CUB-O 2019 -- REGISTER NOW!

Scoutbook is STILL down for maintenance so we haven't been able to communicate with anyone. Our apologies -- we've been trying to get this out to you!  It's left us with no alternative, please GO AHEAD AND REGISTER ONLINE.  We will try to square away the details later.

Save the date and make plans to join us January 5, 2018 at Cub-O, the annual Cub Scout orienteering event held at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch.

Cub-O is the most popular orienteering event in North America. A fun day of hiking and friendly competition for Cub Scouts, parents, and leaders. Orienteering, the use of map and compass, to find locations and plan a journey, has been a vital skill for humans for thousands of years. Thousands of people participate in the sport each year in local clubs and competitions. Longhorn Council has two events annually for orienteering. One is for Cub Scouts (Cub O), and one is held for Boy Scouts.

Early Bird Registration is $20 per scout and adult and includes a patch, lunch, liability insurance and a Cub-O keepsake map. T-shirts are available to purchase for $12 each. Additional attendees (attending, assisting or camping but not competing) can pay $6 for lunch and liability insurance only but must register and be paid.  ***We are required to have 2 registered adults for every den we have attending. If there is a doubt we will need you as a walking chaperone, please register!

Lunch is included. Each team of 3-6 Cubs gets a Cub-O map half an hour before the race starts. Your goal is to hike in the woods and find as many of the 40 orange and white orienteering flags as you can.

Plan your strategy to score the maximum point total possible in 2 hours!

Map training sessions for Cub Scouts and parents are held all morning.

Lunch will be served in the dining hall. Meal times are assigned to minimize the length of serving lines.

This is a rain or shine event: extreme inclement weather (ice or snow) may cause a one week postponement. Weather announcements will be made on the Longhorn Council Website and on our blog as well.

Sound like something you want to do? REGISTER ONLINE HERE.  Early bird registration ends THIS THURSDAY. 

It’s fast, exciting, and FUN. And it’s all Cub Scouts. The locations of 40-50 orange and white orienteering flags are marked on the map and you and your team will go hiking in the woods to find them – or most of them! Each flag has a hole punch that you use to mark your scorecard. Flags are worth 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 points, depending on how hard they are to find. Your Den team will get a Cub-O competition map 20 minutes before the race starts. Then you plan a hiking strategy to find the most flags and score the most points in just 2 hours! You’ll stay warm ‘cause you’ll stay moving!

Cub-O is a team event for teams (Dens) of 3-6 Cub Scouts and at least 2 adults. Each team must have at least two adults registered for Cub-O. Be sure to dress warmly in layers and bring lots of water! Bring a compass and a watch so you’ll finish on time. All registered participants will get a Cub-O patch, our latest 5-color competition map, lunch and a great day of orienteering.

Matt Strong, Hiking Coordinator, will be on site for the event during the day. If you're attending please reach out to him 817-374-2318 (all phones don't have service at Sid Richardson). If you're interested in caravaning out there for the day event only, we will establish a time and meet at the church for that. 

Plan on about a 15-30 min drive from where Google shows the entrance to be which will include the drive into the campground, and the walk from a possible far away parking spot to the main area for planning purposes.

The weather looks to be great for camping but someone will need to take lead for this to coordinate meals, campsite, campfire, unless you simply want to bring your own food and handle it individually. If you want to take lead CONTACT APRIL. If we do not have an individual to coordinate the small group wanting to camp, you will be on your own for coordinating camping accommodations/meals for your family. Your campsite will be communicated to you through the Council.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful....

Did you know that at any given time there are between six to seven thousand homeless people in Tarrant County? With winter upon us, and with one of our goals to be an organization focused on providing service opportunities to our youth, we are partnering up with Phillip's Wish in an effort to help people stay warm right here in our own community.

When a 7-year-old Phillip Pruitt saw the plight of the homeless while searching with his mother for his father among them, they felt called to serve and that was the beginning of Phillip's Wish.  

We are proud to partner with the Junior Miss Keller 2018 who is collecting gloves/mittens, scarves, hats, and coats on behalf of the Keller Lion's Club to be presented at the Phillip's Wish event being held in Southlake next Saturday. 

Thank you all for helping make sure someone else's holiday is a little warmer this year.  If you can't attend the Pack meeting but want to make your donation of these materials, please get them to your den leader, a committee member or another den member!  Every donation counts. 

Cyber Chip

Long gone are the days of the "be home before the sun goes down" kind of parenting that a lot of us grew up with. Unfortunately, however, the more kids are inside, the more inclined they are to engage in some kind of online, electronic activity. I'm sure we've all seen news reports about cyber bullying, online security, location services on devices, geotagging of photos and social networking predators. It would be nice to think these topics won't impact our youth, but we need to be proactive and realize that we are in the thick of it! We must protect them.

Crazy fact - did you know that over 5 MILLION Facebook users are actually kids under the age of 10 even though the age limit to even have an account is 13?

If you have a pulse, you've likely heard of.... Minecraft. I know many Scouts absolutely LOVE watching YouTube videos that have to do with Minecraft and/or other favorite video games du jour. However, if you think, for a second, they should watch these unsupervised, you're in for a shock. A great deal of the content in these videos is highly inappropriate.  Predators use clickbait to lure them to watch material that is anything but age appropriate for Cub Scouts or adults for that matter!  FortNight has been exposed time and time again for being a candystore for predators.

More and more children have iPads, iPhones, tablets, Ipods and more and more access than ever to a whole worldwide web that is not the most friendly to the eyes, heart and especially to the spirit and character of our children.

With the electronic world aimed against us, how can parents teach our children internet safety principles?

In partnership with NetSmartz®, the Boy Scouts of America developed the Cyber Chip program. Along the same lines of how the Whittling Chip is designed to teach the boys pocketknife safety, the Cyber Chip is designed to teach them internet safety. There are BSA Cyber Chip requirements for boys in grades 1-3, grades 4-5 so your Cub Scouts are covered! In fact, there are programs available from grades 1 - 12! Even if your children aren’t in Cub Scouts, you can still take advantage of NetSmartz’s awesome programming.

Each Cyber Chip level covers topics such as cyber bullying, cell phone use, texting, blogging, gaming and identity theft. To earn the Cyber Chip, Cub Scouts sign an Internet Safety Pledge, watch an age-appropriate online video and share what they’ve learned with their den or den leader. Older boys complete additional activities.

Once they present their completion certificate to their den leaders, they will earn their Cyber Chip which is a temporary patch to be worn on their uniform. (It's pictured at the top of this post.)

The Cyber Chip expires annually. Scouts are required to “recharge” the chip each year by returning to the NetSmartz® website for their grade and completing the recharge requirements (at the bottom for their required grade). Grades 1-3 have their own experience, Grades 4-5 have another, 6-8 have another and grades 9-12 have their own as well. This keeps the information relevant and age appropriate. Upon this completion, they'll be presented with a recharged pin to wear on their patch.

It is definitely hard to navigate these waters, but we have a responsibility to keep our kids safe and we can only do that by first educating ourselves. By encouraging our kids to participate in programs like the Cyber Chip, we are taking steps to ensure they are equipped with the tools to keep them and their friends and siblings safe.

If you want to make sure you're on top of things, the Boys and Girls Club of America created a CyberSafe program that will give you tips, discussion cards and resources for broaching the topics of cyberbullying, mobile technology, social networks and online privacy.

Cyber safety -- it's all of our jobs! It’s never too early to begin talking about it with your boys. Start your conversation today and help them earn this awesome temporary patch that can be worn with their uniform -- the Cyber Chip!