ONLINE SAFEGUARDING YOUTH TRAINING (SYT) [previously YPT]
All registered members of Scouting America must complete mandatory online Safeguarding Youth Training. The training is required to be retaken every year from the last date you completed the course.
ONLINE TRAINING
Scouting America offers many courses online for leaders, merit badge counselors, recruiters, and other positions to take courses including SYT, Hazardous Weather, and training specific to your position that helps you understand how your position supports the Aims & Methods of Scouting. It’s a great way to dip your toes in the water and start learning about how you can be a better Scouter.
IOLS (INTRODUCTION TO OUTDOOR LEADER SKILLS)
Usually twice a year, Pacific Harbors Council offers a comprehensive training available at Camp Thunderbird. This course builds and expands on the concepts and themes introduced in Scoutmaster Position-Specific Training and provides Scouters with the confidence to take youth into the outdoors.
Specifically, this hands-on program gives adult leaders a practical introduction to the patrol method of
a Scout-led troop by teaching many of the practical outdoor skills they need to lead Scouts in the out-of-doors. In addition, the teaching methods, activities, and games model the variety of teaching used in
effective and engaging Scouting programs.
WOOD BADGE
Wood Badge is the pinnacle of adult leader training offered by the BSA. The course comprises six days of training, typically spread over two, three-day weekends, followed by participant application of the concepts learned through self-selected projects designed to benefit Scouting.
PHILMONT TRAINING CENTER (PTC)
Here’s one more training resource available to all leaders: the Philmont Training Center. Each summer, PTC offers weeklong sessions on many Scouting topics. Best of all, PTC is family-oriented, so the whole family can enjoy a week in the mountains of New Mexico. Children are offered age-specific day programs, and there’s even a spouse option of daily activities. PTC is summer camp for the whole family, and a good time will be had by all. If you’re Wood Badge trained, you might also want to consider the Philmont Leadership Challenge, an extension of your Wood Badge experience in an outdoor, backcountry environment.
