unit commissioner

[ripulan]

I am a volunteer in an urban district that serves many scoutreach units. For many of the leaders in these units this is their first scouting experince, so teaching basic scout skills is a challenge. I have suggested that we use our monthly Roundtable to teach these skills to these leaders and to the boys in these units. The idea being that we kill two birds with one stone; improve our leaders outdoor skills, and giving the youth an oportunity to earn advancement.

 

Would appreciate any comments pro/con or sugestions on how to organize. Has anyone done something similar?

[jbroganjr]

Are you talking about just boy scout leaders and/or cub scout leaders.

I am a RT commish. I would caution turning a RT meeting into a night of "training" unless....your training is disguised as a fun type of activity or an interesting topic. Piggybacking, in my opinion, does not work, i would suggest having a module (time slot) in the RT agenda to cover a scout skill.

That said, it sounds to me that a full blown training session(s) are required. Your leaders will get so much more out of RT if they have gone through New Leader Essentials and job specific training. Round Table then truly does its job by augmenting this training, involving the group to share their experiences, good and bad, discuss program areas, etc. So Iwould schedule some NLE sessions for your group.

[ripulan]

there's the rub. Attendance at rt is abysmal, same leaders every time and not the ones needing the additional training

[Bob White]

jbroganjr brings up a very good question. Roundtable is supplemental training. For Roundtable to be effective the leaders first need a good foundation to build on. Have the leaders watched Fast Start? Have they attended New Leader Essentials, Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training and the Introduction to Outdoor Skills program yet? Roundtable attendance is a good idea and I even like to see Junior Leaders there, but is should not be used as the primary source to learn basic skills.

 

Roundtable is a good place to gain practice, learn advanced techniques, keep up on program changes and get tips from other leaders and recharge your batteries.

 

Bob White

 

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[ripulan]

The program we are trying to give a boost to is our Boy Scout program. Many of those units are small, eight boys or less with few leaders with any training, usually only the Scoutmaster.

[LauraT7]

What you might want to look into is something our district has recently started - a

"Merit Badge Opportunity Days"

 

they picked a church (latter day Saints) with good classroom setup, and arranged to teach badgework and advancement work in a classroom type setting, every other Saturday for 6 weeks on a Sat morning. Last year they did 5 "classes" 3 am and 2 afternoon - but this year they just did 3 in the morning. They got badge counselors to run the "classes" and offered whatever they could get counselors for. Sign up was in advance - this year they limited the Eagle Required Badges to those already 1st class and up.

 

This year they also offered "fast start" rank advancement training - grouping the requirements into a class - knots and lashing, or first aide, for example.

 

for the adults, who were "bussing" the kids and had to stay anyway - they offered Fast Start, YPT, SM/ASM training , Committee Challenge, Safe Swim and Safety Afloat and others.

 

While the boys 'classes' ran all three saturdays - the leader classes were sometimes only 1 or 2 saturday sessions. It worked REALLY well, involved both leaders and youth at the same time. One of the neat things was getting back together with the boys at lunchtime and catching everybody up on what ALL of us were learning. The enthusiasm was great!

 

I'm sure it took a great deal of organization, but it is becoming a standard event in our district, and they are now talking about doing TWO of these a year (spring and fall). it certainly got ALOT more of our leaders trained, as they were there with their boys, anyway.

 

LauraT

[Bob White]

There are other training courses that would do a better job of getting the units up and functioning than roundtable. Roundtable is supplemental training. It sounds like your troops need some basic training first. The best thing RT could do is help promote their participation in training and give them opportunities to practice and share what they learn.

 

Get them NLE, Scoutmaster/Asst. Scoutmaster Leader Specific, Introduction to Outdoor Skills and look into a new program called among other things Super Scouter Weekend. You will find information on them in Council/District Training Committee manual.

 

Good Luck

BW

[Eamonn]

Sounds as if this is something that you need to bring up with your Training Chair.

Every Boy Deserves A Trained Leader, is more then a catch phrase.

In both my District and Council, we will do everything possible to get these Leaders trained.

[ripulan]

LauraT7, Bob White, Eamon

Thanks for your input and suggestions.I think your ideas could be useful and workable. YIS RIP