Some would say Star Wars and Boy Scouts have much in common thematically – good triumphs over evil, family matters most, all the best action happens outside….I could go on. And yes – I have Star Wars on my mind because I saw “Solo – a Star Wars Story” this weekend. 🙂
Scouting’s youth leadership development framework involves 3 components: Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST) – a Troop-level half-day course for all elected youth leaders; National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) – a regional 6-day resident course; and the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE) – a 7-day resident course held at BSA’s high adventure locations. We have had many Scouts attend NYLT over the years, and we have 3 more attending this summer. At Troop 58’s ILST class this weekend, we had the opportunity to share several leadership, training, and communications concepts with our newly-elected Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) youth leadership team. Our Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (ASPL) helped deliver the content of the course, which gives those two Scouts a unique growth opportunity by allowing them to “teach” the younger Scouts…don’t worry, no one pulled a Darth Vader:
“We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner.
Now I am the master.”
Well, maybe there was a bit of Vader…but I digress…Lord Baden-Powell – author of “Scouting for Boys” and the first Chief Scout – once shared that the goal of Scouting is the cheerful development of a Scout from within. It was awesome (in the truest meaning of the word) to observe how much of the leadership, communications, and teamwork content the Scouts on the PLC already knew and understood. And of course there was much cheerfulness (AKA laughter). Even more impressive was observing the interaction between the Scouts and their collective growth throughout the session. I feel quite confident in the direction of our Troop after spending a few short hours with these young leaders. That “Trained” patch you’ll now see them wearing signifies a strong commitment to Scouting and their continued development from within – with a healthy dose of cheer thrown in for good measure.
If your Scout is immersed in Star Wars this weekend (maybe you are too!), take a peek at this assessment of the parallels between Scouting and Star Wars. I bet the Alliance could do some serious damage to the Empire if our PLC knew how to fly X-wings…and yes – Harrison Ford (the original Han Solo and the incomparable Indiana Jones) was a Boy Scout!