Silver Axe is the official Junior Leader Training Conference of the Grand Canyon Council. It is staffed by some of the best Scouts and Scouters in Arizona. All adult staff are Wood Badge trained and most have completed their tickets. Youth staff is selected by current staff then interviewed. All youth staff have completed their Personal Conference Goals.

The course itself is a week long intensive JLT experience. Scouts that come are divided into random patrols to work together. As a patrol, they must cook, attend presentations, and function together with spirit and teamwork.

All Staff members set a role model example and encourage all participants to always do their best in a safe haven environment. The course is entirely boy run, with an SPL plus his ASPL's as the core leadership. Even the all Quarter Master jobs are run by well trained youth Staff. Staff is also trained in Youth Protection, as well as the Adults.

The participants of the course are all required to create their own set of personal conference goals. The goals focus on the 11 points of leadership presented at the course. Participants are only Junior Leader Trained at the end of the course. They must complete their goals to the satisfaction of themselves and their Scoutmaster. Once these goals are completed, a staff member will present the Silver Axe Trained patch and certify the Scout as Silver Axe Trained.

The course challenges the participant's mental, physical, and emotional conditions. A backpacking overnighter, compass course, pioneering project, realistic first aid, and campfires are some of the activities that participants will participate in along with the presentations on the 11 points of leadership.

So, just how good are the Staff for Silver Axe? At the end of the actual course, all the Senior Staff get together with each Troop Guide one by one and go over each member of their patrol. One or two Scouts per patrol are selected as possible staff candidates. Around November, interviews are conducted where all the selected candidates are invited so we can ask a few qeustions and get to know them.

After we have selected all our new staff, we begin the Staff Developments. Starting in December, we hold one development per month. At the developments, we do presentations to prepare for the course. We also go over many of the events that will be preformed at the course, such as compass and orienteering, pioneering, rope making and knots, realistic first aid, and many others. By the development in April, everyone is put in their position.

• Senior Patrol Leader The SPL is in charge of the course and it's Staff. SPL is a select position that requires a lot of hard work. The SPL along with the ASPL's plan and carry out all the development sessions, revise the schedual for the course and run the course.
• Assistant Senion Patrol Leader ASPL's do a lot of the work that the SPL doesn't have time to do. They are in charge of the TG's and are the main delegators of the course. They help the SPL with all the planning and are in charge of all the main events, like pioneering and the games.
• Troop Guides (Patrol Counselor) Each TG is assigned a patrol to work with and supervise. He helps out the patrols and leads them in reflections. The TG must get to know all the members of his patrol so he can make good selections for possible staff. Being a good TG is very hard and requires good counseling skill to settle any patrol disputes.
• Quarter Master The QM staff position is the most stressful of all. The QM works long hours and is always busy. Their jobs are to prepare all the food for the course meals, cook crackerbarrels, and feed the staff if they didn't get a good meal. Our QM staff is well trained and work with a minimal of adult help.
• Support Support is a necessary position for the course. Although many don't like the position, it is one of the easier jobs. Support sets up all the presentations and activities. Often it is filled by staff that aren't going to be in attendance all week or by those who missed the developments and don't have satisfactory presentation skills.

This sums up the course and all the youth jobs. But what about the adults? Well, they are in charge of health and safety, and they get any needed materials. They also have a few presentations durring the begining and the end of the week. That's about it.

Have any questions about Silver Axe, or JLT in general? Fill out the comment form.