Why Parents Need Wood Badge Training

My last post entitled “Why LDS Young Women Presidents Need Wood Badge Training” was read by my co-worker and I received some great feedback from her that inspired this post.  She got a little fired up and was talking about the post with her friends and family. When she realized that I had written it, she knew she needed to talk to me about this.
 

You might be asking what fired up my co-worker?  She is a mother who loves the outdoors and has always felt that girls should get to do all the cool things that the boys do. She wants to understand the scouting program so that she can help her sons and future grandchildren in life, but also have these tools as a leader in her home. She is fired up because Wood Badge isn’t just for leaders, but parents need to be invited too!
 

This really got me thinking and I knew that I had to write another post for our Wood Badge Blog. Parents really do need Wood Badge training!
 

As a mother of 6 children ranging in age from 24-10, I basically have someone in all the scouting age groups. Understanding cub scouting has helped me a lot with my youngest son. I wish that I had known what I learned at Wood Badge for my older boys. With one who earned his Eagle early, understanding the continuing program would have helped a lot. My younger daughters are direct beneficiaries of the things that I learned at Wood Badge. They are in my Young Women’s program and help plan and carry out great adventures and activities.
 

There is a class at Wood Badge about understanding the different Generations and what is important to them. This changed my life in dealing with my adult daughter. My perspective completely altered and it has helped our relationship as adults improve tremendously. I am so grateful for that increased understanding alone.  
 

As a wife, this has blessed my marriage in many ways. One is that my husband joins us on all of our adventures with the youth.  It is wonderful to have his help and back up out in the wilderness. This has also helped me to be more adventurous myself. It has inspired me to jump in and try new things.
 

All parents can be blessed by this training in more ways than I can write here.  It is leadership training that has far reaching effects way beyond scouting.
 

So…parents? Come to Wood Badge! It will bless your family. 

 

 Here we are on a backpacking trip with some of our kiddos

So You Want to Go to Wood Badge: Part 3 - Wait, There's Homework Before It Even Starts?!?

Don't worry! It's going to be okay!

Personal Pre-Course Assignment

Before you arrive on Day One of your Wood Badge experience, you should receive a letter or at least a link to this list of twenty questions.

If you're like me, you might think, "Self, I have a lot to do. I'll glance at these questions later." And then you might forget to give them any thought at all, until you're actually en-route to the course. And then your day will really begin and the next thing you know, you'll fall into your sleeping bag at 10 pm and think, "I really need to look at those questions!"

If you're like Sheryl (you'll meet her later, she is AWESOME!), you might think you can't go at all, because the Pre-Course Assignment looks TOUGH.

If you're smart, you might keep reading, because here's the deal:

This list of questions is meant as a tool for you to consider the experiences, circumstances, and values that have brought you to where you are as a leader today. There are no right or wrong answers. This exercise helps you pinpoint your current location in life, making it possible for you to imagine exactly what future success looks like for you. The answers will likely change as time goes by, and that's okay, because who you are now is not the same as who you will be in five or ten or fifteen years.

Wood Badge is advanced leadership training. The skills & concepts covered are widely recognized in world-class corporate circles as key to success in any organization.This is no clown show--even though we will have a lot of fun together--it's real, deep, personal development. So don't shy away from the opportunity to truly assess your strengths, weaknesses, and goals. And please don't let the thought of so much soul-searching stand in the way of your desire to go. It will all work out, trust me!

Bottom line: do the best you can, and we'll work together to become the best we can be! (No matter how you answer those twenty questions.) 

Why LDS Young Women’s Presidents Need Wood Badge Training

In 2012 I was a Unit Commissioner in my LDS Stake Primary Presidency. I had been encouraged to go to Wood Badge by several leaders and finally I felt an overwhelming need to be at Wood Badge. I signed up for an August course at Krupp Hollow and bought a scout shirt. Off I went! 

The first three days I was excited to learn all the things that were presented. I bonded with my group, and I had a complete blast! Everything I had done as an adult had been geared towards building a great program for kids. This felt like I was learning so much about how to do it better, and it was all geared towards helping me. This was so fun and inspiring. We learned, had activities, ate fantastic food and made great friends. 

I went home from Week One and was asked to meet with my Bishop the following day. I was asked to serve as the Young Women’s president in our ward. I was excited by this opportunity and felt like the things that I had been learning at Wood Badge would translate really well to the girls. 

The 2^nd weekend of Wood Badge had an entirely new focus for me. As we learned about Venture crews and the things that the older Scouts do, I knew that I could use all of these resources for my girls. I made goals to give them Venturing Leadership training, take them on a High adventure, and really use the methods I learned to have the girls help create a program that they would be excited about. 

It is now 2016 and I am still the Young Women’s president in my ward. I took my girls, with the help of the Scouts in our ward, through the Tenderfoot to First Class requirements which correlate with the Girl’s camp requirements. Then we went out and practiced what we learned.  We have regular campouts and an annual Leadership retreat and High Adventure. The girls are confident cooking on and in a campfire, with backpacking stoves and with their ability to handle living outside of creature comforts. These activities really helped create a unified group as well. When the girls and leaders do difficult things together, they build a great bond. We have learned a lot together as a group.

I am grateful for all of the ideas and resources that opened up to me at Wood Badge. If I hadn’t gone, I would have just done the same old thing that I had seen other Young Women's presidents do. I have girls who are excited about our program because they truly have input and it is a youth led program.
 

I gained a whole new horizon and way of thinking at Wood Badge. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from someone that they wished I could have been their Young Women’s leader, or that their daughter could have been a part of our program. This is not because I am figuring out new things, this is because I attended Wood Badge and learned to use resources that are already available. Scouting people are truly helpful and amazingly willing to share their experiences, ideas, tools, and time. 

So Young Women’s presidents…Come to Wood Badge, bring your counselors! You will always be grateful that you did.