Information for Unit Leaders

White Stag Leadership Development has a long history of teaching youth leadership. We have taught more than 20,000 youth leadership since our founding in 1958.

Leadership Skills

White Stag led the way for the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America when in the 1960s they stopped teaching outdoor and wood craft skills to adults and youth and began teaching leadership skills.

We believe in leadership development by design. We know that good leaders never stop learning. We constantly check to see how we are progressing. We continue to focus on the basics, teaching eleven leadership competencies.

Program Structure

White Stag is structured to meet the needs of youth age 11-17. We offer three phases:

• For youth 10½-13, Patrol Member Development (Phase 1)
• For youth 13-15, Patrol Leader Development (Phase 2)
• For youth 15-18, Troop Leader Development (Phase 3)

White Stag and NYLT

White Stag is not the same as the official Boy Scouts of America National Junior Leader Training. NYLT actually has its roots in White Stag a couple of generations ago. White Stag teaches a specific set of leadership competencies, is coeducational and hands-on camp, utilizes a core set of spirit and tradition, offers youth a multi-year opportunity for growth, among other key differences. We are formally organized into a six-year, phased structure, allowing people to participate and enhance their skills over a number of years.

What Makes White Stag Distinctive

We recognize that youth learn best when their whole body and mind is engaged. We provide a hands-on, outdoors, physically challenging experiental education focus. We believe leadership is not a one-shot event, but must be a ongoing learning experience.

We create an environment where it's safe for youth to try out new behaviors, to be the best they can be. We teach that the opposite of success is not failure, but to quit.

Mirroring the real world, we offer a coeducational learning opportunity. Youth are fully supervised at all times.

We take a holistic approach to learning, giving participants an experience that affects their hands via outdoor skills, head via leadership skills, and heart via our spirit and traditions.

Health and Safety

Our adult leaders are all fully trained Scout leaders. Every adult must complete youth protection training, and where appropriate, additional training specific to their role. We have a fully qualified medical staff on hand at all events, including a licensed nurse and trained emergency medical technicians (EMT).

We are sensitive to the needs of individuals of varying capacities and skill levels. Our staff is trained to recognize individual differences and to value everyone's ability to contribute.

Our youth staff are fully supervised at all times. When in the field, they are always accompanied by adults and trained medical staff. In the event of an emergency, we maintain contingency plans for transporting or evacuating candidates.