Ms. Eagle 515

You never know when your Course Director is waiting in the wings. Yes Jer, Wood Badge is worth your time. As the mother of four scouts, if it wasn't worth my time the first time around, I wouldn't have served on staffs afterwards or accepted this current assignment. What did I get out of it, more than I ever expected, but I won't list specifics, each individual takes something different and I don't want to influence your experience. Now, you have less than three weeks left, get ready for the fun to begin. Signed, The Course Director ) SR-912

This would be my fourth year as day camp program director, and eighth year working with Cub Scout Day Camp. I have seen previous directors have a seperate Webelos program run in conjunction with the camp (2 of each range, etc.) but that involved almost twice the amount of volunteers and I have not been able to swing it during my time. What I can do though is offer a more entailed craft for them and during advancement time offer them something out of their book to work on for advancement. My schedule has a Sr. Webelos den traveling to an activity with a Jr. Webelos den and usually the majority of the boys in both dens are from the same pack so they get to co-mingle with each other, and the parent chaperones enjoy being with parents and boys they know. The only time the Webelos have to be with the younger scouts is during morning assembly, afternoon closing, and the occassional special guest. I would love to have enough adult volunteers to offer totally seperate areas, but I think what I do works and the younger boys do see what the older boys are up to in passing during the week and look forward to their turn. Our Council also offers a Webelos resident camp during the summer for four days with advancements, so if they really want to get away from it all, this is their opportunity.

"Those examples are ludicrous, as it appears that is what you intended. Continuing in the same vein: " No, this example was and uncalled for as well. GernBlansten, thank you for the correct and indepth explanation of the importance of the tree in LNT fashion as well as the public land private land explanation. I appreciate your entry. We can minimize the importance (trees)and the significance(water) of all natural resources but if we don't all try to minimize the footprint we make when we take our scouts or ourselves in the outdoors, this will be a mute point when our kids kids are camping. Sorry willysjeep this thread deviated from your original post, but I do there have been some excellent entries here on the types of situations when a tree can be downed and completion for the Bunyan award attained. The LNT stuff, just consider that Lagniappe.

I know how to earn the Paul Bunyan award without upsetting Leave No Trace. Visit any Council campsite along the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast. We're still dealing with downed trees 17 months after our two-fer Hurricane punch. I'm sure up in the northern areas or those areas prone to heavy snow that you too encounter downed trees which can used to help complete the requirements, and as a Leave No Trace trainer, I can say we won't mind a bit just as long as you dispose of it properly. That's another topic and another training though. Happy cutting. Down and Out for now!

Our council just hosted a Wood Badge course last fall and it was anticipated that since the Course Director was well known to the older scouts from his time as Summer Camp Director, these now 18 year olds would be lining up to fill the rosters. While that was their intentions, as is the case with most active 18 year olds, their schedule had a conflict and they weren't able to attend. With the exception of one that is, who attended along with his dad who was in another patrol. The overall reception of his presence from the rest of the participants was positive and a few of the adults turned to him for insight on a variety of things being as he was the one who had most recently experienced the scout program as a youth. The Cub Scouters looked up to him as a positive aspect and what they hope to one day see their son as (an Eagle Scout, actively involved in the scouting movement even after he has aged out). He added a breath of fresh air to the course and his Patrol was very glad to have him around. I was actually the one a little thrown by his presence when I looked over during my presentation and saw him mouthing upcoming portions of my presentation as he had served on a NYLT staff a year before and the material coincided. It was at that point that I felt useless to him, but he wasn't disruptive about it, it was just something that caught my attention. And, while he got repeat presentations a few times during the course, he didn't blow it for the rest of his patrol or troop which I thought was admirable on his part and his course evaluation was on the positive side so I guess he did get something out of it. I think the material we present to the participants could be a great plus to the young as well as the young at heart. It might be the basis to make them better prepared better capable adults particularly if you want to keep them around in the Troop influencing the younger boys. I would just like to see Wood Badge and NYLT material not repetitive so that the new adults, or those adults who have served on a NYLT staff and are now attending Wood Badge don't know what is coming up. I think the 18 year old Wood Badgers would also be a plus on upcoming staffs. They could hold the position of QM and then SPL (after all they are the most recent to experince that position). Then, when they've experienced life a little more Troop Guide etc. Admittedly, as a 30+y/o I probably went through Wood Badge under the wrong conditions. It wasn't something I was looking into or interested in on my own. Rather, a group of scouting friends from my District said let's go through the next Wood Badge course together. My response "what's that and why". The whole time I was filling out paperwork and attending orientation I kept thinking what have I gotten myself into now. It wasn't something I was ready for as I didn't fully understand it as well. When all was said and done, it was the best thing scouting wise I've done for myself and hope every adult scouter young and old gets to experience. So, I guess age is not necessarily a quantifying factor in deciding when to attend Wood Badge. Come to think of it, I know of some adults who went for the Grown Up Merit Badge reason and who are no better off as a leader, they're just basically a display board for a set of beads and I'd put the 18 y/o newly Wood Badge trained Scout and his leadership skills up against them any day of the week. I guess it's going to all boil down to the caliber of the young man as to whether they are "old enough" to attend but until National says otherwise, I look forward to training an 18 year old who would like to sign up for the next course and showing them how important Wood Badge is (not just a Grown up Merit Badge).

