highly recommend it for your boy, even if he would be only the first Scout in his family.

Our oldest son, Zachary, is a 1st year Webelos Scout this year.  He has been involved with Cub Scouts since Tigers, and he really enjoys it.  He has made a lot of friends through Scouting - especially important, as we are a homeschooling family, and it is one of the many social outlets we provide for our children.  Zachary is well on his way to earning his Arrow of Light award, with over eight activity badges on his tri-color already.  We have set a goal for him to earn his "Super Achiever" award (all 20 activity badges) by the time he finishes his Arrow of Light award next year and moves on to Boy Scouts.  His Webelos Den Leader is superb, and she has a great group of parents backing her up as assistants.  With around 20 boys in that den, you need a lot of parents around to keep that many boys on task!

(Yes, there had been some discussion about splitting up that den, but the boys are all friends with one another, and couldn't bear the thought of not being in a den with all their friends.  So, while the size does indeed make things a little unwieldy at times, they make it work.  And work very well it does.)

Our middle son, Ryan, is a Wolf Scout this year.  This is his second year as a Cub Scout, and he is really enjoying it as well.  Heather, my wife, is serving as his Assistant Den Leader this year.  They have a rather large den as well, with over 12 boys.

Our youngest son, Joshua, is a Tiger Cub this year.  I am his Den Leader, and we have a great group of parents and boys in our den, too.  We have 9 Tigers in our den, and I am proud to say that 100% of them have earned their Tiger badge and will move on to Wolves next year.  At one time, we had over 14 boys in our den, but we split some of them off and formed another den.  We have a lot of fun, and I will tell you more about it as we go along.

As I mentioned before, my wife Heather is also involved.  This is particularly noble and challenging for her - as with a lot of moms, she was briefly involved in Girl Scouts for a time, but never in Boy Scouts.  The jargon and methods of the BSA were somewhat alien to her at first.  However, she is doing a great job, and has taken to her role as an assistant for Ryan's den very well.  I have invited Heather to contribute her perspective and experiences in Scouting to this blog, and I hope she will do so as we go along.

Well, that's pretty much it for the introductions.

So you might be asking, how did I come up with the title for this blog?  One of the recurring themes in our Scouting career is that when things get a little challenging - for example, the weather dipped down below 30 degrees at night on the fall campout, and we had a terrible time staying warm - we jokingly ask each other, "are you having fun yet?"  Seriously, fun is one of the most important things about Scouting.  Even when times get tough, you remember them and laugh about them later on.  If your Scouting program isn't fun, your boys will not choose to get involved with Scouting.  There are too many other alternatives out there.  This is perhaps one of the most important lessons we can take away as Scouters.

So - are you having fun yet?