Den Chief Training

[eagle-pete]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away while serving as Cubmaster, I was working with the Scoutmaster to select, prepare, and train a fine young man to be our Den Chief. At the time, I could not find anywhere where a Den Chief Training was being held. I seem to recall on occasion seeing Den Chief trainings offered at what used to be called JLT (now NYLT).

 

Although our council is offering NYLT I did not see anything in the description of the course that any Den Chief training was being offered.

 

My wife (Den Leader) was recently told that she will be getting a new Cub Scout Den Chief so we contacted the Scoutmaster. He said he was not even aware there were any materials for Den Chief trainings offered and did not know how to train the new Den Chief. I have offered to find out some information for the Scoutmaster.

 

Well, before you start saying "Get ready to train the Den Chief yourself, Pete" I was just wondering if anyone has seen a formal Den Chief training out there. How are your Den Chiefs getting trained?

 

Eagle Pete

[insanescouter]

NYLT is not Den Chief training .... NYLT is a week long leadership course, almost like a wood badge (without the ticket) for youth ... Summer of 2008 will be my 3rd time on staff for NYLT.

 

National Youth Leadership Training (NTLT) is a youth leadership development training program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The program was designed so that Scouts will learn leadership skills that can be used within Scouting and everyday life. ..... The content learned at any NYLT course is outlined in a national-level syllabus, however each council''s NYLT may have small variations in the material taught, and may add in other events or special activities not required in the NYLT outline.

 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Leadership_Training)

 

Den Chief Training is generally offered with Pow Wow, at least here. It also normally only held once a year here. A scout does not need to be trained to serve as a Den Chief, thus he can start now under the wing of the Den Leader and then when the Training comes around he can attend. DC Training is required for the DC service award.

 

Also there are tons of resources out there online and off line for Den Chiefs as well. If you would like I will try and dig out the den chief resource book I created years ago ...

 

Hope my wacky 2 cents was useful ...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

Helping leaders one resource at a time

[ScoutNut]

My council holds Den Chief training one or two times per year. We have 4 Den Chiefs and all of them are trained.

 

Talk to your District or Council Training Chair about putting together a training. National''s Den Chief Training Pamphlet is #34450C, and sells for $4.99.

 

 

[Oak Tree]

Our district usually has a big training day where they offer all types of training, and Den Chief training is one of those classes. They also offer it at other, seemingly random, times. It is a real, honest-to-God course with materials and everything. This class is the requirement for a den chief to wear the Trained strip. Adults who work with den chiefs are also encouraged to take the course.

 

You can do your own training, and you''ll need to do some anyway - probably more so with the den leaders than with the den chiefs.

[funscout]

Den Chief training is usually offered at Pow-Wow, and is always offered the weekend before Cub Scout Day Camp, in our area.

 

I didn''t realize Den Chiefs could hold the position while untrained. Now that I know that, maybe we can get more of our Boy Scouts involved. I thought they couldn''t start until they had been through training.

[Eagledad]

There are some Den Chief trainings out there. I would call the DE and ask if your district has one. If not, ask him/her to check the other districts in the council.

 

Our district did not have the training, so we did our own. After the district found out about our training, they ask our trainer to do a district Den Chief training course.

 

It is not really that hard, its more of a review of what the Den Chiefs duties are with the Den Leader so that the Den Chief and Den Leader go into the first meeting as a team. I would say couple hours.

 

I will admit that as a CM I didn''t care for den chiefs, they weren''t trained and they actually increased the work load of den leaders. But, as a SM working with Patrol Leaders, I noticed that scouts with Den Chief experience where had a lot more leadership maturity then the other scouts. So we started including Den Chief as part of our JLT program. But they should be trained or it could be a negetive experience for the Den Leaders.

 

Barry

[msnowman]

If Den Chief training isn''t offered in your district it is one task that is specifically designated as being conducted by the ACM. I had forgotten about that part until I was re-reading the Den Chief Handbook as well as National''s info on ACMs and their duties.

 

YiS

Michelle

[Narraticong]

Our Council (Detroit Area Council) offers a day long University of Scouting every year. This is a great program of all types of training geared towards adults. The one exception is Den Chief Training. My son and another boy in his patrol are brand new Den Chiefs for their old Cub Pack. They will both be participating in the training. It''s a full day class for them. I''m sure they''ll be well prepared after that!