PRACTICE
During the training course, each Scout is afforded 2 hours of practice for each hour of classroom-style education. Typically, these hands-on periods are scheduled immediately following the classroom session with additional opportunities for practice peppered throughout each day. Meals, games, troop and patrol meetings, and inter-patrol challenges all provide opportunities to practice new outdoor and leadership skills sometimes to accomplish a task and other times to beat the clock!
MEALS
Mealtimes are excellent opportunities for Scouts to showcase their abilities to manage time, work as a team under tight time constraints, and engage in conversation and camaraderie. The Scouts will prepare, host, and clean 2-3 meals per day at which the patrols are hosts and the staff are guests. The Scouts even have the chance to cook a trail meal and a banquet style meal.
GAMES
At Buckskin, patrols are put through games against the other patrols as well as the staff. These take the form of round robin games, head-to-head games, and progressive relay-race-style games. Over 70 games are played throughout the week to test the Scouts in their ability to pull together and exhibit specific outdoor or leadership skills.
MEETINGS
Each day the patrols will pause to plan or reflect in patrol and troop meetings. These provide the Scouts an opportunity to review their progress and modify their course to best achieve their vision and goals. These meetings are typically run by the patrol leadership, not the staff, and are opportunities for the day's leadership to practice running meetings.
CHALLENGES
Once a solid foundation has been laid, the Scouts are put through 1 expedition and 3 major challenges to test their most challenging skills. With the help of the staff, the Scouts prepare to return home to their units and begin the journey of changing their units and their communities for the better.