The Great Outdoors

In my last post, it was about The Portland Outdoor School and what School District and City of Portland is doing with it.  Like I have said, it’s not a bad thing and it should be there and funded properly.  But what about OTHER camps and solutions and things that can happen to NOT have to go through this School?  Maybe a better solution is sitting right under your nose and you just do not know it.  Why does the Outdoor School only happens once a year.  Why can it not happen every week or every month?

In the quick googling of camps, Portland and Oregon I found a few that are cool, besides the Outdoor School.
TrackerPDX: This one seems to be geared all year round and for the home schooled crowd.  I like the Zombie First Responder class!
The Audubon Society of Portland is another.  These are basically day trips and wildlife based.
There is even Outward Bound.  Very cool stuff.

So a lot more in and around Portland.  I highly suspect the same is in your area where you, the reader are now in.  These activities and camps take a lot of money to send your child or children to!  It’s Gymboree or a Playdate.  These are classes/camps that teach you something, get you outdoors and experience things that make you stretch.

I am not going into the Sports Camps or Math Camps or other Academic Camps that you could go to.  Those are good and worthwhile.  I went to a few of them in my day as well.  Heck, I even went to a speed reading class for a summer.

All of these classes above are good.  But, why not do them ALL YEAR LONG?  Go on field trips called Go-See-Its to the Police Dept, Fire Dept, TV Station, Newspaper, A Tree Farm, Ape Caves (Mt St Helens) go to a Science Day at Intel.  Go hiking along a river, in a wildlife preserve, go to a Zoo and even sleep under the Spruce Goose. We had the normal Pinewood Derby and Raingutter Regattas.  During Summertime Activities, we learned about water bottle rockets and Disc Golfing.    All of these dealt with Nature, Science and how things worked.

All of these outing, expeditions and activities were through Cub scouts.  Specifically within the Pack I am Cubmaster for.  Scouting at any level (and there is Cubscouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity, Venture & Sea Scouts) is full of adventure, fun and learning.  My daughter is in Girl Scouts and is having similar fun and has gone to camp as well. While I am not knee-deep into Girl Scouts, I know that Girl Scouts has  similar offerings and Camps.

The whole Scouting Program offers all the items within its program, year round that the Outdoor School does several times a year.  The other Camps that cost a lot of money do to, but you do not build off a year round program.  Scouting as the youth progress gain leadership skills, build character and learn skills that can lead into hobbies and even careers.  While not every Scout will be an Astronaut, they will  have the basis to meet any of their goals and reach for their own star.

So, Outdoor School is good.  But, it’s my contention that Scouting via any program for any youth is good.  It is known throughout the entire world and was founded on helping promote peace and understanding to all.  To me, having instant friends in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, Libya, Mexico and any of the 140 nations is wonderful.   Be Prepared to have more friends and fun along the way.

Having a year round program that gets the youth out into the wild year round for very low-cost will be a great benefit to all. Scouting is your answer.

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What Scouts offers…..

Robert Baden-Powell and the first Scout at the first Scout encampment, August 1907, Brownsea Island, England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scouting in any flavor offers a lot to the youth that they serve.  It could be Girl Scouts, American Heritage Girls, Campfire, Boy Scouts and the list goes on.   All programs feature Leadership Skills, Fun and getting outside.  In a recent meeting with all the folks down at Council and at the last Top Team meeting, we were told about how our Council’s Summer camp program is down.  I think we are at 46-48% of use.  Council wants us to get to 78% in three years.   The Scout Exec stated that while we are property rich, we are not where other Councils are at with Summer camp numbers..  Within the same meetings it was shown that there are 92,000 boys within the Council that are not in Scouts. (I would like to include girls in this, but I just do not have that number).

Now, in a recent development in the Portland Public School system, they are talking about a lot of cuts to many programs.  One of these is an Outdoor Program for the 6th Grade.  Also, within our School the 5th Graders used to go on this but at a different time.  It now has not happened for a year or two since parents did not step-up and make it happen.  For the 6th Grade program, it is available for both Boys & Girls.  The School system paid for it via Taxes.  While I think it’s a great thing to go and do, this is just another reason for Scouting.  Here is local reaction to the proposed cuts from KGW.

Schools are facing budget cuts and cut vital programs, teachers and staff.  Is there waste?  Sure, let’s get that out first.  This is a perfect reason for a Lean Six Sigma project to take place.   I would also recommend the Senior Management group to do Woodbadge.

Here is my point…..Scouting provides Camping to generally all kids 1st-12th grade.  It might be Girl Scouts till Venturing and Cub scouts to  Boy Scouts, throw in Sea Scouts for both too!  What Scouting also does is help the community way more than just a week out in the woods.  It provides Leadership Skills along with skills to explore different occupations.  So, while the Portland Public Schools are not going to be able offer the Outdoor School, Scouting is there to pick up.

Go here to find a Boy Scout Unit.  Support Scouting in Portland.

