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Covid Bookends
Author: TriSec    Date: 03/29/2022 11:09:57

Good Morning!

We're veering a bit off the path this morning. You may have noticed a lack of weekend blog on Saturday. At the time I normally post one, I was already onto Day 2 of a training course that had been over two years in the making.


Back in the summer of 2019, I learned that a dear Scouting friend would be the next course director for our annual "Woodbadge" training. By September of that year, I had volunteered to be on the staff in whatever capacity he needed, asking only that I get in the pipeline to become a course director myself one day.

In the first quarter of 2020, we had a series of Staff Development meetings, the last of which took place on March 7, about three weeks before the class. By the time we reached March 13, the world had changed. The course was postponed until the fall. Then until March of 2021. Then until March of 2022.

Even this year there were doubts - the February staff meeting took place at the peak of Omicron, and was done via Zoom. We held our breaths, and the wave receded as quickly as it came on, and the course was a go!

I do know my audience - most of you only know the word "Woodbadge" from me...so what is it?


Wood Badge is a training course for Scouters which finally results in their receiving a certificate, a small neckerchief, a leather slide, and two small wooden beads on a leather thong. Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, directed the first course in 1919 and gave each of the participants one of the beads which he had captured from the African chieftain Dinizulu. Thus did the course name develop, for its symbol was literally a badge of wood.

Wood Badge is, further, Scouting’s premier training course. Baden-Powell designed it so that Scouters could learn, in as practical a way possible, the skills and methods of Scouting. It is first and foremost, learning by doing. The members of the course are formed into patrols and these into a troop. The entire troop lives in the out-of-doors for a week, camping, cooking their own meals, and practicing Scout skills.

The uniqueness of Scouting is the patrol method. The use of the natural gang of six or eight boys who elect their own leader and plan and carry out many of their own activities is a democracy in microcosm. Here young men learn the give and take of working with people as they must surely do all their lives. Here, too, they are given leadership and learning opportunities which prepare them for their future roles as citizens. It is for this reason that it is so crucial that all adults understand thoroughly the patrol method.

Thus it was that Baden-Powell developed a practical course built around the operation of a troop and its patrols. Yet this is only the most well-known of three parts in the entire Wood Badge experience. The practical course–the week in the out-of-doors–was originally scheduled to follow a “theoretical” part 1, which consisted of answering a series of questions about the aims and methods of the Scouting program. Part 3 then followed the practical course and required a 6-month application period while the Scouter practiced in his home Scouting situation what he had learned in parts 1 and 2. In actual practice, once Wood Badge became available in the United States, the theoretical questions and the application were carried out simultaneously after the practical course was taken.

But Wood Badge is more than just mechanical course work. Wood Badge is the embodiment of Scouting spirit. Like many intense training experiences, it has always relied on a busy schedule forcing the participants to work together, to organize and to develop an enthusiasm and team spirit to accomplish the tasks and challenges placed before them. Carried out in context of Scouting ideals and service to young people, the course brings out a deep dedication and spirit of brotherhood and fellowship in most participants. Certainly were it not for the common goal of the movement and its program for young people, it would be hard to get grown men and women to endure the 16-hour days required by a program that runs from early morning to late at night.

The course is designed to be a highlight –“a mountaintop experience” — for the course participants. Careful planning and strict attention to detail provides a physical/logistic support and program second to none. Add to this a thoroughly prepared and enthusiastic staff and it is little wonder that most Scouters return from Wood Badge inspired and prepared to do an even better job of providing Scouting to boys. In addition to a fine course, all the traditions and heritage of Scouting are stressed and used to inspire those attending. Wood Badge in one form or another is used throughout the Scouting world. Tens of thousands of Scouters proudly wear the Gilwell neckerchief, woggle, and beads of Wood Badge-trained leaders. Because it was begun by Baden-Powell in England in 1919, it is clearly backed by the finest thought and tradition of the founder and thus carries with it great prestige. Wood Badge is then, a great force for world brotherhood, for though it uses the local traditions in each country, it emphasizes the international aspects of the movement and the heritage of Baden-Powell and Gilwell Park.


So here we are - weekend one is in the books, and we'll be "Back to Gilwell" in about a month's time to finish the course. Of course, nothing this big takes place without some drama, and we had some among the staff. I was the course Quartermaster, a role I have fulfilled before. I and the Facilities Director spent the weekend clashing with the Scribe staff. It's been a longstanding division of labor that if it's a physical thing, it belongs to the QM, but if it's printed, that belongs to the Scribes.

Without going into the full drama, the Scribe Team totally dropped the ball, and QM took over managing the documentation and distribution of same for this weekend.

But at the end of the weekend - it mattered little. The candidates are an enthusiastic, energetic bunch. The new staff members really came into their own over the last four days, which was very satisfying for the senior staff to watch. And all us grizzled veterans watched and learned too, and there were nothing but smiles and relief when that last flag was retired on Sunday afternoon.

Huzzah, Indeed!!


https://seattlebsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Woodbadge-_Workshop_FullColor-640x368-1.jpg

 

5 comments (Latest Comment: 03/29/2022 15:31:26 by Raine)
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