Interest Topic: Joining Night
Cub Scout Roundtable
Time Allotted Activity Assigned to Content
30–40 minutes
General session for all participants Cub Scout roundtable team
Have the room set up as a mock Joining Night
(see Resources section). Arrange in advance to
have samples of council, district, and pack
promotion fliers, etc., on hand. Before the
meeting, set up an exhibit of these samples
along with other recruiting ideas.
Discuss the importance of having a Joining
Night or other fall recruitment activity for every
Cub Scout pack. Conduct an overview of the
district’s or council’s Joining Night routine.
Discuss how to recruit new Scouts to your pack.
Review the Outline for School Talks in
Resources, and allow time for unit volunteers to
practice giving school talks if they’re the people
who will be giving them in the community.
Share and discuss any roadblocks to successful
recruiting and some possible solutions.
Review the checklist for unit leaders (see
Resources) and discuss their duties for Joining
Night.
10 minutes
Q&A Cub Scout roundtable team
Opportunity to answer any additional
questions.
5 minutes
Closing Cub Scout roundtable
commissioner
Present the Recipe for Cub Scouting closing
(see Resources).
Topic: Joining Nights
Takeaway: Pack leaders should know and understand what
every unit needs to do for a successful recruiting season,
including working with district and council volunteers and
professional Scouters.
GENERAL SESSION
Introduction
We place a strong emphasis on fall recruiting when school
starts, but our program allows a Scout to join at any time
and begin the adventure right then. At their age, a lot of
other activities don’t allow that exibility. So it’s important
that we educate everyone about year-round recruiting.
Cub Scout Fall Youth Recruiting Overview
We gain the majority of our new Scouts during the fall
recruiting period. What do we want to accomplish during
that time?
• Ensure that every youth receives an invitation to join
Cub Scouting.
• Enroll prospective Cub Scouts into existing packs.
• Enlist parent participation as unit leaders and helpers.
• Organize new packs to serve youth in areas we are not
currently serving.
Sample Recruiting Plan Overview
For recruiting to be successful, there are several things to
think about:
• Your district may have a plan in place for where
and when recruiting events occur. Your unit should
work with the district executive to make these
events happen.
•
Each Cub Scout pack in your district may conduct its
own recruitment event.
• Unit and district volunteers can work together to
conduct the events using a recruitment packet.
• Ensure all new members learn at the recruiting event
when their rst meeting will be held (ideally within two
weeks of their recruitment).
• Packs may want to schedule a time for orienting parents
and recruiting adult leaders. This can be part of the rst
pack meeting of the school year or a separate meeting.
• Distribute iers to every grade in every school to extend
an invitation to all children. If each pack conducts its
own recruitment event, make certain the correct iers
go to the children in each school.
• Provide information to religious organizations to
extend an invitation to youth. Coordinate with the
schools and religious organizations to avoid any
confusion for families.
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• Encourage chartered organizations to assist in the
recruitment of youth for the units they sponsor.
• Provide simple resources for Scouts and their parents
to promote their pack’s program and the Joining
Night event.
• Attend open houses and “meet the teacher” events at
schools to provide Scouting information.
• Contact schools to arrange school talk visits in
classrooms, lunch rooms, or playgrounds.
Sample Timeline for Cub Scout Recruitmen
t Eorts
May
• Attend a district program kicko meeting, where
you may get some information to use in your
promotional materials.
June
•
Packs promote Scouting through local events (parades,
festivals, etc.)
• Designate a unit membership/recruitment chair and
new member coordinator(s).
• Hold a unit planning meeting.
• Schedule your pack’s school talks and Joining Night for
dates in September.
August
• Have your pack’s entire recruitment team attend a
district orientation/training for fall recruitment.
• Attend the August roundtable to learn any additional
recruiting information or to get recruiting supplies.
• School talks and school open houses begin.
• Place yard signs and posters in high trac sections of
each community.
• Promote Scouting through local events (e.g., parades,
festivals, service projects).
• Districts and packs send out news releases to local
media outlets to promote recruiting events.
• Enlist parents to help by inviting families in their
neighborhoods to the Joining Night.
•
Conrm all pack recruiting and school talk dates.
• Deliver promotional posters to every school, place of
worship, community center, library, etc., in the pack’s
recruiting area.
• Post the information via social media.
September
• Continue school visits and school talks by pack and
district leaders.
• Distribute iers to schools, places of worship,
community centers, libraries, etc.
•
Districts and packs send out more news releases to local
media (see above) to promote joining events.
