Re: No More CS WB?
(no name) ((no email))
Fri, 15 Jan 1999 00:34:58 -0600
"M. Konigsdorffer" <mkonigsd@SURFSOUTH.COM> wrote and asked:
>Our DE came back from Titusville with the latest updates from
>National. I was wondering if someone from the list could explain
>why Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge has been "axed".
I've been flooded with postings like this, mainly from the Southern
Region folk that say similar things.
As far as *I'M* award, Melissa, the BSA has NOT decided on the
future of Cub Scout Trainers' Wood Badge. There were *some
discussion* about it last year in connection with other training
programs and issues, but Cub Scouters on various committees spoke
up and so did their professional counterparts and from what I
understand, the issue went away.
I'll keep checking around, but as far as I know, CS Trainers' Wood
Badge is still going to be around past next year.
The reason for all of the concern about the course is that in the
review of the course, National's seeing that many of the people
attending the course don't stay around in Cub Scouting long
afterwards. This is a systemic problem, Melissa and one unique to
Cub Scouting.
The average tenure of a Cub Scouter is four years; many Cub
Scouters are the parents of Cub Scouts, so it's natural that once
they "finishing going through Cub Scouting" with their child(ren),
they're ready for Boy Scouting, where the tenure "rate" isn't much
better (three and half years). However, unlike Cub Scouting, Boy
Scouting offers more "options" (OA being one of them; outdoor
activities like Philmont are others) for adults to become active in
after their Scout son(s) have either moved onward or continues to
stay in a unit.
The bigol' question has been "How do we recoup our "investment" in
those attending Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge without insisting that
they remain Cub Scouters after the training's over?"
The drain is caused on two fronts: on one front, you have the Cub
Scouters that want to attend a Wood Badge course and do at year
three or four in their tenure. They spend another year or so
afterwards, but then is lost to Boy Scouting and all of the
"possibilities" over there. The other front are local Councils,
eager to host CST Wood Badge and have developed a small core of Cub
Scouters that remain to train and coach fellow Cub Scouters...it's
hard, many volunteers tell National, to "get into that clique" and
thereby the "clique" dies eventually and with it the Council's rep
to "get people to go to CST Wood Badge." ("Why?? I won't be able to
do anything with it..."X" and "Y" are still going to run training
courses and everything...why bother??")
Sometimes we really forget why those courses even exist, I feel.
I'll keep checking, but again, I haven't received anything or heard
anything except that CS Trainers' Wood Badge is going to be around
with us as we enter the 2000s...
Settummanque!
Our DE stated that this would
>probably go into effect next year. Thanks.
>
>Melissa
>Douglas, GA
(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") blkeagle@mninter.net
http://mninter.net/~blkeagle Burnsville, MN 55306-7130 (612) 435-3085
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@server.kaiserslautern.army.mil
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