Saturday, October 4, 10:00 am at the Volunteer Service Center, 1800 Circle 75 Parkway SE, Atlanta, GA 30339. Register here or just email cubleadertraining@southfultonscouting.com (Bert Bender).  Come for the Class, Stay for the Scout Shop! 

See the Atlanta Area Council Facebook Post, with this information: "Complete these steps

• ✅ Participate in School Festival or Event
• ✅ Host a Second Chance/Peer-to-Peer Event
• ✅ Join a community Trunk-O-Treat
• ✅ Welcome 5+ new youth into your unit (outside of sign-up night)

Do all 4 and your Pack is entered to WIN Pinewood Derby kits for EVERY Scout!

•  One winner per district.
•  Don’t forget photos!
•  Enter here: https://forms.gle/M7tdcYCgRs7kknYm7"

Do you like the new and simpler requirements for each Cub Scout Adventure?

• Where you don't have to pick and choose which requirements to do?
• Cool!  Simple.  Easy.  Do all of 1 through 6.  No need to choose!

But what about the new National Resources for each Cub Scout Adventure?  Are they Simple and Easy?

• Where you must pick and choose which which activities to do!  So ... for each Requirement, you have to sort through 2 or 3 activity options.  
• You have to go somewhere else to find out how to do a Den Meeting!
• You have to assemble the activities you pick into the other parts of a Den Meeting!
• Is that Simple??  Is that Easy??  No.  We can do better.

But wait!  They have "Den Meeting Card Decks" Now!!  Just hand someone a card, and they will know what to do!

• Except the cards basically just share a QR Code.  It's not like you can look at the card and it will tell you "how to do an activity" like pulling a 3x5 index card with the full recipe for Garlic Chicken.
• We bought a Deck ($19.99 each -- get all six for $119.94!), and here's a review.
• We can do better.

To help den leaders and parents, we've assembled 126 Cub Scout Adventures into a Den Meeting Plan format with added videos and tips to make leading Cub Scouts easier.  Really.  Click here for more, or keep reading below.  Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login

The Guide to Cub Scout Family Recruiting found in the downloads of the Atlanta Area Council Recruiting Resources main page describes steps for successful recruiting -- spoiler alert: Successful and Sustainable Recruiting Does Not Begin and End at School Sign Up Night!  If families are fired up at a Sign Up Night but have no Pack to join and no leaders to deliver a program, where are the new youth going to do Cub Scouting? And do Packs with a handful of Leaders have the capacity to lead 50, 60, 80 or more?  No.

To be successful, the best practice is to lay down the foundation with these Six Steps for Successful and Sustainable Recruiting and described in our Pack Run Recruiting Best Practices video, starting with:

(1) Make a Calendar of Fun Activities that families like -- activities they want to do -- if you plan those activities, you will be the Pack they want to join (you want families who want to "do" activities, not just "drop off" kids for you to mind). It's not too late!

(2) Let People Know – Promote Your Fun Events! -- there are many ways, like Flyers (both Council Flyers and Do It Yourself Flyers), and you can make a "Pack Packet" Flyer (with your events, your pictures, and a QR code to have families contact you) --  share with your families (in hand, by email, text, social media), and encourage them to share with their friends (by hand, by email, text, social media) -- and use BeAScout and Online Registration, they can sign up right now,  You Can Do This Now!

(3) Recruit More Leaders and Helpers -- yes, you need to do this throughout your recruiting process.  We do "get it": recruiting is hard.  But that page has many ideas about ways to approach leader recruiting so that your Pack can become an "Every Parent Helps" Pack,  "Every Parent Helps" Should Be Your Message!

(4) Grow your School and Community Presence so that you're known beyond current Pack families and have strong school relations -- be sure to get in for Open House/Meet and Greet/Meet the Teacher events -- plus build positive Community and Church profile,

all of that leads to (5) Sign-Up Events: not just the "School Sign-Up Night" scheduled in tandem by your Pack Leaders and our District Executive (Isaiah Campbell) and run by both the District Professional and Pack Leaders, but also Fun Joining Events that you create for your own Pack and Dens!  Any Fun Den or Pack Activity can be a Welcoming Joining Event for New Families -- let them "test drive" Cub Scouting!  

(6)  Then ... the last step is more program that's fun for kids and families.  Sure, Cub Scout Adventures for Rank and all, but also just Fun, Simple, Easy Activities that you do just because you want fun, many of which you'll find on this Great Big List of Things to Do and Places to Go Around Atlanta.

Highlights of the most recent District News were these (click links for information):  Knowledge is Good! Upcoming Training Opportunities ... Recruiting Step Five: Sign Up Events – Yes, Have More Than One! ... and from the week before:  Join Us for an Exciting Back to Scouting Meet and Greet! Adventure Awaits!  ... Notice of District Annual Business Meeting ... Opt In, Opt Out ... Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login.

Special Training Opportunities abound.

• Cub Scout Leader Training, September 27, 28, October 4 and more.  See scoutingatl.org/cub-leader-training
• This Sunday's program (September 28, 1:00 pm) is in College Park!  At Woodward Academy Gresham Chapel Common Room, Rugby Avenue near Lee Street on the Woodward Campus in College Park
• Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills October 4-5.  For Troop Leaders.  See scoutingatl.org/iols
• Rangemaster Trainings for Cub Scout Leaders, October 4, and NRA Range Safety Officer (RSO) Class September 27, and more.  See scoutingatl.org/rangetraining
• University of Scouting, November 1.  See scoutingatl.org/university

More in our Leader Training page.