Handout for
Webelos Pacing/Transition to Boy Scouts
CS-52
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Karen Cook-Hellberg, Assistant Scout Master - Troop 291(Great Plains District, East Plano)
Email Address:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Design a balanced, goal oriented schedule to earn the Webelos badge, Arrow of Light award, and crossover to Boy Scouts.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- Lean the elements of the Webelos program
- Explore what is needed to develop your Webelos program to successfully complete the highest award in Cub Scouts – the Arrow of Light
- Explore how to successfully move your boys into Boy Scouts
- Learn the resources that are available to assist in planning and running a Webelos program
COURSE CONTENT AND OUTLINE:
Webelos Program Overview- Webelos is an 18 month program that provides a transition from cub scouts into boy scouts, with less parent involvement. We’ll discuss the program requirements including:
- Webelos Badge Requirements- There are eight requirements for
the Webelos Badge that begin to introduce Boy Scouts. - Arrow of Light Requirements-The Arrow of Light is the highest award in Cub Scouting and is the only badge that can be worn on the Boy Scout Uniform. There are seven requirements that further explore Boy Scouts.
- Webelos to Scout Transition – Your job as a Webelos leader is to transition your Webelos into a Boy Scout troop. We’ll explore the activities and timeline for a successful transition.
Beyond the Requirements – Service projects, Leave No Trace, and Emergency Preparedness are other elements you may want to include in your Webelos program.
Planning your Program – The key to running a good Webelos program is planning and preparation. We’ll explore what elements make up a good plan, and view some sample program schedules.
Selecting a Boy Scout Troop – The goal is to move your Webelos into Boy Scouts, but you have a choice in which Boy Scout Troop to join. We’ll talk about how to find Boy Scout troops to join, what questions to ask, and how to make that decision.
Ceremonies – The Arrow of Light and Crossing over into a Boy Scout Troop key accomplishments of the Webelos program. How do you make them special?
Help!! – We’ll discuss the resources are available to assist in developing and running a Webelos program.
Developing your Webelos Program
Define your Program Elements
-What does your Webelos den look like?
- 4th grade, 5th grade, Mixed
-What do you want to accomplish?
- Only Arrow or Light,
- All 20 Activity Pins
-What types of other activities do you want to do beyond requirements?
- Service projects
- Leave No Trace
- Emergency Prepardness
-How often do you want to camp?
-Will you meet during the summer?
-How much will/can you expect the boys to complete at home?
-How do you want to track achievements?
-Will you have den positions (Denner, Denner Asst., Scribe, etc.)?
-Will you use a Den Chief?
-What about dues?
-When/how will you sign off in book?
Webelos to Scout Transition Timeline
Create your plan and communicate to your Parents
-Create a handout and schedule that outlines the program (see examples below)
-Hold a parents meeting at the beginning of each year to discuss upcoming year and get feedback
-Have a way that the parents can see progress of their scout
Follow your plan! Periodically review your plan to see if you are on track or need to adjust.
Pack 280
Den 9 Webelos
Webelos is a transition from cub scouts and boy scouts. There will be less parent involvement, and the Den Leader signs off the achievements. Most of the achievements will be done within the Den Meetings and Outings. Work done at home must be documented and turned in.
Webelos covers two years (4th and 5th grades). The first year the rank of Webelos is obtained. The second year the boys work toward the Arrow of Light.
There are 20 possible activity badges that can be earned. The highest rank “Arrow of Light” requires only 8 of these. If desired, the boys can obtain the “Heavy Shoulder/Super Achiever” award and earn all 20. For the 8achievements,many will be done within the Den Meetings, but some must also be done with the parents at home.
The Webelos Rank Requirements
There are eight requirements for the Webelos Badge that begin to introduce Boy Scouts. There are three activity badges that will be earned: Fitness, Citizen + 1 other.
The Arrow of Light Requirements
The Arrow of Light is the highest rank in Cub Scouting and is the only badge that can be worn on the Boy Scout Uniform.
There are seven requirements that further explore Boy Scouts. There are 5 additional activity badges that will be earned: Readyman, Outdoorsman + 3 others. Overnight camping and visiting Boy Scout troops is also required.
The Arrow of Light is equivalent to the “Scout” rank in Boy Scouts.
At Home Activities
The first requirement for the Webelos rank is the parent needs to read the “Scout Parent Guide” (pages 1-22) in the Webelos Book.
Three of the activity badges really need to be done at home. These are Family Member, Fitness and Traveler (only Fitness is required for rank advancement).
Other activities can be done at home if the boys choose. The only requirement is that the items performed at home can be shown to the den leaders for sign off.
Uniform
The boys have a choice of which uniform to wear, the blue or the tan (this is the family’s choice). Note: However, there will be no place to put the Webelos badge (once earned) on the blue uniform because of the Tiger badge. During the 4th grade, the boys will continue to wear the Den Number “Den 9”. During the 5th grade the boys will wear a Patrol Patch of the patrol they select.
