JFL49

Nice job. However, each Wood Badge Course Director may well prefer a locally developed template, to ensure that local guidance is followed. For example, our Council likes to emphasize SMART, and each of our ticket worksheet includes SMART wording. But again, nice job. JFL49

A couple of resources for you: http://www.ctyankee.org/program/religious Good luck. And work that ticket. jfl49 ...Beaver...

The Wood Badge syllabus is scheduled to be rewritten, likely over the next 18 months or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the Game of Life were removed from the course.

"You basically reveal stuff about your personal life like who your best friend is. I actually don't remember much of it other than "I don't want to be here doing this." This is a description of the "Who Me" game (after dinner on Day 1), and not The Game of Life. Having staffed a number of courses and been the Scoutmaster for one course, the "magic" about the Game of Life is its position in the syllabus - at the end of Day 2 when there has been lots of competition already and people are tired. While the game is valuable, the debriefing is vitally important patch up bad feelings and bring everyone back to the real world. It is a difficult game to facilitate CORRECTLY, and only very experienced Scouters should be selected for the position, since the game can get out of hand with an inexperienced leader. I added a Scoutmaster Minute after the debriefing, to make sure the participants heard a second voice about the real lessons learned from the Game. Horror stories are often the result of inexperienced facilitators. And then I know of at least one Council that runs the game as the last event on Day 3 before everyone returns home, to ensure that people leave weekend one angry and frustrated. That Council makes sure participants are Storming between weekends one and two. BTW, this approach is a horrible idea.

A careful reading of the guidelines for the District Nominating Committee shows that only voting members present at the Annual Business Meeting may vote. There appears to be no provision for proxy voting. Also, the District Commissioner is technically recommended for the position by the District Nominating Committee. It is up to the Council Executive Board to approve (or reject) the District candidate for the Commissioner position, with the concurrence of the Council Scout Executive. However, from a practical standpoint, the Council Commissioner can (and often does) have a major role in selecting District Commissioners. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/commissioner/pdf/513-332_Fillable.pdf

I use two versions of a the beading ceremony: a short version and a long version. The short version runs about 9 minutes and the long version about 11 minutes. It may run one or two minutes longer if there are multiple Scouters being recognized. If there are a good number Wood Badgers present, we'll sing the entire Gilwell song. Otherwise, we'll just sing the verses corresponding to the recipient's critters. It is disrespectful to take up any more of the audience's time, whether it be a Camporee, Blue and Gold, Roundtable, or even our annual Council Wood Badge Dinner. Also, run a long beading ceremony at ANY event and you can be guaranteed that you'll never be invited back to that unit or District. Never.

BSA does offer training for adults that teaches respect, effective communication, leadership and team building skills, as well as managing conflict, etc: Wood Badge And BSA offers the same program for youth: NYLT.

Our troop routinely schedules 3 Courts of Honor per year, in the fall, winter, and spring. Any and all rank advancements are presented. If an Eagle family wants to hold an ECOH on their own (most do), they organize and pay for it. They invite the rest of the troop (if they want to)

I'm not sure what the phrase "acting as the Scoutmaster" means. Either you are the Scoutmaster or you're not. But I digress. As Scoutmaster, I gave each Eagle Scout a well thought out letter of congratulations for his "memory book". Words of wisdom he can look back on in 5 or 10 or 25 years. Additionally, our Troop would give each Eagle Scout a lifetime membership in NESA, because we thought that was important.

Or you could try tying this around your neck (with appropriate bracing consistent with the Guide to Safe Scouting): http://www.batteryjunction.com/olight-x6-marauder.html ---------- (I have no ties to this company)

Congratulations. You will probably come to learn, as many of us have, that you don't stop working your Ticket once you get beaded. There are always new challenges. Still working my Ticket, 15 years later JFL49 ...Beaver... ...NE-II-90...

A Scout is Trustworthy. Find a Troop where they practice the Scout Law.

I've had the honor of chairing both the DAM and SB Committees. There is absolutely no discussion of monetary issues for either award. Zero. At the Council level, the SB Committee has two representatives from each District and two from the Board. Once in a blue moon the SB Committee receives an application for someone who appeared to be a large contributor. However, unless the person was known to a majority of representatives from the Districts (through their good work for Scouting), they don't have a chance of being recognized with the SB award.

The game went pretty well on our course last August/September. After the debriefing, I gave a Scoutmaster minute about the importance of being able to Trust our Leaders. It felt like the combination of the debriefing plus the SM Minute got the important points across. The syllabus is silent on a SM Minute after the game. I obviously thought it was important enough to have one. I'd recommend all courses do that.

Eamonn, The WB Administrative Guide actually says the opposite. Paraphrasing: During Days 1 thru 5, staff members will wear a Troop 1 neckerchief held in place with a participants woggle and Wood Badge beads. On Day 6, staff members will wear the official Wood Badge neckerchief, woggle, and beads. According to the insignia guide, Wood Badge beads can be worn by adult Sea Scouters http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/09.aspx However, I have been told the "tradition" is that Sea Scouters in uniform do not wear Wood Badge beads, apparently for safety reasons (the leather thong could get caught on something on board ship and injure the wearer). The same tradition seems not to apply to Sea Scouts and Scouters wearing a bonsun's pipe on a lanyard.