ANNOUCEMENTS!!!! PLEASE READ!!!!

I just wanted to make sure to remind everyone that the concession stand is this weekend at the church.  We are needing help with breakdown and clean up but any time you can offer would be appreciated.  I would expect that any of the boys that did not help with the popcorn sales at the Farmer’s Market those two weekends, make a point to be at the concession stand to help out.  Part of being “active” for their Webelos badge is that they need to attend fundraising activities to help the pack, not just show to den meetings.  I do realize that some of the boys have turned in popcorn sales sheet but, you are still needing to come and attend other fundraising activities. 

Also, for anyone who will be attending Webelo-Ree next weekend, we will need the money turned in this Monday.  It is $20 for scouts, $15 for parents.  If you could please let me know whether you are coming or not, that would be great.  I need to know if our den will be participating in this activity.  Unfortunately, I didn't get information about this until this Monday.

I will also be doing the parent email this afternoon for anyone that missed the meeting on Monday so you know what you need to catch up on.  Just make sure that I see proof that you completed the items that I can give you credit.  The best way would be to complete the parts of the worksheets I give the boys and turn it into me.  Like I said, I will be sending that email out later.

Here are the events/activities going on for October and November:

October

2nd – Concession Stand at Culpeper United Methodist

4th – Pack Meeting

8th-10th – Webelo-Ree

11th – Den Meeting

16th – Concession Stand @ AG Richardson

17th – Den Show and Sell @ 2pm (more details to come on exact location)

18th – Den Meeting

25th – Halloween Party

November

1st – Pack Meeting

6th – Scouting for Food Bag Drop Off

8th- Den Meeting

13th – Scout For Food Bag Pick Up.  Also on the 13th, we will be going roller skating that afternoon.  The pack will be paying for the boys that participate in Scouting For Food.  If you do not participate in Scouting for Food, then you will need to pay for your scout.

15th – Art Fair

20th – Zoo/Natural History Museum trip.  If the weather is nice, we will be going to the zoo, if not, we will go to the Natural History Museum.  This will be for the completion of Naturalist for the boys.

22nd – Den meeting

27th – Fundraising Event at Tree Farm.  We will be setting up in shifts.

29th – Den Meeting

 

If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me.

Week of September 20th, 2010

September 20, 2010

Dear Roadrunner Parents:

I want to make sure to remind the couple of boys that did not have their assignments this past Monday that they will need to turn them in this coming Monday. An assignment sheet was sent home as well as an email to remind them of the assignment.

Today we worked on the following requirements or achievements for your son's Webelos Handbook: 

Naturalist Activity Badge: Requirements are to do requirements 1 and then five of 2 -13.

1. With a parent, guardians, or Webelos Den Leader, complete the Respect Character Connection.

a. Know: Tell what interested you most when completing the requirements for this activity badge. Tell what you have learned about how you can show appreciation and respect for wildlife.

b. . Commit: Tell things some people have done that show a lack of respect for wildlife.

c. . Practice: Explain how completing the requirement for this activity badge gives you the opportunity to show respect.

4. Visit a museum of natural history, a nature center, or zoo with your family, Webelos den, or pack. Tell what you saw. (This is the zoo trip that is planned for November 20^th.

8. Watch six wild animals in the wild. Describe what kind of place where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.

10. Identify a plant, bird, or wild animal that is only found in your area of the country. Tell why it only survives in your area.

Athlete Activity Badge: Requirements are to do requirements 1-5 and then 2 of 6-10. (This is a continuation that will be going on until October 18^th)

6. Do a vertical jump and improve your reach over 30 days.

7. Do a 50 yard dash as fast as you can and decrease over time.

The boys were assigned these items for homework that will be due at the den meeting on September 27, 2010:

Assignment	Due Date
Review Naturalist Chapter	Sept. 27, 2010
Practice Activity Badge Requirements at Home for Improvement	We will be filling out chart weekly until Oct. 18, 2010

We will be continuing working on Naturalist next week. We will also be continuing Athlete by completing another vertical jump and 50 yard dash. We will also be introducing the requirements for the Webelos Badge.

I do want to let everyone know that part of the Webelos badge is being an active member in the den for 3 months. Active would be participating in other activities such as popcorn sales, concession stands, and other extra activities. I just want to make sure that all boys are participating in other activities instead of just den meetings and the “fun” stuff.