ScoutTrack
The pack uses the web based program of ScoutTrack. As a parent you can see your son’s achievement status on this site. This site is very useful since it also contains a pack directory, the pack and den activities calendar, and you can also send emails to the den and pack leaders. We highly recommend that you use this site. If you have misplaced your password, or need assistance using this site, then please let one of us know. The URL for the site is -
Parent Involvement
For the den meetings, the parents will typically not be involved. The parents should accompany their boys to the meeting room at 6:30, and then should return back at 7:30 to pick up their boys. Sophie and I will be around until 7:45 to allow the boys to present their at home achievements. The boys are free to leave at 7:30 if they have nothing to present.
The parents are required to be involved in ALL Pack Activities. This includes pack meetings, camp outs, popcorn pickup, pinewood derby, etc.
The parents are also requested to volunteer for one (or more) of the pack activities. These include planning the camp out, decorating at Blue & Gold, setting up for the Pinewood Derby, etc.
There will also be instances that we will ask for parent volunteers to assist in specific den activities.
Den Meetings and Activities
We plan to meet again at the FirstUnitedMethodistChurch on Monday evenings (Room 244). We would like the meetings to begin at 6:30 and to go 7:45. The last 15 minutes will be for the boys to present the work they have done at home, and to allow us to sign off the achievements in their books.
Our philosophy is to earn all of the activity badges required for the Webelos and Arrow of Light ranks during the first year. This way the second year can be focused on more outdoors and camping type of activities, for the transition into Boy Scouts.
Our philosophy is also to begin to have the boys take more responsibility in the meetings. We will be having Den Positions that the boys can choose to have, and will be voted by the other boys. The positions will be Denner, Assistant Denner, Treasurer, Historian, First Aid Respondant. These positions will be held for 9 months.
We will have a Den Chief this year from troop 291 that will help the boys on the Webelos path.
Of course we will play it by ear and make sure that things are going well during the meetings. We do want it to continue to be fun for the boys.
2004 – 2005 School Year Schedule
The calendar in Scout Track is updated with all Den Meeting information. The following is the schedule through the end of the school year (May 2005).
Note, that as the year goes on this is subject to change, use Scout Track for updated schedule.
August
August 7 - Pack Swim Party (work on Aquanaut)
August 30 – Pack Meeting
September
September 6 – Labor Day, no meeting
September 13 – First Den Meeting (Webelos Overview)
September 20 – Den Meeting (Fitness badge)
September 21 – Pack Event – Popcorn sales kick off
September 25 & 26 – Pack CampOut at Waxahachie Creek (Flag Ceremony)
September 27- no meeting
October
October 4 – Fall Break, no meeting
October 11 – Den Meeting (Den Elections, Fitness & Traveler badges Review)
October 18 – Den Meeting (Citizen badge)
October 23 – Optional Pack Event – CUBE overnight at CampWisdom
October 25 – Pack Meeting
November
November 1 – Den Meeting (Citizenbadge)
November 8 – Den Field Trip – Lead Pledge at Council Meeting (Citizenbadge)
November 13 – Pack Event – Popcorn Pickup
November 15 – Den Meeting – Guest Speaker, Mr. Bird (Scholar badge)
November 22 – Pack Meeting (pick up pinewood derby cars)
November 29 – Den Field Trip to Oak Point (Aquanaut badge)
December
December 4 – Pack Event – PlanoHoliday Parade
December 6 – Den Meeting (Den Community Service Project Preparation)
December 11 – Optional Pinewood Derby Workshop
December 13 – Den Community Service Project
December 20 – Winter Break, no meeting
December 27 – Winter Break, no meeting
January
January 3 – Winter Break, no meeting
January 8 – Optional Pinewood Derby Workshop
January 11 – Den Meeting (Communicator badge)
January 17 – MLK Observance, no meeting
January 22 – Pack Event, Pinewood Derby
January 24 – Den Meeting (Readyman badge)
January 31 – Pack Meeting
February
February 7 – Den Meeting (Engineer badge)
February 11/12 – Pack Event - Scouting for Food
February 14 – Student Holiday, no meeting
February 21 – Den Meeting – Webelos Review & Test
February 26 – Pack Event, Blue & Gold
March
March7 – Spring Break, no meeting
March 14 – Den Meeting (Engineer)
March 18, 19, 20 – Webelos Woods Overnight Camp Out (Outdoorsman badge)
March 21 – no meeting
March 28 – Pack Meeting
April
April 2 – Pack Event – City of Plano Great American Cleanup
April 4 – Den Meeting (Engineer badge)
April 9 & 10 – Pack CampOut
April 18 – Den Field Trip (Naturalist badge)
April 25 – Pack Meeting
May
May 2 – Den Field Trip
May 7 – Pack Event – Scout Show
May 9 – Den Meeting (select patrol name)
May 14 – Pack Meeting – End of the Year Picnic
May 16 – no meeting
May 20 – Last day of school
Overview of Activity Badges Earned 2004 – 2005 school year
Webelos Badge / Arrow of Light / Other Badges1 / Fitness (physical)
2 / Citizen (community)
3 / Scholar (mental)
4 / Readyman (community)
5 / Outdoorsman (outdoor)
6 / Traveler (mental)
7 / Engineer (technology)
8 / Communicator (community)
9 / Aquanaut (physical)
10 / Naturalist (outdoor)
Contact Information
If you have any questions, need a ride to a den meeting, or anything else comes up, please don’t hesitate to contact Sophie or me:
Karen – Karen’s phone numbers,
Sophie – Sophie’s phone numbers, Sophie’s email
Pack 280
Flaming Arrows
We have finished our first year of the Webelos program. Everyone did a fantastic job to complete the needed at home activities, and attend den and pack activities. We were the only den to have 100% perfect attendance! Your assistance making sure your son worked on these things made our job as den leaders easier. Thank you.
