SEPTEMBER 2011 - Character Connection: Cooperation
Being helpful and working together with others toward a common goal.  Cooperation is a key element in teamwork.  Cub Scouts will gain a better understanding of the importance of supporting each other as they play games and learn new skills.  Great things can happen when people cooperate for a common goal.  You cooperate with your parents.  You cooperate with your den leader.  You cooperate with your teachers.  The result can be a fun time, learning new things and experiencing new adventures.

OCTOBER 2011 - Character Connection: Responsibility 
Fulfilling our duty to God, country, other people, and ourselves.  Responsibility is fulfilling our duty to help others and take care of ourselves.  It is behaving safely and appropriately without having to be told. 

NOVEMBER 2011 - Character Connection: Citizenship
Contributing service and showing responsibility to local, state, and national communities.  Cub Scouts develop good citizenship when they are learning about respecting the flag and providing service to the community.  Our country's flag is made up of thousands of individual threads and stitches.  None of them separately is anything more than a thread or stitch, but put them together and they make a flag.  Each tiny thread joins all the others to do its job.  Our country is made up of millions of individual people, like you and me.  Separately we may not accomplish much, but if we join together, work together, and stick together, we can move the world.

DECEMBER 2011 - Character Connection: Respect
Showing regard for the worth of someone or something.  Through interacting with pack families, Cub Scouts will develop appreciation and respect for different families and traditions.  Through pack service projects, they will learn to treat the environment with care. 

JANUARY 2012 - Character Connection: Positive Attitude 
Being cheerful and setting our minds to look for and find the best in all situations.  As boys participate in various activities, they will come to understand that all things change and they can make a difference in how that change affects their lives.  A positive outlook will provide hope and excitement for their future.

FEBRUARY 2012 - Character Connection: Resourcefulness 
Using human resources and other resources to their fullest.  Cub Scouts will gain the knowledge and the means to meet situations effectively whether they are working on a service project or completing a den activity.  The founders of Scouting had many resources to help them: a driving vision, the backing and support of parents, the enthusiasm of the boys, and the strength to see it through.  It is that first set of core values that keeps Scouting strong and growing.  In the same way, individual Cub Scouts today have many resources available to them.  Parents, leaders, and books are all important, but even more so are the resources you develop inside yourselves.  Learn all you can, have the courage to try new things without fear of failure, work hard, and do your best in everything, and you will live a successful life.  

MARCH 2012 - Character Connection: Compassion
Being kind and considerate, and showing concern for the well-being of others.  Everybody has something valuable to offer and nobody likes being left out.  Help your Cub Scouts be aware of the needs of others.  Disabled children deal with limitations in their everyday lives.  Always remember that people who have special needs aren't necessarily incapable.  In most ways, they may be just like you.  They might not want or require any help.  So always ask whether someone wants help; don't assume he or she needs it.

APRIL 2012 - Character Connection: Faith 
Having inner strength and confidence based on our trust in God.  Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, believed that reverence and duty to God should be in important part of the Scouting movement, and for every Scout and Scouter.  With family guidance, Cub Scouts will develop in their own faith.  In Scouting we use a compass to show us the way and a flashlight to light our path.  In life we all need a strong moral compass and a way in which to light our trail through life.  Cub Scouting can provide that moral compass and the faith to light our way.   

MAY 2012 - Character Connection: Health and Fitness 
Being personally committed to keeping our minds and bodies clean and fit.  Cub Scouts will learn that it is important and easy to eat a healthy diet and how a fitness program can be part of their daily routine.  We take our bodies and good health for granted  when we are well, strong, and feeling good, but injuries and illness can strike at any time.  We should do our best to take care of ourselves by practicing good healthy habits and eating the proper foods.  Each one of us needs to be strong and healthy in mind and body to be able to contribute to our family, community, and nation.   

JUNE 2012 - Character Connection: Perseverance
Sticking with something and not giving up, even if it is difficult.  Boys will realize that they must continue to work hard in order to improve their skills in activities where they want to excel.   

JULY 2012 - Character Connection: Courage
Being brave and doing what is right regardless of our fears, the difficulties, or the consequences.  Exploring new territory and challenging oneself with new skills takes a certain amount of courage.  When we begin to feel that life is hard and the task before us is more than we can handle, stop and remember those who forged the trails before us.  They left for a life in the unknown.  They didn't know what lay ahead of them, but with courage they moved on.  They hiked over mountains and through dry hot deserts, just to name a few of their difficulties.  But they drew upon their fait, and their courage and determination to get the job done.   

AUGUST 2012 - Character Connection: Honesty
Telling the truth and being worthy of trust.  A Scout is honest.  As boys have fun and interact in their den and pack, they learn that honesty can simply be defined as a refusal to lie, cheat, or steal in any way.  Honesty is simply the truth.  Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, said, "Honesty is a form of honor.  An honorable man can be trusted with any amount of money or other valuables with the certainty that he will not steal it."  When you feel inclined to cheat in order to win a game, just say to yourself, "After all, it is only a game.  It won't hurt me to lose."  If you keep your head this way, you will often find that you are a winner after all.