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By: Stephen McCay

The Leadership participants began their first day on the journey to the summit. The first session was titled The Trailhead. In this session, the 2008-2012 strategic plan titled Living the Legacy was officially unveiled to all the participants. The four region chiefs each asked four questions: 1) How does your lodge serve and support the council? 2) How does your lodge develop leaders of character? 3) How does your lodge promote outdoor adventure? 4) What does your lodge do to be an active, honored brotherhood? The region chiefs also had mini breakout sessions with the participants having the opportunity to share with one another what their lodge did for each question. At the end of the session, participants were told about their newest companion for their journey to the summit, the Pathbook. The Pathbook will serve as the guiding step for participants to write down their own thoughts from NCLS to take back home and put into action for their lodges. The following session The Path allowed participants to see each of the four points more clearly and how the Order is planning to implement its own action: 1) To serve and support Scouting 2) Promoting outdoor adventure 3) To develop leaders of character 4) To be an active, honored brotherhood. Some of the Summit Vice Chiefs spoke on these and helped everyone see exactly how our Order is going to meet each point. As the session was ending, participants were sent out to begin their journey on the path to summit. They will now begin attending specific sessions to help their lodge reach its own strategic plan. After three days of learning and attending electives, the leadership participants had their final session, The Summit. The participants met as regions and there the region chiefs led their region in a general discussion of the summit in a review. After the review, the region chiefs sent their lodges out in their contingents. The contingents were to use their pathbooks, with the notes that they gathered throughout the week, to help put their gathered information together and formulate a five-year strategic plan for their lodge. Not only did the lodges prepare goals for their strategic plan, they also decided how their goals would be accomplished. The lodges that partook in the leadership track truly went on a trip through NCLS. From starting at the trailhead, to going through the path, and finally reaching the summit, lodges truly found that they could use the Order's strategic plan to help them attain their own to make their lodges better as well. Participants, both youth and adults, have truly reached the summit of their trek, but this is just the beginning of the journey for them as they will now take home what they learned and put it into action in the hands of all arrowmen in our Order.

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