WB I, WB II - what's next ?

jkeess said
Originally, 2 beads were issued. When supplies became low, BP started issuing 1. It's an interesting bit of history and recognition is important. As I have my beads, I have problems whatsoever with the tradition, just the emotional attachment attached to Gillwell beads. Recognition is not rank and training should not he seen as a means to gain the use of a symbol.

With respect ,Please don't correct me unless you are sure about the correction. I do not post "facts" unless I have properly researched, and am sure of, my facts. Please see http://www.scouting.milestones.btinternet.co.uk/woodbadge.htm and scroll down to "Scout Use of the Beads: and then to Variationswhere the explanation is given by the official Boy Scout Historian, E.E. Reynolds who attended the 2nd Wood Badge course ever held and should know what he was awarded.

I was, however, talking about the very first course in 1919.mThe first woodbadge course was issued two beads, they soon ran short, and one of the early exercises in WB was to whittle yourself a second to keep a sense of uniformity with previous WB recipients.

See: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqd ... 145001.pdf

http://www.scouting.milestones.btintern ... dbadge.htm:

"In 1919 at the first Scoutmasters' training course at Gilwell, B-P had wondered what to give the successful participants, but came up with nothing. Then he thought about the bead necklace. A couple of days later, B-http://www.scouting.milestones.btinternet.co.uk/woodbadge.htmP invited the participants to the restaurant in Scout HQ, presented them with two beads each and told them to go out and buy themselves a shoelace to put them on. Originally he intended that the beads should be worn on the hat."

My apologies to you, I should have specified in my first posting. You are quite correct.

Errol:

TD-1 is the Trainer Development course that is required for the Trainer I certification. It was scheduled in our council last November, but we had a death in the family and it was impossible for me to attend (also, I didn't have my WB II yet). There is no TD-2 or TD-3 course.

Just a note: You don't have to have your WBII to take Trainer I. You need WBI to take Trainer I & Woodbadge II to take Tranier II. At least that's the way it is here

I knew that, I just preferred to have WB II first. Seemed to make more sense to me, plus the trainers in my area strongly recommend getting the WB II before TD-1 or as soon thereafter as possible. I think they like using the WB II courses as a vetting of scouter's abilities in communication and mentoring, and then invite those they think would be good trainers to take TD-1. This makes sense to me.

Errol:
... Right now, the only training we can get is by going to a different Area, usually Kingston (Loyalist) or one of the Ottawa Areas, and scouts and their parents aren't inclined to travel that far and stay overnight.

Most of the activities we do are council wide especially training. We hold 4-5 WBI and 1-2 WBII each year spread out through the year and areas so you can pick the most convenient time and place.

If you are able to get trainers in each area I would encourage you to do so. It is something that we would like to do.

All of our wood badges are done as weekend camps. We find some of the best ideas are shared around the campfire when the leaders are relaxing without kids. Occasionally WBII is done as a week long family camp.

You may also want to consider running FAST, FLEX, or FOCUS courses in your area for youth.

What training is required for putting on FAST, FLEX and FOCUS?

Brockville Malak:

There is no formal training required to train FAST, FLEX, or FOCUS. The programs are designed to be run for youth by youth with whatever adult guidance necessary. Below is the link for the trainer's manuals. The first page explains the requirements & etc. If you have any specific questions about anything in the manual feel free to DM me!


http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/LinkClick.aspx ... tabid=2799

Brockville Malak:

There is no formal training required to train FAST, FLEX, or FOCUS. The programs are designed to be run for youth by youth with whatever adult guidance necessary. Below is the link for the trainer's manuals. The first page explains the requirements & etc. If you have any specific questions about anything in the manual feel free to DM me!


http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/LinkClick.aspx ... tabid=2799

Thanks for the materials, Kaylee. We have a GC meeting in two weeks, and I'll bring up the idea of a camp for FLEX and FAST training. Looks like it would be a good method to "groom" future ALs and SITs.

I started on my personal odyssey to become a Trainer III. I"ll be a "trainee" trainer at a WB I in October, under the trainers from my WB II.

Angus-

If you do decide to run these programs, there's a link to a feedback survey in the national youth network page on scouts.ca, we'd love to have your feedback on the materials! Also- let your CYC or AYC know you're running one- we're trying to keep track of how many as well as how they go!

I quickly read though that fast/flex training document and it looked quite well done. The next step would be to develop a good patrol leader course. I think that lack of a working patrol system in many (most?) troops is our biggest missed opportunity. Looking at other youth programs (cadets and brigantine tall ships), they place more emphasis on youth leadership, while we (myself included) place more emphasis on activities.

I have a couple of resources that I have collected from the UK and Ireland that could be used as a basis:

Patrol Leader training course: http://1stmerrickville.ca/scouts/docs/PLTC.zip
Patrol Leader Top 10: http://1stmerrickville.ca/scouts/docs/pltop10.htm
The Patrol System: http://1stmerrickville.ca/scouts/docs/t ... system.htm


Allan.

Back in my youth days (1976-1983), our troop was really good at the patrol system. We camped as a patrol, bought food as a patrol, cooked as a patrol, and engaged in all our activities as a patrol, at least in the first two years of my being in a Troop (prior to a disastrous leadership handover). It is the best method of engaging kids and having them take responsibility for themselves.

FAST looks to be a good basis for this, but I agree, Allan, having more PL training, and an emphasis on Courts of Honour, would be of real benefit. Glad to see them in the Action Plan.

To get this thread a little bit back on track ("adult training and development" as opposed to "youth training and development"), I took my WB I Group Committee course this past weekend at Scouting HQ in Ottawa. I am on our committee, and my Group Commissioner was also there. What an amazing course, but very, very information intense. I would suggest that any member of the Group Committee and section leaders who report to the GC should take this course.

This course really helps one understand the nature and importance of proper risk management, recruiting new adult leaders, staying abreast of what is happening in your sections, involving youth in planning, program standards and how they can be used to help plan and evaluate your programs, and the importance of the Group Commissioner receiving annual plans from each section. Also the importance of opening up Group Committee meetings as much as possible. If you have your WB II, and don't see yourself as a trainer, take WB I GC. It is well worth it, and will let your group committee function that much better.