If you haven’t already, it’s time to start your daughter’s adventure in Scouting and the road to becoming and Eagle Scout begins in Cub Scouts. Cub Scouts is an active program for girls and boys in kindergarten through fifth grade that is entirely run by parent volunteers. Scouts at this age don’t actually achieve advancements towards Eagle Scout, but it’s all about laying the foundation for the values-based leaders we want to cultivate in our children. Each grade level has a unique handbook of adventures that grows with them. From big overnight pack trips to small den adventures to hands-on building activities like Pinewood Derby, Cub Scouts learn to embody the tenets of the Scout Law: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. In Cub Scouts, girls have the same opportunity as boys to build a framework from which to view the world, where they see themselves as both helpers and leaders with a responsibility to each other and the planet.
When I joined Cub Scout Pack 770 (based out of Tritt Elementary School) last year as a Den Leader with my son, I realized how much Scouts shaped my childhood even though I was never a Scout myself. My father, two brothers and now, my two nephews are all Eagle Scouts. I was the Scout Master’s daughter and for me joining Cub Scouts has felt like coming home. It embodies all the values I grew up with and want to pass along to ALL my children, and now I can do just that in the Scouting program. This year, my daughter is joining Cub Scouts in an all-girl Lion (Kindergarten) Den. This year, we start her journey to becoming an Eagle Scout.
Growing up, my dad would tell me the story of the prairie chicken and the eagle. The short version is that an eagle’s egg was placed in a prairie chicken’s nest and the eagle grew up thinking it was a prairie chicken. It saw the eagles in the sky and asked the other prairie chickens about it. They told him he was a prairie chicken and not to look at the eagles. My dad would ask me, are you a prairie chicken or an eagle? To which I would enthusiastically exclaim that I was indeed an eagle and he would challenge me to think about my choices. The other night I shared this story with my daughter and she exclaimed that she is also an eagle. Studies show that Cub Scouts are more likely to do the right thing, help others, be leaders and develop healthy habits – in other words, be eagles. With the road to Eagle beginning in Cub Scouts, won’t you join us and Scout-HER-In for family adventure?
Learn more about our Commitment to Safety: Scouting.org/health-and-safety
Learn more about Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA: Scouting.org
Learn more about our local council: AtlantaBSA.org Find Scouting programs near you: BeAScout.org.
