Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 14:30:14 -0600
From: George Crowl <WILLIAMM@ZIAVMS.ENMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Wood Badge Ticket
To Robert Sharek and all concerned about Wood Badge "secrets"
First, some background so you know where I'm coming from. Attended Trainer Wood Badge (WB-318) in 1968, then Leadership Development (WB-402) in 1972. Staffed in 1973-1995, total 15 courses, three regions. Course director 1978, three times total. Council Wood Badge coordinator for 20 years, Area Wood Badge coordinator for two years. I have seen a lot of change, and I hope instigated some of it myself.
Some American Wood Badge courses are burdened with traditions that go back to the "military" side of Scouting. Some councils are burdened with a Wood Badge "clique" who think that because they went to Wood Badge they are God's gift to Scouting. And there are a few things that go on during the course that I feel are better not discussed with prospective attendees because I believe it will diminish the Wood Badge experience for them. However, like the OA, there are no secrets.
I honestly believe that most Scouters could read the Wood Badge syllabus from cover to cover, and only come away with 30% of what is taught in a good Wood Badge course. The other 70% is in the execution of the syllabus by a trained, dedicated, competent staff. We have "discoveries" which, for lack of imagination on the part of many staffs, are used over and over again. If we let everyone know what they are, they lose some of their effectiveness. We have some ceremonies which reach their full impact only in the context of what has gone before during the course.
Wood Badge today is emphasizing "Scouting is a Special Place," as is the rest of Scouting. For several years, we too have emphasized that there is no place in Wood Badge or in Scouting for any kind of hazing or situations which demean a Scouter/ Scout. As in all organizations, some people/places seem to get that word more slowly than others.
I feel comfortable in saying that BSA Wood Badge teaches eleven specific leadership skills and many Scoutcraft skills in the context of small group dynamics (called a patrol). There is no problem identifying the skills we teach. We teach a skill, and then put the individual, patrol and troop in the situation where they need to apply it. When we teach communicating, we set up situations where part of the responsibility for communicating rests with the individual and with the patrol leader. We do this for each skill.
As has been alluded to elsewhere, we expect each participant (and staff member!) to write a ticket with him/herself to meet certain service, goals and growth. Seeing what someone else has done for a ticket may be useful, but should not be borrowed verbatim, because your situation is not the same as any other person's. The ticket is an application of the skills learned in Wood Badge, so you can incorporate them in your leadership style. Some have found the skills and the ticket (management by objectives) useful in their professional life.
In my view, working the ticket: a) relates to the job you are doing now in Scouting, to do it to the best of your ability; b) is done on a one-on-one basis with a coach/counselor who is a FRIEND; c) need not be a paperwork "magnum opus" as it was in the '60s. It does, however, involve some honest work that otherwise would not have been done, and some learning, not just time-serving for the specified period.
The National syllabus leaves little latitude to course directors about attendance (100%) because the course is an integrated whole, building on what has gone before.
It is important to remember that Wood Badge is only a training course. Its purpose is to provide more competent leaders so that boys will have a better program. In 1968 I was told by a member of the National training division, "If you send an idiot to Wood Badge, you will get back a trained, enthusiastic idiot." Wood Badgers have all the faults, foibles, and frustrations that other Scouters have, they merely have been exposed to some good ways to overcome them.
YIS,
__
____'/____ George Crowl
VV / \ UU AA, X226
/318\ Cncl Tng Chmn
/ 402 \ Wood Badge CD
/|||||| \ Double Eagle
| Clovis, NM
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 22:47:00 MST
From: andy bradbury <eagle@MICRON.NET>
Subject: Is Wood Badge Segregated Now?
We have had verbal news that National is requiring that Wood Badge tickets must only be written for the type of course attended. That is, a scoutmaster attending varsity wood badge must write his ticket to help a varsity unit, not his own scout unit. Furthermore cub leaders may attend only a cub wood badge.
