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I was signed up to do our local Woodbadge course but it cancelled at the last minute and was rescheduled in a two weekend format next August. I am considering going out of Council for a course during the summer. Any thoughts on benifits of staying in my home council vs away?

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I too went out of Council. The benefits I think are you meet new and different people. You get a different feeling for the course not knowing anyone, although I'm speaking from a perspective of the old course. I haven't seen the new course, but hope to be on staff in 2004.

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It is really nice to see so many new people joining the forum, I'm Still a new kid, but welcome.

It is always sad when a course isn't able to get off the ground.

We are a small council, so the only way that we can offer a Wood Badge course, is as part of a cluster.There are six councils in our cluster, and we now offer two courses a year, one six day course, and the other follows the two, three day format.

Even with this we very often get participants from out of state. Last year there was a chap from New York, and one from Maine.

The big disadvantage of going too far from home, if you were following the 2X3 format, would be the Patrol meeting that happens on one of the "Off" weekends.

The good thing about going out of council is that no one knows you !!

Odd as this may sound, it can be a good thing. Everyone will take you as you are, there is no history. Sad to say I have heard it said "He / She, is from such and such a unit and they never do.."

It also goes a long way to show you that when all is said and done, Scouting at home really isn't that different from any place else.

The good thing about staying close to home, is that you are more lightly to have friends with you on the course, who can at times put things in perspective, that is homespun?

Hopefully, if the staff are doing a good job the content of the course will be the same, for the most part.

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I went to Woodbadge in my Council, one of the first things I noticed was the incredible number of Staffers it took to run the program. We had a Scoutmaster, a couple of Assistant Scoutmasters, two Quartermasters, 8 troop guides and a few other support personnel that I am sure I missed.

 

These were obviously dedicated scouters from my council and I got to know many of them during the course. Now they are much more than a name on paper or a passing face. Between the number of attendees, all 8 patrols were represented, and the number of staffers, I cant go anywhere Scouting and not know at least half of the attendees.

 

This is the advantages of staying in Council, you get to know so many people you will be seeing later during your Scouting tenure.

 

Going out of Council has its advantages as well. You get to see how its done that may be different than what your Council does. You bring back different ways of doing things. I think the phrase "It's all good" works here.

 

Let me finish by saying whether you go Out of Council, or stay in Council, the bottom line is: GO!!!

 

And Howdy Greyfox

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Thanks guys. What a resource this forum is,to be able to tap into a whole group like-minded people with a tremondous variety of skills, experiences and ideas.

The out of town course is a week long, the intown two weekends. I had thought of some of the benifits of getting to know locals more vs the sense of freedom of being able to be more uninhibited with a group you are unlikey to be in close contact with in the future. There is also the issue of supporting your own council. I guess all in all it will come down to when I can get off work because I really feel that to be the best Scoutmaster I can be woodbadge is an absolute must.

 

Thanks again.

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  • 1 month later...

I too am looking for a out of council woodbadge course. Due to the costs of flying out of Juneau ($400 r/t just to Seattle or Anchorage) I'd much rather get a week long course. The August course outside of Seattle Council looks good..... maybe this time (fingers crossed)

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