While sure someone somewhere could see the potential to abuse this opportunity, and I've run into those people before, I think the original question was innocent enough. Tiger Cubs and Boys Scouts are way apart when we come to advancements. I took a good hard long look at the requirements as well as the totem when the changes first took place. If a boy completed each elective only once, there would be alot of room left over on his elective thong. The acheivements are meant to be done and credited once and as such they are awarded with a big bead that fills the thong. The only way to fill the thong for the electives is to repeat them. A simple explanation to parents about not abusing this ususally suffices. Take celebrating a birthday. A child may attend several each month, but something may make one different than the others like say he is a caucasian child who just attended a quince, Hispanic celebration of a 15th birthday(sorry, I don't know how to put in the accents). The next month, maybe his middle eastern neighbor throws their child a party with delicacies from their "homeland". The Tiger is experiencing something different each time and is learning so it should be counted. If you limit the program too much, you'll have one anemic looking thong out of the four on the totem. Sometimes something seems to obvious to parents as well, and they ask questions like the original to make sure they don't seem dumb. I didn't really think it fit in on the darndest things forum I guess because I've heard that question asked by well meaning people who didn't want to appear greedy.

One, or two more things that might work. Make a typical RT outline (this is an example only) Opening Invocation-Pack???? Pledge-Pack???? Business Song/Skit-Pack ???? Breakouts Closing-Pack???? Where the Pack ???? are, ask various packs to sign up a month in advance and bring something interesting or commonly used in their pack to fill the bill. They may have a popular flag ceremony, closing, song or skit that they would like to share and it hooks them in for attending the next month. If per say only a CM or a CC shows up and signs up for skit, then one would think they would try to recruit their other adults to attend as well to put on an awesome performance. Just a thought. I do know that people don't like walking in the door and having a cue card shoved in their hand while being told/asked, "Wanna be a part of tonight's skit?" There is usually no costumes, no props, no rehersal, just a bunch of adults reading off of cards. How exciting, NOT! I've even noticed when that is the norm, people will intentionally show up late so they hopefully avoid the cue card assignments. Another thing that keeps people coming by to Roundtable in our District is the requirement of 4 Roundtables or a UofS or Pow Wow to complete that requirement for the training award. If it's pushed in your District like at District banquet when people are recieving knots and if units re-present the knots or some sort of acknowledgement to the recieving leader say at their Blue and Gold or Graduation so everyone can see that leaders put in more than one hour a week, other leaders might be compelled to attend as well. While not everyone is worried about that, it can be used as an incentive for some. I think we can all agree though that recognition is not the purpose of most leaders motives, but it can help bolster your spirits for another exciting year of scouting whether or not you choose to wear the knot. Many of our scouters that attend RT attend U of S as well, so I guess it really is the fellowship that keeps em comin' back. Yvonne, let us know what you end up trying and how it's working out. Good Luck!

A friend that just moved to Dallas sent me links to their Council web site. Check this out http://www.circle10wb.org/ click the box to enter and then at the bottom of the page click "all ready a Wood Badger". There is a story on that page that I thought fit in to this forum pretty well and it was kind of inspiring actually whatever your personal stand may be.

Some things that have worked for me since I took over as Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner are; 1-Sending our reminder e-mails one week before and the day before using the e-mail addresses I've collected at Roundtable. Then, most of those recipients forward the e-mail which helps. 2-Every month we have a birthday cake and bring up the birthday guys and gals for the month and sing HB in some unusual way, last month we focused on language and culture and had a Feliz Cumpleanos cake and sang Feliz Cumpleanos. 3-In the past, the leaders were given beads and arrowheads for attendance and participation which became less popular and worn. This year, I started the perfect 10 recognition. If you make all ten roundtables, Aug.-May you will recieve a recogniton in May which I don't want to divulge and ruin since I know some of our scouters monitor this site. If you didn't sign up until Roundup, or maybe you had to miss a meeting or two that's o.k., you can still qualify for the high five award. I saw somewhere where a Council has STAR recognition. Someone That Attends Roundtable. I like that one too and might try it next year. 4-We have an attendance award (stuffed bear named Cubildo) that goes home with the unit with the most attendance. He comes back the next month with his diary of what he's been up too. One of the packs even post his adventures on their website. He has become quite the traveling man...err bear. 5-Outside presenters to talk on topics that haven't been discussed since I've been around. Or, look at the boards and see what other scouters are talking about for some discussion topics in your own roundtable. 6-Poll your participants. I asked everyone what time worked better for them. They voted on 7 and so 7 it is. And remember their time is precious some have to travel farther than others. Make it punctual and make it count and don't let it drag on. 7-Make sure they leave feeling like they caught a piece of breaking news before it got out. I just let everyone know about this years Day Camp and you could see them taking notes to bring back to their units. They walked away with something that night. Mind you, my Roundtable is still in development and could use some help but my staff and I are trying and it's better than it had been. I do look at the guide for some references but keep in mind the scouters interest which carries a lot of weight in my consideration.

