Youth Staff Development Course

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Youth Staff Development Course
Program data
Owner	Boy Scouts of America
Country	United States of America
Founded	2005
Website	Youth Staff Development Course
Scouting portal

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.^[1] In the words of the YSDC Vision:

“

The vision of the Youth Staff Development Course is to instill each participant with the confidence, knowledge, and inspiration to deliver superior NYLT courses in every council; thereby reaching all troops and, in turn, impacting every Scout in the Northeast Region.”

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Course philosopy

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.

[edit] Course content

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (December 2007)

[edit] See also

[edit] References