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Every Youth Deserves a Trained Leader![]() Basic Leader Training, a new training program being sent to councils in April, is the culmination of more than two years of work by professionals and volunteers around the nation. Their goal was to revise and update the volunteer leader training materials for the Boy Scouts of America. Their result is a seamless training program that helps leaders easily graduate through the courses quickly and with little duplication. The package provides the district training committee with tools to achieve 100 percent trained unit volunteers. It begins with our existing Fast Start training, continues through New Leader Essentials, followed by leader-specific training for each adult's role in the unit. Here is a brief overview of the components of the training continuum: Fast Start TrainingFast Start training remains essentially unchanged. It continues to provide an immediate comfort level for new leaders and enables them to say, "I can do this!" Fast Start training is the first step for any new volunteer and is to be delivered immediately after a new leader registers and before he or she meets with any youth. Basic Leader TrainingThe new Basic Leader Training is composed of two parts: New Leader Essentials, for all unit-level leaders, and New Leader Specific Training, based on the leader's unit-level position. New Leader EssentialsNew Leader Essentials is an introductory session that highlights the values, aims, history, funding, and methods of Scouting. It addresses how these aims and methods are reached in an age-appropriate style within Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, and Venturing. Videos, discussions, and hands-on reinforcement are presented during the 90-minute training session. Ideally, all unit-based volunteers—Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, and Venturing leaders—take this session at the same time, so they understand that they are all striving for the same results with the youth they serve. Each leader completes New Leader Essentials training only once. Benefits of New Leader Essentials
New Leader Specific TrainingOnce a volunteer has a solid overview of the Boy Scouts of America's values-based program, they can then begin training for their specific Scouting position through Leader Specific Training. This training provides the specialized knowledge a new leader needs to assume a leadership role. Because each course is designed for a specific leadership position, the training time varies. Leader Specific Training has been developed for the following positions and their assistants:
Basic Leader Training is designed for maximum flexibility. The sessions can be delivered over time—training on one or more evenings a week or month—or in a one-day training event that incorporates all program areas. It is suitable for large or small groups and may be presented to leaders of one or more units each time. Each council and district may decide the appropriate delivery method, keeping in mind that the focus is to remove roadblocks and achieve 100 percent trained leaders. Wood BadgeWood Badge will evolve to be the core leadership skills training course for the Boy Scouts of America. The new Wood Badge course is less focused on outdoor skills—which are addressed in Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills and Powder Horn training—but will instead strengthen every volunteer's ability to work with and lead groups of youth and adults.
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