Old Colony Council
Here is a list of the questions and answers on this page:
How do I decide whether to attend the OCC-NYLT course?
You should attend NYLT if you are a Boy Scout or Venturer who will be taking on a position of responsibility in your unit (e.g., SPL, ASLP, President, or Vice President) within the next 12 to 18 months. This course is ideal for preparing you to succeed in these roles. If you will be taking on a position of responsibility in a non-scouting organization (e.g., National Honor Society or other youth group), you will also find this course helpful. Camp Squanto uses the NYLT course as part of training for leading scouts, preparing them for their leadership responsibilities as potential future camp staff.
Most importantly, you should attend NYLT only if you have chosen to attend NYLT. Without your willing, enthusiastic participation, the course will not work well for you.
How do I decide whether to attend the OCC-NYLT course during week 1 or week 7?
If you are serving as a first year Leading Scout, you must attend the week 1 NYLT course. If you are a Venturer, you may register for the week 1 NYLT course. Because it is open to Venturers, the week 1 course may be co-ed, depending on course registrations. Both the week 1 and week 7 NYLT courses are open to all scouts meeting the age and rank requirements.
For information regarding management of Youth Protection issues for scouts and venturers, see the Guide to Safe Scouting: Youth Protection & Adult Leadership and the BSA Youth Protection Guidelines for Adult Venturing Leaders Training Guide.
What is my time commitment for the OCC-NYLT course?
The time commitment for the NYLT course is from check-in (Sunday, 1 pm) through course graduation (Friday, done by ~6:15pm). Participants may be excused from portions of the course only for extreme circumstances (e.g., family emergencies, funerals, etc.). Except for extreme circumstances, please do not ask to arrive late, to leave and return, or to depart before graduation. The course is cumulative, each hour and day builds on previous activities throughout the week.
Scouts or venturers should arrive at Camp Squanto at 1 pm on Sunday for check-in. Scouts or venturers should arrive wearing their sturdy hiking boots and Class A (Field) Uniform, have any remaining paperwork ready for the Registrar, have all medications in original containers ready for the Medic, and have rain gear ready to protect themselves and their gear. They will need to bring their gear packed in a backpack for the hike to camp (do NOT bring a foot locker or trunk). In addition, the OCC-NYLT staff will conduct gear and uniform inspections to insure the scout or venturers are prepared for the week at OCC-NYLT.
The staff will try to make accommodations for scout or venturers arriving late; however, the staff cannot accomodate scouts or venturers to arrive on course much later than course check-in. Scouts or venturers that come late will miss very important classes and team building exercises that start right at course check-in. If you need to schedule a late arrival to accomodate extreme circumstance, you MUST contact the scoutmaster and course director.
Parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, etc. are all welcome to come to Camp Squanto for our graduation ceremony. Please arrive at Camp Squanto at the scheduled graduation time and meet at the amphitheater. Guests will be able to witness their scout or venturer's graduation ceremony and join with the NYLT course participants and staff at the feast. For those with mobility needs, please notify the scoutmaster or venturing advisor so that arrangements can be made for transport to the ceremony. After the graduation ceremony and feast are completed, scout or venturers and guests are free to go.
Do course participants wear their scout or venturer uniform at all times during the course?
Yes, wearing the proper uniform is a part of the NYLT course. The class A (field) uniform is worn at all times, unless participants are specifically told to wear their class B (activity) uniform. The following table describes the class A (field) and Class B (activity) uniforms for the NYLT course.
| Class A (Field) Uniform | Class B (Activity) Uniform |
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Knowing that cost can be a factor for many scouting or venturing families, consider these options for getting official scout or venturer pants. Check eBay or other online sources for "experienced" pants at minimal cost, or think about borrowing these items from another scout or venturer (hopefully about the same size as your scout or venturer) in your troop.
The street address for Camp Squanto is:
Camp Squanto
200 Cutter Field Road
Plymouth, MA 02360
The mailing address for the course at camp is:
Camp Squanto, BSA
Attn: Scout or Venturer's Name, NYLT-Troop 1, Iroquois Site
P.O. Box 931
South Carver, MA 02366
Yes! Please contact the Old Colony Council to get more information. Applications are available on the Camp Squanto website's Camp forms page.
A completed, signed BSA Class 3 medical form is required for course attendance! This policy and form are the same as used for all attending Camp Squanto. The medical form is available on the Camp Squanto website's Camp forms page. A scout or venturer cannot stay at the camp without the medical form. The OCC-NYLT staff may not allow a scout or venturer on course unless a Doctor signed medical form has been submitted.
