Training Trails March 2025

Every Scout Deserves Trained Leaders

Every Leader Deserves to be Trained

 
Updates

The Training Times is a publication of Volunteer Development, Scouting U, Scouting America. The Winter/Spring 2025 Edition can be found at the link below:

https://www.scouting.org/training/training-updates/

This edition includes the following:

  • National Volunteer Training Conference (see the Training of the Month below)
  • Scouting U Training Week at Philmont – July 13-19 – 4 conferences are planned:
    • Innovate and Facilitate
    • Acquire the Facilitators Advantage and Strategic Training Plan
    • Nuts and Bolts of Training
    • Wood Badge Co- Hort and NYLT Power -Up: Purpose in Scouting.
  • Hazardous Weather – designated as mandatory in 2017, now is required every 2 years in order for direct contact leaders to maintain their “trained” status
  • Advanced Leadership Courses – NAYLE and Leadership Challenge at NYLT Leadership Academy (Sacramento, CA and Washington, DC), Philmont Scout Ranch, and Summit Bechtel Reserve
  • Training Code S21 is retired – replaced by S11 (Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills) and S24 (Scoutmaster Specific Online or Facilitated Training).

 

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:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ISuQdxyvrqqdOyV_PWxkqhjJXaW7PbS1BIVu7qtVUrA/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

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:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ISuQdxyvrqqdOyV_PWxkqhjJXaW7PbS1BIVu7qtVUrA/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

 

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 show that 34.5% of the leaders are trained. 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 92.9% in the council.

 

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:
  • Mar 14 – “Pack Annual Planning Conference Tips and Ideas”
  • Mar 7 – “Cycling is a fun Cub Scout activity for all ages”
  • Feb 28 – “What Camping Looks Like at Each Cub Scout Rank”
  • Feb 21 – “Use Spring Recruiting to Prepare Your Pack for Success in the Fall”
  • Feb 14 – “Paddling Adventures for Older Cub Scouts”

 

#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
  • Mar 11 – “Get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the new Multisport merit badge”
  • Feb 18 – “All about the Scouting for Clean Waterways initiative”
  • Feb 11 – “Let’s meet some of the members of the Scouts BSA National Youth Council”
  • Feb 4 – “Play our Scouting America 115th birthday trivia game and win prizes!”
  • Jan 28 – “Sparking curiosity and helping youth connect with manufacturing and STEM careers”
  • Jan 21 – “Your Pinewood Derby car design could come to life on a REAL race car! Here’s how…”

 

Leading Our Adventures – A Venturing, BSA Podcast – Every other Friday at 3 pm Pacific Time
  • Dec 20 – “Episode 23 – NYLT and Venturing”

 

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!