Cubmaster Resources

August

1. Email principals at Comstock, Ogle, and Elliot to find out when their back to school nights are (Meet the Teacher and arrange for tables at the event)

2. Get flyers from our District Executive to hand out at the Meet the Teacher events.

3. Have a planning meeting to finalize the budget and dues amount for the next year. 

4. Gather and update recruiting table gear (stand up signs, stickers, bracelets, sign up sheets, checkerboard tablecloth, box fan, one 6 foot table, pop-up banner)

5. Update the BeAScout pin in the Unit Pin area in my.scouting (dues, info, etc.)

6. Update the Pack970.org pages (Join and Curious with dues info as well as the Our Pack Story page with den leader updates)

7. Order supplies for Raingutter Regatta (pool noodles, wood skewers, cardstock paper, markers)

8. Set up volunteers for the Meet the Teacher events and coordinate the booth (folding table, racing tablecloth, PWD cars, standing signs, giveaway bracelets & stickers, signup sheets)

9. Finalize the Join Scout Night plans (presentation, locations, volunteers, supplies, District staff, lunch speeches, etc.)

10. CHECK DAILY Pull in data entry for new joining members and invitations (inquiries) WATCH ONBOARDING INSTRUCTION VIDEO

New Member WhatsApp Welcome Message Template: (Create a group chat with both parents, if possible otherwise both parents start messaging seperately. Phew!)

Hi there! We are so excited that you have joined Cub Scouts with us. My name is Rachel Cahill. I'm the Committee Chair and I also have Mike Charania on this message as well. He is our New Member Coordinator.

I'm going to add you to a couple of WhatsApp groups that we use for staying in touch. The "den chat" will be for your child's grade level group. It's a smaller group. The "Pack Chat" group is for the entire Cub Scout Pack, which includes all of the grades together.

We are about to kick off our Scouting year with our first event on September 1st. It will be a Raingutter Regatta sailboat race for the kids while the parents are inside learning about Cub Scouts. It will be at Stonebridge United Methodist Church at 6:30 PM.

In the mean time, there are a few things you can do. They're all listed here, including importantly how to buy a uniform!

https://www.pack970.org/new-families

Our normal meeting nights are 1st and 2nd Tuesdays with the Den (grade) and 4th Tuesdays with the whole Pack. Be sure to block out Tuesday nights as "scout night."  Of course those do move around slightly with school holidays, but if you sync our calendar to yours, you'll always be up to date.

Speaking of calendar, our first camping trip will be Sept 25-27 at a scout camp that's about an hour away. Click here to learn more about camping including a packing/shopping list. https://www.pack970.org/resources/camping  Don't worry, if you don't know how to set up a tent, we will teach you!

If you have "new member" type questions, don't hesitate to ask here in this chat. If you have questions about activities, you can ask those in the Den chat.

If you only have contact info for one parent, immediately send a second message.

Is there another parent who will also be supporting NAME?  If so, please share their name, email, and cell phone number so we can add them to our groups, as well.

If unable to add to WhatsApp, send the invitation and be sure to label the invite message - Pack Chat  and   - Den Chat so they are distinct in their message. Then send this message in the group chat letting them know.

WhatsApp didn't allow me to add you automatically, so you should have each gotten two invitations to accept.

September

1. CHECK DAILY Pull in data entry for new joining members and inquiries 

2. Make sure everyone knows when first meetings are, camping, etc.

3. Finalize camping reservations from the pack

4. Organize a camping planning meeting

5. Reserve the Santa for December's pack meeting

May - After rank advancement final Pack meeting:

1. Update WhatsApp group icons and chat names (see below)

2. Update the "Our Pack Story" page to move the den leaders listed at the bottom to the correct new ranks.

3. Have a planning meeting with the committee to set the program dates for the upcoming year

June

1. Get with our District Executive and District Volunteers to pick the earliest Join Scout Night Date (like Sept 1)

2. Work on securing a location for the Sept 1 event (Join Scout Night + Raingutter Regatta)

3. Work on the camping reservations for the upcoming year if they are open

After the rank advancement ceremony at the last Pack meeting, you will need to update the WhatsApp community. Since the members of each den will stay the same, it's easier to simply rename the den and upload the new icon. The icons and the titles for each grade level are below so that the formatting stays the same year to year.  The Chipmunks will get renamed to Lion. Lions will get renamed to Tigers, etc. 

Copy the titles exactly as they are below.

You will start a new Chipmunks chat after the ceremony too that will be for next year's kiddos.

IMPORTANT: You will also want to post this message in each den to reduce parental confusion after you rename the chats and update the chat logos. The reason this causes a little confusion is because the final pack meeting happens before the end of the school year, but the new chat titles include their child's next year grade, not the grade they are still in. Copy and paste!

"Congrats to all of our scouts who have now moved up a rank. I just updated this den's group chat with the new icon and chat title for this upcoming year which is the grade your child will be in the fall. Wanted to let you know so it's not confusing."