Cub Scout Pack 3149

You have a group of 8-year-old boys coming to the house next week for a den meeting—now what? It will be OK; we understand, and we’re here to help. Joining us to explore the Core Value of compassion is Nancy Ferrell, a Cub Scout leader for over 28 years who had held many volunteer leadership positions in councils all over the country. She currently serves on the Pack Meeting Plan Task Force.

This segment is the perfect companion topic for the Part 1 segment of Compassion. Even if you don’t have any special-needs boys in your den or pack, we are certain you’ll find it enlightening. Joining us is Carla Bigelow, a 30-year volunteer with the Mount Baker Council in Everett, Wash. Over the past 17 years, Carla has been a foster parent to more than 150 children, most of whom had special needs.

We heard from many Cub Scout Leaders who expressed a desire to return to the old Theme-based meeting plan. Well, we responded… sort of. To help us understand this new Core Value / Theme Pack Meeting Plan is none other than the Chairman of the Pack meeting Task Force, Kim Barker, a 15 year volunteer with the Bay Area Council in Galveston, TX

By now you all know that Cubcast is great resource for picking up new ideas for your Den and Pack Meetings, and this month Janet Griffin of Grapevine, TX joins us. With her many years as a Den leader, Webelos Den Leader, and Den Leader Coach, just to name a few of her many Cub leader roles, she’s the prefect resource for us to learn new and exciting ways to teach the boys all about this Core Value.

It’s not always easy to keep a positive outlook when things don’t go our way, so how do we teach our Cub Scouts about positive attitude? Joining us is Mary Jo Brentari, committee chair of her local Cub Scout pack from Anacortes, Wash. She has more than 20 years of Cub Scouting experience and will share her secrets for always looking at the glass as half-full.

As we approach the new year, many of us will be making resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, or eat healthier, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect to talk with David Roberts about the new health and fitness initiative called SCOUTStrong. David is the senior innovation manager with the Innovation and Research Team at the national office in Irving, Texas. So pull up a chair—on second thought, download the mp3 and listen while you’re on the treadmill.

Confucius once said, “Respect yourself and others will respect you.” Jamie Niss Dunn, Cub Scout roundtable commissioner with the Northern Star Council in St. Paul, Minn., helps us with ideas for how to teach our Cub Scouts to do both.

In February, we introduced you to Journey to Excellence, and we bet you’re thinking to yourself, “I wonder how that new recognition initiative is doing.” Jamie Shearer, team leader of the Membership Impact department at the national office in Irving, Texas, will fill us in on what we can expect from this journey.