FAQ

What a great question! Cub Scouts is a volunteer-run program. All the Pack Leaders, Committee Members, and Den Leaders are all giving their time freely to help the Scouts, and we would appreciate your help in doing that. You can sign up as a uniformed leader, to be a Den leader or assistant Den leader. But if that seems like more than you wanted to do, you can also sign up to be a member of the Pack Committee to assist in a non-uniformed leadership role. Still seem like too much? Well, each little bit that you do to assist the Pack and Den Leaders is greatly appreciated. Offer to take on coordinating and planning an outing or just help with a craft at a Den meeting.

At the Lions, Tigers and Bears levels, parents are required to participate. As the boys get older, Den meetings will start to become more of an activity for the individual boys, and your Den Leader will be working hard to keep the Cub Scouts focused. However, Cub Scouting is open to parents at all times. If you would like to be present at a Den meeting, you are encouraged to do so. If you want to be more involved, ask the Den Leader if here is a way for you to participate, help is always appreciated!

Cub Scouts meet in their Dens approximately one to two times a month, and a Pack meeting is held for all Cub Scouts and their families once a month. Beyond that, a Den may hold a special activity, such as a service project or visit to a local museum. Likewise, The Pack will conduct several additional special events such as a campouts and the Pinewood Derby.

Cub Scouts is a year-round program, and you don’t need a new uniform every season, so compared to many other sports or after-school activities, it is very low-cost. Yearly dues are $95 and your only required purchase will be a uniform. All uniform pieces can be purchased at the scout store by the Braves stadium or online at scoutstuff.org.

Not a camper? No big deal. We as a Pack will help all new families learn what they need for equipment and supplies for a Cub Scout campout, and we camp as a unit so that there will always be more experienced families to help out if needed. Also, Cub Scout camping is not primitive backpack camping. You can bring almost all the luxuries of home to a Cub Scout campout if you want. Also, very little camping, usually one night or less, is required to earn a Cub Scout rank. However, camping usually ends up being one of the parts of Scouting that the Scouts like best, so you may find your Scout asking you to take him out more often.

Well, Cub Scouts pride themselves on outdoor activities, and so you will have the opportunity to go camping, hiking, and fishing, at both the Pack and Den level. We also run a Pinewood Derby where the Scouts (and siblings and adults, if they want) get to design and build a race car out of a block of wood to race against their Dens and the Pack. But it’s not all rough and tumble outdoor activities; Cub Scouts learn about their community, how to be good citizens, how to help around the house, the importance of exercise and balanced nutrition, all at age appropriate levels. The goal of Cub Scouts is to develop the Scouts into good, moral, well-rounded adult citizens.

Pack 1714’s Chartered Organization is Mountain View UMC. However, most of the Scouts in the Pack attend Mountain View Elementary School and are not members of the Chartered Organization, so the school is where Pack 1714 primarily meets and recruits. It is not a requirement to attend either the school or the church to become a member of Pack 1714, however. We welcome all families who want to be part of our Pack.

Cub Scouts is broken down into ranks by year. Kindergartners are Lions, First Graders will be Tigers, Second Graders are Wolves, Third Graders are Bears, and Fourth and Fifth Grades are Webelos. Each of these grades/ranks will be their own Den. Thus, all Second Graders will be in the Wolf Den, so that there will be a group of like-aged boys or girls all working together toward their Wolf badge. If there are a large number of Scouts in one grade, then there may be two or more Dens at each level. Boys and Girls are also separated into different Dens, but the Pack is the group of all Dens—all Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Webelos—which gets together for monthly meetings, camping trips and other outings. This lets Scouts of all ages and skill levels interact and learn from each other.

Of course. Scouting is not a fathers only activity. Scouting is for families, whatever that family unit may be. Many dads are involved, but so are moms, grandparents, and other family members. In fact, for much of the history if Cub Scouting, all Den leaders were women — Den Mothers.

As described by Scouting.org, the official BSA website, Cub Scouting is fun! No matter what grade you are in, first through fifth, it can be a blast. Do you like to learn by doing? This is just the place. You can learn to tie knots, set up a tent, or shoot a bow and arrow (archery). Have you ever cooked a meal on a campfire? Sent a secret code to a buddy? Built a birdhouse? Hiked? Earn rewards for doing these things in Cub Scouts. As a Cub Scout, you will be part of your own Pack. The Pack is divided into smaller groups called dens. All of the Cub Scouts in your den are in the same grade and may even go to the same school. The Cub Scout Pack belongs to a church, a school, or some other group of people in your community or neighborhood. This group makes sure your Pack has good adult leaders, a place to meet, and exciting things to do. The group gets help from the Boy Scouts of America, which is part of Scouting around the world.

Any child in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade may join Cub Scouts. However, Cub Scouts is for families: moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, everyone can be part of Cub Scouts. Whether your involvement is as limited as attending meetings with your Scout, participating in planning Den or Pack events, or being a part of the Pack Committee or a uniformed leader is up to you, but it will be an excellent way to interact with and help your Scout grow.