What is NYLT?
National Youth Leadership Training
NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) is a six-day course put on by the local BSA Councils that is designed to allow Scouts to learn leadership skills in a hands-on environment. This typically takes place outdoors in a camp setting where Scouts participate in activities and events to help learn and improve their leadership skills.
The National Youth Leadership training focuses on teaching youth specific things such as:
When arriving Scouts will be divided into different patrol units at random to ensure there is fairness amongst all units. Throughout the course, Scouts will work with their patrol units to complete courses, work on team-building exercises, and learn about what it takes to be a strong leader. While at the NYLT course, each patrol unit will have to participate in activities around the campgrounds such as cleaning, cooking, and working on team bonding. This teaches the Scouts how to delegate tasks amongst themselves to get them done.
Although NYLT focuses on building strong leaders they also teach Scouts about working as a team, how to solve problems, how to effectively communicate, and how to visualize and set goals for themselves. These skills set Scouts up to be strong members of their home Troops and the confidence to have powerful leadership skills in their personal lives. By using this method Scouts are in a safe environment to make mistakes and learn how to overcome the obstacles. This allows them the opportunity to develop their skills.