21st Century Wood Badge Participants- Reflection

[schleining 11]

Well, I have been reflecting for the past 12 hours...

Just completed the final weekend.

 

#1. GREAT COURSE!!!

#2. The movies... I thought they were very good, the movie reenforced the point that was being presented. October Sky, At first I did not think it would be relevant...but then it all became clear. (I am going to show that one to the Troop). The snipits of Remember the Titans and Mr. Holland Opus... good stuff. Reenforced the lessons well.

#3. The Patrol... Possibly the best part. I am a memeber of a High performance team that got to stage 4 quickly and stayed there. Oh... and we had the most fun in Troop 1.

#4. The course refocused me as a Scoutmaster... allowed me to look at my function in a different light.

 

I am now working my ticket....if I can....

I miss Gillwell already...

 

Jerry

 

I used to be a BEAVER...

and a Good 'ol BEAVER too...

 

WE1-492-1-05

[EagleInKY 14]

Congrats ehcalum!

 

I used to be an Antelope, and a good ole' Antelope, too!

[Eamonn 61]

It seems that we have a lot of Antelopes on the loose.

I was really tempted to present the Leaving A Legacy, presentation myself!!

The first time I seen it presented it was OK, but not as great as I thought it could have been. The second time was a lot better.

I kinda knew in my heart of hearts that as Course Director that I should have someone else present it and in the end did have my mentor do it.

It is a very powerful presentation and I do hope that one day someone will ask me. I think I could manage to not tear up.

Eamonn.

[schleining 11]

The leaving a legacy presentation during our course was real neat...

I thought it was particularly cool when they did the "it's in everyone of us" song and they put our picture on the slide as the music played. It was real touching.

Our course director did a great job with the presentation.

 

I might just still be on the Gilwell High... but it was very powerful.

 

Our staff did a great job. This was the best training I have done in Scouting as a leader.

 

Jerry

I used to be a BEAVER...

and a good 'ol BEAVER too...

 

[Greying Beaver 10]

I recieved my beads a year ago this past April. I find myself using the lessons of the course all the time, especially at troop committee meetings. An agenda topic will be under discussion, and I hear that little voice in my head start saying, "Wood Badge stuff! Wood Badge stuff!". I put in my WB 2cents-worth in.

"October Sky" and "Remember the Titans" were excellent "funnels" to see the management concepts being applied in real-world situations. The Money Game was a great lesson on "seeing the big picture". The water bottle rocket exercise forced leadership and management skills and abilities to the fore. It was also a lot of fun. Our patrol was awarded the "Best Hang Time" ribbon; our rocket ended up in a tree, hanging down from a branch.

And "Diversity"? Man, our patrol was Diversity Personified: An Arkansaw Hillbilly (by his own pronouncement), a man of Vietnamese-Cambodian parentage, one of the last polio victims (His motorized wheelchair came in very handy at times!), a divorced mom raising 4 sons, a man with Attention Deficit Disorder, Retained Traits, and me with my arthritic hips, knees, ankles, and toes.

Our patrol yell, "Beavers! Dam!", brought the cubmaster whose pack was across the road over to Gilwell Field wanting to know why the profanity. He was asked what do beavers build. Then he understood.

 

It's true: you never stop earning or using your beads.

- G.B.

I used to be a beaver and a good old beaver,too

[John-in-KC 311]

Some thoughts just after Weekend 1 as a student ...

 

1) The leadership psychology/sociology is a good refresher for anyone who's been in the Armed Forces, and is useful: The ground needs to be plowed every few years. It WILL be new to some participants; for others it's old hat.

 

2) Our patrol seems to largely have bypassed storming, and is at least in norming, if not performing ... but we're also adults, and getting jobs done on deadline is nothing new either. It's fantastic to see the leadership/followership styles in our patrol, and to see the individuals knowing "we will work to the greater good."

 

3) We got the point of Win All You Can after the mid-course tally, but didn't get the final point until the end. I believe that evn then not every patrol got the point of determining who YOU meant at its broadest interpretation. That said: The game was something of a mind#### (and that is the appropriate word in the English Language imo): To have patrols take on a new identity and then try to have them work to the "good of the order" when you just reinforced their existence as a cellular organization to me defeats the purpose of demonstrating the cells as organs of the body.

 

4) The dollar value of the food purchase price for weekend 2 camp is UNREALISTIC given that gasoline prices are already trickling into the food chain: Fresh fruits and milk at an Armed Forces Commissary have spiked 10% in the last week, and the Commissary officer says the vendor letters are saying: Cost of transportation energy, and cost of production energy.

