Every Scout Deserves Trained Leaders
Every Leader Deserves to be Trained
Updates
- No updates this month.
Roundtable
Roundtable is a regular gathering of scouting leaders to enhance:
- Networking among leaders
- Training
- Sharing of success stories
- Discussions of how to deal with challenges
There haven’t been any formal roundtables in the Blue Mountain Council for some time, but we are hoping to change that! Your council training chair is willing to support bi-monthly roundtables for:
- Scouts BSA adult leaders on odd months
- Senior Patrol Leaders and Patrol Leaders on even months
The meetings would start out as 40-minute Zoom meetings. As soon as there is adequate interest, the roundtables will become simultaneously both virtual and in-person, and would likely increase in duration to the 60-to-75-minute range.
The big question is when to have these brief meetings. The idea is to hold the roundtables on the same date and time each month. For example, if the roundtable is on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 5:15 pm, the Scouts BSA adult leader roundtable would be on May 13 and the Patrol Leaders roundtable would be on June 10.
Those interested in participating in these roundtables need to provide information as to which days of the week and times would work best for you. Please send this information to bluemttrain@gmail.com
Training of the Month
National Volunteer Training Conference – This annual conference will be held in Hurst, Texas from 1 pm on Thursday, April 24th to 1 pm on Saturday, April 26th. The conference has been designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of volunteers involved in training at the district, council, or territory level through networking, empowering, addressing challenges, sharing best practices, and providing resources to strengthen the effectiveness of training offerings within Scouting America. Topics will include:
- Scouting U National Committee Updates
- Scouting U Subcommittee Updates (Learning Delivery / Instructional Design / Leadership Development)
- Recruiting and Onboarding Trainers VIP Sessions
- Data, Data, and More Data
- A Day in the Life of the NYLT Leadership Academy District/Council/Territory Training (Role Best Practices / Challenges / Needs)
- Ways to Improve our Teaching
- Scouting Program Subcommittee Updates Scouting U Marketing Task Force Updates Using AI to Accelerate Scout Training
- Scouting U Topics (Vision Exercise / Feedback Mechanisms / Future Projects)
The $100 fee includes meals.
Council Training Calendar
Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (IOLS) – This training will be held from 6 pm on Friday, May 2 to 5 pm on Saturday, May 3 at Sacajawea State Historic Park. This training is primarily for Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters, but all Scouts BSA adult leaders are welcome to take the training. Anyone interested must sign up no later than sundown on Friday, April 25th. There is no charge for the course, but there will be a food assignment. See the flyer on the council calendar.
Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) – This training will be held from 6 pm on Friday, May 9 to 5 pm on Saturday, May 10 at Camp Kiwanis in Walla Walla. The training is for any cub scout leader. Each pack needs at least one BALOO-trained leader in order to qualify to having outdoor activities. See the flyer on the council calendar.
Wood Badge Adult Leadership Training Out-of-Council
May 2 to 4 and May 17 to 18, 2025 at Cowles Scout Reservation at Diamond Lake, Washington (about 200 miles away, above Spokane). Hosted by Inland Northwest Council. More information is available at scoutingevent.com/611-2025woodbadge
Aug 15-17 and Aug 23-24, 2005 at Camp Morrison, McCall, Idaho (about 320 miles away, north of Boise, Idaho. Hosted by the Mountain West Council. $255 – More information is available at: https://www.mountainwestcouncil.org/WoodBadge
August 20-24, 2025 (7 am Wednesday through 5 pm Sunday) at Camp Thunderbird [11740 Summit Lake Rd NW, Olympia WA – about 260 miles away, west of Olympia]. Hosted by the Pacific Harbors Council over five consecutive days. The course director is Chris Panush – cpanush@gmail.com – 360.561.9302. The course fee is $315 if paid in full by July 25th. The theme is “Making Connections, Making a Difference”. Additional information is available at https://scoutingevent.com/612-WoodBadge2025 or at https://www.pacificharbors.org/resources/leader_tools/training/wood-badge
September 26-28 and October 11-12 at Camp Pigott in Monroe, WA (about 240 miles away, north of Seattle, Washington). $300 – More information is available at https://seattlebsa.org/training/wood-badge/
October 3-5 and 11-12, 2025 at Butte Creek Scout Rance in Scotts Mills, Oregon (about 260 miles away, east of Salem, Oregon. $325 – More information is available at https://cpcbsa.org/upcoming-events/wood-badge/
A list of all Wood Band and NYLT courses in our Territory 1 and nearby is available at:
National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) Out-of-Council
NYLT training will take place on June 23-28, 2025 at Camp Fife at Goose Prairie, Washington (about 125 miles away, east of Mount Ranier National Park). $300 – More information is available at:
https://seattlebsa.org/training/nylt/
A list of all Wood Band and NYLT courses in our Territory 1 and nearby is available at:
Help Wanted (It’s fun and rewarding to get involved with training!)