Also, due to the possibility of our den growing, we are going to be doing some things different in our den starting this Monday. First, I will be moving the two tables together when I come in for the meetings. The boys need more room and I feel this will help out a lot. I am asking that parents who are staying during the meeting sit in the back of the room with whatever chairs are available. I am also asking that parents please keep conversations to a minimum during den time. It is hard to get the boys to calm down if the parents are being just as loud.

Also, we need to have some of the boys settling down more during meetings. I understand that sometimes we have things to go over that they don’t find “fun” but unfortunately, there are some things about our activity badges that we can just go run around and play to get it done. If the den does grow, I will have to ask boys to leave the meeting if they cannot control themselves. All I ask is the boys keep the comments to a minimum and raise their hand when they want to say something. When they become boy scouts, they will be expected to control themselves in order to get the items done that they need to. Since they are now 4^th graders, I would expect that they know how to act.

I do want to make sure that everyone is reading these emails. I will be sending them out weekly, that way you know what is going on. If you have any problems or questions, please feel free to get a hold of me. I want the boys to have a successful year and there are a lot of fun things planned that are either pack activities or den activities.

Parent Letter September 13, 2010

Sorry this is coming out so late, it has just been one of those weeks :)

September 13, 2010

Dear Roadrunner Parents:

Today we worked on the following requirements or achievements for your son's Webelos Handbook: 

Fitness Activity Badge: Requirements are to do 1 and six from 2-8.

1. With your parent, guardian, or Webelos den leader, complete the Health and Fitness Character Connection.

a. Know: Tell why it is important to be healthy, clean, and fit.

b. Commit: Tell when it is difficult for you to stick with good health habits. Tell where you can go to be with other who encourages you to be healthy, clean, and fit.

c. Practice: Practice good health habits while doing the requirements for this badge.

2.  With a parent, or other adult member, complete a safety notebook which is discussed in the booklet in the front of the book. *This is an at home project*

3.  Read the menu planning information in this chapter. With a parent or other family member, plan a week of meals. Explain what kind of meals are good for you and why.

4. Keep a record of your daily meals and snack for a week. Discuss whether you have been eating foods that are good for you.

5. Tell an adult member of your family about the bad effects smoking or chewing would have on your body.

6. Telling an adult member of your family four reasons why you should not use alcohol and how it could affect you.

7. Tell an adult member of your family what drugs could do to your body and how they would affect your ability to think clearly.

Athlete Activity Badge: Requirements are to do requirements 1-5 and then 2 of 6-10.

1. With your parent, guardian, or Webelos den leader, complete the Perservence character connection.

a. Know: Review the requirements and decide which ones might be more difficult for you to do. Make a plan to complete one of the harder requirements.

b. Commit: When doing a harder requirement do you feel frustrated or angry? What did perseverance have to do with that? Name another type of task for which you will need to preserve?

c. Practice: Practice Perservance by following your plan to do that requirement for the Athlete Activity Badge.

2. Explain what it means to be physically and mentally healthy.

3. Explain what you as a Webelos Scout can do to stay physically and mentally healthy.

6. Do a vertical jump and improve your reach over 30 days.

7. Do a 50 yard dash as fast as you can and decrease over time.

The boys were assigned these items for homework that will be due at the den meeting on September 20, 2010:

Homework

Assignment	Due Date
Complete Fitness Activity Badge Requirements 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	Sept. 20, 2010
Practice Activity Badge Requirements at Home for Improvement	We will be filling out chart weekly until Oct. 18, 2010
Read Naturalist chapter in Handbook	Sept. 20, 2010

For our next den meeting on September 20, 2010, we will be working on requirements for the Naturalist activity badge in the Webelos Handbook. To prepare, please make sure you son reads the Naturalist section in his Webelos book.

Part of the Naturalist activity badge is to visit a natural history, nature center, or zoo with your family. I have planned for a trip to the National Zoo on November 20^th. We will be meeting at Ledo’s Pizza at 8am. We will be going to the Vienna/Fairfax metro station to go into DC. If weather is not permitting this, we will change the plans to take the trip to the Natural History museum since then it will be inside.

