Cub Scout Pack leaders will be getting together tomorrow evening in Ann Arbor to help them prepare to welcome the next group of young boys into the Boy Scouts of America.
Today I’m here to give you a sneak preview of an exciting new program that’s been developed to make it easier than ever for you, as a parent or guardian, to identify and start to evaluate the many options available.
That’s right: We’re talking choices.
Family needs and mobility have changed a lot over the century that has passed since the Boy Scout program first came to the United States. The criteria that you and your son have in mind for “the ideal Cub Scout Pack” may differ from even that of your next-door neighbor.
“Be A Scout” is a new Web page we’ve developed in cooperation with Google maps to help you locate Packs, Troops, and Venture Crews near any location of your choosing. And that’s just the beginning. [1]
Every registered unit is already in the system.
So you can head over right now to the BeAScout.org site, enter your home address — or community where you’re looking to move, or a halfway-point between your base and that of your son’s best friend in the next town over, or your place of worship — you choose. Then click the GO button and watch for a custom map to come up, with a pin indicating the address you entered, and a logo for each nearby Pack.
Each Cub Scout logo (for this example) represents a Pack. Click on any one of these and see what happens.
As we start working with Cubmasters and Pack Committees starting tomorrow evening, they’ll update these with their unique particulars.
- Meeting schedules
- Links to their websites
- Names and contact information for their leadership
- Round-up dates
BeAScout.org further gives you the option of clicking on a link under the word Contact: which will take you to a menu for sending an e-mail request for more information. Ask questions. Drop-downs provide an easy way to tell us the age and grade-level at which your son may be looking to become a Cub Scout.
Don’t worry if everything hasn’t quite yet hooked to BeAScout.org from the Pack you’d like to consider. All incomplete links automatically default to our local Council offices on Huron Parkway right here in Ann Arbor: We’ll make sure it gets to the right folks — and stay in the communications loop as needed after that.
As I mentioned above, BeAScout.org works for Troop and Venture Crew information as well.
We’ll talk more later about local support for Cub Scout “graduation” into Boy Scouts; I’m really looking forward to applying this to that. And, now that young women can join Crews starting at age 13, it’s easy to see how this online resource will make for a great equalizer in that regard as well.
There’s never been a better time, nor easier way, to check out the Boy Scouts of America in our area!
This article was also published in The Ann Arbor News. [2]
References
- “Be A Scout” Boy Scouts of America.
- “Locating a Cub Scout Pack in Washtenaw County just got even easier” Dell Deaton (August 9, 2010) The Ann Arbor News.
