100 Days of Scouting: Day 43, Training Preparation

Day 43, Tuesday March 22nd

I spent the evening getting ready for the Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills training that I'm teaching this weekend.

Here are the specific parts that I'm doing:

Friday evening while the participants are arriving I'm doing a "Patrol Game". This is intended to keep everyone busy until the majority of the participants get there.

After everyone gets there one of the other trainers is doing the opening ceremony/introductions and patrol assignments/patrol method, and etc..

When that's done I'm doing the "Campsite Selection" portion where they learn how to select a good campsite. They learn things like how to look for unsafe overhead items, selecting area with good drainage, etc. This is also when the participants will set up their tents and get ready for the weekend.

There are other things going on Friday night, but none that I'm specifically doing.

Saturday morning the patrols will cook their breakfast. After breakfast the patrols will do the morning flag ceremony.

After breakfast there are several portions of the training that other trainers are doing. There is "Leave no Trace", "Packing & Hiking Techniques", "Map & Compass Skills", and "Cooking demo & discussion".

The patrols will then cook their lunch

After lunch I'll have a discussion about the evening campfire program where the patrols will perform songs and skits.

Next I will be teaching the "Woods Tools" portion where they will all learn how to teach the Totin' Chip to their Scouts.

Next I'm teaching "Fire Site Preparation & Fire Building".

Evening flag ceremony is next.

Then it's time for the patrols to make dinner.

After dinner there will be time for any individual coaching or helping with any of the areas we covered during the day.

We will then have our evening campfire program.

Next is a GPS presentation, Cracker Barrell, and Lights out.

After breakfast on Sunday morning I will lead the Scouts Own Service with the help of the patrols.

There will then be around 30 minutes of Webelos specific training to meet the requirements of the OLS training for Webelos Leaders.

Next I will conduct the "Ropes, Whipping, Knots, and Lashings" training.

It's then time to break camp, clean up, and pass out training certificates.

This is not our normal schedule for the OLS training, but since a couple of the other trainers had some other commitments that we had to work around this is the schedule we came up with.

I really love doing the OLS training. Of all the trainings I teach this is probably my most favorite one.

As you can see from all that goes on there is a lot to do to get ready for it. That's what this evening was all about.

Have a great day today, and remember to keep your Scouting fun!