On Tuesday September 12, 2023 we held our Parent Information session where went over the Cubs Scouts program and our plans for the Scouting Year. Cub Scouts is a Co-Ed Outdoor Adventure Club that works with youth in grades 3/4/5. We are a youth-led program designed to develop teamwork, confidence, and leadership skills while exposing our youth to ‘firsts’. Whether it’s a first time away from home on an overnight Camp experience to our youths’ first attempt at Rock climbing our goal is to challenge our Cubs to try new experiences in a responsible safe manner.
Our Cub Scouts program has been built on the Disney Classic The Jungle Book theme and as such our Leadership Team takes on character names of some of the characters from the movie. The Cub Scouts Leader of the Pack is always Akela, the wise, old wolf. For this Scouting year, Scouter Gord will be taking on the challenging role of Akela with a strong supporting team of 6 to 7 other Scout Leaders. Based on the number of youth enrolled we likely split the pack into two but run them both concurrently at the same time. What that means is that for certain Adventures we likely have one pack go the 1st week, the 2nd pack go the next. We cover the same adventures and meeting content just on alternating weeks when adventures are planned. All will become clear as the Scouting year progresses.
Our Cub program is built upon the Motto ‘Do Your Best’, this applies to our First Year Runner Cubs all the way up to our Leadership Team. So much can be learned and gained from giving it your all, especially if instead of being focused on the end result like winning, you are instead focused on Doing Your Best. Much like in life, not everything we do will work out exactly as we planned, and not everything goes as smoothly as we would like, but the learning opportunities and outcomes are always positive as long as you have been doing your Best.
Cub Scouts is an inclusive, safe, environment built on the principles of respect for others, respect for self, and respect for the Environment. Our program and activities are focused on youth wellness and development; we are Spiritual, not religious, and act as community service-driven Environmental Stewards. We believe in No Cub Left Behind, whether that’s from offering Financial Assistance to Cubs working together to complete challenges, our Philosophy is no one gets left behind.
We have two distinct tools available to help develop our Meetings and Adventures. Personal Achievement Badges and our Outdoor Adventure Skill Badges.
Personal Achievement Badges are very much youth-led as they are completely optional and only completed when our Cubs use our Plan-Do-Review method. We try to introduce throughout the year the first of four challenges or activities required to achieve a badge in our meetings to get the ball rolling. Whether a Cub takes on the other 3 requirements is totally up to them. If they plan out (with the help and guidance of Parents, Scouters, or older youth) the remaining elements to earn the badge, complete the activities, and review them with our Pack they are awarded the badge.
Outdoor Adventure Skill badges are badges that follow our youth as they progress through the various Sections of the Scouting Program. In Beavers and Cubs our youth work on levels 1-3 of the various adventure skills, in subsequent years (Scouts, Venturers, Rovers) youth are given an opportunity to challenge themselves to achieve the higher levels 4-9. These skills unlike personal achievement badges, Adventure Skills are worked on and earned at our Meetings, Camps, and Adventures throughout the years of the program. Cubs must show competency in the areas being worked on before they are awarded the badge.
3rd Waterdown Scouting has been around for years and is a well-established Group with access to a tonne of gear, knowledge, and experience. Our Group has 5 Sections running programs in Beavers (Sr K/Grade 1/2), Cubs (Grade 3/4/5), Scouts (11-14yrs old), Venturers (15-17 yrs old), Rovers (18-26), we are Sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 551 and as such give back to them by helping with Poppy Sales around Remembrance Day. Our organization is run by volunteers and we fundraise throughout the year to support our Scouting Programs. There are many opportunities for both our Cubs and Parents to give back. We are actively looking for Parent Volunteers to help round out our Leadership Team as Scouters, but we also welcome any help we can get, in whatever form it is given. From helping meal plan for Camps to coming on-site to aid in food prep as a parent volunteer, there are many ways parents can help out by getting involved. If you are interested in exploring opportunities further please contact us. We also have a 3rd Waterdown Scouting Facebook Page where you can see various Scouting activities and Adventures that go on throughout the year. Please consider following it so you don’t miss out on any news and events going on.
