Tag Archives: Youth Leadership Training

Why are we still training?

“Every boy deserves a trained leader.”

“Train ‘em, trust ‘em, let ‘em lead!”

If there’s one thing that’s everywhere in Scouting, it’s training. We train our youth leaders to run their troop. We teach Scout skills – that’s a form of training.   Even in Cub Scouts, we teach the boys to say the promise and the Law of the Pack in the course of “instilling the values” As adults, we take online training for youth protection, Cub Scout leadership, safe swim, weather hazards, and others. We attend Scoutmaster leader-specific training, outdoor skills training, BALOO training, and the list goes on. Continue reading

Ever try to cook an avocado?

One of the things I like to do in my spare time that isn’t taken up by Scouting is to cook. The Food Network has a lot of shows that I enjoy watching, and one of them is Worst Cooks in America. In this series,  two professional chefs each adopt a team of highly inept home cooks and work with them through the episodes to hone their skills to the point where they can cook a restaurant-quality meal by the end of the series.

The chefs teach cooking skills to their “recruits,” as they are called, by demonstrating how to prepare various dishes, explaining what they are doing along the way. They then turn the recruits loose in the kitchen to either replicate the dish they were shown, or ask them to prepare something similar. While they are cooking, the professionals watch over their trainees, giving them pointers along the way. Eventually, the amateur cooks develop enough skills that the pros can watch from the sidelines without having to interact.

Does this sound familiar? Continue reading

Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops

Training boy leaders is the Scoutmaster’s most important job, and that process has now been revised and updated in BSA’s new publication Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops.

ILST, as it’s known in the acronym-crazy world of Scouting, succeeds Troop Leadership Training after only a few years in use, and improves on it in a number of ways. TLT, as you recall, took us away from the step-by-step training course that was provided to us in Junior Leader Training. Continue reading

Fulfilling responsibility

The new BSA Guide to Advancement lays out and clarifies what it takes for a troop to evaluate whether a Scout has satisfactorily served in a position of responsibility as required for the ranks beyond First Class.

While this is primarily handled by the Scoutmaster and assistants, the final evaluation takes place at a board of review. In most cases, the Scoutmaster conference will determine whether the requirement has been satisfied, and the Board of Review can concentrate on other areas of a youth’s development. Continue reading

Calling All Committee Chairs

If you’re the committee chair of a troop or pack and you’re anywhere near Southeastern Michigan, you’ll not only want to plan on attending Great Lakes Council’s University of Scouting on November 6, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed up for the first period class Strictly for Committee Chairs. Continue reading