Parent Information

WHAT IS CUB SCOUTS?

Cub Scouts is the lower elementary aged program of Scouting America. The overall Scouting America program is designed to help youth develop foundations for leadership, citizenship, and personal fitness. There are 10 defined purposes of Cub Scouts.

1. Character Development

2. Spiritual Growth

3. Good Citizenship

4. Sportsmanship & Fitness

5. Family Understanding

6. Respectful Relationships

7. Personal Achievement

8. Friendly Service

9. Fun & Adventure

10. Preparation for Scouts BSA

Cub scout activities are designed to be open to the whole family to have fun together exploring the outdoors, building projects or making crafts, developing a love of learning while making friends and being a part of their community along the way.

Cub Scouts Colors

The Cub Scout colors are blue and gold. They have special meaning, which will help boys and girls see beyond the fun of Cub Scouting to its ultimate goals.

The blue stands for truth and spirituality, steadfast loyalty, and the sky above.

The gold stands for warm sunlight, good cheer and happiness.

Scouting Organizational Structure

The Cub Scout program has an Organizational Structure that puts boys or girls into groups called Dens with recommended sizes from 6 to 8 scouts. Dens are usually separated by grade but can be combined if needed. Dens of youth in a community form a Pack which is part of a District. Districts are combined to make a Council. Councils are grouped based on regional areas across the country. This organizational structure helps keep the program consistent across the country and makes the movement of members from one scout unit to another possible.

OUR PACK

Pack 1191 is in the Francis Scott Key (FSK) District. Our district belongs to the National Capital Area Council, which includes the southern and central counties of Maryland and the northern counties of Virginia (map link).

American Legion Gold Post 191, located at 801 Prospect Road in Mount Airy, is our Charter Organization. They sponsor our pack through an agreement with our Council. Their sponsorship allows us a dedicated place to meet and provides a donation of some funds towards our operating costs.

Committee and Den Leadership

The Committee and Den Leaders are shown on the "Meet the Pack" page.

The Pack is run by a committee of Adult Volunteers, who are also parents or other family members within the pack.

The dens are run by Den Leaders, who are usually a family member to one of the scouts within the Den. The Den leader will guide Cub Scouts through their requirements towards earning their rank.

Parent involvement is an integral part of a successful Pack. Our Pack requires a minimum of 3 volunteer hours per year from each family. We invite you to check out the available leadership positions that you may be interested in filling to enhance your Scout’s experience in Cub Scouts (contact one of the leaders for additional information).

Pack Meetings

Pack meetings generally take place once a month, at the American Legion or in a neighborhood outdoor space. They are usually on Sunday evenings but the day and time may be moved for Special Events. Please refer to the Google calendar or Scoutbook for additional information.

Den Meetings

Den meetings are typically held twice a month on a Sunday at the American Legion or in a neighborhood outdoor space. Refer to Den Leaders for specific details. Please be certain your Scout arrives to Den meetings on time. Parent participation in the Den meetings is essential to the success of the meeting.

Parents are required to attend and participate with their Lion and Tiger and are encouraged to continue participation throughout their Scout’s journey.

Camping and Outings

Outdoor experiences, such as hiking and camping are important elements of Scouting. Traditionally, we have two Pack campouts each year - one in the fall and one in the spring. During our camping events, we hike, learn scout skills, and have outdoor fun. Dens have the option of planning outdoor activities of their choosing.

GENERAL CUB SCOUT PROGRAM

Ranks

Scouting activities are centered around earning badges that are specific to each school grade level.

This badge represents a rank. The badges and ranks for each grade level are below.

Advancement

Advancement refers to the progress a Cub Scout makes meeting the requirements toward their rank badge. Starting in 2024, the Cub Scout program was updated to align the requirements for all 6 Cub Scout ranks to 5 major categories.

Citizenship Being a member of a community and helping others

Family & Reverence Being part of a family and understanding your family's faith traditions

Outdoors Learn the Six Essentials and outdoor ethics

Personal Fitness Developing a healthy diet and activity lifestyle

Personal Safety Recognizing unsafe situations and approaching activities safely.

Requirements towards rank are structured in “Adventures” and are shown in the following link, BSA Cub Scout Adventure Chart 2024. When all the requirements for a rank are met, a Scout earns their Rank badge at an Advancement Ceremony which usually happens near the end of the school year.

Parent Ribbons & Pins

As Parent involvement is central to Scouting success, and to help cheer your Scout on and have your own memory keepsake of this Adventure, Parents are given a Parent Ribbon when their Scout earns their first Rank Badge. For each subsequent Rank their Scout earns, the Parents will be presented the corresponding Rank Pin. At each Advancement Ceremony for your Scout, Parents are encouraged to have their Parent Ribbons on to allow their Scout to "Pin" on the Parent Rank Pin to their Parent's Ribbon so the Scout can show their appreciation for your support on their Scouting Journey.

Ideas for Storing Loops, Pins & Patches

If you've been in Scouting for a few years you will see how quickly your Scout will earn achievements, from Loops, Pins and Patched. The following are some ideas for families on how to store or display these items. It is fun for a Scout to look back on their Acheivements and take pride in what they have accomplished!

