Just Finished First Weekend C-13-08....Glad I'm a ----------

[Billiken]

My fellow Scouters:

I just got home from the first of two 3-day weekends for C-13-08 offered by the Greater Western Reserve Council (OH).
Weather was perfect and so was the program (a tad long/overdone in parts).

We were assigned (did not pick) Woodbadge patrols.
All I need say re my patrol name/critter:

Every thing else is a meal!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mt_goodrich]

Getting the first weekend under your belt is a big sigh of relief. I went thru my Wood Badge course last October and very apprehensive about what to expect. I ended up in a patrol with four other great guys (one of our patrol members had a family emergency and had to leave the second day).

The second weekend is a little crazy, but you are more comfortable with what is going on. The only stressful part is getting your ticket approved.

All, but one, have earned our beads and the one remaining should finish up his ticket in a couple of months.

Soooo.....are you saying your are a Bear!!??!!!!

[WVBeaver05]

Congratulation on completing the first half of the course. When do you have the second weekend? I would be interested to hear what presentations you thought were too long. In any case, you have another exciting weekend to look forward to and much more left to learn.

Myself, I'm just back from C-18-08 which was completed a few hours ago. This was my first opportunity to be on staff for WB. So with the strains of Back to Gilwell still echoing in my head, I am busy catching up on new posts in this forum.

YiS

[Billiken]

Soooo.....are you saying your are a Bear!!??!!!!

YES, a bear.

[mt_goodrich]

Can't have too many Bears!!!!

I have three folks from my troop signed up for the council's next course, SR903 that will take place in October. Two are on our troop committee and the other is one of the Asst. Scoutmasters.

I hope to be a Staffer one day!

If you have any questions or concerns or need help with WB, just let us know.

[wagionvigil]

Never, never too many bears. By wife and I both are Bears and I am a Double Bear. Coming your way to help with The Powder Horn Course in September

[FrankJ]

I love bears. (Tastes like buffalo). One of the things I liked most about wood badge was the intentional mixing of personalities & background in the patrols

[mt_goodrich]

I second what FrankJ said. In my patrol, we had two Boy Scout leaders, one Venturing leader and two Cub Scout leaders.

I was very unfamiliar with Venturing and learned quite a lot from my fellow patrol member. I also was extremely rusty on my Cub Scout stuff and learned a great deal from those two folks.

I think it has greatly helped me in doing my duties as a new Scoutmaster because I can better communicate with our Cub Pack leaders and I am getting trained in Venturing, as I will be having several of our boys old enough to join Venturing Crews.

[Billiken]

One of the things I liked most about wood badge was the intentional mixing of personalities & background in the patrols

I could not agree more.

[Billiken]

Congratulation on completing the first half of the course. When do you have the second weekend? I would be interested to hear what presentations you thought were too long.

Second weekend of C-13-08 is Aug 23-25.

First and foremost, I was truly impressed with the presenters, staff, and level of organization for the class.

Re presentations:
1. The schedule was jammed-packed with very little down time (a good thing).
2. Using October Sky was, IMHO, a waste of time. Apollo 13 (with Jim Lovell, Eagle Scout) would have been a much better example of team-building and problem solving (in a crisis or life/death situation).
3. Some of the training was better suited for BALOO or Outdoor Leadership Skills. Having each of us actually light a backpacking stove? C'mon.
4. Several sessions felt like they took "20 minutes of material and squeezed it into an hour".

Sorry, but I'm not going to "throw rocks" (in a public forum) at specific presentations.
I assume they'll have a confidential course evaluation at the end of day 6.

[wagionvigil]

You will have an opportunity to evaluate the course!

[WVBeaver05]

And, based on my experience, the course evaluations are carefully reviewed and considered. So make sure you think it through and include everything that you think about the course.

Our Course Director advised the participants that he wanted negative comments. The reason, if the comments are all positive, there is no input on what needs to be examined. It may turn out not to be something that gets changed, but anything that is negative to anyone needs to be looked at closely to see if it can be improved.

YiS

[scoutaholic]

Congratulation on completing the first half of the course. When do you have the second weekend?...

Second weekend of C-13-08 is Aug 23-25.
...
Using October Sky was, IMHO, a waste of time. Apollo 13 (with Jim Lovell, Eagle Scout) would have been a much better example of team-building and problem solving (in a crisis or life/death situation)
...
Some of the training was better suited for BALOO or Outdoor Leadership Skills. Having each of us actually light a backpacking stove?
...
I assume they'll have a confidential course evaluation at the end of day 6.

Our council usually does the course on 2 consecutive weekends (or 6 consecutive days). Mine was 2 weeks because the week between was a holiday. I hadn't imagined that anyone would plan a month in between weekends.

I liked October Sky, but I don't remember it being in the first weekend. I thought it was day 6.

I don't remember much outdoor skills training in my course. They used a bit as the venue for teaching how to teach outdoor skills, but I don't remember any outdoor skill training for the purpose of learning outdoor skills.

I don't remember a course evaluation for my course.

[LSR]

Any movie that has Laura Dern in it is fine by me!

[Billiken]

Second weekend starts next Saturday, 23-AUG (Sat/Sun/Mon)

My five ticket items have been approved by my Troop Guide.
Earliest possible completion of ticket could be late May 2009.
Scheduling is subject to a cooperative PLC....

One Question For WB-ers:
Our Troop Guide (patrol WB advisor) has done a great job with our 6-person patrol.
Would it be proper to get her a group gift?
(Like an REI or local restaurant gift certificate.)

BTW:
pipestone1991: Our Troop Guide has HER 5th year Pipestone (Buckeye Council).

[mt_goodrich]

Biliken....getting a gift from the patrol is a wonderful gesture.

Majority of the patrols during my WB Course gave their guides small personal gifts such as a patrol token, a signed patrol flag, etc. Some did give a gift certificate to various things. My patrol gave him a patrol token and a camp mug that we signed.

However, when three of my patrol members (which included myself) were beaded back in May, we, as a patrol, made a presentation to our guide and gave him an afghan of the famous Rockwell painting "The Scoutmaster" on it. I cost about $60.00, but his reaction was priceless.

Along with the Friendly Quartermaster Staff, the Troop Guides are the hardest working folks during the Wood Badge course.