A Kim’s Dilemma
Scouting is well known for making ever lasting friendships. But what do you do when you have a 12 year old, 10 year old and 9 year old who are best buddies and refuse to separate? You take a deep breath and get creative.
Meet the three amigos: Blue Eyes, Yellow R and Unnamed. Since the start, they came to Cubs to have a chance to see each other, play and have fun (what better reason to be in Cubs?) Unfortunately, the three amigos all live in different parts of Vancouver and are in different grades. Cubs is the only time they get to see each other. At the end of last year, the past Akela said that they could stay together for another year, but Unnamed was almost 12 and by far the biggest Cub I’ve ever seen in my entire Scouting career. Despite our best and creative efforts to have Unnamed move up to Scouts with Yellow R, they didn’t want to leave Blue Eyes behind.
If they couldn’t be in the same section, they didn’t want to be in Scouts anymore. Period. End of story. What’s an Akela to do? Lose three kids over an age limit?
During investiture back in October, I put Blue Eyes and Yellow R in separate six’s since they are both strong youth leaders and have shown that they can work well in their naturally formed six’s. At the very end, Unnamed was the only Cub left to be told which Six they belonged to. They had were buzzing hoping to be in Yellow or Blue. Catch was, they didn’t have a Six to be put into, not this year.
I left Unnamed to the very end for a very special reason. They were to become the Pack’s Kim. I explained to those present that the Kim wasn’t quite ready to move into Troop and wanted to help a few of the Cubs out this year. It would mean that they would have responsibility, minor leadership roles and be expected to be more helpful.
Thankfully, this appeased everyone. The three amigos got the stay together, the parents didn’t have to intervene (too much), and the Pack gained a Kim.
Want a Kim in your section? Here’s a handy book by Scouts Canada on how they can contribute to your Pack.
And the Scouts Canada Wiki page on Kim
What would you have done?
