First step to Scouting

As the Boy Scouts of America prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary Monday, there are many young boys who have just started their Scouting experience with the Cub Scouts.

Cub Scouts is the first step in the Boy Scouts.

"It is for boys in first through fifth grades," said Shirley Sullivan, committee chairwoman and charter representative for Cub Scout Pack 15 in Cape Girardeau. "It is getting them ready for the Boy Scouts."

Boys in the Cub Scouts are divided into five ranks: bobcat, tiger cub, wolf, bear and webelo. To earn higher ranks, the Scouts must meet a variety of requirements. As the ranks increase, the requirements become more difficult. According to the Cub Scouts website, the advancement program is one of the methods used to achieve Scouting's aims: character development, citizenship training and personal fitness. Badge advancement is intended to be a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

In addition to rank badges, Cubs are encouraged to earn belt loops in a variety of academic, athletic and personal areas. Each belt loop has three requirements.

Tiger Cubs Jack McCormack, front, and Cameren Walley work on a project during a pack meeting. Tiger Cub is the second of five ranks in Cub Scouting.

Sullivan said earning a belt loop encourages the boys to set goals and work hard to achieve those goals. By offering an assortment of belt loops, the Cubs become exposed to new experiences.

"They learn a lot and there are a lot of different things they can try," Sullivan said. "They get to find out if they enjoy doing something and maybe want to pursue it."

The Cubs get to experience many of the same activities as their older counterparts, but on a smaller scale.

"We have two campouts a year, but we keep it local," Sullivan said. "The boys are required to have a parent camp with them."

The pinewood derby is another popular Cub Scout event. In this activity the Cub, along with the help of his family, builds a small wooden derby car and races it against other Cub Scouts.

The derby is just one way the Cub Scouts emphasizes the importance of parental and family interaction. That involvement is most evident, Sullivan said, in the boys who have been in Scouts for several years.

"The ones that stick with it are the ones whose parents don't just drop them off," Sullivan said.

For Carrie Keran, mother of a Jackson Cub Scout, the family focus is especially appealing.

"I really like the fact that the activities are geared to be done with an adult," she said. "They are receiving that learning and mentoring. Even in the best of families it is easy to get wrapped up in busyness. Having this interaction with an adult is important and not a lot of kids get it."

For her son, 9-year-old Benton, the Cub Scouts is about having a good time and something more.

"It is fun. I enjoy trying new things and it is preparing me to be an adult," he said, adding that he particularly enjoys camping, fishing and whittling.

A second-generation Scout, Benton said he plans to achieve the Boy Scouts' highest rank, Eagle Scout, one day.

Confidence like Benton's is one of the many traits fostered by the Cub Scouts. Sullivan said the Cub Scouts tries to mold the boys into good citizens.

"We want to teach them to do good turns without being told to," she said. "We want them to do for others and get into the habit of good service."

She said Cub Scouts are encouraged to give back to their community through activities such as Scouting for Food, Operation Christmas Child, delivering cookies to shut-ins and making Christmas cards for veterans.

More information about the Cub Scouts and how to contact a local pack is available at www.scouting.org.