My son (shortly M) started his first grade in 2016 and also started showing curiosity towards many activities. In the fall of 2016, M rambled down to a table with a lone rocket on the table. Curious as he was, he wanted to touch the rocket. The kakhi clad (now we know that they are Boy Scouts) senior students encouraged him to touch and feel the rocket. And they went further inviting him to join the experience of creating one in the coming year. Hence began his engagement with cub scouts. And we were left wondering how we will manage the growing schedules after school. Now that a year has passed by, I can say that this has been a great experience for M! And for me too!
M became part of the Tiger Den of Pack 435. Soon there were nearly 8 kids in total enrolled for the Tiger Den. In early October we attended the first ever pack meeting. Yes the world of scouts is filled with many fun topics – packs, dens, special salutes, handshakes, clothing badges, etc. At the first meeting, I was sitting with a few other parents of first graders. We were to select someone to help coordinate within our den. I volunteered without knowing what I got into. I volunteered because I knew that it will be my duty to drive my son around for this scouting activity. Soon began the work to consider monthly plans and reading of the scouting book to understand about advancements and such.
Thankfully there were several scout leaders who helped me along the way. Our pack leader – Jonathan – had been involved with the scouts for 11 years with 7 of them as a pack leader. With humor and story telling, he is a master of keeping our attention and engaging the children very well. John – the leader for Wolf Den, was another kind man who helped me on several occasions. And then there was Kevin who enthusiastically got us all the badges and hoops to celebrate at the Pack meetings. One of my classmates – Prakash – from nearly 25 years back, is a pack leader in California; he helped me as well. And of course all the parents of scouts did help me too!
Based on suggestions, I had each family of the scout sponsor and volunteer for a month – to host and run the scout meetings. This was a big and valuable step in our journey. It helped each student and their parents to be involved. It also helped us bring our own creativity and share the load across with each other. We had several events for the past year including:
Kick-off session focused on Games Tigers Play and parents taking ownership for a month each.- Visiting the local city police and 911 facility, the tigers learnt about being Safe and Smart. Not to mention they got to see the big armored vehicle too.
- Tiger Bites – where the scouts learnt to make pizza and eat healthy food.
- The scouts built a bird house as part of the Backyard Jungle activity
- In the Duty to God activity, the scouts learnt to appreciate the diversity and were thankful for many things.
- In Team Tigers they observed about other scouts and wrote down how they can help each other.
- The Tigers In the Wild activity took them on a hike at Mercer Slough and also meet local rangers.
- At the Google maker lab, the tigers showed their creative prowess designing and making Good Knights shields.
- In the spring, the Tigers visited the local Medina Park to do community service.
- And in another session, as Rolling Tigers a few Tiger Cub kids learnt safety about bikes and rode their bikes to a nearby school field. They slowed down to help newcomers become comfortable with their new bikes.
Besides these Tiger Den events, there were several Pack 435 events as well including the fun: launch your rockets event, build and show off your sail boat and derby cars, create a chess kit using nuts-and-bolts, one day out door camp visits, etc.
It has been a great year to watch the kids come together and embark on their journey of being cub scouts. I was inspired and excited to see the kids play and work together. I heard many scouting stories. I also saw M grow out of his shyness and participate more. It is likely the same for several other kids too. Throughout this session I am very thankful for all the parents of Tiger Den kids for hosting and volunteering their part to make this a great year of start for the Tiger Cubs.
Leave a Reply