We hope that your Den and Pack Cub Scouting programs are off to a great start this school year, and we want to be sure you are aware of resources to help you and your families have a fun, exciting and rewarding Cub Scout program in the months to come.  Here are some key Cub Scout Resources from the Atlanta Area Council to keep you on that trail -- plus some also that generate out of this website:

Cub Scout Advancement Resources.  For many Dens and Packs, the activities involved in – and recognition coming out of – the Advancement program is the biggest part of your Cub Scout year.  The Atlanta Area Council Cub Scout Advancement page at www.atlantabsa.org/CubScoutAdvance and the Rank by Rank (and Adventure by Adventure) pages that link from it have useful information not just for leaders, but for all parents to help lead their Scouts -- these are also found on our Cub Scout Adventure Pages with even more helpful information.  Those Adventure by Adventure pages include a variety of plans showing how to complete an adventure (every Adventure page has the multi-meeting plans from the applicable Den Leader guide as well as simpler “streamlined” and/or family led plans to make Adventures easier to lead), videos (both from the National BSA sites and the AAC Scouting on Demand resources), and other helpful tips and website pages to make you smarter than a Cub Scout!

Cub Scout “Launch” Resources – Kits and Parties.  Your new Cub Scouts may have talked about the “Launch Kit” they’ve received with items like headlamp, water bottle, first aid kit, terrarium, robot, yoyo, and more – see www.atlantabsa.org/ScoutingOnDemand for a picture of the great goodies.  And they’re getting an introduction to Cub Scouting through Cub Scout videos found at www.atlantabsa.org/CubScoutLaunch that cover Scout Life, Camp Life, and Family Life – you might want to see what they see (and see if you recognize any of the actors).  

Cub Scout Camping Resources.  Videos, checklists, and other resources – like how to reserve campsites at Atlanta Area Council camps – are found at www.atlantabsa.org/campondemand as part of the Scouting on Demand resources.  

Other Activity Ideas.  On this Southern Crescent Website, you'll find a compendium of activity ideas, with separate pages for fun simple easy activities, local parks, nature centers and bike trails to visit (there are lots of them), the Great Big List of Places to Go and Things to Do, and service project ideas.  And any fun den or pack activity can be a recruiting event ... more in our Recruiting Ideas pages.

More Cub Scout Scouting on Demand Resources.  Over the last 19 months, many more fun ideas, resources and activities have been posted at www.atlantabsa.org/ScoutingOnDemand that you can do at almost any time!  

Scout Days and Nights.  See www.atlantabsa.org/scoutdays for upcoming opportunities. 

More Program Ideas.  See www.atlantabsa.org/program-planning for some solid resources, where we once found – for Cub Scout leaders – the Cub Scouts Plan your Best Year Ever! resource page and video with ideas about many places you can go and activities you can do as a Den or Pack. 

Training Opportunities.  Cubs need leaders.  Trained leaders.  See www.atlantabsa.org/training for more. 

Most of our Districts have events and resources that might be useful to you – see your Southern Crescent District Website Guide and for other Districts, see www.atlantabsa.org/districts.

We hope that your Scouts BSA Troop programs are off to a great start this school year, and we want to be sure you are aware of resources to help you and your Scouts have a fun, exciting and rewarding program in the months to come.  Here are some key Scouts BSA Resources from the Atlanta Area Council and the National BSA to keep you on that trail: 

National Troop Program Resources.  Did you know?  There are very good pages of resources for Scouts BSA Troops and Leaders – not just for Adult Leaders (advisors) but their Senior Patrol Leaders, Patrol Leaders and other officers who want to have a dynamic program - not the "same old, same old".

• See troopresources.scouting.org and troopleader.scouting.org, where you will find elements like, at troopresources.scouting.org, Activities for Troop Outings and Meetings, including an Activities Page with subpages for Scout Skill Challenges, including six Compass Skill challenges, seven First Aid, Sixteen Camping/Outdoor Skill challenges (not including knots and lashings), twenty four Knot Tying challenges, and fourteen Lashing challenges.  Also: Team Building, with eighteen activities, Patrol Games, sixteen for large areas and twenty one for small spaces, Troop Games, twenty five for large areas, twelve for small spaces, plus eighteen games for gathering before a meeting.  And Campcraft Skill Videos so that if you want to know "how to", you should see this page, with General Campcraft Skills, like Basic Knots, Whipping Rope, Woods Tools, Fire Building, Tarps and Dining Flies and Navigation and Measurements, plus Pioneering Skills, like Lashings, Pioneering Knots, and General Pioneering Skills.  And Ceremonies, for meetings, Courts of Honor, campfires, crossovers and other events, all at this page. Last … Leader's Minute ideas here. 
• But wait, there's more ... at troopleader.scouting.org you will find elements like 48 themed modules … well, go to troopleader.scouting.org and see (or see one of our Districts -- our District -- who put together a summary of Troop program resources).  