Does anyone know if this rumor is true, or where it can be confirmed? It has great implications for our council, as we have many active scouters and jobs can easily change - I am scoutmaster now, but very likely will be a varsity coach one day. The effect of such a rule will be to make wood badge harder to get to, and less people will want to go. Who could do a varsity ticket and still serve his unit as scoutmaster? I attended varsity wood badge - but the key to wood badge, for me, was not the specifics of the varsity program, but the principles of building future leaders and individuals of character.
yis
andy bradbury scoutmaster troop 254 blackfoot, idaho
"I used to be an Eagle ..." WV2-107-95
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 01:52:31 -0600
From: "Settummanque the blackeagle (Mike Walton)"
Subject: Re: Is Wood Badge Segregated Now?
Andy wrote:
>We have had verbal news that National is requiring that
>Wood Badge tickets must only be written for the type of
>course attended. That is, a scoutmaster attending varsity
>wood badge must write his ticket to help a varsity unit, not
>his own scout unit. Furthermore cub leaders may attend only
>a cub wood badge.
Andy, it's ALWAYS been that way...it's just being emphasized moreso now than in the past.
Some background:
Wood Badge is the ADVANCED training course for Scouters. It comes in three basic varieties and three other "offshoots":
Cub Scout TRAINERS' Wood Badge, which is designed for those whom are going to be the trainers/coaches of Cub Scout Leader training courses in the District or Council or within a Regional Area.
Boy Scout LEADERS' Wood Badge, which is designed for those operating the Boy Scout Troop Operations Plan (primarily Scoutmasters and Assistants, Committee Members and Chartered Organizational Representatives, Troop and Unit Commissioners).
Exploring ADVANCED SEMINAR (which is technically NOT a Wood Badge-producing course, but the course structure and content is 88% identical to the Cub and Boy Scout Wood Badge course) designed for the Exploring Advisor and Assistants/Associates, Consultants, Committeemembers and those supporting the Exploring program on a District/Division, Council or Regional Area basis.
The three offshoots are the Varsity LEADERS' Wood Badge course (conducted in those Regional Areas with a high concentration of Varsity units...primarily in the Western Region, and identical to the Boy Scout Leaders' Wood Badge course with some Varsity material entered); the Exploring Leadership Institute (ELI) (my personal favorite, conducted again primarily in the Western Region, which comes closer (94 as opposed to 88% identical content) to the two "traditional" courses); and the Sea Badge course (for Sea Exploring Skippers and Mates and those supporting the Sea Exploring program at the District/Division, Council, Regional Area and Regional basis).
In order to attend a Wood Badge course, a Scouter must be registered in a position for at least two years, have attended the basic training course which applies to their present position, and be recommended for attendance by the District/Division/Council's training chair or Commissioner. For instance, for attendance at the Varsity Leaders' Wood Badge course, Scouters should have been a Varsity Leader for at least two years, attended and completed the Varsity Leader Basic Training course, and have been recommended by the training chair or the Huddle Commissioner.
Councils have been told for years that the purpose of the courses are NOT to develop a set of Wood Badgers at the local Council level; it is to strengthen and further develop the skills of the Scouting unit leaders the courses are aimed at. However, in the past, Councils have allowed Exploring leaders to attend Boy Scout Wood Badge courses ("because there's not an Exploring equal to it"), Cub Scout leaders to attend Cub Scout Trainers' Wood Badge (the most notable example of this is to allow the District Commissioner or Assistant Scoutmasters- New Scout Patrol to attend the Cub course because "we need to know the overall Cub Scouting program"). The intended GUIDANCE, as discussed here about a year ago as a result of several of our participants attending courses at Philmont Scout Ranch where the guidance was announced for the first time, is designed to bring back into line the "true purpose of the Wood Badge course: to further train and support the UNIT OPERATION".
This is NOT to say that now your chances of attending a Wood Badge course if you are NOT in a Troop or working with Cub Scouting above the unit level is slim.
It's just that the EMPHASIS (the "order of merit list", -- the list of positions that the courses will accept FIRST) will be followed a lot closer now than in the past.
