How to Gain School Access



 The post pandemic recruiting environment has been difficult for many Scouting units. School access is limited and our bag of tricks that have worked in the past are not available to us. There is a separate blog forthcoming titled: "How to Recruit Without School Access." This post will give us ideas on how to gain school access.

The best tool to gain school access for Scouting is RELATIONSHIPS. When key leaders at the school have a relationship with the unit, they are more likely to allow the unit leaders access. Relationships build the trust that is needed for the administration to feel at ease with our presence. They need to trust that we will respect their instructional time, provide appropriate take home materials, and add value to their mission of educating students.

The following are some best practices to build year round relationships with the school:

  1. Adopt a school - Have your Scouts do service projects at the school.
  2. Invite Principals and teachers to Scouting events.
  3. Provide curriculum based patriotism instruction.
  4. Lead flag presentations at after school events.
  5. Coordinate with your district and council professionals to recognize school leaders with the Fretwell Award.
  6. Communicate the benefits of Scouting to the school.
    1. respect for others
    2. character development
    3. fitness
    4. leadership
  7. Participate in PTA/PTO meetings in uniform.
  8. Host a STEM/STEAM night with Pinewood Derby cars.
  9. Ask the school Principal.
  10. Follow any rules and policies that are in place at the district and school.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unit Leader Awards

Image
Unit leaders put a lot of effort into their endeavors to serve the Scouts and deserve to be recognized. When I started out as a Cub Scout leader in my child's Pack in 1996, I had no idea about adult awards. I served as a Pack Committee member, Assistant Webelos Den Leader, and Webelos Den Leader for a total of three years without recognition. I have heard it numerous times: "I'm in it for the kids, not for myself." That is a great attitude, but misses a vital point. The point is, that we motivate the Scouts to advance, when we receive recognition. The Scouts love it when we succeed at something, because they truly care about their leaders. The following link will take you to the Progress Records for each award at the unit level.: https://www.scouting.org/training/training-awards-and-recognition/ Including one of these Award Progress Records as part of the onboarding process will help the new leader see a path towards achievement, part of the unit, and with Roundtable ...
Read more

How to Recruit With School Access

Image
All your efforts paid off. You built relationships with key people in the school administration and you have been granted access to students during school time. Now is the time to execute your events leading up to and including sign-up night. The following are the best ways to motivate the students to join Scouting: Class to class presentations about two to three minutes, respecting instruction time and classroom routines and procedures. Leave a small gift with the teachers as a thank you. School wide rally gets students motivated and is appreciated by students. It is still an interruption to the normal instruction time, so make it worth it. Recess and gym class presentations are not as appreciated by the students, but reduces disruptions to instruction time. School News is the easiest sell, but it is possible that the student are not paying attention. You may have to do something weird to get their attention. The following preparations must be done in advance of a school presentation...
Read more