One of the most important things to understand about Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts is that they are both completely volunteer-led. This means that, if you would like your son or daughter to become a Scout, you should expect to volunteer your time to coordinate activities or an outing, or even to manage a small group of boys or girls on their journey through Scouting. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts learn practical life skills with a team approach but none of it happens without the parents' involvement. Please don't expect or assume that you can drop your child off or that all of the good things about Scouting can happen without your help. In fact, one of the best parts of Scouting is meeting and working together with the other parents to create a wonderful experience for your children.
Girl Scouts
Girls in kindergarten and above can join Girl Scouts at any time. The traditional Girl Scout path is to join a troop in the town where you live. A Girl Scout troop typically has 8-10 girls, all the same age, who will stay together with the same leaders throughout elementary school. The leaders are parents of one or more of the girls (sometimes moms will co-lead) who are volunteering to help run the troop. To find a troop in your town, attend the registration night or ask around among your friends and the parents of the girls in your child's class. You may find that some of the mothers in class are already talking about Girl Scouts and pulling together a group of girls; this is the perfect time to ask to join them and volunteer to help. Or you can even start your own troop if you're unable to find one for your daughter and you meet other families at the registration night who are looking for a troop. Girl Scouts of Eastern MA will provide training and all the information you need. One of the benefits of volunteering as the troop leader is that you have control over the meeting schedule. Most troops meet every other week but you are welcome to meet more or less frequently as you see fit.
It costs $25 per year to be a member of Girl Scouts, plus your troop will have dues to cover the cost of snacks, meeting supplies, etc. These days, the uniform is very minimal and only costs a few dollars for a vest or sash and identification badges. Your troop can participate in both the fall product and cookie sales to help cover the troop's costs.
Girls in kindergarten and first grade begin Girl Scouts as Daisies. They will typically meet once or twice a month during the school year to talk about different aspects of Girl Scout Law, such as honesty, respect, caring and helpfulness. They will make a craft, have snacks, and may visit local community resources such as the library or police station. Girls in 2nd and 3rd grade are Brownies. They can earn badges by learning in depth about a particular topic. They participate in community improvement projects and learn more about being self-sufficient. They may go on overnight stays at a camp or at a museum. Girl Scout Juniors (Grades 4-5) and Cadettes (Grades 6-8) continue to learn self-sufficient skills and participate in community service. Girl Scout Seniors (Grades 9-10) and Ambassadors (Grades 11-12) travel, help younger troops, organize significant community service projects, and meet more advanced challenges.
To learn more about Girl Scouts, visit their website at www.girlscoutseasternmass.org or attend one of the following local registration nights (organized by date):
Maynard: September 10, 5:30 PM, Maynard Library, Roosevelt Room, 77 Nason St, Maynard
Westford: September 10, 6 PM, St. Mark's Church (Williams Hall), 75 Cold Spring Rd, Westford
Maynard: September 11, 5:30 PM, Green Meadow Elementary School, 5 Tiger Dr, Maynard
Lincoln: September 14, 6:30 PM, Lincoln Public Library, 3 Bedford Rd, Lincoln
Carlisle: September 17, 6 PM, The Carlisle School, 83 School St, Carlisle
Acton/Boxborough: September 19, 1:30-4:30 PM, Acton Memorial Library, 286 Main St, Acton
Bedford: September 19, 10 AM, Bedford Day, Mudge Way, Bedford
Maynard: September 23, 6:30 PM, Fowler School Library, 3 Tiger Dr, Maynard
Concord: September 26, 2 PM, Concord Scout House, 74 Walden St, Concord
Lexington: September 29, 6 PM, Hancock Church, 1912 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington
If you can't attend a registration night or don't see one for your town, please email Michelle Schofield (for Acton, Boxborough, Lincoln and Maynard) or Kim Lambert-Serna (for Bedford, Hanscom AFB, Concord, Carlisle and Lexington) for more information.
Cub Scouts
Boys can join Cub Scouts beginning in first grade and may join a pack anytime up to fifth grade. Unlike Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts are organized into large packs; a town may have anywhere from one to four packs, each with 40 to 100+ boys age 6 to 11. Within a pack, the boys will be organized into dens by age or grade. First grade boys are in the Tiger Den; after completing certain (easy) requirements, they will advance to the Wolf Den for 2nd grade, Bear Den for 3rd grade, Webelos I for 4th grade, and Webelos II for 5th grade. Most dens have 8-10 boys; very large packs will have multiple dens at each level.
During the school year, the pack will meet once a month for activities, an overall lesson or speaker (generally an interesting topic, such as a local robotics engineer, a martial arts instructor, etc.), and some team-building activities. The dens will meet once or twice a month separately and work on den-level projects, such as simple cooking skills, fire safety, bicycle safety, etc. The entire pack and each den are managed by volunteer parents. Usually the den leaders will manage and progress with a den for the entire 5-year Cub Scout journey, assisted by the parents of the other boys in the den. If they choose, Webelos II Scouts in 5th grade who have completed certain requirements may cross over to Boy Scouts and join a Boy Scout troop. Boy Scouts of America provides lots of very detailed information to the Cub Scout pack and den leaders to help with rank requirements and meeting topics.
Cub Scouts is typically $25-$60 per year to join (depending on the pack), and packs will participate in several activities throughout the year, including museum visits, overnights, and camping trips, which cost extra. The packs can raise funds by participating in Cub Scout popcorn fundraisers, which will help cover the expenses for these special trips. Some packs will choose to do other kinds of fundraisers or will not ask their members to fundraise at all (which means dues and extra trips will be more expensive). Although all Cub Scout packs must follow the requirements laid out by Boy Scouts of America, each pack will have a different feel depending on the number of boys and how the leaders coordinate activities. You can visit different pack meetings with your son until you find the right pack for you.
Below is a list of all the local Cub Scout packs and links to their websites. Not all packs have websites or their websites may be somewhat outdated, since they're managed by volunteers:
Pack 70 Acton No website
I hope this information has been helpful! Did I miss some key information, a registration night, or a Cub Scout pack? Please comment below and I will update the article!