Uniforms consist of the Cub Scout Long Sleeve Shirt (which is available for purchase at ScoutShop) and dark navy pants, Cubs wear the same shirt for all 3 years of the program, consider buying it a bit larger so they can grow into it and you don’t have to buy new shirts and resew badges. 🙂 At Investiture your Cub is welcomed to the Pack as an official member of 3rdWaterdown and is given their Necker (which is handmade and adorned with the Legion Crest) and their Whiskers (woggle). The Necker has a $20 refundable deposit that is returned to you when your youth complete their journey with Scouts. All necessary badges will be provided. We use our weekly dues of $2 to help fund the purchase of these types of supplies.
Just to make things a little bit confusing, Scouts Canada uses MyScouts to handle registration and all your Cubs personal information, (medical, emergency contacts, dietary/allergies and pic consent) whereas we at 3rdWaterdown use Scoutstracker to handle all the administration of our Meetings and Adventures. Scoutstracker becomes the place to go to sign up for Meetings, Adventures, and Camps and where you can access our Schedule (Pack Link left-hand side) to take a look at upcoming events. Scoutstracker also manages and keeps track of Badge Progression so it is imperative to sign up for Meetings and Events your Cubs are attending so they get awarded the progress we make during the activities.
At our first couple of meetings, we will be distributing Cub Information Sheets for you to fill out. The information you provide will help our Scouting Team get to know your cubs’ needs and is where you can outline for us their interests, hobbies, challenges, and concerns so that we can work to make this year’s program a success for them. Noting something like never been away from home before, or loves camping can really help us understand better some of the challenges our youth may experience while attempting our activities and can help us better set them up for success. The more information you share the better we get to know your Cub.
Two-Deep and Youth to Leader Ratio
With safety in mind, Scouts Canada requires two active Scout Leaders to be with youth at all times. Your Cubs are never left alone with just one Scouter. We also encourage the Buddy System for Cubs when they leave tents to go the bathroom or go to participate in activities. Our Youth to Leader Ratio has been set to a maximum of 8 youth to 1 leader. We believe in small teams and actually target to run meetings with a few fewer youths per leader. With these requirements in mind, we have to cap how many youths can participate and attend our meetings until we get enough volunteer leaders on board. To start the volunteer screening process to become a leader login to MyScouts and click Volunteer.
To help continue Scouting after our meetings I have developed a dedicated Website for Waterdown Scouting and a Facebook page where I post updates and meeting summaries. The Website becomes an opportunity to move away from emails (don’t you just love emails 🙂 ) and provide some of the background thinking behind our meetings to help you understand what badges we started in the meeting and provide quick links if your Cubs are interested in completing the remaining work to earn the badge. The goal is to update the site weekly with information from the previous meeting so our Cubs can Continue Scouting throughout the rest of the week and earn badges. Scoutstracker will give you the details on upcoming meetings, and WaterdownScouting.ca will provide after-meetings information to continue Scouting throughout the week. If you follow the WaterdownCubScouts page on Facebook you’ll never miss an update to the Website.
Meetings become the training ground for adventures and camps. As such we ask Cubs to pack their own Day Packs (small backpacks for water, extra socks, or sweater and survival kit) so that they are prepared for whatever may happen. Survival kits are one of the things we provide and work on in future meetings, so if you don’t have one yet don’t worry we will equip your cub in due time. Our Pack is running meetings out of a school gym this year so clean dry indoor running shoes they can change into are required. Our camping trips require Mess kits which can be purchased at Sail or other outdoor sporting shops. The kits consist of a plate, bowl, cup, and utensils, and are stored in a drawstring bag so that they can be hung up to dry. Sleeping bags need to be rated for cold, toy ones will not be good enough. Our Group does have gear available to borrow so you don’t have to run out and buy everything right away. 🙂
For our adventures all food and snacks will be provided by our Scouting Team, we have to insist that no outside food be packed or brought to our events as some of our Cubs could have allergies or dietary restrictions and Safety is Job #1. For overnight Camps, we encourage our Cubs to pack a Stuffy or favourite blanket and they are welcome to bring a book or deck of cards for silent reading or playing a game with their friends. Absolutely no electronics. If you need to reach your Cub you can call us. Toys are another item to leave at home, the only thing worse than a Cub that can’t sleep is a Cub upset cause they lost or broke their favourite toy. Leave them at home. Please. 🙂
