Basic Leader Training at Round Table

[jhankins]

What are your thoughts on hosting basic adult leader training at Round Table? My district committee is entertaining requesting that Round Table host Youth protection, cub scout, boy scout, varsity and venturing specific training as break-out sessions, with the IOLS campout held twice a year for those who need to finish.

[bbender]

For myself, I like the idea of doing training at Roundtable (since RT events should impart knowledge and skills), but whether one should make that the program (or part of the program) would depend heavily on whether your existing RT program is working.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

The downside to offering the sessions would be that some will decide not to attend on account of "having the training already", though many (hopefully, most, given the spirit of Roundtable) would likely attend as trainers, or at least "helpers" who can chime in with the stories and tricks that are often the key take-aways that many attendees remember from any training class.

 

Of course, if your RTs are just FRs (Flyer Recitals: the reading of the data on the flyers that are laid out on the table, with each flyer reading preceded by "oh, this is important", and each reading followed by "put that on your calendar"), then doing the training (especially with input from the experienced hands) is a "win / win" in my opinion.

 

My $0.02.

[dg98adams]

I personally don't think it's a good idea, and probably not advisable.

 

YPT is online.

 

Keeping up with the attendance/to which meeting/break out on which which portion of the training was covered could be a logistical nightmare when it comes time for the IOLS/IOWLS camp out.

 

RT is a good place for information/speakers not normally available at scheduled times through out the year.

 

And to echo BBender.... don't "READ" the flyers ...hand 'em out, inform about upcoming events/info not on the council ... website calender

 

(This message has been edited by dg98adams)

[Eagle92]

YP training prior to recharter, yes, but i think you would lose some attendance if you offered it during RT.

 

Now if you offered it prior to or after RT, maybe.

[moosetracker]

I offered the YP during Round Table Nov. just befor recharter, seprate classroom, optional to attend, announced in email & Flyer so those who don't attend RT normally, but do not want to do on-line YPT for whatever reason..

 

No one was held hostage, the normal breakouts went on..

 

We also held on-line recharter & on-line advancement training course in another room same month..

 

Those are courses that can be run during that time period.. I am iffy about courses that need you to return 2 - 10 times to complete.. What do you do about the people who can not make a class? Then you have Joe who missed the knots, and Ann who missed the cooking, And Peter who missed the orienteering.. Now what..?

 

Also the guy in our district who organizes RT chewed me out for this, thinking I was going to pull people out of the normal break out sessions, and according to him "RT is not for training.." Well RT is really for training, but not this type.. Really our intended audience was not the SM's or ASM's that normally attended RT, but committee members for Recharter/Advancement & people who are "computer challenged" for YP

 

Before Committee Challenge went on line, I know our district held these once or twice at RT also..

[moosetracker]

Hopefully it will not seem rude to expand on this thread a little but my DE commented he would like to do something at RT also in training.. I am hesitant to tell him "not a good idea"..

 

He would like me to have a 15 minute slot for training on "whatever" at the general assembly.. Here are my feelings.

 

Training on "whatever" is sort of what does happen in the breakouts, but those are on subject relevent to the type of unit you serve. Although I can come up with some topics that may be of interest to both, that list is short. I kind of feel I am stepping on the toes of those running RT.. Is this a correct assumption?

 

I have gone to some troop breakouts, but not many, last one had announcements on the Klondike derby, and some awards.. But then they had someone in to talk about geo-caching, or something.. Others had someone talk about their units event to Seabase, or they might pitch summer camp etc..

 

So sometimes, it's training or knowledge based, sometimes it promotional..

 

But if you did the RT breakout, would you be upset if 15 minutes went to someone else to do training?? Wouldn't you feel like someone thought you weren't doing your job?

[dkurtenbach]

In the pre-online training era, we had great success offering various training at 7:00 PM before the 8:00 Roundtable. It got folks trained and increased Roundtable attendance. Then the district training committee took over doing the training and started going way past 8:00, so we had to stop doing training before RT.

 

A couple of times over the years I have proposed doing the classroom portion of SM/ASM training at the same time as RT. (Last year when we had no RT Commissioner, I suggested doing it _as_ the RT program. I figured most of the attendees wouldn't see any difference between the training material and the normal RT program anyway.) As I see it, the ideal would be to break the syllabus down into blocks of about 1 1/2 hours each, and run two or three cycles each year. Anyone who missed a session would have other chances to make it up -- all it would take is a little recordkeeping; really no different than Scouts using blue cards to track merit badge requirements and their handbooks to track advancement requirements.

