Scouts: Experience has positive impact on children

In-School Scouting is an optional opportunity for Decatur students and it provides hands-on scouting experiences during the school day for many students. The Girl Scouts are in eight Decatur-area schools and have roughly 300 girls in the program.

Stephanie Strang, principal at Franklin School, has seen the benefits of the Girl Scouting in the School Day program in her school.

“It helps them to make positive choices,” Strang said. “I’ve seen higher self-esteem, self confidence and new friendships.”

Being in Girl Scouting in the School Day puts the girls in a new category of being role models for others. They are expected to keep themselves out of trouble and away from suspension and in-school suspension.

“These are just not options,” said Sonja Chargois, Girls Scouts of Central Illinois membership specialist. “It has affected their grades in many cases. I have seen Fs go to Bs and As, but they need someone who cares.”

One part of each agency’s In-School Scouting experience is to take on bullying, which is a significant problem in the schools.

The Girl Scouts that meet at the library at Franklin decorated bookmarks with slogans against bullying which are put into each book that is checked out.

“I like drawing and creativity,” said Jasmine Brown about the activity.

Destiny Franklin said, “It’s fun. I was in Girl Scouts last year. It is awesome, and I like the bookmarks about not bullying.”

Chargois works with Abby Minick and Jody Mink as facilitators.

“It is a very rewarding job,” Chargois said. “I get to go out into the community and get to know the girls. We want the girls to figure out what they want to be based on their possibilities rather than their circumstances.”

The Boy Scouts are taking a similar approach.

Brush College School Principal Joe Smith said he has seen a difference through Scoutreach, the Boy Scouts’ counterpart program.

Smith believes the students are more polite. For example, he said, in the past when someone fell down, they would be passed without notice. “Now someone stops and helps them.”

John Johnson, the Scoutreach program coordinator, said when he was first hired and asked to “recruit a few kids” for the program, he said, “I brought in 300 names. I don’t think they were expecting that many.”

The program now serves close to 600 children. There are currently 25 units chartered to 22 organizations.

At Hope Academy, a den meeting of Cub Scouts is held during lunch. On one recent day, the qualities of discipline and respect were emphasized. Their activity this day was practicing the discipline of saluting, the commands of “attention” and “at ease.”

“I like running in the playground to be active and healthy. I would like to go camping,” said Jamonta Blyth a fifth-grader at Hope Academy who has been a Scout for a year. “It is a good thing for boys to do while they’re growing; they can learn new things about Boy Scouting and what they want to do. I have a Scout book at home.”

Johnson said much of the value of the program is rooted in the fact that experiencing new things is monumental to the kids.

“They mostly have the same dreams,” Johnson said. “They just need a few people to make them come true. These kids are at a critical age, you can make them or break them … (we need to) build up the kids.”

plarson@herald-review.com|421-6983