National Youth Leadership Training

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National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) is a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) leadership development training program designed to help transform scouts into better leaders. The program was designed with the hope that scouts trained at NYLT will not only learn important leadership skills that could be used within their home unit, but their skills could also be used in everyday life to improve their leadership potential as well.

Most NYLT's are conducted for one week during the summer months or winter breaks, however, some areas conduct NYLT courses over two 3-day weekends and during the spring time. Most NYLT courses are conducted at Council Camps, primarily because these camps are established, have proper facilities for a week long course, and are already affiliated with the Boy Scouts.

Courses range in size from 40 to 180 attending scouts, generally forming one to four troops, with six to nine patrols in each.

The content learned at any NYLT course is outlined and primarily the same, however each Scout Council's NYLT may have its own 'flavor', and may add in other events or special activities not required in the NYLT outline.

Most of these special additions are requested to be kept secret for two specific reasons:

# Giving away the specific details of the course ruins the challenge that scouts must face that help them become leaders.

# Knowing ahead of time what will occur takes away from the surprise and 'brotherhood' associated with completeing the NYLT course.

Contents

1 NYLT History
2 NYLT Staff

2.1 Youth Staff
2.2 Adult Staff

3 NAYLE
4 External links

NYLT History

NYLT is a change from the program that Scouts had known as Junior Leader Training Conference (JLTC) or a variety of local names such as "Brownsea JLT", "Silver Acorn", "Eagle Claw" and more. The use of "Brownsea" originates from Robert Baden-Powell in 1907 when he took 22 Scouts to Brownsea Island, starting the Scouting movement, as well as the idea for leadership training.

While many councils used the standard JLTC syllabus supplied by National, many used elements from prior programs (Brownsea-22, Troop Leader Development, etc), and there was inconsistancy in the program nation-wide.

In 2004, after much research from the BSA National Council, NYLT was mandated to be used in place of all JLT's in the nation, effectively creating a standard of training that would be equal around the country. NYLT's equality comes from its standards of presentations, which employ the use of PowerPoint slides, videos, projectors, and computers. Ironically, the use of these at camps creates signifcant problems, as using computers, projectors and screens, and battery hook-ups are difficult to use at camps which have little electric power and don't provide shelter for electronic equipment.

In addition, the course was changed from being for "Junior Leaders" to "Youth Leaders", based on feedback from the youth themselves.

Regardless, the switch to NYLT was basically a success. Some JLT programs were very upset about the switch, due to the high standard by which these JLT's operated. In essence, these JLT's were brought to a lower level, however, because most JLT's were elevated to a higher standard, the success of the majority of JLT's outshined the reduction of these few superb JLT's.

NYLT Staff

Youth Staff

Most NYLT's are youth run, which means a group of scouts (anywhere from 10-50) are designated as NYLT Staff, and work directly with scout participants of the NYLT course.

The hierarchy of the Youth Staff positions is generally formed as the following:

Course Senior Patrol Leader/ Junior Assistant Scout Master (one per course)

The Course Senior Patrol Leader, or JASM, is normally in charge of and responsible for the conduct and success of the youth staff. He oversees the general well-being of the participants of the camp and works closely with the Course Director (an adult) and the Troop SPL's months before NYLT starts to ensure that NYLT will run smoothly.

*Senior Patrol Leader (one per Troop)

:The SPL is normally in charge of and responsible for the conduct and success of his troop staff. He oversees the general well-being of his youth-troop staff as well as his troops participants. He works closely with the JASM to ensure course-wide success, and works closely with his ASPL's and Scout Master to ensure his Troop is functional and can achieve course-success.

**Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (of Programs - one per SPL)

*:The ASPL (of programs) is noramlly in charge of and responsible for helping the SPL in overseeing success of his troop staff. He helps the SPL oversee general well-being of his youth-troop staff as well as his troops participants. He works closely with the SPL and Scout Master to ensure his Troop is functional and can achieve course-success. The designated ASPL of programs also oversees that programs being put on (usually either course-wide or troop wide) are scheduled as planned and have all the required materials to do so.

**Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (of Services - one per SPL)

*:The ASPL (of Services) holds almost the same responsibilities as the ASPL of programs, with the exception of overseeing programs. The ASPL of services makes sure that other tasks that the SPL has to complete or oversee can be completed, and will stand in as the acting SPL when necessary.

***Troop Guide (one per Patrol)

**:Troop guides are normally responsible for the well-being, participation of, and actions of individual patrols, usually made up of 6-8 participants each. Troop guides, normally make up a majority of the youth-staff and play an extremely vital role among the staff, despite their position in the hierarchy. The TG's act as a 'half-way' patrol leader: they are there to guide patrols during the duration of the course, while letting the participants discover their own leadership skills without relying on the staffs'.

The Youth Staff is organized through a select, senior group of the youth staff, often referred to as a 'core leadership'. They demonstrate superb leadership and are considered 'in charge of' the rest of the youth staff. These staff members are usually older scouts, usually aged about 16-17, and on rare occasions 15 or 18 (if permitted). Although the new course allows scouts as young as 14 to serve on staff, new staff members generally spend their first year as a troop guide demonstrating their leadership skills to the staff. The 'core leadership' is made up of youth staff holding positions as Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, Senior Patrol Leader, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.

Most of the 'core leadership' staff has undergone significant leadership training to be admitted into this close-knit circle. Most 'core leaders' have served 1-3 years as basic NYLT staff, followed by an evaluation by the Adult Course Director, and usually sent to a national course, which demonstrates their dedication, ability, and qualifications.

Adult Staff

Adults play an extremely important, yet more administrative role, as staff members, and serve positions as Scoutmasters, Course Directors, Quartermasters, and other support staff. Their main objectives as staff is to ensure the youth staff is operating within the guidelines of NYLT, staying on schedule, and behaving in an appropriate and safe manner. They are encouraged to let the youth staff do most of the training, which gives an emphasis on the idea of youth leadership.

NAYLE

A new part of the NYLT training continuum is the National Advanced Youth Leader Experience (NAYLE). Unlike under the old JLTC, there is no longer a National Junior Leader Instructor Camp (NJLIC) at Philmont Scout Ranch. NAYLE is the brand new training experiences for youth leaders, conducted for older Scouts. The new course is held at Philmont Scout Ranch. Scouts must be First Class rank or higher, 13 years of age by opening day of course, but not yet 18, have completed Council JLTC or NYLT course, and willing to become a youth trainer for the local council, and proficient in Scouting skills.

External links

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