Next year we are going to change the program a bit. Instead of having weekly meetings at the church, we are going to be doing more outdoor and community service activities. This is another step on the path to Boy Scouts.
We will also be working on the Arrow of Light. The Arrow of Light is the highest rank in Cub Scouting, and is the only patch earned in cub scouts that is worn on the Boy Scout uniform.
The three areas that we will focus on during the year are:
Arrow of Light
Community Service
Leave No Trace
Emergency Preparedness
Our monthly program will consist of:
Den meeting at the church
Camping trip or field trip
Community Service activity
Pack meeting
The schedule will be posted on the Scout Track calendar, and you will receive the email notifications. The schedule will become available in August.
The Arrow of Light
The Arrow of Light requires the boys to complete 8 activity badges (Fitness, Citizen, Scholar, Readyman, Outdoorsman, Communicator, Scientist and Traveler). As a den we have earned the first 6, and nearly completed the 7th. Most boys have completed the 8th which was done at home.
The Arrow of Light also requires the boys to better understand the Boy Scout Oath and Law, and requires overnight camping and visiting Boy Scout troops. We will have a den chief that will help with the Boy Scout items. We will also visit Boy Scout troops in the area, and if possible even camp with them. The troops that we plan to visit are 291, 1776, and 285. If there are other troops you would like us to visit, please let us know.
Community Service
We would like to instill a sense of community and community service in the boys by performing some sort of community service activity each month. We are looking for suggestions on activities. Some we talked with about the boys were, spending time at an assisted living home, cleaning up the creek around the outdoor learning center, packaging medical supplies, and working at the Plano food pantry. We want these activities to be fun and something the boys look forward to. Please email us with any other suggestions you and your son have.
Leave No Trace
Part of being a good outdoor citizen is the concept of Leave No Trace. We talked about this with the boys for the Outdoorsman activity badge, and now we will put this into practice with all of our outdoor activities this year. In doing so, we can earn the Leave No Trace Back Country award.
Emergency Preparedness
With the way the world it is these days we need to be more aware of our surroundings, and to be prepared for emergencies. The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared” and so we will work on how we can ensure we are prepared for emergencies. The Boy Scouts have created a program on emergency preparedness that we will follow which will allow us to earn a pin that we can wear on our uniforms. We will work on this at den meetings and through field trips.
Camping and Field Trips
For camping we plan this to typically be over a Friday night, and within the area, though we may have a couple that are two nights and a little further away. We will to try and tag along with one of the Boy Scout troops for a few of these to let the boys experience a Boy Scout camping trip. Since we are still in cub scouts, we will be doing family camping. However, we do have the ability that if you can’t make an event, that you can grant permission for the boy to camp with us without you. We will use the camping trips to work on the Leave No Trace activities and to let the boys experience the outdoors.
We will use the field trips to do something fun, and to help complete the Emergency Preparedness and Arrow of Light activities.
Any suggestions on places to camp of field trips, please let up know.
At Home Activities
To complete the Arrow of Light there is one achievement that you will need to do with your son at home. This is #7 on page 64. You can sign this off in the book, and let us know when it has been completed and we will update in Scout Track.
Over the Summer Activities
There will be no official den meetings over the summer. You may work with your son on any of the remaining activity badges. Please document the activities through photos, writing, and put the things in a notebook so that we can sign them off. Karen will be working with Oliver over the summer on some things. She will send out an email to the den, and other boys that want to participate are welcome. She will also be available to sign off activities through the summer. Just send her an email or give her a call to make arrangements to get together.
Uniform
We will continue to wear our tan uniform. You will need to replace the “Den 9” patch with the “flaming arrow” patch you received at the picnic. The orientation of the arrow is shown at the top of the first page. A template of where to locate the patch is shown to the right. If anyone needs help sewing this or the Webeos badge on the uniform, give Karen a call, she will be happy to do it for you.
Recognition Arrows
We will continue the tradition of the parents presenting the boys with an arrow of recognition at the Blue and Gold in February. We will all get together and do this sometime towards the end of the scouting year.
Scout Track
The pack uses the web based program of ScoutTrack. As a parent you can see your son’s achievement status on this site. This site is very useful since it also contains a pack directory, the pack and den activities calendar, and you can also send emails to the den and pack leaders. If you have misplaced your password, or need assistance using this site, then please let one of us know. The URL for the site is -