Boy, 13, organizing free youth leadership camp

Daniel Villegas is a young man in a hurry to make his mark in the world. At 13, he is working on his Boy Scout Eagle Project: a youth leadership camp.

While most scouts do worthwhile projects that contribute to the community by planting trees, cleaning public areas, and building small structures, Daniel has decided to instead build up people with the leadership camp that is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24.

The Summer B.L.A.S.T.—which stands for Being Leaders And Showing Teamwork—is a two-day leadership camp with the aim of preparing CNMI youth to be future leaders through hands-on projects that build vital leadership skills. It will involve activities and projects designed to develop team building, collaboration skills, delegation, decision-making, and communication skills.

With his Scout uniform on a netbook in hand, he has visited businesses to enlist their support as sponsors, and he has gotten shirts donated by the Bank of Saipan, food from Herman’s Bakery, certificates printed at Marianas Printing, money from Aquarius Beach Towers, leadership training from Positively Outrageous Results, and facilities to hold the event at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

A dozen adult chaperons have also been recruited to help make the camp a success, and they will have a chance to win a three-month membership donated by Gold’s Gym.

The leadership camp is limited to only 30 youth—15 girls and 15 boys—between the ages of 12 to 16. They will be divided into three groups and throughout the two days they will have the opportunity to compete, collaborate, and challenge themselves through activities designed to help them understand the importance of values, planning, goal-setting, and working as a team.

There are still some positions open for interested youth, and the best part is there is no cost for the event. The camp will run from 9am to 4pm on both days, and on Saturday, the future leaders will get back together at 7pm with their parents for a recognition event.

If you are interested in attending the event, you can call Daniel at 288-7458 to get a packet emailed or faxed to you. He will be taking applications until the 30 slots are filled.

Scouting has been a great experience for Daniel to learn leadership skills, and now this young leader is applying his know-how to make a difference in the lives of other people.

“I wanted to do something that will have an affect on people’s lives and help them to become better citizens in the community,” he said.