Youth Staff Development Course

The Youth Staff Development Course (YSDC) is a program of the Northeast Region of the Boy Scouts of America that trains youth staff members for council level National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) courses.cite web |url=http://www.netcommish.com/askandy89.asp |title=Whatever Happened to NJLIC? |accessdate=2007-12-11 |year=2007 |month=January |work=The NetCommish — Ask Andy |publisher=U.S. Scouting Service Project ] In the words of the YSDC Vision:YSDC replaces the National Junior Leader Instructor Camp (NJLIC) that was held at Philmont Scout Ranch and will eventually be offered by all four BSA regions including Central, Southern, and Western.

Youth leadership training continuum

Youth leadership training is conducted at three levels: [cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/18-632/index.html |title=The Youth Leadership Training Continuum: A Guide for Scout Leaders and Parents |accessdate=2008-01-05 |work=Supplemental Training Modules |publisher=Boy Scouts of America ]

*Troop Leadership Training (TLT) is unit level three-hour training session for all new Scout leaders. TLT is designed to introduce the Scout leader to leadership and give him the initial skills to be an effective leader.

*National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) is run at the council level as a week-long course, generally for the senior Scout leaders.

*National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE) is the national level course, conducted at Philmont Training Center. It builds upon the skills learned in NYLT and expands on team building and ethical decision making skills.

*Youth Staff Development Course is a program of the Northeast Region that trains youth staff members for council level NYLT courses. YSDC is in the development phase and will eventually be offered in each of the four regions.

History

National Junior Leader Instructor Camp (NJLIC) was a national level course at Philmont Scout Ranch that trained youth leader staff who would then provide leadership for Junior Leader Training courses at the council level. In 2006, NJLIC was discontinued and YSDC was created. By decentralizing the program, YSDC will be more available to youth leaders. The first YSDC was held at Yard’s Creek Scout Reservation in Blairstown, New Jersey in 2006.

Prior to NJLIC, the original course designed to train staff for council leadership camps was held at Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation in Mendham, New Jersey. The Schiff program began in the 1960s, and was discontinued in the early 1970s. Thus, YSDC brings BSA leadership training full circle—this is symbolically represented in the YSDC emblem. The shield is divided into a blue upper and a red lower region, as were the Schiff and NJLIC emblems. At the center of the shield are the points of a compass, representing NYLT, and within the compass is a fleur-de-lis, the universal symbol of scouting. In the center of the fleur-de-lis is a red tent on a green tulip tree leaf, the symbol of Schiff Scout Reservation. YSDC is a culmination of all previous Scout youth train-the-trainer programs.

Course philosophy

YSDC embodies Baden-Powell’s "Scouting is a game with a purpose" philosophy. The overarching purpose of YSDC is to develop quality youth staff for council NYLT courses by creating an environment that fosters learning and growth. It is a general maxim in the Scouting movement that Scouting provides a "special place;" meaning that Scouts, by following the Scout oath and law, create an environment that is open, accepting, and positive. At its inception the Youth Staff Development Course wholly embraced and broadened this concept to include elements of servant leadership, and equality of participants and staff at camp.

The preferred term for participants is "participating staff", as all people at YSDC are staff, if not at YSDC then at their council NYLT. YSDC is egalitarian,; any dichotomy of staff and participants is discouraged in the atmosphere and culture of the course. Out of this environment of equal footing for all, the concept of servant leadership naturally emerges. At YSDC, participating staff members are encouraged to be both leaders and servants. YSDC intent is to make Robert K. Greenleaf’s statement, “A great leader is seen as servant first, and that simply is the key to his greatness.” come to life.

Course content

References