The personal growth contract, or "ticket", is to be written by the candidate during the latter two days of the course, although it may be developed at any time during the course. The "ticket" is to reflect your CURRENT or ANTICIPATED position within Scouting and how you will use the tools, techniques and ideas formulated during your Wood Badge experience with that unit or position. In other words, if you are attending Varsity Wood Badge, your ticket should reflect your present role as a Varsity leader or your anticipated position as a Varsity Leader. It makes little sense to use the skills learned at a Varsity course with an Exploring unit, for instance. (I used Exploring only because the Varsity and Boy Scouting courses are extremely close in content.)
>Does anyone know if this rumor is true, or where it can be >confirmed?
The rumor is NOT a rumor. It was first reported here on Scouts-L by those Scouters attending training sessions at the Philmont Training Center last summer (summer of 1994) and was debated here in this forum during the month of August and a part of September. Additionally, your Council's Executive should have received a Training Support Bulletin back sometime in late August or during September announcing the new emphasis, and when your Area Director visited your Council sometime in that fall, he should have had a session with the entire professional staff announcing the new emphasis toward training.
Those whom are involved in training at the local Council are being asked to emphasize UNIT level training as opposed to "multiunit" or "district" training. This was done as a result of a large number of Scouters leaving our program without being afforded the opportunity to be trained or the large number of Scouters still in many of our units that have NEVER been to anything above an orientation course (and I would venture to state that those orientation courses were one paragraph: "Hi! This is the book, this is your patch you wear and here's a listing of all of the boys in your Den. We're doing training on this date, if you can attend it would help. If you can't, don't worry about it...this book will get you through it. Don't feel like you're the Lone Ranger...give this person a call if you have problems. Oh yeah. Don't forget about Roundtable the first Tuesday night of the month at the Christian Church.
Thanks for volunteering...you'll have a GREAT YEAR with them!" Sound familiar?)
It has great implications for our council, as we
>have many active scouters and jobs can easily change - I am
>scoutmaster now, but very likely will be a varsity coach one
>day. The effect of such a rule will be to make wood badge harder
>to get to, and less people will want to go.
On the contrary, it will open up courses to those that NEED to be there as opposed to those that WANT to go there. There's a big need for those Scoutmasters to get to a Wood Badge course, but because of the large "overhead" (District leaders, Council leaders, "Scouters that really don't have a job", and some professionals that needed the course when they were a lot younger instead of waiting until they are a Field or Program Director to attend a course (bad personnel management)) they can't get in a course. Scouters have been complaining for years to their Councils and to National about the fact that they're been waiting for several years to get into a course. No sooner than a course is annonunced, it's full (speaking primarily of the Boy Scout Leaders' Courses. For some reason EVERYONE wants to go to one of those but mention the Exploring Advanced Seminar, and everyone's eyes glaze over...see what I mean?).
[short point of order here: Since 1991, Scouters whom are aware of upcoming Wood Badge, Exploring Advanced Seminar, and Sea Badge courses have been posting the dates of the course, the location of the course, the name of the Scoutmaster, Cubmaster or Advisor leading the course, a summary of the "requirements for attendance" at the course, and information on the cost, registration and other information ("wear warm clothing. Camp Deep Woods is VERY cold this time of year!") here on Scouts-L at an attempt to fill their Council's course with those that need the training. I support the continuation of doing this because it gives that Scouter out there that feels that "he can't get into a Wood Badge course because..." of whatever reason, that now he or she has alternatives to attendance. You may attend ANY course ANYWHERE as long as you receive approval for attendance from the director of the course and the Council Executive or his or her designee (the staff person in charge of training). You can also get information about all Wood Badge courses offerings in a Region from your local Council or by asking here. We WANT you to be trained!]
