"LeAndrew Morant is a sweetheart," said Widby, the district's training chair. "I love Margaret Jordan. Simone Brandon is great."
The names of these Cubmasters from packs 1951, 309 and 345 were prominent in Widby's mind because they had recently completed what has become a rare training feat.
Each had completed online Cubmaster training and attended the district's in-person class this past Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wrens City Hall.
"It was a great group," Widby said of the three Cubmasters, who were joined at the live training by leaders from packs 202 (Wrens) and 205 (Twin City). "There was a lot of idea sharing and fellowship."
Often overlooked by leaders, training is an integral part to fulfilling the promise of delivering a quality Scouting program to area youth, both young and old.
The BSA’s National Council has recognized its importance, setting its 2017 goal at getting trained at least 50 percent of direct-contact leaders (Scoutmasters, Cubmasters and Den Leaders).
Nationally, the percentage of direct-contact leaders trained has risen steadily from 41.9 percent in 2014 to 46.3 percent last year.
However, in Creek River District, the percentage of direct-contact leaders has consistently remained low. Today, only 26 percent of direct-contact leaders are trained, a mark that has wide-ranging consequences on the district, its units and youth. Trained leaders impact program quality, member recruitment, and the retention of leaders and youth. Plus, right now, at 26 percent of its leaders trained, Creek River District will not earn gold status in the Boy Scouts of America's Journey to Excellence rating system for the first time since the national performance assessment tool was created in 2011.
This comes in a year in which Creek River District has achieved membership growth, exceeded its fundraising goal by 130 percent and expanded local programming, including resuming its Cub Scout Day Camp for the first time in a decade.
Members of the Creek River Training Team
The good news is the threshold to achieved Journey to Excellence gold status is in within reach.
The district needs 10 -- YES TEN!!! -- direct-contact leaders to complete training to earn Journey to Excellence gold.
If you are a Scoutmaster, Cubmaster or Den Leader who has yet to complete job-specific training, we need your help.
The convenient part is leaders now can get trained on their own schedule — anywhere, any time.
The Boy Scouts of America has expanded its online training
portal at My.Scouting.org to include job-specific training for all direct-contact leaders.
To access the courses, go to My.Scouting.org and click on “BSA Learn Center” on the right side of the page. The courses will be listed by program.
A direct-contact leader is trained once he or she has completed Youth Protection and job-specific training (including Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills for direct-contact Boy Scout leaders).
Modules range from five to 15 minutes in length. They’re designed to be completed at your own pace — all at once or one at a time.
To access the courses, go to My.Scouting.org and click on “BSA Learn Center” on the right side of the page. The courses will be listed by program.
A direct-contact leader is trained once he or she has completed Youth Protection and job-specific training (including Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills for direct-contact Boy Scout leaders).
Modules range from five to 15 minutes in length. They’re designed to be completed at your own pace — all at once or one at a time.
Ready to get started? Log in to My.Scouting.org!
Pack 45 is working on it.
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