Good Morning.

Safely back from a week at National Youth Leadership Training. 17 adult and youth staff tending to 25 participants out at our defunct summer camp of T.L. Storer Scout Reservation.

As always, I donned my kitchen gear and was working the "Silver Beaver Cafe" to keep everyone well-fed for the week. We were down two members this week, so we just had three of us behind the counter.

In any case - the Youth Leadership running this course was utterly spectacular. They are guided and coached by a handful of adult advisors, but generally run the course themselves.

For a very long time, I have been an advocate of full accessibility in scouting. The benefits of the program should be for all, not just white, hetero, cisgendered males. I can be somewhat isolated in my little world of Waltham, but I have also been involved in district and council level trainings for somewhere around 25 years.

In my own local unit, we have a handful of girls going through the program, but this was my first real exposure at a higher level. I am deeply impressed and well-pleased that all the efforts by the Boston Scouting community have paid off in such a satisfying way.

There's far too much to digest after such a whirlwind week. But I am hopeful that the fine young ladies and men that were out there putting on a training course for the next generation of leadership in the program will be able to continue that leadership as they move on to graduations, college, and whatever their futures may hold.

They do not realize it yet - but as a veteran that went through the program himself, the benefits of everything we are teaching and training may not manifest themselves for years or even decades. Something I saw with my own scout, who also went through the training.

This was a very encouraging and optimistic week - no matter how niche and esoteric it may have been.