Dear Friends:
I recently served on the staff of Scouting's highest level of adult training - Wood Badge. It's a program designed to improve the leadership skills of adult Scout leaders, which should enrich the experience of each young man in Scouting.
Essentially, it's a course that comes in two phases - practical and application. The practical consists of six days over two full weekends (all day Thursday, Friday & Saturday) at Scout camp. The second part of the program, the application phase, occurs after the weekends and consists of applying the skills learned at Wood Badge to the leader's position in Scouting.
I attended Wood Badge, as a participant, last year at this same time. Luckily, they asked me to return to be part of the teaching staff. During the practical phase, we divide all the participants into Scout patrols, to simulate how Scout troops should actually function. Each one of these patrols consists of about five or six adults, and is given an advisor, or "troop guide". I served as a troop guide.
The staff have actually been working for the last 8 months to prepare. It has taken a great deal of my time - in addition to my Church calling, regular Scouting responsibilities, family and job. However, it's a richly rewarding experience. Let me share some pictures and stories from the experience...
In the participant orientation meeting, they asked me to help the adults understand proper Scout uniform attire, something we use during the practical phase. They needed a "bad" example...and that's exactly what I gave them:
After several rehearsal camp-outs, it was time to prepare the Lost Pines Camp in Bastrop, TX. We spent an entire day setting-up the facility. That evening, in a ceremony that took place under the light of the moon, I received my third Wood Badge bead. This is highly symbolic, and kind of a big deal for us Scout "nerds"
The next morning, the participants started to arrive. We arose at 5am and the scenery around the camp was just beautiful:
I was assigned a group of participants - and they were a great group. Not only would I guide them over the two weekends, but I will look after them for the next 18 months, as they finish five projects to improve their local Scouting units. I took these men on a tour of the camp:
We then treated the participants to a skit that taught some new principles about recruiting young men to Scouting. We called ourselves the "Jedi Troop Guides" and incorporated a Star Wars theme into everything we did. Here's me as Obi-Wan Kenobi, helping to guide Leia through her Jedi training:
With the weather cooperating with us, we spent a good deal of time teaching modules of the curriculum in the outdoors.
For other modules, we used an indoor learning center, particularly when video or microphones were needed. I taught my patrol how to tie a "woggle" - a ring of rope that holds a Scout neckerchief together:
I had a chance to teach a module on camping stoves. Many adult leaders are experiences campers. However, many are brand-new to Scouting, or Cub Scouting, and haven't done a lot of backpacking. I had an opportunity to share some of the types of stoves that I've used over the last several years:
We took a "formal" portrait indoors, as we named each patrol. For over 100 years, the patrols have been assigned with one of eight animals (Beaver, Bear, Bobwhite, Eagle, Fox, Owl, Buffalo, Antelope). The patrol that I was guiding in this session, was the "Owls":
The Troop Guides took their own picture. This was a highly-dedicated group of Scouters that I'm proud to count as friends:
That evening, we taught the participants how to put together an effective campfire program. The troop guides had an awesome skit - I played the hero, finding money to pay for the mortgage on our family cows. Trust me, you had to be there.
Our Course Director, or "Scoutmaster" delivered an awesome monologue that was based on Lord Baden-Powell - the founder of Scouting. It was impressive:
That's it for part 1. There is a lot more to come.......
No comments:
Post a Comment