National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT)
Leadership training is perhaps the most important opportunity available to our Scouts and Venturers. National Youth Leadership Training is a key part of the leadership development of the BSA’s youth members. NYLT is an intense, six-day experience centered on the concepts of what a leader should BE, what a leader should KNOW, and what a leader should DO.
The training of youth leaders in Scouting is important to promote the growth of the individual youth and a leadership model for the Boy Scout and Venturing (unit) programs. The unit leader is the primary source of youth leader training. As a supplement to that training, the National Youth Leader Training course provides youth with a one-week or two-weekend-long experience – a month in the life of a model unit – designed to give potential youth leaders the skills they can use to lead their units. The objectives of the course are:
- Develop a youth’s confidence and knowledge in leading the unit’s program.
- Gain a working understanding of the resources, skills and methods needed to undertake further unit leadership responsibility.
- Share ideas and learn from the experiences of other youths from units across the council.
- Support adult unit leaders in training youth leaders in the unit.
- Reinforce a youth’s relationship with his unit leader and other adult leaders.
- Experience Scouting/Venturing at its very best.
Who is Eligible to Attend NYLT?
NYLT is designed for those Scouts/Venturers that are likely to serve in senior leadership roles in their unit in the near future. Scouts selected should be made aware that this is NOT a summer camp program and does involve classroom style and hands on training sessions.
In order to attend an NYLT course, a youth must have the following qualifications by the beginning of the course:
- Must be a registered member of a Scouting unit.
- Must have a current BSA Health and Medical Record form parts A, B, and C.
- Scouts BSA must be 13 years of age and fall within the maximum age allowance for their program registration. They must be a First Class Scout and have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops.
- Venturers and Sea Scouts (male and female) must be at least 13 years old, and fall within the maximum age allowance for their program. They must have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Crews or Ships. It is recommended that they have had at least one year of camping experience.
UPCOMING NYLT COURSES
Full week and two-weekend courses are available.
Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops/Crews/Ships (ILST/ILSC/ILSS)
The purpose of the ILST/ILSC/ILSS course is to teach Scouts with leadership positions about their new roles and how to most effectively reach success in that role. It is intended to help Scouts in leadership positions within their Crew/Troop/Ship understand their responsibilities and to equip them with organizational and leadership skills to fulfill those responsibilities. ILST/ILSC/ILSS is the first course in the series of leadership training offered to Scouts. Completion of ILST/ILSC/ILSS is a prerequisite for Scouts to participate in the more advanced leadership courses National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) and the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE). It is also required to participate in a Kodiak Challenge Trek.
Most often this training is offered within a unit and taught by current youth leaders and adults. On occasion, a district/council training will become available. For more information and the course guide for leaders, visit the BSA Youth Training page.
DEN CHIEF TRAINING
IN-PERSON DEN CHIEF TRAINING
None currently scheduled
ONLINE DEN CHIEF TRAINING
The new online Den Chief training is now available for Scouts who are registered in Troops, Crews and Ships. The new online course identifies den chief responsibilities and tasks along with describing the den chief’s relationship with supporting Den Leaders and how it relates to the den chief’s activities with the den. At the end of the online training module, Den Chiefs can print their certificate of completion signifying they are trained for their position and fulfilling a requirement towards their Den Chief Service Award.
OKPIK Winter Outdoor Training
Upcoming Course:
Stay tuned for 2025 dates
OKPIK, which is Inuit for “Snowy Owl,” is the Cold Weather Camping Adventure program offered by the Boy Scouts of America. OKPIK will give you the skills to go where few dare.
This two day and two night adventure develops confidence and skills in camping and living in the outdoors during extreme weather conditions. Receive training in physical preparation, cold weather dress, first aid and emergency procedures, food and water, equipment use while experiencing cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and winter shelter building.
OKPIK is state-of-the-art training to give leaders, (both youth and adult), confidence in taking groups into a cold environment and support a year-round camping program. Our cold weather training is appropriate only for those leaders and campers who already have basic Scouting skills and mild weather camping experience. Our training includes skills that can ensure a successful, fun and safe cold weather camping experience. These must know skills are important because cold weather camping mistakes can be serious and certainly are not something upon which to build young Scout’s experience.
Level 1: Participants learn basic winter camping skills and spend both nights indoors
Level 2: Participants put the skills learned in Level 1 into practice and spend 1 night indoors and 1 night outdoors in a shelter they build
Level 3: Participants learn advanced winter camping skills and spend both nights outdoors in a shelter they build
Veteran: Participants who have completed all 3 levels of OKPIK can come back as a Veteran, spending the whole weekend outdoors and learning how to become an OKPIK Staff member.
Ages 13 – Adult
POWDERHORN COURSES
Do you want to learn how to take your Unit’s program to the next level? Do you want to experience exciting high adventure activities first hand? Do you want to go home with resources that you need to add these activities to your program? Then Powder Horn is for you!!
The Powder Horn course is designed to help the troop, team, or crew by exposing older Scouts, Venturers, and adult leaders to safely conducted outdoor/high-adventure activities of a fun and challenging nature. The course provides an introduction to the resources needed to successfully lead youth through a program of outdoor adventure and is based upon giving participants an exposure to some outdoor/high-adventure activities. The course presenters are expert consultants, from inside and outside of Scouting, in each outdoor high adventure activity. It is for any youth or adult interested in experiencing a unit-level, high-adventure program.
First Aid, CPR, and Wilderness First Aid
A leader is always prepared. And part of being prepared is knowing how to respond to medical emergencies at meetings, outings, and high adventure events. Even a simple cut can become infected and turn into a major medical event, so know how to treat all of the common injuries and conditions your Scouts and leaders may encounter on the trail. These courses are recommended for adult leaders and older Scouts.
Wilderness first aid, or “WFA”, is a generic term that commonly refers to any training course that focuses on prevention, assessment, and treatment for an ill or injured person in a remote environment where definitive care by a physician and/or rapid transport is not readily available, i.e., being an hour or more away from advanced care. WFA courses are intended for anyone planning a remote high adventure, from lay responders to medical professionals. Youth (14 years old and up) and adult Scout leaders are encouraged to take a 16-hour WFA course based on the specific curriculum developed by the BSA, which includes a management dimension that most course fail to address. High adventure bases have requirements on the number of participants that must be current with their WFA training (which lasts for two years).