My vote is for 2 or 4. These boys need to experience scouting activities other than #3-Troop run and 1 really shouldn't be an option. If you went with 4 you might have some of the older scouts who would attend this as well whether or not they are going on the out of town outing, so then the boys would still be functioning as part of / with the Troop therfore nullifying the all or nothing nay sayers arguements in the Troop.

Lisa Bob, My husband's Troop is discussing the option on staying local (or in your case T-2-1) with the scouts crossing over and then taking the older scouts OOC. Reasoning is based on previous years camping and there are some exceptions. First years have a tendency for the homesick bug and the farther away they are it seems like the worse it is. When we stay local, they are familiar with the area and don't get so homesick. Arguement for your T-2-1(plus it's shorter time away). Plus it shows support of our Council program and camp and from what I've been reading elsewhere we need to count or blessings we have one. If any of our older scouts want to attend our in council summer camp with the new guys to work on additional merit badges, which believe me there are some who will and there are some parents who will want to get rid of their scouts but that's another thread all together, they are more than welcome and thus the newer boys don't get alienated. I don't know how your council would feel about older scouts as role models during this T-2-1 but if they're willing, you might have some older boys willing to assist. Since our OOC offering would be held after the new scout summer camp experience, if they are up to it, the new scouts having proven to themselves they can survive can come along as well with the older boys. The first experience helps booster their confidence in staying away from home and surviving. Admittedly though, we don't have the fortune of leadership ratios as yourself so it would seem to me that with more adults there, you have a bigger parent scout ratio which might cut back on the homesick thing all together. Do you have any registered leaders who work in the school system and are off for the summer? This is the only way we are able to consider the two summer camp options because we have such adults. If so, maybe they would be willing to take the new boys to T-2-1 or some other closer OOC option, and if all goes well and the parents see the boys survive, they'll allow the boys to participate in the further away summer camp and the boys will have a little experience under their belt. All this hinges though on if the T-2-1 falls before the Summer Camp trip and if the Final location will take last minute signups as well as if your transportation could accomdate as well. If not this year, something to consider for next year. Either way, the new guys need a summer experience. It's part of the program.

Saw it, cringed, thought back to the backpacker mag. biased forum. Brought it up to a group of leader friends I meet with tonight and they cringed too. Let's hope there is an important part of the story missing, but it really doesn't look good. Was actually wondering if there was anyone from that Council who might be monitoring the discussions who could hopefully fill in some blanks. Sadly, I have seen some poor fire habits first hand at Winter Camps which inspired me to put together a fire safety program as part of my Wood Badge ticket which I have presented at encampments, unit meetings, and roundtables and it's basically all common sense stuff.

Thank you SR540Beaver, as you stated is correct. The recent changed expanded on the cub portion. Had I not seen a program for a B&G from a differnet course OOC, I would have kind of been at a loss. Instead, I worked with what I saw and added a different flair which was well recieved. Thanks to all you have suggested either here or through PM some of which include Starting the second weekend on Saturday to avoid conflict with Venturing youth. Making a diverse menu the entire second weekend that covers the globe. Having an actual theme for your blue and gold Looking OOC for participants as well as staff This will be our Council's 4th 21st century experience and I've had the pleasure of experiencing all of them and each one while following the syllabus had it's own character traits that made them fun. As CD I may not be responsible for that, but I need to communicate some ideas to the staff members recruited so that everyone gets the most they can out of the experience. During the second course someone suggested after a lack luster first weekend that we needed to get the participants blood flowing so a songmeister (me) was appointed and either at the beginning or end of the breaks, we sang. I found regional songs got a bigger response then most scouting songs and current tunes with the words changed to reflect a scouting tone got a huge response because of a familiarity. I'm not trying to change the syllabus, just looking for personal touches that I can share with the staff so we can maybe incorporate them into the program. True and almost terrifying(for the presenter and the CD)while the rest of us chuckled story. Remember Leaving a Legacy, what's the first thing done. If you don't remember dust off your syllabus. Well wouldn't you know it but during the participants interfaith service which took place earlier that same day they not knowing what was to be expected later on, did that same thing. The presenter and CD were stunned. The presenter was trying to figure out how he would be able to recover which he did nicely when at the time his presentation was up, he finished things off with a cherry on top. When the participant who did that during the interfaith realized what was happening he was stunned. He came over and asked me if we were horrified. I told him no, we didn't know the premise of his portion of the service when it was accepted because it was titled differently and we just rolled with it. No harm no foul and everyone got a kick out of it in the end. Thanks for the suggestions and I'm still open to any additional either here or in private.