• Conduct a parent orientation meeting and recruit
new leaders.
•
Conduct Joining Night or other recruitment event.
• Preparations for Joining Night
Preparations for Joining Night
Display Table Checklist
r Pack poster with fee information
r Cash box to make change
r Youth AND adult applications
r Boys’ Life mini-magazines
r Pack photos/albums
r Welcome to the adventures of Cub Scouting and
Boy Scouting
r Pinewood derby cars and trophies
r Handouts about the next meeting with a
pack calendar
r Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos handbooks
Above is a sample layout of a Joining Night setting. As
parents and youth enter the room, ask them to sign an
attendance roster. Hand out applications and direct
people to the registration tables. Have unit volunteers help
with lling out the applications and answering questions
one on one. The idea is to make registration quick and easy
for everyone, and to ensure they all leave with the informa
-
tion on the next meeting date, time, and location.
If online registration is available, use it.
2nd Grade Table
4th Grade Table
3rd Grade Table
STAGE AREA
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
5th Grade Table
6th Grade Table
Welcome/Registration
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Checklist for Unit Leaders
r Wear your uniform.
r Make sure arrangements are in place for
table displays.
r Make copies of your pack calendar for the year.
r Make copies of your pack information sheet (info
about the rst pack meeting, pack contacts, etc.)
r Communicate leadership needs to unit
membership chair.
r Ensure participation from all leadership, including the
new member coordinator.
r Have the pack checkbook on hand at the event.
r Arrive at the event site at least 30 minutes before
registration will start.
r Set up the den/pack displays.
r Welcome guests as they arrive.
After the meeting:
r Clean up the room.
r Sign all youth and adult applications. Write one check
to cover registration cost.
r Review youth applications for adult information
that may suggest possible leaders to invite to
the orientation.
r Print a copy of the attendance roster. Follow up with
all unregistered youth on the roster, and all youth who
expressed interest in Scouting.
r Be sure all information collected is submitted to
the council.
Parent Orientation Meeting
Note: This meeting should be separate from the rst pack
meeting, as it is for new families only.
r
Follow the suggested script for this meeting.
r
Orient new parents, and recruit new leaders
and helpers.
r
Ensure the pack trainer (or designee) coordinates Youth
Protection for all adults, and ideally New Leader and
position specic training as quickly as possible.
October
• Conduct
follow-up youth recruiting as needed.
• Follow up with parents who said they “might be able” to
serve as new leaders.
Age-appropriate activities for the Joining Night can be found
in the handbooks for each Cub Scout rank. Examples include
Tigers learning magic tricks, Wolves making paper airplanes,
Bears playing a game of marbles, Webelos/Arrow of Light
Scouts creating electrical circuits with lightbulbs and
batteries. Other great activities can be taken from the STEM/
NOVA information at http://www.scouting.org/stem.aspx.
RESOURCES
Outline for School Talks
Setting and timing—It is important that school talks
happen class to class in small groups. Often a school
principal will suggest that it would be easier to bring all
the students together in the school and we talk to all of
them at once. The reality is that the rally is less impactful
that way and it actually takes more time away from the
classroom. The best method is for the school talk presenter
to take the time to go classroom to classroom and spend
no more than three minutes in each room. Since it would
take a lot longer than a few minutes to put an assembly
together, this method reduces non-instructional time.
Coordinate with school personnel on the best time to meet
each class of students. Some schools allow this to be done
only at the end of recess or the lunch period. Get a map of
the school so that you can easily nd the classrooms.
Enthusiasm—This is the key ingredient, not the design of
the ier or the sticker. Nothing can take the place of the
level of enthusiasm displayed by the school talk presenter
during the presentation. The presenter should practice the
presentation prior to giving it.
Appearance—Look your best. Remember that you are the
face of the BSA during this presentation. Wearing a Scout
uniform may be appealing to younger children. If your
school talk is for older students, the uniform may not be
appealing, but a Scout T-shirt may be. Look like you’re
ready for fun and adventure. A good-looking day bag or
backpack that contains iers, stickers, and props is ideal.
Fliers should include the date, time, and location of the
open house, joining night, or parent meeting, along with
contact information for the local pack. Stickers can show
the date and time and the words, “I want to be a Scout.” Fun
props might include a pinewood derby car or a bug sucker.
If your council gives a premium item upon joining (rocket,
shing pole, coupon for a free movie, etc.), bring an sample
of that. Also bring a thank you card for each teacher.
Announcements—See if you can be included in the
school news. An announcement about your presence at
the school will ensure the teachers know you are coming.
