Pack 451 - like all Cub Scout packs - is 100% parent-operated. There are no paid staff or "lifer volunteers" making this happen, just a bunch of families working together to teach our kids leadership, confidence, and a love for the outdoors. That starts when you model leadership yourself, by becoming a Parent Leader.
We count on every family in the Pack to take on one leader role each year,as part of your involvement in Scouting. It takes small efforts from all of us together to deliver a fantastic Cub Scouting experience for our boys and girls.
Find a role that fits your family and step forward today!
Our Parent Leader Principles
- Many hands make light work
- Each family contributes one Parent Leader per year.
- Each role should be 2-deep: with (at least) one Leader and one Assistant.
- Follow your passion
- Everyone does their best when they're passionate.
- Pick a role you're excited about, even if you have minimal experience.
- Learn, then teach:
- Leader roles are ideally 2-year commitments:
- Year 1: Work as an assistant to learn what's needed.
- Year 2: You're the expert, teaching a new assistant the ropes.
- Year 3: Keep going or find a new role and let someone else try this one.
- Make it better:
- Roles ideally come with a short, written "how-to" plan posted on the Pack website. As the Leader, you own the plan.
- Improve on it by documenting what worked (or didn't) under your leadership.
- No plan? Write a simple one and add it to the website yourself.
- Involve your Scout:
- Leadership is the ultimate "showing by doing" skill.
- Make your Scout part of your work and look for ways to let them lead too.
- Get help:
- Don't understand? Overwhelmed? Ask for help and we'll bring it.
- Ideally, most roles should average under 2 hours / week during the school year.
- Cubmasters and Assistant Cubmasters are closer to 4-5 hours/week.
- Yours might be spread out over the year, or concentrated in just a few weeks.
- If you're working way outside of the average, please let the Cubmaster know and we'll find a way to help.
"I would love to help but I'm..."
Trust us, we get it, we're all in the same boat:
- Multiple kids
- Multiple sports
- Both parents working
- Traveling too much
- Already helping with the Quidditch team
- Wasn't in Scouting: no clue what to do
- Not sure if my son or daughter will want to do this next year
The thing is, this is Cub Scouts, not rocket science: read plan, try to follow plan, smile a lot. We have many leader roles to fill. Some are kid-facing with ropes and firewood,while others can be done late at night from the road over a glass of wine. All will be shared with others.
Pick something that works for your situation and step forward. If we want to have a Pack, there's literally no one else to do it.