Akela: a simple Primer
So you wanna be Akela? Wait… you say you didn’t want to BE Akela, its just that you were… asked…coerced… forced… to become a Cub Scout Leader. Guess what? It’s not that bad, and, in fact, once you have the hang of it, quite the privilege. This primer is intended to be an introduction to Cub Scouting, and how to be a Cub Scout Leader, or Akela.
First thing out the door has to be this:
If you are a Cub Scout parent, you are also, an AKELA.
This idea of being an AKELA is not just for the leader staff that stands up each week in front of the kids and conducts a Cub Scout meeting. Or even, the leaders that put on the monthly Pack meetings. YOU, as a parent are the most important Akelas in your son’s lives. We, as leaders, are trained and are only a catalyst in the development of your boy’s lives. This primer is to be a small introduction to the Scouting family, and hopefully, provides you with some of the tools necessary to help the leadership give your sons the Scouting experience they deserve, and you expect as a parent.
Got you going didn’t I, thought this was going to be a leaders’ guide, huh? Well, I am sure that any leader reading this would benefit from any information they could glean herein, I know I would. Leadership is generally made up of people just like you and me, parents that volunteered, and never wanted out…or perhaps never figured how to get out. So, pardon my presumptuous position, but I thought that if I could just get your attention, and show you just how easy it is to be a Cub Scout Leader, as a leader, or AKELA, of your own son, perhaps you would consider doing the same for other boys, we can always use another hand.
Please take this document for what it is, a simple primer for being an AKELA to your son, and if, as I hope, you can devote time to you pack, district, or council, please do so with the understanding that there is no greater gift that we, as adults and parents, can give to our youth. That is, the support and dedication to the greatest single organization devoted to the development of the young men of our country into the good men they can become. Our nation is built on the premise that all contribute and are a part of the greater good. Boy Scouting is the personified example of this premise. Your part, however great or small, is greater than that of the parent that fails to do anything. The very simplest concept of Boy Scouting is teamwork. We present this in the form of a patrol, the smallest collective group assembled as a team. Team, we all know the concept of team. Together, we are greater as a group, than as individuals. Every successful team, coach, leader, and Scout knows this. This training primer is to show the basic fundamentals of this concept. What you can do as a parent, AKELA, and ultimately, a part of this great organization we call: Boy Scouts of America.
