Community Corner
Local Scouts Blaze Through Leadership Training
A ceremony at Las Flores Elementary honored boys who had completed a program that asked them to fend for themselves in the wilderness.
Michael Tobia still remembers what he was like 11 years ago when he joined the Boy Scouts. Back then, the Ladera Ranch resident said, he didn't know much about character, self-esteem and leadership.
Almost a man, Tobia, now 17 years old, walks tall, speaks firmly and said he has confidence. He was one of many who attended the National Youth Leadership Training awards ceremony at Las Flores Elementary Tuesday night.
“Everything you can possibly have in a leadership course you have here," he said. "I guess I’m an example. I was about 5 feet 4 inches, really fat and didn’t really know too much about making friends or being a leader, and now I’m leading others, and I’m really confident in what I do.”
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Tobia, however, is not alone. Of the more 90 boys in the room that night—including scouts from troops as near as Lake Forest and as far as Fullerton—many share a similar story about growth.
“You can make a lot of friends here,” said Nick Erb, 13, of Mission Viejo. “It’s very helpful, too, as you can learn a lot about staffing and leadership. It helped me a lot, especially in my growth as person and as a scout.”
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The NYLT is a six-day crash course in leadership, started by troop 787 of Mission Viejo troop more than 10 years ago.
“There’s junior leadership training ... but the troop wanted to work on creating some leaders,” said course director Allen Barr. "We wanted to have a boy-run troop, so we kind of scout the wilderness and found some other councils, pulled some information and the first group I believe was 10 boys, and that was in 1999.”
The program looks to help develop teens into leaders and outstanding members of the community. Each participant comes with recommendations from his scoutmaster or unit leader.
Once accepted, the boys are then taken to Lost Valley, CA, where they go through their skills training.
“There’s training sessions on communications, resources, goal-setting, and there’s an activity to put into practice what they’re learning,” Buggert said. “There are challenges they do as a team, an overnight backpack and planning their trek out in the wilderness.”
As the evening came to a close and new troop leaders were nominated, former scouts and mentors looked to the new members with pride.
“Without NYLT, I wouldn’t become the person I am today,” Tobia said.
