Why Wood Badge?

[StewScouts]

So is Woodbadge responsible for the Prissy Troops????? I think it is at least partly responsible....

 

I am an advocate for Advance Outdoor skills course AOS...... To be an SM you are required to take this course....To be an ASM you must take IOLS.....

 

Because in this day and age.....More and More gals and inexperience men are stepping up to be SM and simply don't have a clue.

Basement - Comments like these just sound like trolling to me - trying to get a rise out of good people.

[StewScouts]

At the moment, I'm in the middle of the Woodbadge course in Vermont, started last weekend. So I'm a bit biased, maybe.

 

Two years ago the Course Director talked up WB way too much and recruited me heavily, to the point where I was turned off and said "not yet." Experienced adults my troop who'd taken in Council agreed that I should wait until I was ready (because I'd get more from it, not because of that Director). Once I knew who the Director was this time, I signed up.

 

I don't know about how they do the program where you are, but I would rate the content and delivery of this course very highly.

 

That's even though I was a Scout for 10 years, did Junior Leader Training (Council version of NYLT in my day) and have been an ASM for 5 years. I've also had plenty of professional training, including project management, team-building, negotiations, an MBA from a major university. Yes, I've learned some of the concepts before, but learning with this group, in the Scouting context, then applying it both during the training weekend and the "break month" is really bringing the concepts home for me. My patrol is mixed but we're all learning from each other.

 

As to the Woodbadger who said "My ticket was stuff I was going to do anyhow....", who wrote those tickets? When a friend in my course said he was encouraged to take that easy way out, my stomach churned, because he's got much more potential. If you don't do anything different than what you would have anyway, how can ANYONE benefit? How could you be so lazy and then blame the course? The failure is your own, no one else's. I'm normally pretty lazy, but I know I'll only get out of it what I put in. If I don't stretch myself then the boys in my troop won't benefit either, which is why I went.

 

Life is what you make it. Given solid course material and good trainers (our are excellent), WB is what you make it.

 

[Basementdweller]

At the moment, I'm in the middle of the Woodbadge course in Vermont, started last weekend. So I'm a bit biased, maybe.

 

Two years ago the Course Director talked up WB way too much and recruited me heavily, to the point where I was turned off and said "not yet." Experienced adults my troop who'd taken in Council agreed that I should wait until I was ready (because I'd get more from it, not because of that Director). Once I knew who the Director was this time, I signed up.

 

I don't know about how they do the program where you are, but I would rate the content and delivery of this course very highly.

 

That's even though I was a Scout for 10 years, did Junior Leader Training (Council version of NYLT in my day) and have been an ASM for 5 years. I've also had plenty of professional training, including project management, team-building, negotiations, an MBA from a major university. Yes, I've learned some of the concepts before, but learning with this group, in the Scouting context, then applying it both during the training weekend and the "break month" is really bringing the concepts home for me. My patrol is mixed but we're all learning from each other.

 

As to the Woodbadger who said "My ticket was stuff I was going to do anyhow....", who wrote those tickets? When a friend in my course said he was encouraged to take that easy way out, my stomach churned, because he's got much more potential. If you don't do anything different than what you would have anyway, how can ANYONE benefit? How could you be so lazy and then blame the course? The failure is your own, no one else's. I'm normally pretty lazy, but I know I'll only get out of it what I put in. If I don't stretch myself then the boys in my troop won't benefit either, which is why I went.

 

Life is what you make it. Given solid course material and good trainers (our are excellent), WB is what you make it.

All courses are not created equal.

 

Not all tickets are created equal....

 

Since you quoted me.......you don't know me from adam......I know for a fact that my ticket was the toughest in my patrol, as a matter of fact the SPL's son was in the course and a staff member came to our campsite and dictated his ticket to him. If you dig deep enough you can find where I posted it. It was crappy stuff like lose weight or date night with the wife or stupid crap like that.

[Basementdweller]

So is Woodbadge responsible for the Prissy Troops????? I think it is at least partly responsible....

 

I am an advocate for Advance Outdoor skills course AOS...... To be an SM you are required to take this course....To be an ASM you must take IOLS.....

 

Because in this day and age.....More and More gals and inexperience men are stepping up to be SM and simply don't have a clue.

It is the truth....Sorry you don't like it.

 

How many SM's do you know who were not boy scouts???? I know a couple....One is a great guy and excellent outdoors man.....The other two not so much and could use the AOS course.... Search the Archive I have a thread about it.

[qwazse]

At the moment, I'm in the middle of the Woodbadge course in Vermont, started last weekend. So I'm a bit biased, maybe.

 

Two years ago the Course Director talked up WB way too much and recruited me heavily, to the point where I was turned off and said "not yet." Experienced adults my troop who'd taken in Council agreed that I should wait until I was ready (because I'd get more from it, not because of that Director). Once I knew who the Director was this time, I signed up.

