tell me about NAYLE

[Lisabob]

Well the title says it all. What makes it worth while, or not, in your view? Who should go? Why? What should participants expect out of it? How does it compare to, say, NYLT? For participants or leaders/parents of participants: thumbs up, sideways, or down?

 

 

[Eagle92]

I'll be honest I know nothing about NAYLE. BUT if it is anything like its predecessor, NYLTC, it will be an AWESOME experience. Several of my youth staff at JLT went through it and had a BLAST!

[BDPT00]

I assume you meant NJLIC.

The main reason to go to NAYLE is because it's at PTC. It's a continuation of NYLT, where a Scout has the opportunity to work with a new bunch of kids to bring NYLT to life. It's NYLT on steroids. There's plenty of information on line about the course.

BDPT00

[John-in-KC]

Lisa,

 

I was really, really impressed with the old National Junior Leader Instructor Course at PTC. I saw a cadre come in for final staff development in 2003, when I was there for a conference. Confident, mature young men, ready to go out and train Scouts to serve as Council JLT/Brownsea 22 staff.

 

I was terribly, terribly unimpressed with a NAYLE contingent when I was at PTC in 2008. The youth came in from their outcamp Friday evening and took over the "Buster Brown" Building by the South Tent City (where I was bedding down). They were loud and rowdy well past camp lights out (and I had a long hot summers drive the next day to get in striking distance of home). There was no adult supervision to get them quieted down. So much for a full nights sleep.

 

So much for a full nights' sleep.

 

So much for a full nights' sleep. (Yes, I said it 3 times): Saturday morning, the children were up and rowdy again before 5AM. This time, there was an adult around, because I got up, put on shorts, a T-shirt, and shoes, and went over and bluntly told the gentleman that camp quiet hours were until some time in the future, and that I for one appreciated and wanted my sleep!

 

If that's the quality of cadre, and the quality of youth in NAYLE, I would not recommend it to anyone. Ken (Narriticong): I'm sorry, your son was in this course while we were in conference. I assume he went back to your tent for that final night. I hope he learned more than the other children apparently did.

[evmori]

Here's a link for ya!

 

http://www.nayle.org/

[gcnphkr]

My son really enjoyed it and recommends it to others.

 

It is hard to say how much he grew because of it, as he also worked as a CIT at camp and was a Troop Guide for NYLT that summer.

[Lisabob]

Looking at the website, (thanks, Ed!) I see it is kind of expensive, especially if you add in the cost of travel for people who don't live in that region. It would probably be close to $700 for a kid from my section of the Midwest to attend (travel and cost of the course). Yeah I see that there are a limited number of $200 scholarships. But I tend to think of those as being for people who are really hard up. Still, ~$700 for a week of anything would hit even most middle class families as being a lot of money.

 

So - is it worth this kind of cost?

 

Another take - is it worth it for a kid who is unlikely to be able to apply a lot of what he learns directly to his troop? (Maybe he is less active in the troop leadership than he once was, maybe the troop is so adult-led that he wouldn't have a chance, maybe he'll be aging out in the next year). I see it is supposed to be applicable to troop leadership, and no doubt it would be fun, but it isn't clear to me whether this is a prudent use of resources for a lot of fellows. I'd really like to hear more about why it is worth it, from those who have some direct experience.

 

 

jet - what did your son enjoy about it? John and Eagle92, what impressed you so much about the predecessor course?

 

 

(This message has been edited by lisabob)

[Eagledad]

>>Another take - is it worth it for a kid who is unlikely to be able to apply a lot of what he learns directly to his troop? (Maybe he is less active in the troop leadership than he once was, maybe the troop is so adult-led that he wouldn't have a chance, maybe he'll be aging out in the next year). I see it is supposed to be applicable to troop leadership, and no doubt it would be fun, but it isn't clear to me whether this is a prudent use of resources for a lot of fellows. I'd really like to hear more about why it is worth it, from those who have some direct experience.

[gcnphkr]

@ Lisabob

 

This is jet526's son. I went to NAYLE in 2008 and it was, and is the defining point in my leadership education within the BSA. During my week of NAYLE, I was responsible for traveling by plane, on my own(a feat any 14 yr old can be proud of), making friends with a group of boys from all over(one youth was from the Far East Council!), and many other things. The program was extremely beneficial to my character, and to my understanding of team dynamics. My patrol was a group of guys in many walks of life, but by the end of our "storming" period, we were quite the team. I still maintain contacts with one of the boys in my patrol. The staff was very experienced, and very influential. Each of the staff members went out of thier way to learn about me, and the other boys. The entire troop functioned quite well. I would strongly recommend the program if for no other reason that, in my experience, it is a very powerful experience, which lends itself to maturity.

 

As far as the program was concerned, the entire program is set up to take the skills we learned in NYLT and put them into real life situations, COPE, backpacking, geocacheing, making a Skit, learning about scouting history, teaching others, and even some other odd little skills that I don't want to spoil.

 

The week after I went to NAYLE, I staffed NYLT. I was able to form a connection to my patrol that I feel without NAYLE, I never would have been able to form. It let me take a step back, and guide them when that was what they needed, not when I was frustrated with their progress.

 

If I were to sum up my NAYLE experience, into one coherent statement, I would say, "Of all the things I did at NAYLE, the one thing I hope I never forget is that He who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest."

[jhankins]

Thanks to jet's son for the personal description.

[John-in-KC]

Lisa:

 

The old course was the National Junior Leader Instructor Course. It was designed for youth who had been through the unit JLT, and then the Council JLT. They had been invited to serve staff to their Council JLT.

 

Right there that increased the maturity of the training audience.

 

The youth staffing the course impressed me! They'd been through the system, and then had been to this course themselves, and then had been staff in their councils. They were mature young men, very capable of great fun, but also very understanding of what was going on in the conference rooms. They arrived on PTC the day after we did, and spent their week prepping by trying things out on the various classes as "guinea pigs", with our agreement.

 

I liked that the Course Director and SPL/program director spent time talking about their vision and goals with the Conferences at PTC.

 

Finally, I like that we were invited to visit Rocky Mountain Scout Camp (the facility on Philmont that does this training, it's about 2-3 miles from base camp) and visit the activity. These young people were being taught EDGE six years before EDGE was a buzzword (of course, EDGE has always been around, it's been a model of training in the Armed Forces since my Dad was in basic training in the summer of 1941).

 

I hope this helps