Learning in the Sunshine State

I’ve finally had a chance to recover from my week of volunteering at Cub Scout Day Camp, and have also had time to reflect. Don’t tell the powers that be, but even if I didn’t get a discount on my son’s camp fee, I’d still volunteer. This year I was “The Nature Lady”, which actually meant I was there to help the boys fulfill book requirements or electives, or belt loop and pin requirements, related to nature.

What no one counted on was a tropical storm dumping rain on Florida in June. June is a time for quick afternoon thunderstorms, not all day rain. But Alberto had plans, and he forgot to ask us if we minded. So, the first two days we had 125 boys in church Sunday School rooms, while we tap danced and punted. Monday we actually had to keep them quiet, since there was a funeral going on in the church. Boys really aren’t made to be cooped up indoors for too long. Especially 6-11 year old boys. But we managed, and the weather cooperated for outdoor activities the rest of the week (with a few indoor times on Wednesday due to lightning).

At first, when you see 125 boys going from activity to activity, they all seem alike. Active, curious, hot, whiney, rowdy, loud… you get the picture. But when you get time to talk to them one on one, you learn so much more than you ever thought you would. Some examples:

• I sat in the office with a boy waiting for his mom to pick him up, because he wasn’t feeling well. He was tapping on the really cool drum he made. They all made one; yes my son brought one home too. Anyway he was tapping a song that was in his head. Then he looked at me and asked, “Have you ever heard of a song called The Entertainer?”. I told him I had, and we started singing the tune together. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Then he asked if I knew Heart and Soul. Again we sang. Da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da. He told me that takes piano lessons and likes those songs, so he taught himself to play them. He’s nine.

• Another time I was having lunch, when a boy was brought in to sit in time out. He sat next to our camp “enforcer”, a former kindergarten teacher with grown sons. She talked to him about behaving, then together they looked through a book about knots and scout badges. He became animated and started asking questions about the different badges. He also told her some scout stories his dad had told him. Yeah, he made a poor decision and got sent to time out, but he was still just a little boy like all the rest of them.

• On the last day, I was leading a leather craft. We were one kit short at the very end of the day. As it turned out, there was a boy with an injured finger in the den that was there when we ran short. He agreed to sit out the craft, knowing it was a two handed project. Another boy, who appeared to NOT be a favorite of his den leaders, if you get my drift, took me aside. He told me he was going to make his, then give it to T, the injured boy. We don’t know what these boys are capable of until we give them the opportunity to show us.

It’s not necessarily true that boys don’t open up and talk. They love to tell you all kinds of things. And, it seems, they’re still trying to connect the larger world to their own. Anytime you tell them something, they think of a way it applies to them. There was a gopher toroise burrow near our nature trail, and when I talked about it, hands went up immediately. “My dad said…” “One time I saw…” “When my mom was little…” “At my grandma and grandpa’s house…” “Did you know that gopher tortoises?…”

Sometimes though, they share things you really didn’t want to hear. Near the end of a session on one of our indoor days, a boy turned to me and with more than a little pride in his voice, announced, “I know how to do arm farts. Wanna see?”

Yep, they’re boys.

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