Dear Cub Scout Leaders:  We are very excited that you are a Cub Scout Leader.  We are sure you will find this to be a very rewarding use of your time as you teach and lead our youth and engage them in such a FUN program.

We invite you to join us for a few hours of Cub Scout Leader Training – and to bring some parent/leader prospects with you, because you can do more and better with more and better trained parents!  When you and other leaders and parent/leader prospects spend a few hours at Cub Scout Leader Training we will help you and your Pack team to become the BEST Cub Leaders you can be! We will explain the program, help you find resources, show you how to have FUN, help with the ‘how do I’ questions, and you will be able to network with other Cub Leaders.  We promise that these few hours are worth your time.

We invite you to join us on any one of these trainings – and to bring your parent/leader prospects with you!  You may also view a recording of a Zoom  version of this training recorded in May 2022. 

Cub Leader Position Specific Trainings – September dates (so far) are listed below, and for more and to register, see https://www.atlantabsa.org/cub-leader-training

• Saturday, October 1, 9:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. at the Volunteer Service Center across from Truist Park (Trainer: Bert Bender)
• Saturday, October 15, 9:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. at the Volunteer Service Center across from Truist Park (Trainer: Bert Bender)
• Saturday, October 22, 9:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. at the Volunteer Service Center across from Truist Park (Trainer: Bert Bender)

Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) – For more and to register, see https://www.atlantabsa.org/baloo. This training is to help orient leaders with camping in the great outdoors.  It is fun and rewarding.

• October 8-9 –  Allatoona Aquatics Base
• October 22-23 -- Clinton Nature Preserve, Villa Rica 

Many Packs have many new Scouts recruited.  That’s great – congratulations!   

Many Packs now wonder: how are we going lead those new Scouts? 

For ideas to help turn parents into helpers and leaders, see www.atlantabsa.org/RecruitingLeaders. 

• You may have the essential roles of Den Leaders and Co-Leaders – but do you have enough for dens of 6 to 8 Scouts?  Scouts can get “lost” in a larger group – if they get lost, they leave).  You can recruit Assistants and Committee Members too.
• It good to design smaller roles and simpler jobs so that every parent has a path to helping.  When a parent succeeds with a small part of a Den Activity, they can see themselves as a leader. 
• The best Packs and Dens create a culture of collective leadership, one where Every Parent Helps. 

There is no “one way” to get more leaders – but we have many ideas about how to create a culture that leads parents to answer “yes” when asked to help, from planning a menu of jobs and setting expectations to ways to ask for help to succession planning and more.  

Fun, Simple and Easy Tools Let Leaders Succeed.  From Fun Activities on this menu to early meeting ideas to our simpler “streamlined” den meeting activity plans (including for dens with a mix of ranks), give parents a piece of the program to lead with their kids, let them succeed and see them be leaders. 

Team Training is Powerful!  To engage parents as helpers and turn them into leaders, take them as a group to live Cub Leader Training!  See the current list of upcoming Cub Leader Training here, including Saturday, October 1.  

No one leader recruiting tool works for all – but all tools work for some.  Pick ones you like.  For more, see www.atlantabsa.org/RecruitingLeaders. 

Highlights of the most recent District News were these (click links for information):  First Meeting (Activity) Resources to Increase Parent Participation ... Fun, Simple, and Easy Activities! ... The Great Big List of Places to Go and Things to Do Around Atlanta ... and from the prior week:  Turn Parents Into Helpers and Helpers Into Leaders ... University of Scouting, September 24, 2022 ... Opt In, Opt Out ... Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login.

We've also got tips and resources for doing the Bobcat rank as part of an early den activity or first den "meeting".

• Here's a possible First Meeting Plan (with Bobcat) - also useful for "Bobcat Review" for those who earned Bobcat last year.

• Like our Streamlined Adventure Plans for Single Ranks and Mixed Den Adventure plans, the First Meeting Plan (with Bobcat) calls out small pieces of the activity for different parents to lead -- and they'll learn Cub Scout basics in the process!

• And if you worry about Lions earning Bobcat, see this note about Lions and Bobcat.  (Spoiler Alert:  the general rule is if a Scout completed requirements, they earned the award, so let's recognize them!)

Those tips and resources for doing the Bobcat rank include different ways to do Bobcat, longer or shorter, plus extra game and fun ideas.  Do what makes sense for your Pack and Den -- hopefully what makes sense is getting more parents to lead! 

It doesn't have to be complicated.  If you buy into the Cub Scout activity ideas of your Cub Leader Trainer, you know the goal is "Keep It Simple, Make it Fun" (KISMIF), not "Keep It Complicated, Make Everything Hard" (or KICMEH, pronounced "Kick Me").   So, seriously ... you want ideas of Fun, Simple, Easy Activities that Cub Scout Dens and Packs can do?  Well, we'll start with 621 Simple, Fun, Easy Activities at this page and watch it grow. 

You want Fun, Simple, and Easy?  Here is Cub Scouting: it's Fun, Family and Friends. 

If you want a Great Big List of Places to Go and Things to Do Around Atlanta, see our page entitled "The Great Big List of Places to Go and Things to Do Around Atlanta".  This is collection of events and destinations could be attended by both Cub Scouts Families and Scouts BSA Troops, with Scouts BSA Troops doing more challenging activities.

These are grouped into these topics:

• Events (including parades, service events, Native American events and local events),
• then Unique Activities (like trains),
• then Outdoor Destinations (Scout Camps, State Parks, and more),
• Biking / Wheels, 
• Sports Events and Destinations, 
• Caving, 
• Swimming/Water, 
• Boating, 
• Fishing, 
• Climbing, 
• Zip Lines, 
• Horses, 
• Science, Museum and Nature Destinations, 
• Historic, Business, Political, Art and Religious Destinations,
• Distant Destinations (Overnighters, maybe “long weekends”),
• plus some Fun Activities to Do in Lots of Places and Links to Other Cub Scout Program Resources.