Scouting For Literacy
Bob Riley (CubmasterB@AOL.COM)
Thu, 1 Apr 1999 00:21:43 EST
Being a trained Literacy Volunteer of America Adult Tutor and
a Cubmaster has combined two of my loves :
reading and having fun with kids.
Since my son and I joined Cub Scouts I have been kicking
around ideas on how to work a literacy activity or drive
into the program. Well, I've come up with a beginning.
In the past few years we have had a dreadful turnout at
our pack picnic, for a variety of reasons. After last year's
picnic I moved this to the top of my to-do-list. We now have
a nice picnic program developing. One of the ways I came
up with to attract the kids to the picnic, to get them to
want to come, is this ... I asked them, at our last pack night,
if they would like to throw water balloons at their den leaders,
me and maybe even their parents. Well, it took the
maintenance crew the entire weekend to nail the roof back
onto our civic center.
Here's the deal, for every two books the boys read
(at their grade level and which their parents sign off on)
they get one Soak Your Leader ticket good for one water balloon
to toss at the leader of their choice.
The biggest surprise of this idea is that I even have some
of the leaders excited about it.
(Maybe they misunderstood me... they're the throwees,
not the throwers! Ha!)
Anyway, it's a start. I was wondering what other ideas
some of you guys have used or heard of. I did an Inquiry
of the Scouts-L list and was happy to find a group of
other leaders who are also very interested in literacy
in a proactive way.
The time to help kids to improve their reading level
and thereby increase their reading enjoyment
(this is one of those "Which came first" thingees.)
is not when they are writing up their Eagle Project but,
when they are young, very young. The younger the better.
So, you guys and gals help us Cubmasters out with our
Literacy Programs annnnnnnnd we'll give you
Boy Scout Leaders more Eagle Scouts than you
ever thought possible. And you'll be able to accept their
Eagle Reports .... ready for this?.... The First Time.
Like I said, "It's a beginning". . . . .
and they are our future.
Thanks in advance for your ideas,
Bob