 

I don't know about how they do the program where you are, but I would rate the content and delivery of this course very highly.

 

That's even though I was a Scout for 10 years, did Junior Leader Training (Council version of NYLT in my day) and have been an ASM for 5 years. I've also had plenty of professional training, including project management, team-building, negotiations, an MBA from a major university. Yes, I've learned some of the concepts before, but learning with this group, in the Scouting context, then applying it both during the training weekend and the "break month" is really bringing the concepts home for me. My patrol is mixed but we're all learning from each other.

 

As to the Woodbadger who said "My ticket was stuff I was going to do anyhow....", who wrote those tickets? When a friend in my course said he was encouraged to take that easy way out, my stomach churned, because he's got much more potential. If you don't do anything different than what you would have anyway, how can ANYONE benefit? How could you be so lazy and then blame the course? The failure is your own, no one else's. I'm normally pretty lazy, but I know I'll only get out of it what I put in. If I don't stretch myself then the boys in my troop won't benefit either, which is why I went.

 

Life is what you make it. Given solid course material and good trainers (our are excellent), WB is what you make it.

Like you, I put off going until I was ready to put up with the demands of the course. I'm sure that was a factor in my success.

 

Don't disrespect the "going to do anyway" smack. There are lots of things that we think we're going to do anyway, and they don't get done. During my 18 months I was advising my crew in going to Seabase Bahamas, it wasn't a ticket item because I felt it was "routine", but it consumed 2/3rds of the 18 months allotted to work my ticket. Several of my goals (the diversity one comes to mind) would have been more successful if I had incorporated them into that super-activity. That didn't happen because I was too proud and wanted things on my ticket that I had no time to even start until the "big rock" was out of the way.

[Crew21_Adv]

Fellow Scouters,

 

A late reply, but if I can offer my comments about Why Wood Badge.

 

I attended WB for Boy Scout Leaders 25 years ago as a young ASM and have served five staff experiences with WBforBSL and WB21C, one staff for JLTC and two staff experience for NYLT. I'll reserve my opinions about the changes between the old and new courses for another post.

 

What I have seen. Some elitism and some forget the bottom line, with too many games and clubs recently. Some serve their Pack, Troop, Team, Crew or District, bringing new programs that may have been completed skipped by unit leadership or reviving advancement programs that were forgotten. Similar to DanBrew's post, it is the effect a WB learner has on the Scouting unit. It is not the leadership courses that a person may have already experienced or outdoor skills which they have already mastered.

 

For some Scouters, WB21C is a waste of time. Their Scouting unit will benefit very little.

 

But... For other Scouters, Wood Badge has benefited their youth! Where the percentage separation is, I cannot estimate. I can state that I have witnessed lack of positive results and selfish agendas, and also witnessed some tremendous work with Scouts learning Citizenship, Character and Fitness. Some Scouts experiencing unique learning for the first time. Some Scouts considering future careers they have been exposed to, as a result of a dedicated leader attending Wood Badge.

 

Why Wood Badge? In my opinion, Wood Badge is worth it, when it benefits a youth.

 

Crew21_Adv

 

[Stosh]

Why would anyone take WB for any other reasonthan for the boys? Well maybe as an ego trip...

[SR540Beaver]

Why would anyone take WB for any other reasonthan for the boys? Well maybe as an ego trip...

We've all seen those people. Everything they do is an ego trip, not just WB. Anthony Weiner comes to mind. Me personally, I can find much easier and cheaper ways to stroke my ego than using vacation days to take a course from sunup to sundown, while living in a tent and cooking on a coleman stove. I guess it just depends on how big someone's ego is. Again, Anthony Weiner comes to mind. LOL

[Brewmeister]

I took Wood Badge because I believe it is incumbent on all adult leaders in the program to avail themselves of training, and this was described as the "mountaintop experience." However, it is much more "how to succeed in your job" than "how to be a better scout leader." I can't say I've put much of it to use as an ASM.

 

The biggest benefit to having done Wood Badge is the people I have met who have proven to be valuable resources. I have found new opportunities for our scouts that I did not know were out there and have brought additional resources to the troop as well. It is possible that this could have been done over time through regular networking, roundtables, etc., but it was more likely to happen through the course setting. I keep in regular contact with one of my patrol-mates as well as our Troop Guide from the course.

[desertrat77]

Why Woodbadge? When I staffed the course almost two years ago, I asked that question of the 50 or so participants, and here is (unedited) what some of them wrote:::

“REASONS WHY I TOOK WOOD BADGE†(or, Why YOU should take Wood Badge)

 

*I took away a lot of ideas from everyone else, not just the staff.

*It reminds me of how much fun Scouting can be.

*The fellowship.

*It helps to build leadership in my Troop.

*My sense of obligation makes me want to payback to Scouting.

