Here are answers to some common questions!
What is the Mission of Scouts BSA?
…to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
The 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.
The Scout Law
The Scout Law has 12 points. Each is a goal for every Scout. A Scout tries to live up to the Law every day. It is not always easy to do, but a Scout always tries.
A Scout is:
TRUSTWORTHY. Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.
LOYAL. Show that you care about your family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and country.
HELPFUL. Volunteer to help others without expecting a reward.
FRIENDLY. Be a friend to everyone, even people who are very different from you.
COURTEOUS. Be polite to everyone and always use good manners.
KIND. Treat others as you want to be treated. Never harm or kill any living thing without good reason.
OBEDIENT. Follow the rules of your family, school, and pack. Obey the laws of your community and country.
CHEERFUL. Look for the bright side of life. Cheerfully do tasks that come your way. Try to help others be happy.
THRIFTY. Work to pay your own way. Try not to be wasteful. Use time, food, supplies, and natural resources wisely.
BRAVE. Face difficult situations even when you feel afraid. Do what you think is right despite what others might be doing or saying.
CLEAN. Keep your body and mind fit. Help keep your home and community clean.
REVERENT. Be reverent toward God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others.
*An important note about Pack 254 and your family’s beliefs
As you’ve seen above, the Scout Law and the Scout Oath include reverence and duty to God. Pack 254 welcomes an extremely broad interpretation of reverence and duty, and is open to all personal interpretations of God. There is one required adventure at each rank that provides an opportunity for reflecting on and developing beliefs. We ask that scouts and families work on this adventure independently at home, and do not require scouts or families to share how they fulfill these requirements. Pack 254 includes families representing a wide variety of beliefs and we are proud to promote respect for all beliefs through an open and inclusive approach.
About the Cub Scout Ranks
Cub Scouts begins in Kindergarten and runs through 5th grade. You can join at any time between ages 5-10. Each year, Cubs move up with a small group of kids, called a Den. In order, the Dens are Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos 1, and Webelos 2. You can join at any time, it doesn’t matter if you’ve had any previous scouting experience!
What Do Scouts Do?
Some of the best things about Cub Scouting are the activities the scouts and their families get to do: camping, hiking, racing model cars, going on field trips, or doing projects that help our community and the people who live here. Cub Scouting means “doing.” All our activities are designed to have Cubs doing something and by “doing” they learn some very valuable life lessons.
Do the Parents Have a Role?
Yes. As a program for the entire family, Cub Scouting can teach your child a wholesome system of values and beliefs while building and strengthening relationships among family members. Scouting gives you a pretty neat platform to equip your child. We provide other mentors to help your child grow but you are also an important part of their development in scouting. Your role decreases as your scout gets older.
We don’t expect a parent to leap right in, but we do require adults to attend and engage at every meeting, outing and hike. Be warned though, Cub Scouting might affect you as it affects your child and you might eventually get ‘the fever’ that many of our leaders got from Scouting. Our current leaders will be here to guide and support you 100% of the way. But you are encouraged to go at your own pace.
Do Cub Scouts earn badges?
Perhaps the most important word in the revised Cub Scout program is “adventure.” Pop culture might still like to call the reward emblems “badges,” but in reality they are small metal clips that attach to a scout’s belt to show an adventure has been completed.
In Cub Scout terms, an adventure is a collection of themed, multidisciplinary activities representing about a month’s worth of programming. Most required adventures are completed with the den, over the course of a few den meetings or outings.
The word “adventure” emphasizes that Cub Scout activities should be fun and should take scouts places they’ve never been. The adventures focus on learning by doing instead of learning by listening. Requirements are full of words like build, play, go, find, demonstrate and discover, not words like discuss, learn and share.
The Tiger, Wolf and Bear books contain 19 adventures each, while the Webelos Handbook (which covers two years) contains 27. That means there will be plenty of material for year-round fun, even in the Arrow of Light year. For more information on the required adventures and the elective adventures in each year, visit the pages for our dens.
Pack 254 Cub Scouts 