The Southern Crescent District is in the Atlanta Area Council, serving Scouts, Leaders and Parents in Clayton County and South Fulton County. See the BeAScout website for location and contact information for Cub Scout Packs (Kindergarten through 5th Grade are Cub Scouts), Scouts BSA Troops (end of 5th Grade to age 18), and Venturing Crews.
Did you know?Trained Leaders have many super powers and are more attractive. Plus, the more you know, the easier it is to lead Scouts and help your Pack, Troop or Crew.
Cub Scout People: Ask yourself:
Do you have Parents in your Pack who joined with their child last year, didn't "know Cub Scouting", and so didn't become a leader?
Did they and their Scout like doing Cub Scouts over the school year?
Do they "know enough" now to step up and become an Assistant Den Leader or Den Co-Leader or Committee Member?
Yes, they know enough to lead and succeed. Now is a great time to recruit parents to "step up".
Want more? Build your Teams! Here's how to do that this coming weekend:
On Saturday, take a carload of parents to the Volunteer Service Center on August 16, 10:00 am, for Cub Leader Training led by this District's Cub Leader Trainer. Free. Register here. (Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login.) The collaboration you do in the Training will make it worth the drive to the Scout Shop.
On Sunday, take a carload of parents to Woodward Academy in College Park on August 17, 2:30 pm, for Cub Leader Training led by this District's Cub Leader Trainer. Free. Register here. (Email webmaster@southfultonscouting.com if you need a reminder about the login.) The collaboration you do in the Training with your team will make this Cub Scout Year fun.
Pack 4234 is hosting a Car Wash on Saturday, August 23rd, 10am to 2pm, at Morrow First Baptist Church, 1647 Lake Harbin Road, Morrow, GA 30260. Troop 4234 is also hosting a Fish Fry Saturday, August 23rd, 11am to 2pm, also at Morrow First Baptist Church.
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.
(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!
(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!
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!
In your my.scouting.org account, you won't see "Youth Protection Training". You'll see a link to "Safeguarding Youth" training.
This +/-90 minute training replaces Youth Protection Training. Your existing YPT is valid through the earlier of (a) your YPT expiration date or (b) May of 2026 (one year after the launch of this new training course), but when you approach that date you'll need to take complete the new "Safeguarding Youth" training and pass the quiz.
Another new element: "Safeguarding Youth" training must be taken every year. Or: an announcement from Scouting America Commissioners on FB says that after taking "Safeguarding Youth" training a 15 minute refresher course and quiz must be successfully completed annually thereafter.
Three likely FAQ:
Q: I'm registering to be an adult leader for the first time and they told me to "take YPT" ... but I can't find it. What do I do?
A: Take "Safeguarding Youth" training instead, through your my.scouting.org account.
Q: I'm currently an adult leader and my YPT is good through December of 2025 - do I need to take "Safeguarding Youth" training now?
A: No. You'll need to take it by your expiration date in December of 2025. But you can take it early.
Q: I just registered as an adult leader in April so my YPT showed it was good through April of 2027 - when do I need to take "Safeguarding Youth" training?
A: By May of 2026, or one year after the launch of this new training course.
Or, "If a Scout has fun at an outing and no one shares the story, was Scouting fun?" If you don't collect your stories -- ideally with pictures and video -- and show them to new prospective Scouts and families, how will they really know Scouting is fun? More about promotion generally is here. More Troop tools here (especially Scout to Scout peer to peer contact). For more, see this On Scouting blog post.