 

5) The de-emphasis on cooking (1 hour to prep/serve/cleanup dinners on weekend 2) SENDS THE WRONG MESSAGE to Scouters about leadership and the value of the artist and artisan. Further, in an era where bad food choices are leading to the obesity of America, telescoping mealtime implies "ease of preparation" over "quality of foodstuffs."

 

6) THE BEST presentation was not one of the curriculum classes: It was the block hosted by the Council Scout Reservation Director and Assistant Director (both former WB course directors in this council) on Conservation. Amazing what happens when you're passionate about the topic, and are willing to let your Council's internal politics hang out for all to see. (I am out-of-Council for this class).

 

7) Something I saw in October Sky ... One challenge a youth serving program leader has is the PARENT: He or she may not be supportive EVEN WHEN the child makes a superb choice. Our duties as coaches, mentors, and friends become even more important then.

 

Hoot! Hoot Owls!

 

(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[ASM1 10]

I read this thread last night, what a great thread with great memories. The best part of WB for me was EVERYTHING! The bad part for me was NOTHING! After reading every post here, I come to the conclusion that some people just were too serious about things. On our first weekend we were losing things also, but when we found out they were being taken, well, like Bugs Bunny said, "you realize this means war!" And we waged war on everyone! Our SPL screamed at one of our patrol for walking across Gilwell field. He said we had to sing or do sit ups. We did neither. That night our SPL's tent totem was missing. We hung it up on the flag pole. Our scoutmaster scolded us for taking the SPL's tent totem, so we took his and hid it in the showers. We started nothing with anyone, but before the second weekend was done, nobody messed with us.

 

As far as the win all you can game? That was a hoot! We lost! Because we had no clue what was going on. The more the game went on, the more confused we were. And we loved it. We were laughing so hard that by the end of the game, we were not even playing anymore, just laughing at everyone else who was getting upset. The movie was October Sky, we seen it Saturday night. What a great movie. I remember we did not want to go to see it because we were exhausted. We just wanted to relax at camp. But it was manditory so we went. I am glad we did. Now we show it on campouts for our troop. The boys ask for it all the time.

 

That was three years ago, and our patrol is as tight now as it was during WB. We stay in touch and are planning a reunion next Spring. My wife took WB the next year, and my oldest son took it last year. My youngest will be an adult leader in the Spring and he will take it in 2007.

 

When they say WB is a Mountain Top Experience, they are not kidding. It was a life changing experience for me, my wife, and my oldest son, and I hope will be for my youngest son as well. Do what you can to get your leaders in this course. They will greatly thank you for it.

 

ASM1

I used to be a Fox!

I good ole Fox too

yada yada yada...

[SueM 10]

As every WB'er knows...Beaver's always lead the way!!...and to that end...it took my patrol mates and I only 2 minutes to figure out the "Win all you can" game!

 

I enjoyed everything about the WB course. I had a good idea of what to expect before I showed up from talking to former attendee's...had my ticket items already formulated in my mind when I got there the first weekend. We had so much patrol spirit that by lunch on the first day, our SPL would no longer say "Beaver" because we'd immediately react with our patrol "yell"..instead, he'd say "That patrol whos name starts with a 'B'!" We made the whole group upset one day when at lunch, just as everyone had gotten their food, we stood up and broke into a spontaneous round of "Back to Gilwell" and they had to stop eating to sing. For me, the course was not only about how I could further help the troop, but it was also about personal growth and challenging myself to overcome obstacles and fears more easily and effectively and gain more confidence in leadership. I think what I have used the most of what we were taught is team building and conflict resolution. I am currently finishing up my final ticket item, which is one that was set up to take on a particular role in the troop for a year, which will be done on Nov. 15th. I hope to get my beads in early December!

 

Sue SR-605

I used to be a Beaver!!

[John-in-KC 311]

Tomorrow morning is back up the road to camp, and onto weekend 2.

 

The display is done; we need to rehearse our presentation. I think ours will run 14-16 minutes.

 

The intersession patrol meetings have been a good thing. We've found each other to be reliable and able to carry our share of the load. Cross-communication has been pretty good, which is a good thing since half of us live 50+ miles from the central site (in different directions).

 

The most valuable aspect so far? The relationships. Each leader in my patrol has a different perspective on Scouting. It really is worth going out of council to take wood badge.

 

More after the weekend. Gotta find that draft of the fifth ticket item, and gotta start thinking on 6 and 7.

 

I still am an Owl...