Little Philmont is an LDS version of a District Training Day. And to be honest, I haven't seen a good one. From word of mouth my own Venturing Adviser told me they said "We won't be training you this year because all of you are old leaders." When everyone was asked to introduce themselves more than 75% of the leaders had less than 2 months on the job. How is that old and trained leaders? I am glad I didn't make it to Varsity Training because I would have just gone internally nuclear. I am glad I had a funeral to go to so I could escape early.
Clarke Green said in a comment on this post that his answer to training was to give up. And I tend to agree but leaders just can't expect to know how to do their job unless we teach them some how.
I am done with Little Philmont. I am not going next year. And to be honest I may email or mail the Stake leadership that thinks this training is doing the leaders any good. It gives them the impression that they are trained when clearly they are not even close.
I am sort of the too the point of just shutting up, keeping my head down and just doing my job in my unit. I am tired of being associated with LDS Scouters that can't or won't do their job. I don't want to be around them.
Previous Little Philmont issues here and here.
3 comments:
I guess my experience has been different because I loved both Little Philmont meetings I have been to. I found them both informative and inspirational. Maybe the one's I have seen were run differently? It sounds like yours are trying to replicate BSA trainings. The one's I have attended were more like a fireside than a training. I don't think it would be possible for a Scouter to come away from a Little Philmont thinking they were "trained." Rather, I would think they come away feeling like "I guess I need to look into this Scouting stuff a bit more."
I had the same experience as Tory. I've been to one and have another later this month. It felt more like an inspirational fireside with some training mixed in. And, no comments that it was all that was needed.
Honestly, the one I attend 3 years ago inspired me to get MORE training. Since then, I've completed all required training, been to Wood Badge, etc.
OK, my stake does it a bit different. They say "Come and get trained" and then take the BSA training manuals and throw most of it out the window to replace them with quotes by Prophets and General Authorities. A 5 hour training class is slammed into 2 - 3 hours. And here is the kicker....then they hand out leader specific training cards by the BSA when they didn't even follow the syllabus.
It would be one thing if it were training to inspire me. It is another story to tell new leaders they are "officially" trained with a sub par (and that is generous) training course. I am personally convinced this is just a way to improve "the number(s)" of trained leaders in the Stake. And yet only one other Varsity Team actually runs a true Varsity program or even tries.
Not a single thing was said about attending Roundtable. HORRIBLE!!!
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