More Training Questions

[briantshore]

I am a bear den leader. Should I try to get my BALLOO training in this year, so I am ready this coming summer when the boys become Webloes. Does this training have any type of experation?

[Cubmaster Jerry]

Someone that goes camping in your Pack must be Baloo trained. No expiration date that I know of.

 

Jerry

[jens3sons]

It is always good to have more than one person with BALOO training at a campout anyways...if your son was to get hurt and need medical attention or came down with a flu and you needed to go home...everyone would need to go home. There always needs to be a BALOO trained person present during a camping session. My suggestion?...Grab a buddy to go with you to the training! ;-) Happy Scouting!

[Bob White]

BALOO is needed to take a Pack family camping. If you are preparing for Webelos Den camping then you need Webelos Leader Outdoor Training and not BALOO.

 

Hope this answers your question.

BW

[fgoodwin]

Bob is correct -- many people get confused about the purpose and intended audience for BALOO vs. Webelos Leader Outdoor Training (WLOT).

 

By the way there is a new syllabus out and the course has been renamed: Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders. It won't be long until folks start referring to it as OWL.

[johndaigler]

BALOO training is still useful because the Pack benefits. Even though you may be doing some Den camping with your Webelos, you should still participate in the pack Overnighters, as well.

 

As jens3sons suggested, grab a buddy and go to both. (ssshhhhh --- they're the fun training courses, anyway!!)

 

jd(This message has been edited by johndaigler)

[rkfrance]

Be daring, take both trainings. It'll help the Pack go.

[Bob White]

Just a suggestion,

Do your job and let others do there. As a den leader your responsibility on any pack activity is to lead the Den you are assigned to. You have your own training, and your own repsonsibilities thatt come with your position.

 

Let someone on the pack administration take BALOO and be repsonsible for the Pack, while you focus on the Den.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[johndaigler]

I understand "do your own job well", but wouldn't BALOO likely help briantshore be a better DL?? He's a Bear DL for another 9 months, and though he'll eventually need OLSWL, he doesn't yet. He's interested - actually from the read of it, he's excited -- I'd hesitate to imply that he Shouldn't take BALOO.

 

We try to convince all Leaders, and even non-Leader parents, to take BALOO so they can feel more comfortable on overnighters.

 

It's also, like I said, a FUN day of Scout training so it's a good motivational tool to encourage volunteerism while being a good way to assess those potential volunteers' practical skills and energies.

 

jd

[Bob White]

BALOO really has nothing to do with being a den leader. The Den Leader is already the workhorse of Cub Scouts so its important that we only make them carry the load they need to.

 

Lots of things in the world are fun. He asked what would be appropriate to do in his role as a Bear Den Leader. Taking his Den to the park for the day would be more appropriate than going to BALOO for the day, for his specific job in the Pack.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[johndaigler]

Knowing that I'm stepping onto terribly thin ice, BW, I disagree with your comment that BALOO has nothing to do with being a DL.

 

BALOO training includes (amongst other topics): an Outdoor Flag Ceremony, outdoor cooking, scouting equipment, campfires, G2SS, Scout's Own, themed hikes, large group games, and first aid. All of these areas are (can be) part of a quality Den program and are the focus of many Achievements and Electives.

 

Perhaps the planning and evaluation and paperwork considerations won't be tops on the DL's memories of a day spent BALOOing, but there IS much to be gained and used by a DL who attends BALOO.

 

And again, BALOO is fun in a practical usable manner that motivates Scouters better than other training courses.

 

Sure, Unit Leaders should be focused on BALOO, but I would GUESS that many units retain a Den focus for at least part of each Pack overnighter. If so, better trained DLs make for better campouts. Additionaly, I BELIEVE Cubs view themselves more strongly tied to the Den than the Pack. If that's true, then the DL is exactly the person who should have BALOO because they are most likely the person who will be relating BALOO skills to the boys.

 

jd

[Bob White]

My point though john is that den leaders have enough to do in their den without having to carry the workload of a the pack administration as well. The unit as a whole well operate better if everyones focus on their specific job. Thats one of the reasons that the training is divided up the way it is. Den leaders don't need detais on pack operation they need to know Den operation and just enough of the pack to know where they fit in. Den leaders should not be running family camp and trying to lead the Den at the same time.

 

The skills you mention can be learned at their appropriate level at POW Wow, Roundtable, and Outdoor Training for Webelos Leaders and those are fun to do as well, and they are geared toward Den Leaders.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[mbscoutmom]

Wouldn't it be nice if there really were different people for pack administration and den leaders? I'm Bear leader and Committee Chair, and took BALOO last Spring. I agree with Bob White that it will help me more in my administrative job than as a leader, but I don't think it's unnecessary for leaders. The more people that are BALOO trained on a campout, the better!

 

 

[Cubmaster Jerry]

"Den leaders don't need detais on pack operation they need to know Den operation and just enough of the pack to know where they fit in. Den leaders should not be running family camp and trying to lead the Den at the same time."

 

Ok, everyone raise your hand if you are part of a Pack that has Committee leaders that are distinctly separated from Den Leaders. Anyone? Anyone? No, I didn't think so.

 

Bob, while I am right with you about staying within your associated responsibilities (in fact, I would almost call myself hard nosed about it), nearly every leader in a unit handles a multitude of responsibilities across all aspects of running the Pack. A DL might organize a camp or run a fund raiser for example. Maybe as in mbscoutmom's case, the leader holds both a committee position as well as being a DL. I'd love to be in a situation where my DLs could concentrate soley on their den. But then I would have about three people doing everything else.

 

I know you would wisely suggest that the unit recruit more leaders to alleviate this dual-hat operation. But I am sure you are aware that units aren't run under the dual-hat method because those leaders enjoy doing two or more jobs. Every chance I get I promote, encourage, and gently push parents to step up and take some responsibility in the pack, but, as I have said before, it is not like there is a line waiting to fill out Adult Leader Applications.

[Cubmaster-Fred]

I think that if someone wants to attend training they should never be stopped. BW no one stated that they were going to do Den level and Pack level jobs. It does not hurt to have the training. As was stated you don't just want one person BALOO qualified anyway. Just because you take the training does not mean you are necessarily going to be the one who plans the outing.

 

Not only that but you want someone to take the BALOO training that is willing to go on the pack overnighters. You can never have enough training.

 

And in your words, BW, everyone should attend training.

 

I am the PAck trainer and am having a BALOO training in the coming weeks. All registered leaders in the PAck will be BALOO trained. This will only enhance our program no hurt it.

 

YIS

CMF