There will STILL be "open slots" that will eventually be filled by those other Scouters, because in order to "make a course happen", you MUST have at least 32 participants for Cub and Scout courses and 16 for Exploring courses. Most Councils have a problem getting that first 16 to 32....they have to "beat them bushes" to get qualified Scouters to even THINK about attending! On the one hand, they want to be there, to "earn" the Wood Badge; on the other hand, it's another entire week or several more weekends away from the unit, the family and other things, and many are already "at their max" with the amount of time spent "playing the game of Scouting". In despiration before the report is due to the Regional office, many Councils will get "Scouters off the street" to attend rather than to cancel a course (which doesn't look good on the professional staff member in charge of training in the Council and doesn't speak well for the Council to others!)
My *own opinion* (take it for what it's really worth) is that if you attend a Varsity course, or an Exploring course, or the Cub Scout Trainers' course, you need to be *one*, in a position or moving to a position where you can use the training, and *two*, wanting to make an impact by your attendance and application of the training in that position. Going through everything just so you can say that "you're a Beaver" and to wear the beads, is not condusive to the program, to you, or to the Council, which loses money with each and every course they are given permission to conduct.
Who could do a
>varsity ticket and still serve his unit as scoutmaster?
Why go to a Varsity Wood Badge course if you're a Scoutmaster? I have attended the Scout Leaders' Wood Badge course as a Scoutmaster and the Exploring Advanced Seminar as an Exploring Service Team Chair/Commissioner. The two courses have parts which apply to general leadership in Scouting; but they were designed for two *distinct* audiences.
Those folks that want to go to Wood Badge as a Scoutmaster need to wait it out and go to the Wood Badge course *for Scoutmasters*.
>I attended varsity wood badge - but the key to wood badge, for me,
>was not the specifics of the varsity program, but the principles
>of building future leaders and individuals of character.
That's true of all of the courses. But you should attend the course which will benefit you -- and Scouting -- by your APPLICATION of those principles.
Settummanque!
(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) (
(H) 502.827.9201 (F) 502.826.7046 (W) 800.467.4257 coffee? anytime!
also via Blackeagle Services 502.826.7046 or 800.816.6746 /BlkEagleS@AOL.COM
(Email) mwalton@alpha.comsource.net/kyblkeagle@aol.com/mikewalton@gnn.com "Ask about Geoworks, Leaders' Online & visiting your place to talk Scouting!!"
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 07:01:39 -0600
From: "Settummanque the blackeagle (Mike Walton)"
Subject: Wood Badge Segregrated?
Whoops! I've been reading the wrong version of the Training materials here at work (that's what you get for trying to do stuff at 3am in the morning!)
Two of you (Thanks Hildy and Mark!) have correctly wrote back to me about the "requirements to attend" Wood Badge courses. In the past, there was a two-year "getting your feet wet" period before you were eligible to be nominated for attendance. This was designed for you to learn what it is like to be a Scouter as well as to earn part of or all of a training award.
This two-year period is no longer valid. Scouters may participate in a Wood Badge course provided that the following is completed:
1) The completion of all parts of a Scoutmaster Fundamentals (Basic Course) or the equalievent course in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting or Exploring.
2) Approval of the local Council Scout Executive or designee
The other issue is that of "ticket writing". During the five courses I've been either a participant or staff member of, the actual "writing of the ticket" was conducted with a "training session" on Day 7 and the completion and approval by the Coach/Counsellor on Day 8. We had (I was one of them) several folks that started writing their ticket on Day 1 and had to modify, rewrite and even tear up and start all over again by the seventh day.
The ideal way is to gather your information by the way of taking lots of notes (even now, a lot of those notes come in mightly handy!) and then spending the afternoon of Day 7 listening *carefully* to the Scoutmaster and other staff members explaining what the Ticket is, how it should be written, and how important it is that each point that you set be "qualitative and quantative" as well as appliciable to your role in Scouting. Hildy (Hilding) wrote that during the last course in which he served on staff of, the ticket was written to reflect the REGISTERED position you hold, which eliminated having to write a ticket for a position you don't hold and therefore have little or no clue as to what it really entails.
