Scoutmaster/Trainer/WB Graduate

[John-in-KC 311]

David,

 

National can place their Administrative Guide where the sun does not shine. If ever I take WB as a student again, I may be willing, during the classwork, for uniformity, to take my beads off... but from the moment I enter Gilwell Field for the final ceremony before going back into the Scouting field, well... that''s between me and My God, and no one else.

 

They can pry my beads out of my cold, dead hands.

 

I trust that is clear to you.

 

Want to know something? While I''d expect a pre-21C who wants to staff to do the same, when he''s done with the learning phase, I''d not begrudge him one iota of putting his Gilwell necker and beads back on either.

[scoutldr 732]

What, has the BSA hired someone in Irving to think up ways to alienate the volunteers? They''re sure doing a good job of it. Just another factoid to reinforce my decision to retire beadless. What a crock.

[Gunny2862 11]

WOW John, that is quite an endorsement for something!

 

I am going to have to ensure that I am available for WB when it''s offered again.

[dancinfox 10]

John,

First, don''t kill the messenger. I was just relaying what the Admin Guide says. I never said that I agree with it. I tried as a course director last year to include as many pre-21st staffers as I could. One thing I always remember, "I may not always agree with what the National Council puts out, but I promised to deliver the program to the youth the way it''s presented."

With that said, I would never tell an adult they have to set aside their beads after completing the 21st Century course. I would ask them to not wear them during the practical part of the course, then it would not matter to me what they did. In my role as Council Commissioner, I have a friend who always tells me that I am the one person to go to for questions about uniforming. I will tell anyone, "If you ask me if your uniform is correct, I''ll be honest with you. If you ask me if I care how your uniform looks, I''ll tell you I don''t.

David Harrison

[John-in-KC 311]

Gunny,

 

As I think I''ve told you offlist, WB is the same leadership development you received in the Corps, the same as I received in the Army. A good friend, a Navy Commander, and her good friend, a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, recently took the course: She could teach many of the modules better than any of the staff ...

I ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND WB!!! The friendships, the fun, and the connections will serve you all your days in Scouting.

 

David,

 

No, I''m shooting a target: As a Council Commissioner and a Course Director, you have input we who are further down the volunteer chain do not get: You can give them Feedback (and tell them it''s a gift!). You can report your active listening of the field to folks who make decisions about the program. That''s something I do not have the connections and relationships to do!

 

One other comment: You wrote: I promised to deliver the program to the youth the way it''s presented." WB is about supporting volunteers. It is only to the extent that WB is a tool for unit serving, 2d line, and 3d line Scouters to deliver the program that this promise comes into play, imo.

 

Please, tell the folks you inter-relate with further up the Scouting food chain that the policy of setting aside Neckers and beads is bovine excrement, and it stinks. Some day we will have a curriculum change. Why should we who are 21C graduates someday be made to feel the way Mr Shupe did about his course??? It''ll be flat-dab wrong then, as it is flat-dab wrong now.

 

To conclude: I believe in lifelong learning, and in cementing skills, hard and soft, by sharing them. Setting a lifelong learner up for success is vital. If a course or an instructor makes the learner feel his prior skills are for naught, then it''s possible to alienate the student (he''s there only in body), or lose the student altogether. Scouting competes for volunteers with other youth serving and community activities. Scouting has enough problems already dealing with a host of issues from homosexualty and YP to the DRP. It simply cannot afford to alienate volunteers because their prior training is to be discounted in function, or in form.

 

I hope you can tell I''m passionate about this.

 

 

 

[eolesen 10]

I''ve been told by others that once you''ve met a requirement and been recognized, it can''t be taken away...

 

So, John, I''m behind you 100%. If you earned your beads, you earned them. Nobody should take them away from you.

 

 

When I took WB, our guide was a pre-WB21C staffer and CD, but hadn''t been thru the new course yet. Due to an illness, he was pressed into duty with three weeks notice. Yes, there were a few moments where it was obvious he didn''t know the curriculum, but I didn''t see where it detracted from our experience.