UNIFORMS & HANDBOOKS

There are two types of uniforms for Cub Scouts.

Class As

Class As are the official BSA uniform worn for all formal awards and community ceremonies (pictures below)

New Cub Scouts will be provided with a Pack 1191 patch to add to the Class A uniform.

When wearing the Blue and Tan button down shirts, at a minimum, they need to include the NCAC arm patch and World Crest shoulder patch which are often pre-sown on when purchased from the Scouting America National Capital Scout Shop (9190 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814).

Other elements of the uniform available to purchase include a rank specific neckerchief, neckerchief slide, belt (blue or green depending on rank) and Cub Scout Adventures Rank Colors (AOLs). While a belt and the adventures rank colors are not required by our Pack, it is helpful for the Cub Scout to be able to display and be proud of the adventure loops and pins they have earned.

The Pack has a limited number of used items donated from previous Scouts.

Other places to buy uniform related and other scouting items are:

Class Bs

Class Bs are a Pack specific T-shirt that is our "casual uniform" worn to Den and Pack meetings, unless otherwise specified for special events such as Award Ceremonies, or if a Scout desires to wear Class As to earn “Cubby Bucks”. A picture of the Class B's are shown after the Handbook section.

A new Cub Scout will be provided with a Class B shirt. If a Scout outgrows his Class B a new one can be purchased for $7.

Handbooks

Rank specific handbooks provide an overview of each adventure including the overall goal and multiple suggested activities to give the leader or parent options on ways to perform or experience the adventure that are appropriate for their scout or den. They also include other general tips for scouting or outdoor fun.

Note that the Lion and Tiger handbooks come with an activity booklet for the scout to follow and a separate leader or adult booklet to describe how to lead the adventures and activities.
Families may purchase a Den-specific handbook online or in person through the Scout Shop.
Alternatively, overviews of the Adventure and activity ideas along with printable worksheets for documenting completion of each activity can also be found online at:

https://www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts/adventures/

OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Cubby Bucks

Cubby Bucks provide a structured and rewarding way for Cub Scouts to contribute to their pack's success while learning valuable lessons about responsibility, teamwork, and financial literacy while also promoting the elements of the Scouting Program. Cubby Bucks have no cash value but CAN be carried over from year to year if not used.

Earning Cubby Bucks: Scouts earn "Cubby Bucks" through participating in pack events, including fundraisers, legion community events or other community service events. They earn them by wearing their full scout uniform when not required, living the scout motto, oath and code, or going above and beyond what is typically expected of our Scouters.

Using Cubby Bucks: During the Blue and Gold Ceremony (February each year) the Pack provides Cubby Buck Sales and a Cubby Bucks Auction table of fun items donated or in limited instances, purchased. Scouts have free time during the Blue and Gold Ceremony to “buy” items from the Cubby Bucks table. Additionally, there is a Cubby Bucks Auction that will have more selective items. This is an opportunity to teach the scouts about being Thrifty, asking for donations to support the tables, and reward the scouts for their participation through out the previous year.

Youth Protection Training

As Cub Scouts is a family-oriented program in which we like parents to be present and to ensure the safety of all our Cub Scouts, we ask that all parents, whether in the leadership role or not, take the BSA Youth Protection Training available at: https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/

You do not have to be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America to take Youth Protection training. You will just need to create an account on www.my.scouting.org. You’ll receive an email notification with your account information, including a member ID/reference number. Please print out a copy of your training certificate and give it to your Den Leader or Committee Chair.

Annual Membership, Dues and Fundraising

Scouts BSA is a national program with annual dues paid to National Capital Area Council (NCAC), our local district (Francis Scott Key) and to Pack 1191.

The national dues help the umbrella scouting organization to continually develop the Scouting program consistently for all as well as to help fund “camps and national programs that all are eligible to participate in (i.e. Goshen, National Jamboree, etc.”).

The district dues help fund our local council to provide support to each other and provide local district summer camps and events such as Summer Day Camp, Scouting for Food, Super Derby, etc.

As a pack we also have operating costs (Pack Dues) that we try to keep at a minimum but include a Class B t-shirt, a Pack 1191 number patch, a Pinewood Derby car kit, all awards earned throughout the year and food and supplies for our pack camping events, Blue and Gold ceremony, and other miscellaneous costs. The Pack Dues are usually offset by fundraising activities and donations from our charter organization or the community at large.

A breakdown of the costs for 2025-2026 are below:

We never want to turn away a scout due to financial reasons.
Scouting Scholarships are available on a case-by-case basis.
Please talk to the Cubmaster or Committee Chair for individual concerns.

Communications, Signup Geniuses, & Scoutbook

We will be using Gmail for official Pack communications, Google Calendar for event scheduling, SignUp Genius to RSVPs for pack events and potlucks and SCOUTBOOK to track scout advancements. Please visit https://scoutbook.scouting.org/ to acquaint yourself with advancement tracker.

Reach Out

As always, if you have any questions, need support with Scoutbook or would like to share ideas on how our Pack can be improved, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of our leaders or at pack1191info@gmail.com