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Supporting the Village

The school auction that our school has each year was last night (Saturday March, 10th.)    It is put on by the school foundation and the people who worked on it are awesome.  They raised a lot of money.  Let’s just say that the District’s FOS Goal would have been realized in 2.5 hours.  While my wife and I gave, some other families did not.  Some families just did not show up.  Whatever their reason, I understand that they might not have been able to or they give in other ways.

I am pretty selective on where I give.  I give my time to Scouting.  I also give  money to Scouts and the school.  My wife is the PTA President and she gives that way and in the classroom and many other levels.  She is recognized for it and rightly so.

Yes, I/we  did end up with a few things.  Our family normally does.  I do this because the Portland Public School District and the Oregon State Lawmakers cannot figure out how to properly fund education.  Our teachers deserve to be paid like the 1% and they are not.  Our school buildings need to be upgraded to basic standards.  Most are not.   I don’t get political in this blog, but I am not happy with how schools are funded within my area and nationally.  We all moan and complain about how gas prices are going up and how the current President is to blame.  But we do not create the same angst on Facebook/Twitter/Etc for schools.  I come from a long line of teachers, my Brother-in-Law is a teacher a lot of my friends are teachers.  Even my former 7th grade girlfriend is a Chemistry/Biology teacher.  So, I support them.

So, how does this relate to Scouting?  Thanks for asking…

Two things happened yesterday.

The first, is a Tiger Cub missed a the TV Go-See-It for the 4G part of his badge due to having the flu.  On this Monday, his Den will be getting the Tiger Badge presented to them.  He was the only one that would not have gotten it.   As Cubmaster, I could not let that happen.   So, I emailed the family and figured out a way to make this happen.  He needed to learn about how others Communicate.  In emailing his Dad, we setup a time yesterday to have a in-home Go-See-It.  I brought in my two different Ham Radios and explained to him how they work.   His brother (a Wolf) and sister were also there.

While I was there, I asked him what he thinks communication is and how he does communicate.  We talked about phones, iPhones, computers and games he plays on the Wii.  He said that he plays against other friends over the network.  His Dad asked if he Skyped, to which he replied yes.   I then got into how people communicate via TV and Radio and all over the world.  Because I know the family, I was able to make it real personal to him.  As we got deeper into it, I brought out the two Ham Radios.  I explained them at a level that he could understand.  They all seemed to get it.

We did turn them on and I showed them how they worked.  We did not get much chatter except for the repeaters answering back in morse code. (If your a Ham Radio Operator, you will get this.  If your not, go take a class…;)  )  Due to the non-talking on the Radio, I used my iPhone App called 5-0 Radio.  It is a police scanner software.  So we listened to the Portland Police, Chicago EMT/Fire, Washington DC Police & Sidney Australia Fire channels, all from a dining room table.

In the end, he earned the 4G Communications Go-See-It activity.   I was able to do this because I cared about him getting his Tiger Badge and not having him feel left out.  That’s why I do Scouting.  I did not want him to have a bad experince that I had and leave Scouting.

Second thing:

At the end of the night when we were all checking out and paying our tab, I met a couple who has a son in Kindergarten.  We exchanged what we bought and about our kids.  Yes, I brought up Scouts.  The Dad stated that due to the high price of college that his son will be doing all sports and no scouts.  Scouts does not pay.  I was shocked to hear this and I started to talk about how Scouts and Sports can work together. (read this post from Scoutmaster Jerry for a better said reason)  I did not get complete the conversation with this Dad since we both got distracted.  However, I did relate it to my wife.  To which she said “You can do both!”  We went on on about how Scouting is a great thing, teaching skills and that if your an Eagle Scout it would carry you forward a lot further than Sports would at that level.  We also talked about if your trying to get into college and your the Football Team Captain and it’s down to you and 50 other people….the colleges are looking for a well rounded person.  To me, that Dad is short sighted and won’t get into the end-zone.

So, how does all these relate?  This way….
Support your Schools.  Support Scouts.  Support what is important to you and Do Your Best in doing it. Take the personal time to make a difference.   Don’t just think about your children.  Think about them and their friends.  Remember, it takes a village to raise a child.  You are in that village.  I care about the kids in it and those around it.  It’s why I give to the school and to Scouts.

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My Wife

I cannot do much without my wife.  It’s true.  But, I am not going to talk about our relationship here or now.  What I want to say is that she’s pretty wonderful.  I think that I change lives within Scouting.  However, she as PTA President of the Stephenson Elementary School in Portland, Or really makes a difference.  It’s only her first year in a two year term.  But there are two things this year that really went above and beyond what a lot of people have done.

First, she started, spearheaded and got everyone to VOTE for Stephenson to get a new blacktop for the Playground.  She got us to vote and win the Grant!  Woot Woot!
Now, she tells me that she got another local grant to purchase 10 Dual Core Pentium 2 Laptops from a company that is getting new ones for $200.  They are replacing DESKTOP units that are REALLY REALLY SLOW.  I think 266mhz.  ugh.  So, all the teachers now have new laptops that will allow them to work from home and not be at school late at night.

Pretty good for first year PTA President.  These are only TWO of the many things that she has done this year.  She’s just amazing.  If she was in Scouting…she would get the District Award of Merit in my book!

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