What is the Better Programs Initiative? Let’s find out!
Podcast Topics
Scouter Ken is joined by Scouter Alicia, who is one of the representatives of Scouts Canada’s new Better Programs Initiative, a knowledge-sharing forum where Scouters can share (and find) ideas on how to run a top-tier Scouting program.


Visit this episode's page at our website to find QR codes for the initiative and the Scouts Canada Network.


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Music
Upbeat Rock (Good News), by Alex Grohl

The Better Programs Initiative

Everything you should know about #Scouting in #Canada, and occasionally other places.

Kids & Family

Let’s learn a bit about a particularly hazardous invasive plant to watch out for this summer.
Podcast Topics
Scouter John Kemp of the 5th Brant Troop joins Scouter Ken to discuss giant hogweed, an invasive plant that looks a bit like cow parsnip, and which grows near watercourses. Anyone out exploring in the bush should take care to avoid contact with giant hogweed; the sap damages the skin in a way that causes it to develop a severe burn when exposed to sunlight.
John is also part of a group of volunteers who track growths of giant hogweed, and work with municipal authorities to eliminate it, and this episode is all about how to identify giant hogweed, how to report its presence, and how to be safe around it.
Important giant hogweed resources:

 Google Drive folder of information and images
 EDDMapS

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Music
Upbeat Rock (Good News), by Alex Grohl

Giant Hogweed

If you aren’t already planning for how different roles within your group can transition between people, you need to be.
Podcast Topics
Scouter Ken is joined by Scouter Corey - the outgoing Group Commissioner for the 59th Edmonton Scout Group - to discuss the importance of planning for how to transition people out of (and into!) roles within a Scout Group.
Transition planning takes many forms. Ideally, the outgoing role holder should mentor the incoming member to make sure that there’s a full handover of knowledge and processes. But this needs to be backstopped by a digital infrastructure that allows for data to be easily moved between people as well; email accounts, documents, cloud storage, etc. all need to be able to move from one person to the next as well.
Services and resources mentioned in the episode:

 Carrd (cheap, landing page-style websites)
 TechSoup Canada or TechSoup US (cheap/free software for nonprofits)
  Quip
  WhatsApp Communities
  Scouter Transition Planning (spreadsheet)

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Upbeat Rock (Good News), by Alex Grohl

Transition Planning

Youth between the ages of 14 and 17 can also volunteer as Scouters, at least in Scouts Canada.
Podcast Topics
In their first in-person sit-down session of the year, Scouter Ken and Scouter Colin discuss Youth Scouters. This is an extension of the volunteer apparatus within Scouts Canada that allows minors (between the ages of 14 and 17) to go through the training and interview process that adult volunteers must complete to become Scouters.
Youth Scouters count toward ratio requirements as long as at least two adult Scouters are also registered with the section (apologies: Ken said one Scouter in the episode; it should be two). Importantly, however, Youth Scouters do not count on the “youth” side of a section’s ratio; they count as Scouters, and so do not have to be interacted with according to the Two-Scouter Rule.
Youth Scouters can be a great way for Venturers to give back to their groups, accruing volunteer hours as they do. And for groups who are strapped for volunteers, Youth Scouters might just be what’s needed to allow a section to run its program for the year.
Shout-Outs
A shout-out to Emily who wrote in regarding Episode 88, which concerned orienteering:
"Just listened to Episode 88, Orienteering (2019). You mentioned don’t get your compass near a big, powerful magnet — guess what? I absent-mindedly put my compass into a zipped breast pocket during a break at land navigation training, RIGHT ON TOP OF MY SMARTPHONE. When I went back out on the course, I was totally baffled: suddenly, I couldn’t orient myself. I’d been doing so well!!! I couldn’t find the objectives or identify drainages, and I couldn’t pass the field exam. Embarrassing!
I was mystified. It took a couple of days for it to dawn on me that I had demagnetized my compass by putting it in my pocket lying atop my smartphone. It was completely useless, and pointed in random directions!! Live and learn."
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Music
Upbeat Rock (Good News), by Alex Grohl

Youth Scouters

Scouts Canada has partnered with Busy Minds and Little Yogis Academy to help bring mindfulness into program content.
Podcast Topics
Scouter Ken and Scouter Mike are joined by Michelle Faber, the founder of Busy Minds, for a live discussion mindfulness, its importance to mental health, and the ways in which Scouts Canada is partnering with Busy Minds (and Little Yogis) to add mindfulness exercises into group programming.
Learn more:

 Busy Minds
 Little Yogis

Mindfulness apps discussed in the episode:

 Calm
 Headspace
  Hallow

And again: this episode is a recording of a live event that was done on the Scouts Canada Discussion Group on Facebook, and on Workspace/The Network.
Shout-Outs
A big thank you to Scouts Canada and Mike Eybel for facilitating this episode, and to Kate Larkin for being the inaugural guest!
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Music
Upbeat Rock (Good News), by Alex Grohl

The Better Programs Initiative

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