Mr_Robby

Off-subject, I know, but I always like to chime in when we discuss shooting the professionals. I scout in one of the largest districts in the country and, in my 8 years as a volunteer, I've worked with 6 different DE's. Some years we have 2, and some years we have 0. There have been some who needed shooting, some (my least favorite) who were experts in telling you what you wanted to hear, and some who I thank God for the priveledge of working with. I think the secret to a good volunteer-professional relationship is very simple. The pros need to remember that the Council/District belongs to the volunteers and the pros are here to facilitate us. The volunteers need to remember that the pros are working 50-100 hours a week for half (or less) of what they could make at a "real" job. If we keep all that in mind, the program runs well and everyone is happy (except of course for the spouses of the pros AND the volunteers!).

I used to be a Beaver! And while I don't necesarily support inter-patrol harrassment, everyone knows they list us first because we're the best!

Let me add my name to the "I'm not sure what's going on elsewhere" list. Here in Northeast Georgia, the information is readily available at the district level. Our Council Training Committee has set the tone for every District that Wood Badge is simply the last step in the formal training path. We're recruting folks, rather than keeping it secret. If you've done everything else on your training path, then Wood Badge is the next logical step for you. Here, if you're asking the SE about WB, then you've not been paying attention.

Thanks for the offer. I'll see if she'd like it. As for frames, I'm planning on putting mine in a large frame with the course neckerchief and the pen I wrote my ticket with!

I'm very proud to say that I was the 1st graduate of our Council's first class of 21st Century Wood Badge! I sent an email to my WB Scoutmaster, and she's going to look into it.

Gags is exactly right! (Hey! I just encouraged a member of a new team!) In my old and experienced mind, this IS exactly what sets this course apart. I'm a training junkie. I've served on the training staff for years and have been trained in positions I've never even thought of holding. And, like Gags said, if you don't go home and use what you've learned, then there was no sense wasting time learning it. And I'll tell you, I sure enjoyed turning my ideas into reality. Especially the one ticket item I was told could never be done! I learned the skills during the course. But working my ticket I learned that those skills empower me to do things that the Scouters I respect most were never able to do. WB has turned me into a lean, mean, Scout leading machine! Well, maybe not "lean". Too much dutch oven cobbler!

Congratulations and good luck on your ticket!! But I do have a small warning for you.... Once you get that song in your head, it's stuck there for life!!

Bob's absolutely right. OST is a must have for Scoutmasters, but is not relevant to quite a few positions, and Wood Badge is designed for ANYONE in scouting to come. I attended as the District Religious Relations Chairman, and had a Bear Den Leader in my patrol. There was a lot of discussion in our Council about the training requirements prior to the first class, and there is still a lot of missinformation floating around. We finally had our Council Training Chairman check with National, and they stated emphatically that the requirement is completion of all units in the training path for YOUR position.

You'll really enjoy your second weekend. And don't worry about the ticket items. You'll spend alot of the second weekend working on them, and your advisor is trained to help you turn your ideas into workable tickets. Besides, they won't let you go home til you're done!

The 21st century icon doesn't appear on mine, so we definitely got the wrong certificates. Thanks for the help!

That was my first thought too, but the last name doesn't seem to match. It looks more like "Shrippa"?

Our Ceremonies are at the Roundtable, unless the recipient specifically requests an alternate location. To me this seems to be the appropriate place, since the Roundtable, at least on the Cub side, is like a Pack meeting for the leaders. It also serves a great way to encourage other leaders to earn their beads.

I recently received my beads and noticed that the signature on my certificate is not Roy Williams. The Chief Scout Executive signature is very hard to read, but the first name looks like it starts with a "J". The last might start with "Sh" and it has an "i" in it. I know that's not much, but does anyone have an idea who signed my certificate, and why it wasn't Mr. Williams?