[UCEagle72]

Down here, we offer BS Leader Specific at RT for three months - Sept-Oct-Nov, and again in Spring - Feb-Mar-Apr. We have been offering a YPT class at RT for anyone who wants to take it, usually runs every other month. We have also done Venture Leader Specific Training at RT.

 

Whatever works to get folks trained. No -- not the best place to do it -- but if it serves a part of the population, then it is worth it!

 

[moxieman]

For the past few years in the fall, we have been offering Cub Leader Basic Training on the same night/location as roundtable. We are fortunate to meet in a facility with several meeting rooms. It is offered in addition to the roundtable program. We've also done this with YP.

 

Yes, YP is online...if you have high speed access. A good portion of our rural district does not. Try accessing the BSA national site with a 56K dial-up modem, and you'll understand why we continue to offer live versions of the online trainings up this way.

[pchadbo]

Moose,

As one of the people who will be at those Round Tables where you will be training "whatever" unless it is related to the topic at hand, useful, or just plain interesting, the crowd will not stay interested in "whatever" we have enough trouble sitting (staying awake) through the announcements and the "regular stuff" as it is.

Also what can you train in 15 minutes anyway?

 

Oh and BTW have you seen our mailboxes lately?

pchadbo

 

[moosetracker]

You mean the boxes I stuff my Training Flyers into at RT?? The ones where half the units have stuff in there dating one or two years back because they never pick them up?.. Our New DE went through them and tossed alot because he was sick & tired of lugging outdated info around in it..

 

Yeah.. I couldn't think of too much "whatever" that would be of interest to BS & CS groups.. (Our crews are small & don't even do a break out so don't think many come) What I did think of came from topics off this forum..

 

Working with your CO & COR.

Webloes to Boyscouts (easing the transition).

Scout Parent position..

 

Oh boy.. 3 to 4 months of "whatever".. Even so, I feel like I would be stealing the time away from those who normally do the RT subjects.

[BadenP]

IMHO this fast food mentality regarding training in the BSA does nothing more than exacerbate a seriously growing problem within the organization, poorly trained and severely undertrained adult leadership. The CSE doesn't seem to care so why should we. Look, in Cubs you might be able to get away with these poorly done online trainings but in boy scouts and venturing the lack of proper skills and knowledge could put these kids in potential danger. Maybe after a series of some more deadly accidents even Mazzuca may discover why it is essential to require QUALITY training for all the scout leaders in the BSA. Roundtable and online are not the places for mainstream training, that is not what they were designed to do.

[FScouter]

There is a training element to Round Table - Small stuff like how to utilize the troop meeting planning sheet, or how to make a pitalator.

 

It would be rude to folks that want Round Table to find it turned into a basic training event. It would also be rude to folks that want to be trained that they cannot take advantage of Round Table.

 

Concurrent events at the same time and same location just forces folks to choose which they will attend. Or, they find out that RT was gutted in favor of a training event and they've been cheated.

 

I've found that the ONLY reason the training people push this is to make their life easier - they don't have to work as hard to do a real training event.

[UCEagle72]

I've found that the ONLY reason the training people push this is to make their life easier - they don't have to work as hard to do a real training event.

 

Guess you have never had an adult leader come up to you and say "I can't take a Saturday to do a training, ...... (insert favorite excuse here). Can we do it another time?"

 

Plus, many times, it is the FIRST time some of these leaders have ever been to a Round Table, just to take training. Now you get them there three months in a row, they have some free time to see what is happening, then you start to get them into attending regularly.

 

And, I know I plan my "Patrol Method" presentation (yes, the real presentation, not the one in the training book) just the same if it is a "part 1" class at RT, or an all-day class held at a Camporee or District Training Day.

(This message has been edited by UCEagle72)

[FScouter]

I served as district training chairman for several years and as you can guess, there is NO day or time that won't generate complaints. Folks can't come on a weekday, and other folks can't come on a weekend. We just find times that have the fewest conflicts and put them on the calendar months in advance. The RT day and time is a conflict. You can do one or the other and not both.

 

From a training standpoint I'd never schedule training on RT nights because the attendance for training would be LESS. And the RT people squeal like stuck pigs for causing their RT attendance to drop. It is lose-lose.