Over the weekend, I taught my first Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training course.  I think the class went well but kinda felt bad for all the brand new 11-year-old scout leaders who would have benefited from more info specific to their group.  When I say “their group”, I’m referring to an LDS Troop that treats EYO’s a little different than the standard BSA Troop.  Our church breaks this age group out into their own separate patrol since they’re not part of the Young Men’s organization yet (11 year old scouts are still in Primary).  For more details about the LDS approach, read the Eleven Year Old Scouts page on LDS.org.

Looking back on this class, I wish I could have offered some insight on an EYO Advancement strategy like I have thought through for the overall program.  I had never given this training before and honestly, didn’t know I was doing it until 6pm the night before.  So I crammed like crazy to learn the material and incorporate my personal experiences and stories that are essentially represented in these blog postings.  This whole experience made me realize I should be writing about things that help EYO leaders too.  …so here are a few links to get them started.

• The first link is a 12-month plan that Kris Beldin from the Great Salt Lake council organized as part of his Wood Badge ticket.  From GSLC’s webpage, Kris states:“This plan is developed from a purely observational perspective. I was released shortly after completing my Wood Badge course and writing my ticket to create a 12-month plan to help my 11-year-old Scouts earn their Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks.Please note that this plan is unproven, but I have used the latest requirements in the Official Boy Scout Handbook. Additionally, as with all things in Scouting, having others use, tweak, change and ultimately prove is the beauty of the institution we all love to serve as Scouters. Please try this, change it and give me feedback, my ultimate goal in creating this plan is that this framework will help other Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters out there, facing the same quandary I faced, to come up with a sound plan of attack to help new Scouts in their first exposure to the program.” 
• The second is a 4-month activity plan made available by our neighboring council to the south, Utah National Parks.  This approach includes an activity tracking Excel spreadsheet as well.  UNPC’s website reads:“The 4-month Activity plan is a rock-solid, duplicable, easy to follow program that is extremely flexible, greatly accommodates scouts needs, and graciously allows you as the EYO leader to plug into troop, ward, district, and council events whenever you need to. This program repeats multiple times per year so the older scouts can have leadership opportunities to teach the younger scouts, while accommodating both new boys entering the program and older boys aging-out.” 
• Since this writing, another Scout leader from Texas shared this 12-month calendar that covers every requirement up to First Class, including 3 camps and 10 activities.  The second tab of his Excel spreadsheet also offers a budget for the year.

Regardless of which plan you choose to apply, I hope this gives you new EYO leaders a roadmap for getting your boys from Scout to First Class by the time they turn 12!