Powder Horn training

[BBoxwell 10]

The Connecticut Yankee Council and Connecticut Rivers Council will conduct a high adventurer skills resources management course called Powder Horn on 23 - 25 Aug 02 and 27 - 29 Sep 02 at Camps Workcoeman and Sequassen.

 

The Powder Horn course is designed to expose Venturing and Boy Scouting adults to activities and resources necessary to operate a successful outdoor/high adventure program of a fun and challenging nature.

 

While this course is designed around familiarizing participants with the Ranger Award program and providing guidelines to help our youth to achieve this award, Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters will find this course invaluable for planning program for the older Scouts in their Troops.

 

The material in this course is the stuff that keeps kids in Scouting longer.

 

What is the program like? We're going to explore the ins and outs of all of those cool high adventure things we see on the recruiting posters. We'll give you a small personal experience of them, and introduce you to real people who can help you deliver this stuff to the kids in your troop or crew.

 

This will include first aid, backpacking, cycling, land navigation, Leave No Trace camping, expedition planning, conservation project planning, SCUBA, climbing & rappelling, watercraft, horsemanship, archery, black powder shooting, pistol shooting, and much more.

 

Note: nobody has to do anything they aren't comfortable with, but this is a great time to try it for the first time. When I went to Powder Horn, I tried SCUBA diving for the first time, it was great!

 

Powder Horn is much different from Wood Badge. Wood Badge is a leadership skills course, Powder Horn is an Outdoor Skills Resources Management course. We don't teach you how to lead youth, we show you opportunities for highly challenging/exciting outdoor program, and what it takes to get it done for your unit. We teach you about safety and what certifications may be required, and introduce you to the resources who can help you make it happen.

 

We will camp at Camp Workcoeman the first weekend, and Camp Sequassen the second. (Yes, you need to attend both.) We will stay in campsites for everynight except the last, when we have a backpacking overnight.

 

We will have classes in the dining halls, as well as lots of hands on stuff out in the field, the climbing tower, the waterfront, the shooting ranges, etc.

 

This is going to be the first Powder Horn course in the state. My assistant course directors are Mark Carpenter from Connecticut Yankee Council, Don Mordavsky from Connecticut Rivers Council, and Ted Beblowski from Twin Rivers Council (Albany, NY). These gentlemen are helping me to put together a really special program.

 

All I can tell you is, in my twelve years in Scouting, the best training experience I ever had was at the Powder Horn that I attended.

My intent is to conduct a program so good/fun/informative that anyone who comes to my course will feel the same way.

 

If Connecticut is within driving distance, check out my web page for more info, including a sign up form.

 

For other course dates and contact info, and pictures from previous courses aroudn the country, check out the national Powder Horn site: http://www.powderhorn-bsa.org

 

YIV

Blaine Boxwell

Course Director

Connecticut Yankee Council/Connecticut Rivers Council Powder Horn 2002

Scoutmaster, Troop 196, Milford, CT

Associate Advisor, Crew 196, Milford, CT

Connecticut Leave No Trace State Advocate

Hooah!

Http://members.aol.com/BBoxwell

[SouthPoleScout 15]

Just to pass on some more info - this course is being offered all over the US. I know we have a course set up here in Washington state. I posted the link over in the Venture forum - you can look there for the course near you!

[buffalo2 14]

What sort of feedback is anybody hearing from the Powderhorn courses?