*Self-empowerment. I can do more, because I can.

*To grow spiritually.

*It keeps the Pack trainer off my back.

*It’s my Eagle. To accomplish it as my special project.

*To hear awesome bugling.

*To learn leadership skills.

*A chance to play and camp as an adult.

*Train to make better project planning.

*Gives you the BIG picture of Scouting, not just the day to day stuff.

*Gets you in a Scout Spirit atmosphere.

*Looking for the “AHA†moments. Found’em.

*Make the transition from Cub Scout to Boy Scout more seamless.

*Gain in understanding the “other†Scout.

*I am not alone.

*Seeking ‘Personal Growth’, it’s not just about the boys and girls, but adults too.

*It renews your energy for Scouting.

*Big chance, not just happenstance, to interface with lots of other Scouters.

*“A raven is like a writing deskâ€Â.

*Supreme networking.

*Observing excellent exampling of Scout leading..

*Learning that everyone has their own strengths and talents and weaknesses – that the group can often accomplish more together than anyone singularly.

*To experience the very best in leadership (what they told me before I came!). I think I did.

*I gained tools to look at one’s past to be a better leader in the future.

*You can’t help your Scouts “get it†until you “get itâ€Â, and Wood Badge is where I “got itâ€Â.

*“Rehydrate†for Scouting souls: Water for the physical body, Wood Badge for the “Scouting†body.

*For the Coffee.

*Obtain a deeper understanding of the purpose of Scouting.

*If you choose to do something, if you volunteer to do something, don’t you want the best skills to enable you to do that something the very best way possible? Why do it half way?

*To benefit from them that have “been there and done thatâ€Â.

 

The ones that did not respond? Well, I can't report wht they didn't tell me.

 

Whew. What a list.

 

Alas, the spirit of WB continues to escape me. I'll struggle on, though, in my un-beaded, unwashed state.

[SSScout]

What was that saying, "you can lead a horse to water...?" . Like I said, this is what they wrote, some are enthused, some not so. I met one man who was from New Jersey (the course was in Virginia), who seemed to do WB as a hobby. He told me this was his tenth (!) WB course he had attended. He just liked camping and the commeraderie, I guess. I asked him, did he do more "tickets", too? He said no, after his first course, the WB served to help restoke his "Scouting fires" (his words).

It can be fun, it can be instructional, it can "certify" you know certain stuff, it's like any other instructional course.

It can be *yawn" I've been here before, or "wow, that is so neat". or " tell me more" or " hey, that is a good example, never thought of that" or " I paid $xxx for THIS????" .... many different possibilities.

It depends......

Yeah, everyone has their own take on the course, and everyone has the luck of the draw (not every course staff is a good/bad/so-so as mine/yours/that one), and everyone comes with their own preconcieved notions (or lack of) and past experiences to compare with and draw from. .

 

At least we asked their opinion before they scattered.

[mashmaster]

Just got back from weekend #1 for woodbadge. I had a lot fun, I do think that much of the training isn't awesome since I've done a lot of training before. But working together in the patrol method is a bunch of fun. The biggest problem is being partnered with 2 people in the patrol that are total dead weight. I guess that is the experience that the boys will have to deal with when they are in scouts. My son is a cub still so I feel like this is preparing me for that future transition.

[LeCastor]

In the late 1980s as a Cub Scout in the Atlanta Area Council, I would go to day camps and "Cuborees" with my Dens. It may sound hokey, but I was always intrigued by the Scouters in their red jac-shirts and wooden beads. I looked up to those guys/gals because they were SO good with the Cubs. They were "boy-men" as B-P would say. I felt comfortable approaching them and talking to them because they spoke my language and looked like they were having as much fun as I was.

 

Just this past weekend, I was on staff at a joint SM-Specific/IOLS course (someone's Wood Badge ticket item) at our local council camp property. During a break, I went for a hike with another fellow staffer and we came across a Patrol of young Scouts. They approached me immediately and starting showing me the cool things they had found on their hike: broken arrows from the archery range, broken clay pigeons from the shotgun range, and plastic coins with the face of Abraham Lincoln engraved upon them. They didn't think twice before approaching me and sharing their excitement with me. It was at that moment that I realized I had become one of those Scouters I looked up to when I was even younger than they are now.

 

I was wearing my Wood Badge regalia but that had nothing to do with why the Scouts engaged me in excited conversation. The truth is, having the right attitude as a Scouter is what attracts the Scouts. If you are a boy-man and provide positive guidance with a great attitude, I believe you can have a lasting influence on countless young men.

 

In April 2011, I came back to Scouting after a 15-year period where I was in school and starting a career. It dawned on me that I could/should give back to local youth by serving as

[LeCastor]

an assistant Scoutmaster. So I found a Troop in the area and they asked me to be their Scoutmaster seven months later. I immediately took all the training courses I could and signed up for Wood Badge, too, because I had read about it and had known those Scouters in Atlanta who had sported the beads. SM-Specific and IOLS were good at pumping me up and getting me excited about learning and engaging the Scouts in my Troop.