The Element of a Good Talk
Start by entering the room and saying, “Hi! Is now a good
time to talk to the class about Scouts?” Be prepared in case
a teacher says “Not now.” Ask when you can come back
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and mark the classroom on your school map to make a
note of when to return. Once you have permission to enter,
get your iers ready.
Ask the teacher if there is a class helper for the day. This
will reinforce any current class structure and avoid disap-
pointing a child who looks forward to serving as the
class helper and/or you picking someone the teacher
doesn’t want.
If the teacher does not have a helper for the day, pick
someone at random. Do not ask if someone wants to help;
it will cause disruption and waste time. Once you have
identied a student to help, hand the iers to that student.
Avoid giving the teacher the opportunity to take the iers
and hand them out later. This often never happens, and the
iers don’t go home.
As the iers are being handed out, start your presentation:
Element One: The Introduction—BIG, LOUD, and full of
ENERGY! Introduce yourself by name, and tell them you are
with the Boy Scouts of America. Here is a sample introduc-
tion: “Hi, boys and girls, my name is Anthony and I am with
the Boy Scouts of America, and I am here to invite your
parents to a very special night.”
Element Two: Time, Date, and Location—Repeat, repeat,
repeat. “Thursday night in the cafeteria at 7:00 is going to
be your chance to join the Cub Scouts! The cool thing
about Cub Scouts is that we have a special club just for you
second graders. It’s called Wolf Scouts! Who here can howl
like a wolf?”
Element Three: Responses—Children at this age take
direction well when it’s presented at the beginning. To
avoid yelling, cheering, and too much disruption, inform
the class how you want them to respond to your questions.
“So what do Wolf Scouts do? Let me ask you what you like
to do. Raise your hand if you like to …”
Element Four: Program and Activities—This is where
you should have a list of activities and events that are
specic to the pack, district, and council and that are fun
and exciting. Use animated hand movements whenever
possible, but the tone you use and the energy level need to
be high. Try elevating it with each new activity.
“… Go camping?... Shoot bows and arrows? … Build a
campre and roast marshmallows? Raise your hand if you
like to build things. … Raise your hand if you would like to
build a car just like this one.” This is where you would pull
out the pinewood derby car out from your bag like a
magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
“In Cub Scouts you will get a chance to design and build
your own car just like this one. Everyone gets together and
we race them down a track to see who has the fastest car.
Who thinks they can build the fastest car in the school?”
“Raise your hand if you would like to build your own
rocket, just like this one!” This is where you would pull
out your rocket.
“If you join Cub Scouts Thursday night in the cafeteria at
7 o’clock, we’re going to give you your own free rocket to
build, and then we are going to launch those rockets at
our next campout!”
Stick to about ve things to highlight in total—too much of
this, and the group loses interest.
Element Five: Date, Time, Location—Repeat!
Element Six: The Flier Needs to Go Home Tonight—
Some will do this as a game and ask the kids to fold up the
ier and put it in their pocket. The key is to make sure the
students know that the ier has all the information Mom or
Dad needs to know to sign them up so it is important that
they get it. My favorite is to say; “Everyone has their ier. On
the front of the ier is the cool stu you get to do in Scouts,
but on the back of the ier is all the information that Mom
or Dad needs to know to sign you up so it is important that
when you get home tonight that you show it to them. So,
when you get home (start talking really fast) I want you to
show this to everyone; your mom, your dad, your brother,
your sister, your aunt, your uncle, your dog, your cat, your
pet goldsh!” This usually gets a good laugh.
Element Seven: Date, Time and Location (Stickers)—
Repeat! Get your stickers out and get ready to walk the
room. Gather your pinewood derby car and rocket. As you
are talking, you are putting things away and getting your
stickers out. Work your way from the front to the back
toward the door.
“So remember Thursday night. What time? Where? Great!
Now if you want to join Cub Scouts, stand up next to your
desk and I have a special sticker for you that will help
remind you and your parents about the meeting. Once
I give you your sticker, sit down so I know that you got
yours.” Walk around quickly and hand the stickers to
those standing up. Only give stickers to those students
who are standing. By them standing, they are giving
you permission to give the sticker to them.
When you are done, all the students are at their desks ready
for the teacher.
Element Eight: Thank You—The best situation is to have
handwritten thank you notes that you give the teacher as
you leave. Teachers can be very helpful to remind everyone
on Thursday about the meeting. Be careful not to get the
class too crazy, as you don’t want it to be a challenge for
the teacher to regain control. You want to be welcomed
back next year.
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