It’s Training Plan Time

Now that unit Charters are done, it is a good time to help leaders schedule their training. Whether you are unit leader, committee chairman or on the district training team, here are some ideas to help you reach that 100% trained leader goal.

1. Market Training as a Solution: Think about training like a product you are selling that will help your leaders, rather than something they need to do for compliance. Training will save them time, help them enjoy Scouting more, and protect them legally because you need to be trained to be fully covered under BSA insurance. Enthusiastically talk about all the benefits and help them find a class, whether it is live, remote, or on-demand, that works for them.
   
2. Training Report: The training report in my.scouting is the best place to start if you are looking at training needs. Committee Chairs and Unit Leaders have access to this report, as do Unit Commissioners. Have this report ready whether you are talking about training in a Committee Meeting, Unit Key-3, or at the District Level. Sometimes a Committee Chairman just needs to know the information about who needs training, and so sending this report can be very helpful.
   
3. Options: With few exceptions, most training can be taken more than one way. For example, Hazardous Weather (which needs to be taken every 2-years) can be completed on-demand through my.scouting or the training can be taken by a group of people in a Roundtable session, and then the attendance log sent to Montana Council for entry into individuals’ training records.  Montana Council offers several classes through Screen Boosted Scouting as live-remote, such as Unit Committee Training, New Member Coordinator Training, and BLAST for Cub Scout Leaders. If you have several leaders in one unit who need training, such at Youth Protection Training, you may be able to schedule a live-training session through your Commissioner staff. The point is there are options and getting everyone together for chili and training can be very effective and efficient.
   
4. Calendar Now: Some training is scheduled by Districts once a year, such as Wilderness First Aid or Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills. The sooner you can get leaders to register and block the time on their calendars, the more likely they are to attend the class. Check District Calendars for training opportunities. Here are some upcoming classes.
   
   1. Montana Council Live-Remote Screen Boosted Scouting Classes. Register in SBS.
      1. BLAST (Beginning Leader Accelerated Success Training) for Cub Scout Leaders: March 2 & 9, 7 PM
      2. Unit Committee Training for Packs, Troops, and Crews: Live Remote: March 30^th 7 pm
      3. New Member Coordinator Training: Live Remote, Wed. April 6 7 pm
   2. Wilderness First Aid Training: April 15 (evening), April 16, and April 17. Register here.
   3. Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills and BALOO (Mountain Valley District: All Welcome): Friday June 3^rd – Saturday, June 4^th. Contact Keith Nathan for more information. khn@aggienetwork.com

Every trained leader improves the quality of our Scouting program! Keep up the good work.

Betsy Eubanks
Montana Council SBS