 

Wood Badge for the 21st Century was more PowerPoint than I would have wanted. It would have been much cooler to have hands-on Scoutcraft training but, alas, we don't have that opportunity now. What I did enjoy about WB21C was living and working with my Beaver Patrol for a week (as opposed to two separate weekends). We experienced camping and cooking together just as a Scout Patrol would at summer camp. We had PLC meetings and shared the responsibility of Patrol Leader over the course of the week. We met loads of new people from around the council and out-of-council. So, networking. My ticket was aimed as helping grow my Troop and make Scouting possible for as many young men as possible, despite economic hardships that exist in our area. Sure, I had these ideas going into WB21C but the ticket-writing forced me to sit down and formulate it. All in all, my week was a great experience from the point of view of a Patrol outing with like-minded people who are united by the movement of Scouting.

 

Still, I see William Hillcourt and Buck Carson in this photo and think about how Wood Badge would have been if they were my Scoutmaster/Course Directors:

 

Wood Badge was $210 and a week of vacation--for me not a be big deal. Did I take away some valuable things for my Troop? Absolutely. Was it lashing skills or how to tie a bowline? No. I gladly supplement my Scouting training by reading William Hillcourt's writings and studing B-P's Aids to Scoutmastership. I read this forum and try to tune out the bickering in order to get to the meat of the posts. I read Clarke Green's blog at scoutmastercg,com. I go to Roundtable and meet new people and get new ideas. I volunteer to teach IOLS and SM-Specific because it helps me learn the concepts a little better. Teaching is an excellent way to learn something!

 

A long post that I've been meaning to write for several months...Train yourself or go to Wood Badge like any other training course...OR...do both. It's up to you, Packsaddle. No one training course is going to satisfy everyone's needs. JBlake, keep being awesome. Basementdweller, (you could try being a little less pessimistic :-)) continue to be awesome. EVERYONE who contributes to this forum is awesome in that they are Scouters who want to give back to the youth.

[Sentinel947]

an assistant Scoutmaster. So I found a Troop in the area and they asked me to be their Scoutmaster seven months later. I immediately took all the training courses I could and signed up for Wood Badge, too, because I had read about it and had known those Scouters in Atlanta who had sported the beads. SM-Specific and IOLS were good at pumping me up and getting me excited about learning and engaging the Scouts in my Troop.

 

Wood Badge for the 21st Century was more PowerPoint than I would have wanted. It would have been much cooler to have hands-on Scoutcraft training but, alas, we don't have that opportunity now. What I did enjoy about WB21C was living and working with my Beaver Patrol for a week (as opposed to two separate weekends). We experienced camping and cooking together just as a Scout Patrol would at summer camp. We had PLC meetings and shared the responsibility of Patrol Leader over the course of the week. We met loads of new people from around the council and out-of-council. So, networking. My ticket was aimed as helping grow my Troop and make Scouting possible for as many young men as possible, despite economic hardships that exist in our area. Sure, I had these ideas going into WB21C but the ticket-writing forced me to sit down and formulate it. All in all, my week was a great experience from the point of view of a Patrol outing with like-minded people who are united by the movement of Scouting.

 

Still, I see William Hillcourt and Buck Carson in this photo and think about how Wood Badge would have been if they were my Scoutmaster/Course Directors:

 

Wood Badge was $210 and a week of vacation--for me not a be big deal. Did I take away some valuable things for my Troop? Absolutely. Was it lashing skills or how to tie a bowline? No. I gladly supplement my Scouting training by reading William Hillcourt's writings and studing B-P's Aids to Scoutmastership. I read this forum and try to tune out the bickering in order to get to the meat of the posts. I read Clarke Green's blog at scoutmastercg,com. I go to Roundtable and meet new people and get new ideas. I volunteer to teach IOLS and SM-Specific because it helps me learn the concepts a little better. Teaching is an excellent way to learn something!

 

A long post that I've been meaning to write for several months...Train yourself or go to Wood Badge like any other training course...OR...do both. It's up to you, Packsaddle. No one training course is going to satisfy everyone's needs. JBlake, keep being awesome. Basementdweller, (you could try being a little less pessimistic :-)) continue to be awesome. EVERYONE who contributes to this forum is awesome in that they are Scouters who want to give back to the youth.

Woodbadge is similiar to almost everything else in life, it is what you make of it.

 

 

 

I'm glad I've found another devotee of Scoutmastercg.com. Keep attending your roundtable and gaining more knowledge about Scouting! Teaching IOLS and SM- Specifics is a great way to improve Scouting in your area!

 

 

 

Yours in Scouting,

 

Sentinel947