Bring sturdy hiking boots! Camp Squanto is a place where you must have good footwear in order to survive the week. Boots are required for the health and safety of the participants and staff. Sandals and tennis shoes are not acceptable footwear. The scout or venturers are encouraged to bring shower shoes for the showers, however, during any other time of the week boots are required! Please be advised, "sturdy" athletic shoes or any other footwear is not acceptable. This policy is for the health and safety of everyone. The staff has and will continue to do gear checks at check in when the participants arrive at OCC-NYLT to help avoid any problems. Get the equipment list here.
Every minute (and more!) of OCC-NYLT course time is schedule with no extra, "free" time scheduled. Patrols that work well together as a team and stays focused on the tasks at hand, will earn some "free" down time by accomplishing their scheduled tasks early.
No! Although the course activities require the skills needed for main of the outdoor oriented merit badges, OCC-NYLT focuses on teaching the participants how to teach skills; no course time is spent on merit badge advancement. Remember, OCC-NYLT is not summer camp. The objective of OCC-NYLT is to train leaders, not earn merit badges and rank advancements.
There is no need for the participants to bring any food. scout or venturers should not bring any food with them to OCC-NYLT! All the meals are provided for them. If scout or venturers are hungry in between meals, the staff will have snacks (fruit, crackers, other healthy snack items).
Please note, if the scout or venturer has any food allergies it is vital the scout or venturer and the parents inform the OCC-NYLT staff before the course starts!
Skunks, possums, ticks and other wildlife are often found in camp during OCC-NYLT. The OCC-NYLT staff prepares for this as we teach the scout or venturers from the minute they arrive at Camp Squanto how to live at camp.
Yes! OCC-NYLT makes it a point to insure no participant patrol has more than one member from any one unit. This is done to force the participants to form a team with people they do not know, a very important skill for a leader. As a result, they do not know any of their patrol members prior to arriving at camp. They will need their own tent to store their gear and sleep in. If patrol members later in the week would like to tent together, they are more than welcome to. However, in the beginning all scout or venturers are required to have their own tents. For outpost portion of the OCC-NYLT course, participants are encouraged to bring backpacking tents.
The Camp Squanto nurse meets with scout or venturers when the scout or venturers check into camp. At check in, all medications are turned over to the nurse. Medications must arrive in their original containers with clear instructions on dosage. All medications will be held by the nurse during the week except for bee sting kits and asthma inhalers. It will be the scout or venturer's responsibility to get his medications when needed. OCC-NYLT does this for Health and Safety reasons. If you have more questions about this please contact the OCC-NYLT staff. At the end of the week when the scout or venturer is picked up from camp their parent(s) can pick up the medications from the medic.
Do not bring over-the-counter medications to camp (for example, aspirin, vitamins, etc.); any over-the-counter items needed by scout or venturers are available from the nurse at camp.
At the end of the week, the OCC-NYLT Staff assigned to each patrol will evaluate each patrol member. They consider how the scout or venturer acted as a Patrol Leader, as a Patrol member and how he presented himself throughout the week. Based on observations and evaluations of the scout or venturer by the OCC-NYLT Staff, they will recommend the scout or venturer to be or not to be on Staff. If the scout or venturer is recommended, he will receive an invitation to be a Staff member in the mail some time by the end of November. By accepting the invitation they will have the chance to become a staff member. There has been such an interest in youth staff that OCC-NYLT has in the past had to turn down many qualified applicants because we did not have staff positions for all of them. The best way to avoid being turned down is to get your application in as soon as possible. Many veteran staffers have been turned down because their application came in too late.
If you are an adult leader, the council training staff needs you to help with OCC-NYLT too! We are always looking for adult leaders. Please contact the OCC-NYLT staff and tell us who you are and why you want to be an Adult Leader for OCC-NYLT. Although OCC-NYLT exists to teach youth how to be leaders, the Adult Leadership at OCC-NYLT is an opportunity to learn. Over the past several years, many of the youth staffers who have turned 18 have returned to staff as adults.
The Staff spends at least 6 months preparing for camp. They plan classes and activities based on the National Youth Leadership Training Syllabus. They arrive at Camp Squanto one to two days before the participants to set up the camp. They spend the week teach and leading, preparing the participants to be leaders in scout or venturing and in their communities. There is a youth staff that does all most all of the work. They are the ones planning and teaching the leadership skills to the participants. The Adult staff is there mostly for health and safety, but also to mentor the youth staff. The youth staff consists of a Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Instructors, and one Troop Guide for each participant patrol. The Adult Staff consists of the scoutmaster or venturing advisor and one assistant scoutmaster or assistant venturing advisor for each participant patrol. Each position has its own unique responsibilities but we need every single one to run OCC-NYLT successfully.
OCC-NYLT-2011
Old Colony Council
For website related question, contact the course Webmaster.
All other issues are expedited by the Old Colony Council office (OColony@bsamail.org).