In another thread, someone said something like (and I'm paraphrasing here), "I wish there was a week-long outdoorsman type program that actually taught everything that Wood Badge used to teach because that's not what they teach now. I said, "There is, it's National Camping School for Outdoor Skills Directors." Then I was asked how much it cost and I thought I'd just spin off a new thread on the topic.
So, National Camping School is found at http://www.ncsbsa.org/ They apparently don't have the 2013 dates up yet, but you can look at the 2012 brochure at https://www.ncsbsa.org/resources/ncs/2012%20NCS%20Brochure.pdf and the 2013 dates will be fairly similar. NCS is generally for people who work at Council-run camps and is designed to be the training level that's above what the Council offers.
For instance, take Climbing. Council training produces Instructors who can teach merit badges, take kids climbing, etc. For a unit to go rock climbing, they need to have at least two Climbing Instructors with them. At the NCS level you have Climbing Directors who can train/certify Instructors. The Council Climbing/COPE committees (which may be the same committee or separate) which oversee all climbing and/or COPE activity in the council has to have an NCS Climbing or COPE Director as the committee chair. The names of these positions are going to change next year, though, as the BSA transitions to ACCT standards for Climbing/COPE.
Most NCS weeks start at about $500 and you can't go without the permission of your Council. Councils sometimes pay for their summer camp area directors, program and camp managers to go. Typically, you just have to go talk to whoever is in charge of the camp(s) for your Council and ask for their permission to go, and if you tell them that you want to pay your own way then they're usually more than happy to send you. In the past, some Councils have sort of run it with an iron fist, saying that only people who are definitely going to work at a summer camp are allowed to go, but National has said to loosen up more, so that there are more trained people to potentially call on in the Councils. Some sections, like Aquatics, COPE, and Climbing, do have prerequisites that you have to meet first and Shooting Sports can change since most camps don't offer pistol instructor certification but there are some camps where you go for an extra day or so to get that.
So, National Camping School is found at http://www.ncsbsa.org/ They apparently don't have the 2013 dates up yet, but you can look at the 2012 brochure at https://www.ncsbsa.org/resources/ncs/2012%20NCS%20Brochure.pdf and the 2013 dates will be fairly similar. NCS is generally for people who work at Council-run camps and is designed to be the training level that's above what the Council offers.
For instance, take Climbing. Council training produces Instructors who can teach merit badges, take kids climbing, etc. For a unit to go rock climbing, they need to have at least two Climbing Instructors with them. At the NCS level you have Climbing Directors who can train/certify Instructors. The Council Climbing/COPE committees (which may be the same committee or separate) which oversee all climbing and/or COPE activity in the council has to have an NCS Climbing or COPE Director as the committee chair. The names of these positions are going to change next year, though, as the BSA transitions to ACCT standards for Climbing/COPE.
Most NCS weeks start at about $500 and you can't go without the permission of your Council. Councils sometimes pay for their summer camp area directors, program and camp managers to go. Typically, you just have to go talk to whoever is in charge of the camp(s) for your Council and ask for their permission to go, and if you tell them that you want to pay your own way then they're usually more than happy to send you. In the past, some Councils have sort of run it with an iron fist, saying that only people who are definitely going to work at a summer camp are allowed to go, but National has said to loosen up more, so that there are more trained people to potentially call on in the Councils. Some sections, like Aquatics, COPE, and Climbing, do have prerequisites that you have to meet first and Shooting Sports can change since most camps don't offer pistol instructor certification but there are some camps where you go for an extra day or so to get that.
) and I would love to go.
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