The Roosevelt District just wrapped up its Summer Day Camp held at the Torresdale Boys Club. It was a blast for all who participated; cubs, leaders & parents alike. Summer Camp is not only a great source of summer fun, but it is a tremendous opportunity for the Cub Scouts to get a head start towards their new rank before the new scouting season even starts.
Pack 155 had two boys in attendance; Jared Wonsor who recently moved into the Bear den after earning his Wolf rank and Tommy Sytsma who recently crossed over into the Webelos Den after earning his Bear rank. Two adult volunteers, two youth volunteers and a young sibling also represented Pack 155 at the Summer Day Camp. Cubmaster Tom Sytsma and Den Leader Karen Wonsor volunteered a full week of their time as staff members for the camp while their daughters, Avery (12) and Brianna (17) gave up a full week of their Summer break to volunteer as den chiefs. Tom’s 5 year old, Aedhan, attended as part of the Kiddie Korner which is a program for siblings not yet old enough to participate as scouts.
In order to promote future Summer Camps and try to increase pack participation and maximize opportunities for our members we felt it would be a great idea to fill you in about our week and show you what the boys accomplished in as little as 5-6hours/day for 4 days with the 5th day being pure fun & games culminating in the closing ceremony.
The typical day starts at 9:00 am with the opening where the boys are given water bottles to maintain hydration. These bottles can be filled at the various stations throughout the day. After the opening, the dens split going to different stations. They meet up as a group for an hour of pool time and again for lunch. Some days also have special programs for the boys to enjoy. The day ends around 3:15 pm to close out the day.
There were five stations that the boys rotated through, aside from lunch and the swimming pool. They were Archery (an obvious favorite), Arts & Crafts, Science & Nature, Scout Skills, and Games & Sports . With the theme of the camp being CSI: Cub Scout Investigators our special programs were K9 demonstrations & Crime Scene Investigation discussions held by the Philadelphia Police Department.
Friday is the only day that alters from the routine. After the opening ceremony the battle begins. It is an all out water war with *EVERYONE* being fair game. Unless you are in the rec center or in one of the safe zones, the kids have the freedom to attack you without repercussion. It is 3 hours of water guns, water balloons, buckets of water and if the fire department isn’t on call, they bring a fire truck out and let the hose rain down on the kids. At noon, a cease fire is called and lunch begins. After lunch everyone at camp is treated (Rita’s water ice this year) and then the closing ceremonies begin.
The closing ceremonies involve each den performing a skit or song, with a few other seasoned scouters doing a few run off skits of their own. Lastly everyone is awarded their diplomas, certificates of recognition and if they scored some bulls-eyes, a bulls-eye aware from the Archery Instructors.
So what did the boys (L)earn???
I will list what each rank covered and if any of our boys were part of that rank who they were. There is a lot of overlap which isn’t reported here as we are still trying to find out what requirements are the same for multiple things. For example, earning the Astronomy Belt loop serves as one of the requirements to earn the Scientist Activity Badge for Webelos.
Tiger Den
These are the boys who are brand new to scouting and will be entering their pack for the first time in September. They would either be 7 years old or entering 1st Grade in September. Summer Camp is a huge advantage for these boys as they will have gained some familiarity with the Cub Scout Program by being actively involved in a fun setting before their first year even begins. Oh and you read that correctly, the tigers completed certain electives multiple times and in different ways.
- Bobcat Requirements: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 – Bobcat Badge COMPLETED
- Tiger Requirements: 2d, 5f, 5d, 5g
- Tiger Electives: 2, 9, 19, 22 (5 times), 29, 31, 32, 33 (2 times), 34, 35 (3 times), 40 (5 times), 47 (2 times)
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Belt Loops
- Archery, Astronomy, Baseball, Marbles, Science, Soccer, Table Tennis, Ultimate (Frisbee), Weather, Wildlife Conservation,
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Pins
- Archery Pin Requirement 1, 3
- Science Pin Requirement 10, 11
Wolf Den
These are the boys who earned their Tiger rank and will working towards their wolf rank starting in September. If any of these boys are brand new to scouting then they would either be 8 years old or entering 2nd grade in September.
- Bobcat Reviewed
- Wolf Requirements: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1g, 1j, 1l, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 3b, 3c, 5e, 7b, 7f
- Wolf Electives: 4a, 4c, 4e, 4f, 9b, 12a, 14d, 18g, 20a, 20h, 20i, 20k, 20l, 23b, 23c, 23d, 23e
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Belt Loops
- Archery, Astronomy, Baseball, Marbles, Science, Soccer, Table Tennis, Ultimate (Frisbee), Weather, Wildlife Conservation,
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Pins
- Archery Pin Requirement 1, 3
- Science Pin Requirement 10, 11
Bear Den
These are the boys who earned their wolf rank and will now be working towards their Bear rank come September. If any of these boys are brand new to scouting then they would either be 9 years old or entering 3rd grade in September.
Jared Wonsor participated as a member of this Den.
- Bear Requirements: 5b, 5c, 5e, 6d, 6e, 15b, 15c, 16a, 16b, 16c, 18c, 19a, 19d, 21a, 22a, 22b, 23a, 23b, 23c
- Bear Electives: 6a, 6c, 6f, 6g, 12
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Belt Loops
- Archery, Astronomy, Baseball, Basketball, Kickball, Marbles, Science, Soccer, Table Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Weather, Wildlife Conservation
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Pins
- Archery Pin Requirement 1, 3
- Science Pin Requirement 10, 11
Webelos Den
These are the boys who earned their bear rank and will be working towards their Webelos rank in September *or* have already earned their Webelos rank and will be working towards their Arrow of Light come September. If any of these boys are brand new to scouting then they would either be 10 or 11 years old or entering the 4th or 5th grades in September. Where as the other dens have requirements and electives, the Webelos have Activity Badges which they have to complete in order to earn their Webelos Badge and ultimately their Arrow of Light.
Tommy Sytsma participated in this den.
- Webelos Badge Requirements: 3, 4, 7a, 7b, 7c
- Activity Badge Requirements:
- Citizen 3, 4, 5
- Forester: 9
- Naturalist (COMPLETE): 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
- Outdoorsman: 5, 7, 9, 10
- Readyman: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- Scientist (COMPLETE): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12
- Sportsman (COMPLETE): 1, 2, 3, 4
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Belt Loops
- Archery, Astronomy, Baseball, Basketball, Flag Football, Kickball, Marbles, Science, Soccer, Table Tennis, Weather, Wildlife Conservation
- Cub Scout Academic & Sports Pins
- Archery Pin Requirement 1, 3
- Science Pin Requirement 10, 11
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