Parent Resources
Welcome guidance for families joining Cub Scouting with Pack 797.
Getting Started
Welcome to Cub Scouting!
We’re glad you and your child have decided to join us. In Cub Scouting, boys first through fifth grade will have lots of fun, adventures, and activities with their den and pack.
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. There are four aims of Scouting: good citizenship, character development, personal fitness, and leadership.
Structure
Cub Scouting is built from dens and packs, supported by volunteer leaders and a chartered organization in the community.
A small group of Cub Scouts who are the same gender and in the same grade. The ideal size is 6 to 8 Cub Scouts.
An adult, usually a parent, serves as a Den Leader. They carry out the activities related to adventures as they are presented in the Cub Scout’s handbook and the Den Leader Guide.
The pack is made up of several dens. The make up and size of the pack varies based on local interest and resources. Each pack is identified by a number.
The leader of the pack meeting is the Cubmaster. In addition to serving as the master of ceremonies the Cubmaster provides support to Den Leaders.
Made up of parents, leaders, and other caring adults the pack committee works to support den leaders and the cubmaster.
The top volunteer in the pack is the Pack Committee Chair. They are responsible for ensuring enough qualified adult volunteers are in place to provide the program. They lead the pack committee meetings.
This is the organization that partners with the Boy Scouts of America to deliver a Scouting program. They adopt Scouting to serve the youth in the community.
This person appoints the Pack Committee Chair and approves all adult leaders. They provide resources from the chartered organization.
Bigger Picture
To provide more localized support to scouting, councils create districts. Districts are geographical areas of service. Districts have a volunteer District Committee that provides support to local programs in the areas of membership, finance, and program. Another group of volunteers called commissioners provide direct service to Scouting programs. Contact your District Executive to learn more about how a district operates.
To effectively support local Scouting programs the national Boy Scouts of America provides a charter to a community board of volunteers to be responsible for providing the Scouting program to a defined geographical area. These geographical areas are called councils. Councils have a volunteer board which employs a Scout Executive to serve as the CEO and give leadership to the day to day operation. The Scout Executive hires staff to provide direct and indirect support to local Scouting programs. In each council there are many more volunteers than staff as the organization is volunteer lead and professionally guided.
Councils are different in size based on factors such as population, geography, and local markets. Most councils operate Scout Camps and local Scout Shops and have a regional office to provides administrative support and record keeping. To identify what council a Scout or an adult belongs to, an identifying patch is worn at the top of the left sleeve shoulder of the uniform.
The Boy Scouts of America is the national organization that develops and supports various youth programs. It provides charters to communities to operate a council. The national organization provides service to local councils and develops Scouting programs and establishes rules and regulations.