Local Boy Scouts learn youth leadership skills

By Jon Moffett

“I honestly feelthat I can’t repay the debt to Scouting for the opportunities that it provided me. I would never have had these opportunities otherwise.”

Jim Dade

Committee member for Troop 8 in Leavittsburg

The training helped Scouts from several Northeast Ohio counties.

YOUNGSTOWN — Area Boy Scouts from the Western Reserve Council completed their North Star National Youth Leadership Training on Saturday.

This is the highest level of youth leadership training in the council level.

The weeklong annual training was held at Camp Stigwandish in Madison. About 21 Scouts from the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Mahoning, Trumbull and parts of Portage took part.

The training was the same as what was conducted by Scouts at Little Sioux Scout Ranch in the Loess Hills of Iowa, said Jim Dade, a committee member for Troop 8 in Leavittsburg who was the Scoutmaster for the week. Four Scouts were killed and dozens more were injured when a tornado ripped through that Iowa camp on June 12.

“It was the exact same program,” Dade said. “It’s a national program; we all work from the same syllabus. Through Scouting in general ... there are certain activities, like first aid and emergency preparedness, that did provide those young men with the skills to manage that disaster.”

The training focuses on Scouts acting as the leaders of their own groups. The adults present act only as supervisors.

Dade added he wasn’t surprised to hear various news reports of the Little Sioux Scouts utilizing their learned skills to address the situation.

“I honestly was not surprised at what they said those Scouts did,” Dade said. “That’s what we’re teaching them to do and that’s what they did. I don’t think anyone in the program is surprised. It’s a part of our program.

“The motto of the Boy Scouts is, and always has been, be prepared, and we try to teach these young men to be prepared for life. They stepped into action and only did what they had training to do. They were prepared to handle this disaster.”

Dade said the training utilizes various exercises and activities to help the boys learn life skills. A skill is taught in the morning, and in the afternoon there is some kind of activity to put these skills into a plan.

One of these activities involved the Scouts building a catapult and using their instructors for target practice.

“On Monday, [the Scouts] lashed together a catapult,” Dade said. “They shot balloons and wet sponges at staff members. To accomplish it they had to have a plan. They had to use the resources within their own group and communicate in order to accomplish it. It’s a way for them to practice the skills they’re taught.”

Mike Kupec, the Whispering Pines District Public Relations Chairman, said the Greater Western Reserve Council wasn’t the only area Scout council that took part in the training last week. Kupec said the Greater Cleveland Council and the Great Trail Council in Akron also hosted their own training.

Dade, who has been involved in Scouting for 43 years, said he is “a boy that never grew up,” and that he owes Scouting for his successes in life.

“I honestly feel that I can’t repay the debt to Scouting for the opportunities that it provided me,” Dade said. “I would never have had these opportunities otherwise.”

Dade earned the Eagle Scout award, the highest award in Scouting, with the now-defunct Troop 12 of Leavittsburg.

To earn the Eagle Scout award, Scouts are required to earn merit badges that include: first aid, emergency preparedness or lifesaving, family life, safety, personal management and camping.

Scouting and training programs such as the NYLT are vital for the boys, aged 14-17, to learn “life skill” said Dade.

“It is a leadership development program,” Dade said. “Skills boys learn can naturally be applied to their positions in Scouting. They are also the type of skills that can be used in other areas of their lives, depending on where they go. Whether it be college or work force, management skill, communicating well, planning, goal setting, smart goal process, conflict resolution and problem solving can be applied.”

The training was sponsored by the IBEW local 573 in Warren, the Plumbers and Pipefitters local 396 of Warren/Youngstown and the Douglas Rought Nationwide Insurance Agency.