Hope to see everyone at the next den meeting on September 20^th.

Popcorn Sales September 18 and 25th

The pack is doing popcorn sales for the next two Saturdays from 7am – 12pm.  We are looking for people willing to come work some hours at these two sales.  I would expect that everyone from our den at least come and help sell at one of these two dates.  I have already had 3 boys from our den participate so I would hope that the other 4 would be able to fit it into their schedule to help.  You don't have to stay the whole time but at least an hour or two.  This will help you also get credit for selling popcorn.

I will also be scheduling show and sales after these dates for our den.  I will most likely schedule at least 2.  I would expect if that you can not sell at one of the dates, that you would be at the other.  I will have more about what dates we will be doing it here in the next week or so. 

Saturday, September 11th

This Saturday, the pack will be doing a popcorn sale at the Farmer’s Market.  I know that this is short notice but I wanted to see if anyone would be able to help at this event.  The times are from 7am – 12 noon.  If anyone is able to help out during this time frame, please let me know ASAP.

It’s that time of year again…

Just wanted to send out an email and go over some stuff while I was doing the planning for our first few den meetings.  Den meetings will start this coming Monday, September 13th, same time, same room. 

The first thing that I wanted to address coming into a new scouting year is that we will be having a very busy year.  We have a lot to accomplish and I would like to get it done in a timely fashion.  With that, I would like to go over what will be expected out of the boys.  The disruptive behavior will not be tolerated this year.  We have too much to do and I do not have time to stop and wait for the boys to pay attention.  If the boys can not control themselves, they will be excused from the meetings.  This will include pack meetings.  We had too many times this year when boys from our den had to be talked to about behavior.  The boys are old enough now to know to behave when it comes to getting work done.  Behavior like this will not be tolerated when they become Boy Scouts and it will not be tolerated now that they are Webelos.

I also want to go over parents attending the meetings.  I have a few times last year where I had to also wait for the parents to stop conversing so that I could continue the meetings with the boys.  I can not expect the boys to be quiet and pay attention if the parents can not do the same.  I would like to see the parents help with keeping the boys quiet and not contribute to the noise problem.

I also want to give everyone a heads up that it is of course, popcorn time.  This year, we are waiting each boy to sell at least ONE item in order for the pack to receive a high percentage of sales this year.  The more popcorn that is sold, the more the pack can do.  It is not hard to sell ONE time but I would like each of our den to $100 to order to really help the pack out.  If everyone in the pack sells $100, this will be one of the best years financially.  I know that a lot of people do not like to sell popcorn but this is what makes the pack run.  The pack CAN NOT run on dues alone.  I also want to let everyone know this year we will be doing show and sells.  I will be scheduling at least TWO dates for these show and sells and I expect that each boy at least attend ONE of the dates that I choose.  I do understand that some children are playing sports such as football so I am going to try to make them at different times to help with that so if you can make one, I will expect to see you at the other.

I also wanted to let everyone know that John Dodson made it known that there will be NO PLAYING ON THE PLAYGROUND AT THE CHURCH.  THAT EQUIPMENT IS FOR THE CHURCH AND NOT FOR OUR USE.  IF IT GETS BROKEN, IT WILL BE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND NOT THE PACK TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS.  IF A BOY IS CAUGHT ON THE PLAYGROUND THEY WILL BE SENT TO JOHN DODSON OR JOHN ALEXANDER.

Also, when boys are dismissed and they do not have a parent there, they are no longer allowed to leave until I personally see their parent pick them up.  We are having a problem with some boys leaving and instead of going to their parents, they are going outside to play on their own.  A few boys have been caught hanging from and pulling on branches of trees on top of many other things.  So if you plan on dropping off your child for the meeting, I will need to see you at drop off and see you at pick up.  I will not be releasing a boy until I physically talk to the parent.

I want to also thank Paul Fleming for stepping up this year and being my Assistant.  After a year of not having one, it is great to finally have one.  So I will expect the boys to show the same respect to him as any other leader.

I am really excited to have a great successful year and there are many exciting this going on.  I am hoping that this year will be the year that everyone participates and takes full advantage of all the wonderful things that the pack offers.  As always, if you have any problems please feel free to call or email me.

Carissa