Using Online Registration at the start of the School Year (August and September) makes collection of Unit Program Fees (or dues) simple – since new Youth pay through Online Registration, the BSA Registration Fee portion of Unit Program Fees you collect is the same for new Scouts as for those who were on your Roster in January.

• No need to collect for “the rest of 2022 and the $25 New Member Fee” like when you submit a paper application. 
• Everyone pays the same amount.  Easy.  Click to “accept” the Application.

But from October to December, Online Registration will collect also for the next program year.   A family signing up a new Scout online today will pay for both “the rest of 2022 ($18.75) and the New Member Fee ($25)” and “all of 2023 ($75)”.  Online registration still eliminates paper processing and all that entails, but – like changing your clocks when daylight savings time ends – you’ll need to “fall back” on your Unit Program Fees (dues) for new online registrations because new Youth have paid $75 for 2023 online. 

• If your annual Unit Program Fee is $160, of which $75 goes to pay the 2023 BSA fee, then Scouts who complete Online Registrations in October or beyond will owe your Unit only $85.
• At online recharter, they should show as “paid” through 2023 in the online recharter documents. 

Tell Your Potential Families Still “Thinking About” Registering.  If your 2022-23 Unit Program Fees (dues) equals $160, you’ll want to tell your potential families – those who have not yet registered for the calendar year 2022 – that if they register with the National BSA organization online, their Unit Program Fees (dues) will be $85, since they will pay $75 in online registration for the 2023 BSA fee.

• Sure, a hassle to have two Program Fees (dues) numbers for registered and new Youth …
• … but less of a hassle than switching to paper applications and then also collecting for “the rest of 2022 and the $25 New Member Fee”.

District?  Council?  What are the Possible Committee and Commissioner Roles Supporting Units, Leaders and Youth:  Scouts, Scouters and Scouting Units are part of a worldwide brotherhood of Scouting, and we gather together at National, Territory and Council events, Multi District events, District Events, and events just between Units that connect to do things together.  The Atlanta Area Council organizes units in Clayton County and South Fulton County as a District called “Southern Crescent”.  Districts are responsible for carrying out four standard functions: program, unit service, membership and finance. 

• The program functions concentrate on helping Scouting units through training adult volunteers, youth advancement support, camping promotion, community service promotion, multi-unit activities (such as camp o rees, cub twilight camp, scout fairs, pinewood derbies, shooting sports events), and recognition of youth and adults, all of which activities are “unit support” to help units do more.
• The unit service function of “commissioners” provides coaching and consultation by volunteers for unit adults to help ensure the success of every Scouting unit -- so commissioners stay abreast of and/or are involved in nearly all district unit support functions, and have a communication function to ensure units know of good program support opportunities -- all designed to support Membership growth and retention. 
• The membership function strives for growth through new members and leaders joining existing units and (where needed) growth through the organization of new Scouting units – this must work closely with unit service and program areas (like training, activities and commissioner service) to help units be successful.
• The finance function supports units in fundraising and can help with financial practices, and sees that the district provides its share of funds to the total council operating budget.

Paid professionals, including District Executives and District Directors, support these functions. 

In our "Ways to Volunteer in the District to Help Units" page are some ways that volunteers can help "beyond" just one Unit through these functions.  Want to Help?  Contact the District Chair or District Executive or take this Point and Click Survey, as nearly every role could use more help, assistants, potential successors.  Also, teams can form based on interests, plus new services, events and programs may arise if someone has the passion for it ... contact information for current district leaders and committee and commissioners are found in the "Adult Leader" section of the Roster.  email the webmaster if you need Login information.

See this Website Guide to see what is on this site.  Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login.  FYI, this Website is an "off the shelf" website product used by Scout Troops and Packs. 

If you're no longer involved or interested in Scouting and you want to "opt out" of these messages, email the Webmaster and we'll drop you from the list.  But If you want to be "all in" on Scouting, see our Leader Training page (good resources for parents too through the National On Line Training site at ScoutingU with the same login as at My.Scouting.Org), and if you want the login codes, just email the Webmaster ...