The Southern Crescent District is in the Atlanta Area Council, serving Scouts, Leaders and Parents in Clayton County and South Fulton County. See the BeAScout website for location and contact information for Cub Scout Packs (Kindergarten into 5th Grade are Cub Scouts), Scouts BSA Troops (end of 5th Grade to age 18), and Venturing Crews.
New District Executive Richard Hatcher has joined Equon Smith as a duo to serve the Southern Crescent District. Here's more about Richard from an Announcement by Director of Field Service Faye Hammonds: "Following the onboarding process, we are pleased to announce that Richard Hatcher has been selected as a District Executive for the Southern Crescent District, serving alongside Equon Smith. Richard will be responsible for providing leadership in the areas of service to Cub Scout Packs, Scouts BSA Troops, and Venturing Crews. His responsibilities will include support for our youth recruiting efforts and fundraising including Friends of Scouting, the Trail’s End Popcorn Sale, and the Camp Card Sale. One of his primary roles will be to lead the cultivation and recruitment of volunteers. Richard will be under will be under the leadership of Brandon Dobbins, Field Director of Service Area 1.
Richard graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. Before joining Scouting America, he served as a Business Development Manager at Atlanta Tech Village, where he focused on business development, strategic partnerships, membership growth, and community engagement. Throughout his career, Richard has built strong relationships, developed partnerships, and helped organizations grow through a people-first approach. In addition to his business career, Richard is also a professional actor with credits in television, film, and commercial productions. You might have seen him on productions like Chicago PD, Criminal Minds, and Hysteria, just to name a few. While new to the professional Scouting movement, Richard is excited to bring his experience in relationship building, leadership, and community engagement to help grow Scouting and expand its impact across the Atlanta Area Council. Richard has called the Atlanta area home for several years. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Samantha, and together they are raising their daughter, Paloma. Their family also includes their dog, Chi.
Outside of work, Richard enjoys yard work, exploring Atlanta's restaurant scene, networking within the local entrepreneurial community, attending community events, and spending quality time with his family. Richard is excited to begin serving the youth, volunteers, and communities of the Atlanta Area Council and looks forward to building meaningful relationships and making a positive impact throughout the district.
Please join us in wishing Richard continued success in his new district!
What Does it Mean when We See "Sign Up Night" Calendar Entries for our Pack Number???? It means that a School Sign Up Night for the school or schools noted in the Calendar Entry has been scheduled, either by District Executive Equon Smith in sync with the Pack or by the Pack in sync with Equon.
School Sign Up Nights need to be welcoming but rapid, informative but not overloading -- and you're recruiting the whole family, not just the youth, because Packs need Parent Leaders too.
Schools want us "in and out" quickly ... most parents want to come in, get the details (this is where having a good one page/two sided flyer that is a "Pack Packet" of information is super helpful to you and them), and then sign up and get home!
Invite your Pack Families to attend and help "Welcome" new Families ..
... Peer to Peer and Parent to Parent persuasion is Powerful!
A Pack produced Welcoming Fun Event on a different day than the School Sign Up Night can be longer and a lot more fun, especially outdoors -- what fun you have is up to you, but see the Sign Up Events page for some ideas).
There can be more than one ... before and/or after a School Sign Up Night.
After a School Sign Up Night, you might include a Pack Parent Orientation on the side while the Cub Scouts do fun things -- maybe fun led by any Scouts BSA Troop you know so that Pack parents and leaders can be all together for orientation.
For either type of big Sign Up Event, see the plan and script ideas -- the script works with a few engaged volunteers either as a presentation or a "station to station" event. You can download the script and tailor it to fit your Pack's program and policies.
But if Equon set up the Sign Up Night, doesn't that mean he will do everything? No! It's YOUR Pack and so YOU should own the event and you should be the voice families hear -- let them know your fun activity calendar (easy to copy and edit flyers with activity lists are here), work with them on how you will tell the school families how your Pack operates -- you will know that better anyway.
Should we just have Leaders show up ... or other Parents and Families too?Invite your current families to attend -- dub them your "Welcome Team" or "New Member Coordinators" to welcome new families -- and to help with the "one on one" and "peer to peer" connections that will draw families into your Pack, especially to convey the concept of shared leadership, of Cub Scouting as a family program where Every Parent Leads. So get your current Scouts and Families out there -- they can "sell" the program better than anyone! -- and let Isaiah know your plans, so that he can support you if he talks.
Can Troops Help? Absolutely. Maybe by leading the kids in games while the parents listen to the speakers.
Sign Up Events are not “one and done” – every Pack and Den should have more than one sign up event, because any fun Den or Pack event can be a “welcoming” event for new families, and a time to join -- and school has started, so don't let families go off and join other after school activities just because your School Sign Up Night hasn't been held. A big opportunity are end of summer and "back to school” fun events to get returning families fired up and new families signed up and engaged. Do these in addition to the "School Sign Up Nights" that will be scheduled with your school in coordination with your Cubmaster and your District Executive, Equon Smith – and if your Pack is Prepared, you can run your School Sign-Up Night yourself, just like you'll run your Fun Sign-Up Events on your own.
We do share both a great Sign Up Event plan and script at the Council Sign-Up Events page that you can download and edit to fit your Pack and Leader Team. More below.
In that Guide to Cub Scout Family Recruiting, we’ve included a Script for any Sign-Up Event and we’ve also attached it in Word so that you can download and revise to fit your own Pack. The Script breaks down the content into topic by topic parts noted above:
For group presentations, you can assign different volunteers to make the brief pitch (and show that every parent helps – it’s not just the Cubmaster leading Cubs).
If you have an in person “station to station” event, those script topics can be delivered at your stations.
Congratulations are due for these Scouts in the Southern Crescent District who have recently earned the Rank of Eagle (see our Facebook Page for more on each of these Scouts):
Nicholas Jay McCottrell-Pizarro of Troop 1906
Noel Marcus of Troop 1906
Asa Gilbert Jackson of Troop 3499
Brian Jacobs of Troop 374
Congratulations also to the parents, leaders and fellow Scouts who supported them!
The Southern Crescent District is in the Atlanta Area Council, serving Scouts, Leaders and Parents in
