jhankins

Philmont Leadership Challenge is the new course that takes all of the principles taught at Wood Badge and applies them in the back country of the Ranch and you form patrols and run yourselves just as you would run a troop.

I'd be interested to hear how that works out. I hear the syllabus provides for lots of outdoor problem solving while hiking, setting up camp, etc..

Wood Badge isn't the "pinnacle" of Scout training, it's just the beginning in terms of lifelong learning. It may be listed as "premiere" but those two words have different meanings. One of the strongest tenets of Wood Badge is that we lead best by serving those we lead. If we're leading a group of boys to the top of Mt. Baden-Powell, it behooves us to get the very best outdoor training possible to make that happen. If we're organizing a council event for 10,000 people, it's in the best interest of the boys we serve to be able to understand how to better adapt ourselves to the needs of others, as well as how to best inspire the people around us.

Wood Badge does all that. Sure, there's not as much outdoor structure as there used to be, but it doesn't make it any less important. I've seen chiseled mountain men retake WB so they could understand the lingo of their youth from NYLT strive to improve their outdoor skills after first proclaiming that "The REAL Wood Badge is better."

Congrats on being considered for a professional position.

If you weren't told ahead of time, being a DE requires a huge skill set -- sales, marketing, leadership, project management, recruiting,

Fully trained DEs never really stop being trained, but through years 1-3 you're considered in the beginnings of your career. The Darth Vader knot pros wear takes 5 years to earn, and includes taking courses outside pro training such as Wood Badge.

Once you're hired you're hired on a probationary basis. Your hire is contigent upon you passing the Professional Development- Level 1 course held in Westlake, TX and the Center for Professional Development. You'll have 90 days to take all the fast start trainings, become familiar with your district, your statistics (TYP, TYS, etc...), and to feel out the job.

Before you go to that course, you should have a conversation with your immediate supervisor (Senior DE, District Director, Field Director) about your performance and the what they think of your successes so far.

While you are there, please take in everything the staff has to say, weigh the responsibilities accurately, and take a hard look at how your council does things and see if the two match.

After you complete PD-L1 and return home, you should be given a mild pay raise and full pro status. The next year after that, you take PD-L2 locally (usually within 3-5 hours) of your home council, and the year after that, you take PD-L3 again in Westlake. After that, it's annual training to keep your skills sharp -- program, finance, outreach initiatives, people management, etc. Those courses can happen locally, at Philmont, or even back in Westlake -- it all depends on how you decide to advance your career.

If you have any questions, feel free to private message me.

It's not in the fine print, it's in black and white. $15 for something they can't lose and the convenience of it would put my mind at ease.

Did you look into the Jambo cash card/ Smart Bracelet?

http://www.bsajamboree.org/SmartBracelet.aspx

You could give him a set amount and then wire more in if he needs it.

The culture of "The professional knows best" needs to change. I've seen SEs go on countless retreats, trips to Philmont, cruises (That one miffs me to no end) to discuss Scouting from the professional standpoint, but never from the volunteer's view.

We need a revival of volunteers read to hold professional accountable and take the vision back from those getting paid back to the boys. Our VPs of Finance need to be in the books every month inspecting expense reports and auditing event budgets. Our VPs of Program need to be handed event evaluations from participants and go over those with their council operating chairs. The VPs of District Operation need to meet with the District Chairs and discuss how their professional worked that month, what got done, and what needs to be done. The Presidents of the councils need to be knee-deep in leading a concentrated vision for the council facilities, goal setting and the future. The council key volunteers should be pointing to the SE and saying "Here's our vision, go make it happen!" not the SE saying to the Key 3 "Here's what we're going to do, and I'll tell you how I'm going to do it."

For our upcoming course this year, we have 2 4beaders coming back to play and learn the 21st century syllabus. I'm honored to have their experience and talents among the participants. Both of these men are from councils out of our council, and even out of our Area, as they want to see how other councils stick to the syllabus or add their own flair (which we know they shouldn't).

I've been talking with my Area Training Chair, and the ideas being tossed around for the next revision of Wood Badge will begin group discussion after Jamboree. If you have input, I suggest you talk to your council training chairs.

My previous pack has decided that they'll do a fundraiser at the local 4th celebration (during our normal 120 degree heat) with the boy working 2 hour shifts (outside in the heat).

Note, I said previous back for a reason.

During financial downturns many councils can't afford to pay for membership for low-income and scoutreach families. Unfortunately that's one of the first things to go out of a budget. That explains a lot of the drop in the last two years. Units that were chartered for the purposes of after-school programs and paid for by grants and other such methods -- there's just no money there.

And really? The exact same year Scoutcraft was removed from Wood Badge, there was a downturn in membership, and you can blame one year of training on this? I find no basis for that claim except a personal hatred of a training program.

I find it more productive to talk to districts and councils that have steady increases in membership and find out just how they are doing it. With a steady 3% increase every year in my neck of the woods, I enjoy sharing the trials, victories and encouragement that can come from seeing even more boys and teens enter the program.

The best non-cub recruiting effort I've seen was a school teacher Eagle Scout displaying troop pictures and his Eagle certificate on his classroom wall. From his school alone there are 14 new scouts that had never been a part of scouting before, all 5th grade and up.

The most fun recruiter was at a middle school with a Principal (Eagle Scout, too), who let us set up a mock campsite in the quad and during lunch we walked boys through fire building, tent camping, sleeping under the stars, showed them pictures from summer camp and ski trips, had them try on hiking packs and have sleeping bag rolling contests. The six graders really loved it, but the response from 7th and 8th graders wasn't too strong. We did receive phone calls from older kids after the fact, though.

