Webelos l & ll

Webelos Scouts at the St Johns County Courthouse

The Webelos is a 20 month program for 4th and 5th grade boys to prepare them to join a Boy Scout troop. We will be learning many outdoors skills and participating in 20 different activity badges. This year we will begin a gradual shift in leadership, from being a primarily 'adult-run' den to being a 'boy-run' patrol ready to fit right into an adventurous scouting troop. This means the Webelos scouts will be given more and more control, decision-making power, and responsibility as they progress in skills, abilities, and maturity.

We expect to see exciting changes in our scouts as they transition from being squirrely 3rd graders to being a patrol that can recognize a goal, the requirements to fulfill the goal, and the ambition to accomplish the goal. The trail to the destination is as rewarding as the destination, as they will learn to "plan the work" and "work the plan", and enjoy the process.

We will also start empowering each scout to be responsible for his own advancements and there will be fewer 'den-wide' completions of activity badges - rather, each boy will complete achievements on his own schedule. We will concentrate on having more patrol games, contests, and skill-building exercises rather than activities directly related to an activity badge at our den meetings - this causes each scout to perform more of the activity badge requirements on his own and then contact the den leader for sign off. Again, this will be a gradual change over a few months and we will still do activity badge projects and tasks at the meetings, but not all of them.

Webelos Program:
The Webelos program has two major milestones - the Webelos rank badge to be earned around March of 4th grade and the Arrow of Light to be earned around March of 5th grade. The final part of Webelos is bridging over into a Boy Scout troop selected individually by the scout.



Once the goals of Webelos are understood, the methods of the program makes a lot of sense! There are a few major changes between Cub Scouts and Webelos scouts that are very important to the success of our program:

• Advancement Sign Off - Each Webelos scout is supposed to take his handbook to the den leader or assistant den leader for sign off when a requirement is completed. This is a change from having a parent sign off every activity in ScoutTrack. This change prepares the scout to have a ScoutMaster sign off each advancement requirement in Boy Scouts. There is more responsibility put on the scout to remember and bring his handbook to meetings and get it signed.
  Parent Tip: Help your scouts along until he gets the routine. Help him remember to bring his Webelos handbook to every meeting. 
• Webelos Activity Badges - Bear and Wolf scouts earned red or yellow progress towards rank beads to string on a totem. Once enough were earned, they received the rank badge. Webelos moves closer to the Boy Scout merit badge system with a recognizable pin for each activity badge earned. Individual scouts may earn different badges at different times and there are only a couple badges that are mandatory to earn ranks. This change gives the scout more control over his advancement and lets him choose areas he enjoys more.

• Camping - Webelos dens should camp and we intend to do just that! Cub Scouts can camp as a pack, but Webelos can camp as a den-only function.  This gives the scouts more opportunities to learn and use their Outdoorsman, Naturalist, Forester, and Readyman skills. Each Webelos scout needs to have an adult responsible for him on each camping trip.   
• Patrols - a patrol is just another name for the den but it does have some significance. Boy Scouts are organized into Patrols, each with their own name, flag, yell, leader, and emblem. As Webelos, a den can begin to operate as a patrol and select an emblem for their uniform, make up a yell, name, and flag. This can really get the scouts to become a team. Taking their flag along on a campout or hike and announcing themselves with their yell is pretty fun. 

After you've earned the Webelos badge, you can earn the compass points emblem. It is awarded after you earn seven activity badges, four more in addition to the three you earned for the Webelos badge. Wear your compass points emblem attached to the button on the right pocket of the Webelos uniform shirt.

After you earn the compass points emblem,   you'll receive a metal compass point for each four additional activity badges you earn. Pin these compass points on the emblem in the "E," "W," or "S" positions, in any order you choose.

You can earn the emblem and all three compass points by completing 19 activity badges, including the three required for the Webelos Badge