Rush Creek Cadet Council has a volunteer team to Develop Counselor Education (DCE).  This team plans workshops at monthly counselor meetings in order to help counselors expand their knowledge of the Cadets ministry, and be more effective counselors.  Please look over the 2022/2023 workshop schedule, and select some workshops to attend.

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** No Head Counselor Meeting **

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Thursday, Sep 14, 1st Hudsonville CRC, 7pm

This is a combined counselor meeting with Grand Valley Council

• Raising Kids in a Digital Age: Raising a middle schooler in 2023 is simple...or not. Young teens are confronted by a myriad of different experiences. Middle school age students have always faced issues such as puberty, academic pressure, self-worth, identity, and friendships. However, students today also face new issues arising from the digital age, complicating long-standing challenges while adding new ones, like social media, pornography, sexuality, hostility, and cultural division.  Unity Christian High's Dan Landstra will target these topics with Biblical advice for parents and youth leaders.

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Thursday, Oct 12, Cornerstone URC, 7pm

• Flag Knowledge Merit Badge: ** Cadets Invited ** At this workshop cadets can begin completing the guidebook requirements for Flag Knowledge and will be shown how to properly fold the US flag.  A demonstration of how to issue Color Guard commands for flag raising and lowering will follow, then we'll end with a ceremony for retiring flags.

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Regional Training Conference

Saturday, November 4

Friendship CRC, Byron Center

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Thursday, Nov 9, Bethany URC, 7pm

This is a combined counselor meeting with Grand Valley Council

• Counselor Job Description: Have you ever wondered what your ministry as a cadet counselor entails?  Don Van Der Klok and Dan Dennis will lead a workshop to help you find out.

• Counselor Certification: Rush Creek Council is pleased to hold "Counselor Certification" for new or newer counselors, led by Paul DeWindt, Scott Oudbier and Dan Ebels.  Our goal is to bring new counselors into a group led by experienced counselors for an open-ended conversation about what a counselor needs to know to be effective in this ministry.If you have questions about cadets, council activities, or the Cadet Corps, this is an opportunity for you!  Before a counselor gets to Certification, an open book course must be taken whose purpose is to make a new counselor familiar with all aspects of cadeting in general, and the counselor manual in particular.The Developer of Counselor Education (DCE) team in Rush Creek requests that counselors take this course on their own, at their own pace.  The DCE team will take finished workbooks or the new interactive PowerPoint version.  The completed course will be sent to Corps headquarters, and a counselor stripe and name tag will be provided for the counselor, free of charge.

• Jr Counselor Certification: Do you have Cadets that are being called by God to become an effective leader? Only a few Christians are given that calling and this workshop is for those Cadets listening to that call. In this workshop the Cadets will learn what leadership is and what skills, qualities, and attitudes a Christian leader should have. They will acquire from Jim VanderWeide and Don Uitvlugt the certification needed to allow them to lead younger Cadets to become more Christ-like in all areas of life.

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Thursday, Dec 14, 1st Hudsonville CRC, 7pm

• Bee Keeping Merit Badge  

• Food Preservation  

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Thursday, Jan 18, Forest Grove CRC, 7pm

• Genealogy 

• String Art

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Thursday, Feb 8, Faith Community CRC, 7pm

This is a combined counselor meeting with Grand Valley Council

• First Aid / AED  

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Thursday, Mar 14, Messiah CRC, 7pm

• Internet Safety  ​

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Thursday, Apr 11, Hanley CRC

This is a combined counselor meeting with Grand Valley Council

• Annual DCE Roundtable: Jim VanderWeide and Don Uitvlugt will lead a discussion regarding this year’s workshops and look for ideas for future workshops.

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