Do what feels right for you. It's a proud moment to look with joy and fond memories at the things of our loved ones. To carry those things with you in your scouting career is a great tribute to their love of the program too.

My condolences for your loss, but please know that your Scouting family is around whenever you need them, beit online or in person!

A district training chair is empowered to test people out of any training they see fit, they just have to put in the training report.

I use this method with leaders who have been camping for ages and can answer a few good questions.

The new Wood Badge is only the beginning of advanced leadership, and that's how the course is supposed to be marketed. One member of my patrol as Troop Guide made herself another ticket to work on after she got her beads to help her stay focused on the next year of her scouting career. I love that idea! She's still growing and learning and "got it."

If I have a leader in my district switching positions in programs, I have them take This is Scouting so they are not only current with the times, they can understand the language and culture that's being brought into scouting by the next generation of leaders. It's like sending your SPL to NYLT and no one understanding what EDGE is.

If a leader has taken IOLS and becomes a WDL, I ask them to take IOLS over, but take the WDL round robins so they understand exactly how to make the material age appropriate for those webelos. I even ask them to help teach the course so they can teach the stuff they are pros at, and then take the electives for the fun part.

If the CO owns the bank account (and has their tax ID on it) then the money is fine to go to their accounts, it's just moving money.

The Webelos Leader Outdoor syllabus is written in tandem with the IOLS. They have separate breakout modules/round robins, but most of the classes are meant to offer together.

The trouble is the 2 were sold separately, and you had to buy/study both to get it to work right. Not many trainer did that until recently when the changes were announced.

When I was a pro I freaked out a few people at my national training with a yellow shirt and slacks and my DE patch! There were pros in venturing shirts, so why not??

I enjoy the yellow -- the fabric, the tailoring, the buttons, and the color itself. The pants don't have the best tailoring, but I'll wear them.

I'm not saying you have to take Wood Badge to be a successful leader, but it gets people on the same page of the youth that are taking NYLT.

Good leaders are good people. Wood Badge only supplements those skills.

I personally believe the challenges and mirror that can be held up to a Scouter during Wood Badge makes them a better leader, and a better person.

During my first year on staff we had three people in particular who didn't like what they saw in themselves that came out during the course, and tried to blame the staff for "Showing me how despicable" they were to themselves. On the last day, the course director had to tell them that if they hadn't gotten the message of Wood Badge by then, then perhaps the ticket process would help.

Now 10 months later having worked the process, talked to others in their life they trust, they're totally different people! It took some time for them to come around, but one in particular hugged me at my Ordeal and said, "Thanks for being patient with me, I finally got it."

We've had people during the third day's activities break down in tears while partaking in the Team development exercise, and realize they had some baggage from their past or dealing with something similar to what's in the film. Seeing patrols surround a struggling team mate is a sight to see.

We've had Venturers so impress "old school" scoutmasters that they've invited those young people to their troops to talk about forming crews.

We've had patrols so moved by the World Friendship Fund and the Interfaith service that they've each taken on different ticket items to help scouts around the world in some way.

I could go on, but I think I've made the point. Wood Badge creates a culture of leadership and change. If the staff can project that, and project the vision of the course director over the course, amazing things can happen.

D'oh! Sorry to hear about your leg.

I like the merit badge idea. With so many to choose from you won't fall behind your peers necessarily if you're working on some of those great merit badges, or you could earn new ones your troop has never seen!

You could probably convince your troop to do some fall campouts like Webelos Woods, fall camporees, or even a Klondike this winter to help you make up for lost time!

If someone gives a donation to the troop, in goods or money, and they want to claim it, you have to give them a receipt with the EIN or tax ID number on it with the exact explanation of what was given and its retail value.

That's if your CO let's you do that. If not, the donation is a kind gift without a tax deduction.

In reality, it's not the troop soliciting the donation, it's the CO or the "parents of"

BALOO is staying, there's nothing like it for cub leaders.

Webelos leaders will need to take IOLS soon, once the webelos material is written into the new syllabus.

That being said, we run them together now anyway, as the two curricula are written to be that way anyway.

Congratulations! What a great list of service.

WWW!

We live in the deserts of the southwest, and made the unofficial change to a boonie cap for my old pack. We have way too much sun year-round and lots of little tender ears that get red way too fast.

Hats with Embroidered logo ran us $12, and if the parent wanted their kids' name (including tagalongs), we could get it done for $2.

If the location of all the equipment lends the ticket item to need an addition of a location for execution, then it's within the participant's pervue to take that into account and accomplish their goals. It's just like an Eagle Scout Leadership Project in that respect, changes to the execution of the goal are going to change, but it doesn't mean that you require a conference or clearance from a staffer to make that happen. Sure, some things do require that conversation, but an argument over the location of equipment when the spirit of the item is the equipment itself?

I'd be more concerned with how the ticket item applies wood badge skills, but in this case, by the whole fiasco behind it, the guy's relying on most of the pentagon to get through the whole scenario.

Part of writing a Wood Badge ticket is being flexible in order to make your vision happen through the mission you set for yourself (the ticket).

Shed, trailer -- semantics. If the inventory is going to happen, what skills is the guy using from the course that directly effect his unit?

The ticket has to meet no ones goals and vision but the writer's.

Forest Lawn here in CA is still a place to gather and have fun. It's a Memorial "Park" and not a cemetery. Some grave stones are even benches or trees.