PISD policy allows students to distribute information to other students (CAUTION: adults are NOT allowed to distribute any information themselves) during the 30 minutes before and after school, at the entrances and exits to the building (outside the building). At the principal’s discretion, recess time may be used for such student-to-student distribution; however, no such distribution is allowed in the classrooms, hallways or cafeterias.
Practically speaking, that leaves morning carpool/bus arrival as the best time even though it results in the longest period of time between the boys receiving the information and going home. Dismissal time at most elementary schools is very compressed, highly efficient and streamlined. You could ask your principal to allow certain (or all) scouts to be dismissed 5 minutes early so they can be in position by the buses and carpool lanes when all the other children pass by. Without such a “head-start,” half the student population will already be gone by the time the scouts are ready to start distributing the flyers.
Meet with your principal and see what she/he will allow. Provide information as to what you propose and get permission for as much as possible. However, assuming you are working with the morning time-slot, here are some strategies:
- Have many scouts and leaders present, IN UNIFORM.
- Position scouts and leaders at all entrances to the school and at the bus arrival lanes
- Have flyers and/or stickers ready to hand-out. Adults may pass stacks of flyers/stickers to the scouts involved, but in NO CIRCUMSTANCES may a leader pass information directly to a non-scout PISD student. Only students may pass information to other students.
- Encourage some scouts to just be “cheering” as students go by:
- CUB SCOUTING ROCKS!
- JOIN SCOUTING TONIGHT!
- CAMPING! ARCHERY! BB’s!
- SCOUTING IS FUN!
- Ask if Cub Scouts can do the flag ceremony at school on JSN.
- Have leaders holding banners, posters, etc. at the carpool lanes to advertise to parents driving by.
- Have video announcement (discussed above) played on JSN.
- Have leaders clean-up any “litter” caused by students dropping the flyers/stickers so we leave a good impression with the principal.
- Have leaders write messages on their cars that they park in the parking lot (white shoe polish) …. Join Scouting TONIGHT!