The Wood Badge ticket is REALLY important. This is how YOU gauge yourself as to your understanding of the principles taught during the course. You write several goals which you will undertake during the next two years after the course is over (the part I left out, thanks Mark)! This is called "the application period" and when you feel (and your Coach/Counsellor feels) that all of this is completed, he or she then recommends that you receive the Wood Badge at an appropriate ceremony.
Sorry for leaving out the information, gang...I'm still trying to get accustomed to working overnight and sleeping during the daylight...man, it's hard sometimes and my mind isn't awake totally.
Settummanque!
(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) (
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 13:56:24 CST
From: Jim Sleezer <JHS8%OSUVM1.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject: PowWow Attendance
Peter, the same problem applies to many Scouting activities. We do the usual promotion at Roundtables, etc. and the mailing to those who are registered. We tried recruting den chiefs for cub day camp by sending mailings to CM and SM with little response. Many picked up handouts at roundtable, but still very little response. Then, the cub day camp director took the initiative to visit troop meetings and invite applications. Surprise, a lot of scouts wanted to be den chiefs for day camp but didn't know how. I think there were quite a few red faced leaders who "forgot" to distribute apps, etc.
My best solution to getting attendance at PowWows, training, etc. is to visit a pack meeting (with advance notice to CM) and get a couple of minutes to tell everyone in attendance of the opportunities available. When I did this several years and a couple of councils ago, we almost doubled our attendance at PowWows. People can't attend what they don't know about.
We also tried doing a mailing to everyone who submitted an adult application at the fall school night for cub scouting. We intercepted these before they were sent on to council office. The problem usually came when a unit held the apps rather than register the adults for the remaining two months of the charter year! But, attending the pack meeting got around this problem.
An essential is to have a handout (registration form) when you tell the person about the event. The old "call the council office for a form" gets few responses.
jim sleezer
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 1995 23:02:30 -0700
From: CHUCK BRAMLET <chuckb@AZTEC.ASU.EDU>
Subject: In Troop Troop Leader's Training. Syllabus/questions
Hello, all. One of the items on my Wood Badge ticket was to plan and implement an in Troop training class for new Troop leaders and interested parents.
The class is supposed to start at the next Troop meeting, on Wed, 10/4. Below is the course outline that I have so far, that will be presented to the Troop Comittee tomorrow night (Mon. 10/2). If anyone has any ideas for additions or corrections, please e-mail me.
Several things to note: some of the Committee positions named exist only in our Troop. This program will be presented in 25 - 45 minute segements, and will extend into November. Because of that, some of the later sections are not yet complete.
Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
***************************************************************************
GENERAL ADULT LEADER TRAINING OUTLINE
I. Troop Operations (Part one)
A. What do those letters mean? (Acronym List). 5 min
B. How should the Troop run? 30 min
01. Show "Troop Visit".
II. Troop Operations (Part two)
C. The Aims and Methods of Scouting. 10 min
D. The Patrol Leaders Council 10 min
E. "The Mystery Books" 5 min
1. Boy Scout Handbook
2. Scoutmaster's Handbook
III. The Troop Committee
A. What is the Troop Committee? 5 min
B. What does the Committee do? 30 min
1. Show "The Barbeque".
C. How does OUR Committee work? 10 min
1. Committee Positions as used by Troop 323
IV. Advancement in the Troop
A. How does a Scout advance?
1. Scout to First Class
a. The "Target 1st Class" Program
B. On Thru EAGLE
1. The "Star/Life" Co-ordinator."
2. The "Eagle Co-ordinator"
IV. The Merit Badge Program
A. What are Merit Badges?
B. What does a Merit Badge Councillor do?
YiS,
Chuck Bramlet, ASM Troop 323
Thunderbird District, Grand Canyon Council, Phoenix, Az.
I "used to be" an Antelope! (and a good ol' Antelope, too...) WEM-10-95
Please E-mail any replies to: >> chuckb@aztec.asu.edu <<