Funny, we just had this conversation at Roundtable last night. I've seen this project done in my District and Council and it's usually done by boys pushing 18 as a quick project because there is not a lot of leg work involved with it. Actually I've heard a DE say that blood drives and food drives are frowned upon as Eagle projects and that boys should think of bigger things, his words not mine, "newsworthy items". "A food drive would be acceptable if the boy filled an 18 wheeler" but realistically, is that going to happen? Guess it would depend on the boy. Besides the leg work aspect, the other arguements is results are not "guaranteed". If a boy writes up an eagle project to repaint a play ground, you know the play ground is going to get repainted whether it happens in one day, two days, etc. A blood drive depends on the response of the community. If you pick a rainy day, and have a poor turn out, hey you still went on as planned, it wasn't your fault that the weather didn't cooperate right? This one can probably be argued for quiet some time, but ultimatly it's got to go through all the approvals before it can begin, so I guess it lies in those powers that be.

Thanks Sue M. Personality and Creativity are definitly traits I am looking for in potential staff. Elitism is not in my vocabulary. I want a good repore amongst the staff that carries over to the participants as well. Since we can't choose the participants personalities the staff definitly has to be impactful. I have had the privilege of two 21st century staff experiences so I get what you are saying. It's nice for it to be spoken though to help me keep my focus. Hey for our theater feel we did the popcorn as well. We also had movie posters which added to the atmosphere.

Your comments are giving me some things to think about. Keep 'em comin'. On the last course I staffed in Sept., there was a new change in the syllabus in which the first meal is a Blue and Gold banquet. I had been given a program from another council's course which was a little bland for me and told to run with it so I gave it a Hawaiian theme and went all out with decor as well as name translations for the participants and music. The participants as well as the invited guests commented on what a good idea that was and to me it was a no brainer all along. So, yes, I will stick to the syllabus but I'm game for tweaks along the way that will help make it a memorable experience. Now that I think back on my course, one of the participants and staff members that stick out were both OOC and it was two different Council's as well. I don't think the two neighboring Council's would appreciate me soliciting their scouters, but I'll make sure word gets around in case these dates fit in someones schedule better.

WDL Mom, If your unit did not meet it's "Goal" last year guaranteed your DE and the District committee even are aware of it and don't want that to happen again this year. The one FOS presentation that sticks out in my mind the most was when I was just a parent and the presenter went off on some tangent about other things. I did feel like I was being held hostage though and have since learned that no one can hold my boys meetings hostage. I did not donate that year and as CM have informed my FOS presenters who are normally outside of the unit what is expected time frame wise. I'm not a big fan of FOS but our families do support it. Few things make me cringe more than a bad FOS and I guess that one just put a bad taste in my mouth that's hard to get rid of. I have done presentations in outside units as well using the K.I.S.M.I.F method, but never my own. Come to think of it, I'm affiliated with 4 units and no one in those units does their own FOS even though there is at least one individual in that unit capable of it. Perhaps you can mention to your committee that since as a unit you ask for money throughout the year for other things, maybe it would be better for someone else to come in on behalf of FOS. Anyway, to answer the original question, know your material, verbatim is not necessary, know the makeup of the unit you are presenting to and be considerate of the environment in which this FOS is being presented. You don't have to present the whole thing to get the same results. Finally be sincere, everyone picks up on that. Our Council also does CSP's as well as a contest for everyone that makes a pledge. You write on the top of the form the dollar amount that you think will be collected in pledges that night, and the person who comes the closest (w/o going over) recieves a voucher good for either one free week of Day camp or 1/2 off Summer Camp fees. Good Luck

Greetings everyone, I've been watching this forum since Oct. and even looked at the past Wood Badge Forums. For whatever reason, I couldn't post so I re-registered tonight and woo hoo, I'm part of the action now. During the course of different topics, I have stumbled across some really great ideas (like starting the second weekend on Saturday so it doesn't interfere with the Venturing youths school) that I would like to try to incorporate in my Council's Spring '08 Wood Badge course which I have the honor of being asked to be Course Director for. What I would like to know, what made your Wood Badge course special, convenient? What do you look back on and remember fondly? Participants, Staff Members, Course Directors, I'm all ears errr, eyes. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Having trouble and unable to post since original sign up in Oct. Help e-mails to Scouter.com unanswered. Re-registered, let's see if this works?