Bronxville Pack 5
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About Scouts Advancement/Awards FAQs
The Cub Scout
advancement program recognizes boys accomplishments as they advance in rank and
earn awards. Advancement provides the
boys with structure and goals, which makes Scouting a more meaningful
experience. Scouts who do not advance
soon lose interest, so encourage your son at every opportunity.
This page is an
introduction to the advancement and awards that your son can work on in Cub
Scouting. Much more detail is available
in the Handbooks for each level.
All cub scouts
work towards age-appropriate goals. The
most important goal for each boy is to earn the appropriate rank for his
age/grade.
Electives:
Once scouts have
achieved the rank for their age level, they can earn electives:
The Tiger Cub can
be awarded Tiger Track Beads, which are yellow disks attached to the Tiger
Totem. One bead is awarded for each group of 10 Electives the Tiger Cub completes.
Wolf and Bear
Cubs can earn one gold and multiple silver arrow points from the list of Wolf electives and Bear electives.
Wolf, Bear, and
Webelos scouts can also earn belt loops and pins from the Sports and Academics Program.
Belt loops are
earned by demonstrating basic skills in a sport or academic area.
Pins are earned
by demonstrating additional skills in a sport or academic area (beyond what is
required to earn the corresponding belt loop.)
While these can
be earned by Wolf and Bear scouts, many of them are required to earn the
Webelos badges, and so are best done when a boy is a Webelo (badges earned as a
Wolf or Bear do not count towards the Webelos requirements, so if a boy has
earned a belt loop as a Wolf, he would have to earn it again as a Webelo in
order for it to qualify.)
Webelos work on Activity Badges.
Some of these badges are required to earn the Webelos rank, others are
required to earn the Arrow of Light, and others are electives.
To encourage
members to grow stronger in their faith, religious groups have developed the
following religious emblems programs.
The Boy Scouts of America has approved of these programs and allows the emblems
to be worn on the official uniform.
Earning the religious emblem of your faith is required to earn the
Webelos rank.
Shown below is a
small sample of emblems that may be earned by scouts of different faiths.
Most faiths have
multiple different emblems that can be earned at different levels. For example, the Protestant and Lutheran
churches have one emblem that can be earned by Tiger/Wolf/Bear scouts, and
another that can be earned by Webelo scouts.
For Catholics, there is one medal for Tiger and Wolf scouts, and another
for Bear and Webelos scout. Since
earning a religious emblem is required for the Webelos, it is best done as a
Webelo and not as a Bear (i.e. Catholic scouts may earn the Light of Christ
medal as a Tiger or Wolf, but should earn the Parvuli Dei medal as a Webelo
rather than earning it as a Bear.
To learn more
about these emblems, contact the pack’s religious emblems coordinator (see our Contacts page.)
Leave No Trace is a plan
that helps people to be more concerned about their environment and to help them
protect it for future generations. Leave No Trace applies in a backyard or
local park (frontcountry) as much as it does in the wilderness (backcountry). Cub Scouts at any level can earn a Leave No
Trace Awareness Award.
The United States
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has partnered with the Boy Scouts of
America to increase the level of citizen preparedness across the country. DHS
has asked the Boy Scouts of America to build upon the foundation of the Ready
campaign and to help citizens across the country prepare for emergencies of all
kinds. Cub Scouts at any level can earn
an Emergency Preparedness pin.
The World Conservation Award provides an opportunity
for individual Cub Scouts to "think globally" and "act
locally" to preserve and improve our environment. This program is designed
to make boys aware that all nations are closely related through natural
resources and that we are interdependent with our world environment.
The Cub Scout
version of the World Conservation Award can be earned by Wolf or Bear Cub
Scouts, and by Webelos Scouts (but not by Tiger Scouts), and can be earned only
once while you are in Cub Scouting.
Details of the World Conservation Award are in the Wolf, Bear, and
Webelos handbooks.
Last
updated: January 9, 2006