Wood Badge

[renoed]

Could someone please explain exactly what Wood Badge is and why a volunteer should consider doing it. I'm new at this, old, and extremely dumb so use small words and short sentences please .

[emb021]

Have you asked people in your council?

 

 

Wood Badge, basically, is the BSA's advanced training course for all scouting leaders. They expect/hope that all leaders try to go thru WB within their first couple of years of becoming a leader. You should have your basic training under your belt and some experience as a leader before taking it.

 

You go thru a course which will teach you more about leadership and scouting. An important asked of this is that to fully complete the course, you need to set goals for yourself (put into practice what you learned). Once you do so, you receive your beads.

 

WB was, in fact, created by B-P as an advanced training course and is used in different forms around the world.

 

[SR540Beaver]

From my council's Wood Badge website, www.lfcwoodbadge.org.

 

Why Should I Go?

 

Have you ever been on a trip that you didn't know where you were going? How did you know when you got there?

 

How can you teach the youth in your unit if you don't know the skills yourself?

 

Wood Badge is Scouting's premier training course for adult leaders. It provides participants with practical tools to fulfill the aims and methods of the Scouting program. The quality of the scouting experience for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Venturers depends on the skills, knowledge, and commitment of those adult leaders who have given their time and energy to the Scouting movement.

 

Wood Badge offers a six day immersion in the theory, practice, and experience of effective skills for leading others within Scouting and in many environments beyond the BSA. Like many intense training experiences, it guides participants through learning activities where they work together, organize, and develop an enthusiasm and team spirit to accomplish the tasks and challenges placed before them.

 

Participants who attend Wood Badge will:

 

Acquire a global view of Scouting as a family of interrelated values-based programs providing age-appropriate activities for youth.

Become familiar with contemporary team leadership concepts.

Experience the stages of team development and practice leadership approaches for those stages.

Have a great deal of fun in the company of like minded individuals.

Develop a renewed commitment to provide Scouting with the best possible leadership.

 

What Will I Learn?

 

Leadership skills and how to apply them, in Scouting and everywhere else in your life. The course covers team building, listening and communicating, project management, how to manage change, conflict management and resolution, coaching and mentoring, and evaluating. In addition to classroom instruction, there are a variety of fun projects and games that will allow you to practice the skills you will be learning.

 

Finally, Wood Badge is the embodiment of Scouting spirit. Carried out in context of Scouting ideals and service to young people, the course brings out a deep dedication and spirit of brotherhood and fellowship in most participants. Associations and friendships made during the course often last a lifetime.

[eghiglie]

Why I went (and it wasn't to get the jacket or the beads).

 

I heard a lot about it and how it could change a person.

 

I've spent 12 years in college and I am an expert Engineer and System Architect, but in those years the Management courses didn't teach Leadership. So I went to Woodbadge. HAD A BLAST, LEARNED A LOT, GOT TWO T-SHIRTS. For what its worth I was elected Permanent Patrol Leader of the Bobwhites!

 

Learned a lot abut leadership that has helped me lead small teams. In 2007 I founded a Troop based on what I learned at Woodbadge, and became the SM.

 

Did I find WB perfect, not at all. You will need family support to 'graduate'. But the returns are priceless.

 

 

[Frank17]

I attended Wood badge well into my scouter career, after 5 years in cub scouts (DL, WDL, CM) and 3 years as an ASM in boy scouts. What it did for me was to refocus my attention back on what the goals and aims of scouting were and give me some tools and ideas to be able to achieve them. It is fundamentally a team management course (it will not teach you about scouting skills - take Outdoor Specific SM training for that) that allows you to learn ways to problem solve and work together to achieve goals. Much like how scout troops and patrols are supposed to function. It will also give you homework to help your troop / pack in the form of your wood badge ticket which consists of 5 projects you choose as areas to work on.

 

In all honesty, I did not learn a great deal about management I did not already know, but it was good to see it presented again in a different format. The ticket was great, as it allowed me to help out my Troop and make some lasting changes to improve it. The best part was spending time with my scouting peers in a wonderful format and discussing how they ran their programs and bouncing ideas off them. The new scouter friends I gained were great.

 

In simple terms (you asked!):

 

Wood badge course fee: $200

Wood badge time away: 6 days

New wood badge patches & uniform acessories: $40

New wood badge patrol lifelong buddies: Priceless!

[AvidSM]

Wood Badge is about leadership and learning how to apply it. It shows you what skills you need to be a good scout leader. With these skills, you will complete your ticket, which is turning an idea you have about scouting into reality. Once you realize that you can do this, hopfully you will implement more ideas to benefit the scouting program.

 

People always wonder what's the idea behind the beads. Once you get them, you realize the YOU are now behind the beads.

[renoed]

Thank you everyone who replied. I think it will be more useful if I spend some time with the pack before I consider Wood Badge. I have a lot to learn and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I will definitely talk to the CM and the council folks. They are an asset I plan on making a lot of use of.

[Trevorum]

Wood Badge is fun. You'll make new friends and learn new skills. It's never too soon to experience Wood Badge. You'll be glad you did!

[lrsap]

I don't want my comments on Wood Badge to be misinterpreted. I attended the course, got quite a bit out of it, and I am very glad I went.

 

However, I went when I was a Tiger Leader, with just 5 months total Scouting experience under my belt. I was full of enthusiasm, and thought hey, I might as well go for the best. Had I known then what I know now, I would have definitely waited a good 2 - 3 years before attending. I feel I would have gotten a lot more out of the course if I were a bit more seasoned.

[Frank17]

Renoed said: "I think it will be more useful if I spend some time with the pack before I consider Wood Badge."

 

I would agree with your assessment. I considered taking it while in cub scouts but did not yet have enough adult scouter experience to really be able to appreciate and understand the program. Life conspired against me for a few years after that, so I was in our Troop for 3 years before I was able to take it. As a result, I really understood the mechanics of the program and where our Troop's weaknesses were before I wrote my ticket. It was worth the wait.