Happy New Year, Scouters! The New Year’s Resolution that all Scouters should have is to get trained for your position. All scouts, whether in Packs, Troops, Crews, Posts or Ships, deserve to have trained leaders. This ensures that every scout will have a high quality and fun Scouting experience.
Getting trained is easy. Go to my.scout.org, login or create your login, then select “My Training” from the pull down menu. From there, click on your scouting program to see the on-line training that is available. Select your position to start the training program.
Alternately, especially if you want to have discussions and meet other scout leaders, sign up for an in-person training. These can be found on the OTC web site (https://www.otcbsa.org/calendar ) under “Events/Calendar”. Check frequently, as this calendar is updated as the training events get scheduled. An upcoming opportunity for in-person Cub Leader and Scout Leader training will at the University of Scouting in Eugene on February 11.
For Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters, Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (IOLS) is also required along with the classroom studies. This is an overnight outdoor training event which will be offered several times in the year. The next course is April 14-15 at Camp Murnane. Scout leaders will have until the end of 2023 to complete this training if they want to continue to be registered as a Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster.
As the Oregon Trail Council Training Chair, I want to ask all Scouters to help us achieve 100% trained leaders. One way to do that is to become an instructor. Active instructors are needed in all districts in order to achieve this goal. On January 14, at the Eugene Scout Center, there will be a Train the Trainers event (Trainers Edge), an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of training.
As council training chair, I can and will supply the guidance and support needed for you to put on your own local in-person training. If you need training, ask your District Commissioners and Chairs so we can get it set up.
