Wood Badge Course Dates and Fees

Wood Badge will be held July 18-22, 2025, at Sky Tavern just outside of Reno.

You must attend the full training!

• Before 4/18/2025 Early Bird Rate:
  • Adult $350
  • Out-of-Council Adult $400
• Regular Rate:
  • Adult: $375
  • Out-of-Council Adult: $400
• After 6/18/25 Late Rate:
  • Adult $400
  • Out-of-Council Adult $450

Requirements to Participate in Wood Badge

• Be currently registered as an adult Scouter
• Be “Trained” for your current leadership position.
• Submit an Annual Health and Medical Form (parts A, B, and C)

Note: Membership in Nevada Area Council is not a requirement to attend our Wood Badge course. We have a history of welcoming Scouters from other Councils and will be happy to welcome any others.

How Did Wood Badge Start?

Soon after founding the Scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell saw the need for leader training. Early Scoutmaster training camps were held in London and Yorkshire. Baden-Powell wanted practical training in the outdoors in campsites. World War I delayed the development of leader training, so the first formal Wood Badge course was not offered until 1919. Gilwell Park, just outside London, was purchased specifically to provide a venue for the course and the Opening Ceremonies were held on July 26, 1919. Francis Gidney, the first Camp Chief at Gilwell Park, conducted the first Wood Badge course there from September 8–19, 1919. It was produced by Percy Everett, the Commissioner of Training, and Baden-Powell himself gave lectures. The course was attended by 18 participants and other lecturers. After this first course, Wood Badge training continued at Gilwell Park, and it became the home of leadership training in the Scout movement.

The purpose of Wood Badge is to develop skilled leaders who can strengthen Scouting units in achieving the mission of Scouting America.

When we accomplish the mission of Scouting, we do it in the units. Therefore, the purpose of Wood Badge is to strengthen units.

Although the course is different today, what Baden-Powell said in 1919 still applies:

“One of the purposes of Wood Badge training is to get Scouters to think about the practice of Scouting, to meet together, to exchange experiences, and to live together in the spirit of the Scout Oath.”

What Will You Learn During the Course?

You will learn many things during the course like:

• Listening
• Managing conflict
• Leading change
• Stages of team development
• Coaching & mentoring
• Leadership for different stages
• Servant leadership
• Project planning
• And more!

*These come to you in the form of presentations, games, discussions, activities, and other methods.

Why Should You Go?

You want to participate in a Wood Badge course because of things you will learn and do. Here are some of the benefits:

• Stronger units. You will make your Scouting unit — and your youth’s units — stronger.
• The what and why of Scouting. You will have a deeper understanding of what Scouting is and why we do it.
• Experience. You will learn and experience things that will stay with you in Scouting and for the rest of your life.
• Fun. You will have fun, and you will meet interesting people.
• Other groups. You will make your other groups like work, church, and even family, stronger.

Here’s another summary of why to go. This was originally aimed particularly at Scouters in the Cub Scout program, but it applies equally to all of us:

Cub Scout Leaders! How would you like to attend a training that takes you far beyond your Basic Leader Training? Would you like to build your skills in communication, conflict management, and teaching methods? How about a leadership course that rivals many corporate level trainings?

Wood Badge is here for you! This is not a Troop leader training but is designed for Cub, Scout, and Venturing leaders. This course will help you better understand how all the Scouting programs tie together. It will provide you with many useful leadership tools to help enable our youth to have the best possible Scouting experience. There is no better time to attend a Wood Badge course and make a difference in your unit than when you are a Cub Scout Leader.

One of the great traditions of Wood Badge is the “ticket.”  During the course, each participant will be asked to develop a contract or ticket – a list of goals that will allow them to use their newly-learned leadership skills in ways to strengthen Scouting in their home units, districts, and councils.

The ticket will include the participant’s personal values, roles in Scouting, vision of success, and a mission of five significant goals that can be attained within 18 months. Overall, the ticket will be meaningful and enable the participant to practice the skills learned in the course. Troop Guides (Ticket Counselors) will assist participants in writing their tickets and approve them when complete. The Troop Guide and the participant will mutually agree when all the items of the ticket have been fulfilled.

Event Contacts

Course Director – Maya Keller

• Maya Keller (email link)
• 775 745-5026

Assistant Course Director – Nat Edmands

• Nat Edmands (email link)
• 775-742-0889