Scouting, Volume 45, Number 1, January 1957 Page: 5
24 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A BUGLE INSISTENTLY SOUNDED ASSEMBLY on the
clear morning air at Schiff Scout Reservation,
and in less time than it takes to say "Bp Pre-
pared or else'* things started to happen. There was
a moment of expectant bustle, and then, from
five points atop the high green hill overlooking
the lake, double files of teen-age males—smartly
uniformed in shorts, green shirts, and varicolored
neckerchiefs—began to converge upon a central
place. They swung along easily, singing in time
to their stride.
The national junior leader training camp was
launched upon another exciting day.
The national junior leader training camps take
place each summer at the SchifF Scout Reserva-
tion near Mendham, New Jersey, and at Philmont
Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. Se-
lected junior leaders—patrol leaders and senior
patrol leaders—come to these centers from every
state in the Union for the intensive twelve-day
experience in living Scouting's patrol method.
The purpose of this national effort in junior
leader training—or JLT as it is commonly nick-
named—is threefold:
Tt prepares top-grade boy leaders to serve as
trainers in junior leader courses in their home
districts and councils.
It enriches and strengthens program and leader-
ship in each boy's troop and patrol back home.
It provides trained young-man leadership for
other home council activities, such as summer
camp, camporees, moving camps and tours.
The national junior leader training camp can
have far-reaching results in upgrading junior
leader performance in councils all across Amer-
ica. How does it work?
Boys may attend a national JLT course only
upon direct invitation of their local council. To
be eligible for such an invitation a Scout must
be at least fourteen years old, hold First Class
rank or better, or the Explorer Bronze Award or
Outdoor Skills rating, or the rank of Ordinary
Sea Explorer. He must be active as a junior leader
in a troop and must demonstrate, to his council's
satisfaction, that he has natural leadership ability-
JLT course members are organized into one or
more troops of thirty-two boys each, plus a senior
patrol leader and a Scoutmaster. A central staff,
led by a camp director, guides the troops through
the rich, fast-stepping program.
Each troop operates entirely under the patrol
method. The four patrols into which each troop
is divided give each boy a chance to take his turn
as patrol leader and to rotate through the other
patrol jobs as well. Patrols set up and maintain
their own camp sites, cook their own meals, and
carry out projects together. To demonstrate the
effectiveness of the patrol method, patrols are
organized on a random basis, so that boys from
different parts of the country who have never seen
each other before suddenly find themselves work-
ing together in the same group.
The jlt course is a practical blend of Scouting
ideals, administrative know-how. Scoutcraft skills,
and living the patrol system. A typical day, in
addition to meal preparation, might include ses-
sions on the troop meeting; instruction and
projects in lashing, learn-by-doing experiences in
fishing, archery, and woodcraft; group discus-
sions of leadership skills; a filmstrip on the patrol
leaders' council; and an after-dark adventure in
orientation. Patrol leaders meet daily to check
on troop and patrol operation, learning in the
process the function of the patrol leaders' council.
With each course member at all times is his big
course notebook. Careful note-taking is a must,
and notebooks are periodically examined by
Scoutmasters to make sure each boy is getting the
most Out of his jlt experience.
Perhaps the biggest dividend of the national
junior leader training camps is that gained by the
boys themselves. For after their jlt experience,
there are few among them who are not abler
in skills, more resourceful in leadership, and
stronger in the spirit of Scouting. END
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 45, Number 1, January 1957, periodical, January 1957; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329252/m1/7/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.