StormingBuffalo

Of the members of my patrol, 5 of the 6 had our beading ceremony during a district roundtable. That's where the largest number of scouters attended, and since we wanted to be beaded together, it was the best solution. Since I was district recruiting chair at the time, it was particularly special to me. FYI, the 6th member of our patrol was the district executive, who received his beads at roundtable shortly before taking a higher position in scouting in another state. The roundtable location really worked for us.

Wood Badge may also be included in a portfoilio of prior learning that is evaluated for credit. Many institutions have a process to award credit for prior learning in addition to CLEP and Dantes testing. Some of the same schools will also help prospective students put together portfolios which include the kinds of things they have learned and in what ways that prior learning relates to the college's courses or academic programs. It's always a good idea to check these things out with your local college or university -- you might be surprised how many credits you might earn for the things

Actually, I paid for Wood Badge from my office budget, as professional development. That was specifically suggested by our course director, and no one ever questioned it. In addition, I do believe my taking the course had a positive impact on the workplace, so it was an appropriate use of my professional development money. On another matter addressed in this thread, I do agree that if the unit pays the fee for Wood Badge, there should be some kind of benefit to the unit. Having said that, I would hope that part of the participant's ticket (or much of it) would be of direct benefit the

I generally wear the beads whenever I wear the uniform shirt, and only wear the full regalia of Wood Badge neckerchief, beads and woggle for special occasions, such as a Court of Honor, Wood Badge functions, or to my son's Arrow of Light ceremony last weekend (had to get that proud dad thing in there.) I was always taught to follow this protocol, and it was the system followed by all the staff of my course, since most were in my council and I saw them frequently. In my current council, many scouters wear the beads and woggle with troop neckerchiefs, and many still have their patrol emblem on

Reading through this thread is perhaps one reason why I haven't ever added the trained strip to my uniform. With the potential for moving through several positions over the years (but not enough to completely wear out the uniform), it would be "on again, then off again," and probably do more to damage the uniform than it's worth. Of course, someone is probably going to tell me that I absolutely need to wear the trained strip once I am trained....

Lisabob mentioned a number of things that I remember from my course, which was C-16-3, the same year and same region as her course. Our patrol was probably the only one with not only one, but two Cub scouters in the group. I found it rather amusing that the three boy scouters (our sixth member was our district Executive) didnt know the Cub Scout Promise, or much at all about cub scouts. Our knowledge also helped us win the trivia game. But my advantage went away within a couple of hours, and then I was much more the novice. I really enjoyed the films. We watched October Sky all the w

Of course, well organized and boy led aren't mutualy exclusive, either. I've attended three trooop meetings in the last month, as Unit Commissioner for two, and with my Webelos II son for the other. Both meetings were boy led, though one even more than the other, yet there is no question that there is significant adult involvement, especially behind the scenes. A good troop committee and other adults are working during meetings as well (and in between meetings too), yet it is the decision making and cooperative work by the boys which the adults are there to support, not supplant. A rea

Emily, Clearly, splitting the den was the right things to do, and the Cubmaster and Committee Chair (I served as Chair for 3 years) should have been involved early on in recruiting den leaders. Another person who could have provided support was the Unit commissioner. While he or she does not run the unit, the commissioner can offer suggestions to the Cubmaster or Chartered Org. Rep. and if the Unit Commissioner is present as support when the Cubmaster and Committee Chair announce the den split, there is greater weight and gravity given to the decision. In a way, it's like when parents

I must agree with Carol. While I understand the convenience factor to meet near homes for those who are home schooled, I view scouting as a means of helping young people interact positively with people from all kinds of backgrounds and interests. In some ways, having separate dens for home schooled versus public school kids seems to defeat this purpose. In effect, there seem to be two packs meeting already, in terms of where the boys are meeting and gathering for den meetings. Again, just my opinion, though I think all the boys can benefit from a total immersion scouting experience,

My apologies to our female scouters. It is somewhat disconcerting that when women moved into more and more leadership positions in scouting, the makers of scouting attire didn't seem to notice that men's bodies and women's bodies are different! Of all the women in my previous council, only one felt good about the fit and her appearance in the standard green slacks. Tailors are okay, but add an awful lot of expense, especially when you are effectively re-sewing and redesigning the pants from scratch to make them fit. Are they still making the cullotes for women scouters? For non-Wood B

Ill try to make this short, as some points have already been made by others. It is my opinion that requiring someone to give up their beads and take the new course to qualify to serve on the staff again will certainly be seen as insulting, however well-intentioned it is. Putting together a weekend experience for graduates of the older Wood Badge programs that parallels the new course objectives and activities would seem a worthwhile compromise. If a potential staffer from the old course didnt want to invest the time in learning the new course procedures and how tickets are currently structu

Reading through the thread again has emphasized for me the importance of training for staffers, especially the troop guides, and the importance of communication to important parties, be they troop guides, ASMs, etc. Ensuring that all staffers for a Wood Badge course are highly trained in all the areas the course covers (including communication) should be a given. Having said that, I am confident that the staff was very well prepared for my course, which was evident with all of them. There were a couple of staffers, however, who while competent, just are not very nice people. And unfortunat

Eagle309 Glad you had such a good weekend. It's not always so hectic, though our SPL seemed to relish going over items so quickly in patrol meetings, that the stress level just seemed to rise with the minutes. I'm also glad you're a Buffalo! Good luck as you continue your mountaintop experience. F. J. C-16-03

Thanks, ACCO 440 I was reading the previous pages of this post, and not taking it too well. What concerned me was being worried about what year certain things were taken out of the handbook, and focusing less on the values scouting is supposed to teach. Whether scouts are as scouty or not is a matter of conjecture. I would offer that if we use the patrol method properly, scouts will have to become scouty. Sometimes a good adult leader needs to know that to help a group move forward, they either have to act, or perhaps completely remove themselves from the action. In additio

Our course was in the two weekend format, separated by five weeks for our patrol meetings. I can't imagine taking an entire week for training, if for no other reason than losing five days versus two days of vacation from work. I would love to serve on the staff of Wood Badge in the future, and I also couldn't take off the full week (at least, not easily) as well as the addition days on the front and back of the week necessary for staff members. As the parent of two young children, it's my choice not to lose a week of vacation that would be just family time, but again, people have diffe