Trainers Needed for Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (IOLS) and Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) Training Teams – Only 1 trainer is required for the course, but it is way more fun if a team (3 to 5 Scouters) supports the course. Having a team also means that if a trainer has a conflict, the others can fill in. New trainers may only lead one session during the course, or more sessions if they feel up to it. The benefits of training are not only that you are helping other scouters, but you will also grow in your knowledge of the scouting program, plus you will have a lot of fun! Please let your council training chair know if you are interested. Being a trainer continues the learning experience in an accelerated way.
New trainers can be trained through the Fundamentals of Training and the Trainer’s EDGE courses.
Lies, Darn Lies, and Statistics (How are we doin’?)
The council report for the Blue Mountain Council shows that 35.5% of the leaders are trained, a slight gain over the 34.5% value from last month. While 100% trained would be the ideal, the near-term goal is 50%. We can achieve that if we work together. Numerous individuals can regain their trained status by taking the 30-minute online Hazardous Weather training.
Youth Protection Training, which is required for all leaders, is at 97.8%, for the council; a marked increase above the 92.9% value for last month.
Program Livecasts
Links can be found in Facebook (Scouting magazine | Facebook) and on YouTube (Scouting Magazine – YouTube). Recent topics include:
#CubChatLive! – Fridays at noon Pacific Time – Recent topics:
- Apr 11 – “Succession Planning for Cub Scout Leaders”
- Apr 4 – “Keep the fun going with the Summertime elective Adventure!”
- Mar 28 – “Ready to reel in some fishing fun? Join us for #CubChatLive!”
- Mar 21 – “Swimming Elective Adventures for every Cub Scout rank”
- Mar 14 – “Pack Annual Planning Conference Tips and Ideas”
#TroopTalkLive – 2nd Wednesdays of the month, noon Pacific Time
- Mar 19 – “Scouts BSA clothing guidelines”
- Feb 19 – “The New Scouts BSA Test Lab”
- Nov 13 – “Surveys and Research in Scouts BSA”
- Oct 9 – “Ideas for Your Troop to Observe Election Day and Veteran’s Day”
- Sept 11 – “Find Out About an Innovative Wood Badge Course at the Summit Bechtel Reserve”
Trek on Tuesdays – Tuesdays at noon Pacific Time
- Apr 15 – “Meet Jamesly Jesse, a remarkable Eagle Scout with a remarkable story to tell”
- Apr 1 – “Exclusive! Chat with Sofia Pollard about the new Scouting America musical!”
- Mar 11 – “Get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the new Multisport merit badge”
May 1 is the Scouts Read Sacred Texts Event: The intent is to encourage scouts to read their religion’s sacred texts on a regular basis, but the event is only for 1 day. See the flyer on the council calendar, and register your interested scouts in advance.
Contact:
Council Training Chair: Brad Ross bluemttrain@gmail.com
Your Feedback:
Please submit your pithy comments to your council training chair (see email address above), either for his eyes only or for the readers of this column to see. If your comments are useful (and entertaining?), you’ll see them in a future Training Trails column. We welcome your ideas to help improve the training in our council. Many thanks!