The Instructor Corps, or I-Corps, is a group of highly trained Scouts from around the nation who devoted themselves to serving and leading the guests at the recent SummitCorps project for four weeks.
They traveled to West Virginia on June 12th, three weeks earlier than the participants, to start their extensive training. They learned about the history of the area, facts about local plants and animals, wilderness and remote first aid, erosion prevention, and trail building.
After three weeks of training they were very excited to finally serve as crew leaders and lead a group of approximately ten Arrowmen in building trails.
One of the most unique things about the I-Corps was that most of them did not know each other before they arrived at the National Guard Armory in West Virginia. A few weeks into the summer that had drastically changed. The I-Corps formed a deep brotherhood with each other and worked as one cohesive team. “We came together like a perfectly set rock,” said Nick Larson from Tipisa Lodge 326.
In addition to forming relationships with each other the Instructors also got to know a lot of the locals as well. They worked side by side with members of the National Park Service, lived at the National Guard Armory, and supported local business owners on their off days. All of this helped to prepare the way for the arrival of Boy Scouts.
They also had the privilege of working with the OA national officers and a new group of staff members every week. Each week was a little bit different depending on the new staff, the number of guests, the weather, and a variety of other factors. The I-Corps adapted to deliver a consistent program and produced a large amount of world class mountain biking and hiking trails.
The SummitCorps project would not have happened without the Instructor Corps and SummitCorps staff working together.
Revised 8/01/2011