Trainers Development Conference

[CNYScouter 46]

I went to the Trainers Development Conference over the weekend and I have to say this was one of the better training sessions I have attended.

(I have not had Wood Badge yet, I will be taking this in Sept.)

I felt that this gave some of the most useful information so far in BS training. The stuff I received will not only help me with Scouting but I can use most of it in my professional life as well.

I have wanted to take this but our council has not run this in quite a few years,

There were 20 participants this time.

 

I would recommend this training to everyone and was very glad I took it.

 

[SWScouter 34]

CNYScouter, I attended TDC a couple of summers ago a couple of months before I attended woodbadge. Most of the attendees were on woodbadge staff for the course I was to attend. It is my understanding that TDC is required for woodbadge staffers. Anyway, at the start of TDC, it was asked who had not attended woodbadge. I raised my hand. Pretty much everyone said that I just had to attend woodbadge. I replied that I was already signed up. It was actually fairly humorous and I got to meet several of the staff members ahead of time. That was nice.

 

I do agree with you, I think it was a worthwhile class and covered some good information on preparing for and giving presentations and training sessions. I think it is also attended by scouters that are more serious about the program and care to help new scouters deliver the promise to the youth.

 

SWScouter

[CNYScouter 46]

Hi SWScouter,

 

Most of the people staffing this are on our councils WB staff and I knew them when I was on staff with them at our last SM training session.

I am planning on taking WB out of council this year as my council is not running a WB course this year.

 

After seeing who was taking this I have to agree that attended by scouters that are more serious about the program. At this I saw my Districts new DC, the person who ran our Scouting University and I sat next to a woman who has been involved with scouts for over 30 years and was taking this as her last ticket item for her WB beads.

 

Our council has a big push on training leaders going on as we are going to mandatory training for all adult leaders in the next couple of years.

 

The last few years we have had real trouble staffing training. However I have heard that we have 10 new trainers volunteer to be on staff for SM/Outdoor training this spring.

 

Our council is facing dwindling numbers and it has been attributed to untrained leaders nit running quality programs. Between this and insurance requirements they are hoping that requiring training for leaders will turning this around.

 

The councils representative (professional) that was there said that the BSA was one of the few organizations that works with children that does not require training for its adult members and he thought that we may seea mandatory training requirement coming down from national in a few years.

 

[BSAChaplain 10]

I attended TDC (formerly Train the Trainer) in December last year. (Out of Council as I seem to do often, but not the same out of council where I went to Wood Badge, but I digress) I agree that it was a very good program. Like your course, this class was comprised of this council's Wood Badge staff for the coming year, and almost everyone else had their beads or was working on them...

 

Except this one young mother of a Cub and a Webelos Scout, who was not even a registered Scouter yet. Three days prior, she had taken the position of Training Chair on their Pack Committee. The Cubmaster pulled out his list of upcoming trainings and said, you should go to this (TDC) so she did. Talk about jumping in with both feet. She ended up on my team, along with the next WB course director, the Firefox (beyond NYLT) course director and a few others long in the Scouting tooth. She jumped in with both feet and while we had to translate more than a few acronyms for her. (Funny, how in the course they told us to avoid those, and then they used them.) She left with a long list of e-mail addresses and a WB application. One of the best networked Cub mom's in all of Scouting.

 

The best part about this, was I think that she caught the vision from the rest of us, not just how much Phun this can be for her boys, but for us kids in adult bodies too.