Arrow of Light Rank

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
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gpraceman
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Arrow of Light Rank

Post by gpraceman »

I guess that I missed that BSA now has an Arrow of Light rank. Does this basically replace Webelos II?
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Re: Arrow of Light Rank

Post by john4840 »

The Boy Scouts of America has replaced major portions of the Cub Scout Advancement Program as of June 1, 2015.
The prior program ended on May 31, 2015. You can read about it here.
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Re: Arrow of Light Rank

Post by rcmoeur »

As a Den Leader of 5th graders, we're now referring to the rank on an everyday basis as "Arrow of Light", with "Webelos 2" used as needed for explanation. In our Pack, the first-year Webelos are now just referred to as "Webelos". Speaking with other Packs in our District, it seems that many are operating roughly the same way. It makes sense, in that the badge they're shooting for within the program year is the Arrow of Light. However, there's no new or different leader patch - the two-year overall program is still Webelos.

We've updated our (Four Peaks) rules to reflect these new rank names, with the old names in parentheses. And of course any boy who gets his Arrow of Light and transitions to a Troop prior to the District Pinewood Derby is still fully eligible to race, since he started the program year as a Cub Scout.

Four Peaks Pinewood Derby page: http://www.grandcanyonbsa.org/FourPeaksDerby
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Re: Arrow of Light Rank

Post by Gtdhw »

^^^not in our pack. My oldest started the season as a Webelo II, and our pack pushed for a fall (instead of spring) crossover. We were told that since they crossed over before the pack race was held for the year (mid March), that they would not be eligible for the pack race, or the district race (since they are not cub scouts at the time of the race). In short, after we agreed to the early crossover, only then were we informed that we were done with their PWD scouting career. My oldest, who had his heart set on trying one last time at the District title this year (best of a 3rd place finish in years prior), took it pretty hard. It was the first time that I ever him talk about negatively about Scouts.
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Re: Arrow of Light Rank

Post by birddog »

Our timing is:

January: Pack Race
February: Webelos II cross over into Boy Scouts as part of the Blue & Gold banquet (always in February as that is the birthday of Scouting)
April: District Race

As a result, all boys who raced in January are eligible for the district race, even if they crossed over in February as they raced and built while they were still cubs.

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Re: Arrow of Light Rank

Post by rcmoeur »

A fall Arrow of Light ceremony would not have worked for our Pack, as we added 6 new fifth-graders this fall (two as late as late September). Due to the number of new-to-Scouting boys, we scheduled an early April ceremony, which should give the boys enough time to bond with their Troop prior to summer camp season. But even our "old program" boys are enjoying the year and all the activities, and we should have all the new boys ready by late next month, even with busy family schedules. And I'm hoping we'll send a bunch of them on to District. :)
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