Scouts from Troop 672 in Gardiner recently spent a weekend at Camp Bomazeen in Belgrade completing the Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST) training.

The purpose of the ILST course is to teach Scouts with leadership positions about their new roles and how to most effectively reach success in that role. It is intended to help Scouts in leadership positions within their troop understand their responsibilities and to equip them with organizational and leadership skills to fulfill those responsibilities. ILST is the first course in the series of leadership training offered to Scouts and is a replacement for Troop Leadership Training.

Completion of the training is a prerequisite for Scouts to participate in the more advanced leadership courses, National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) and the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE). It also is required to participate in a Kodiak Challenge Trek.

Since they were the first visitors to Camp Bomazeen this spring, they also found opportunities to perform community service by cleaning up the athletic field, ga-ga ball pit, and the area around McCurdy Lodge. As a final activity, a plaque was added to the wall of McCurdy Lodge to commemorate the weekend.

These Scouts will be able to put their new skills into practice as they move into our spring and summer activities. Two of these Scouts plan to continue their leadership training by attending NYLT in June.