TRAIL TO FIRST CLASS - The Fun Begins!
For the first year Scouts, there's a lot to absorb from the time they roll into camp Sunday morning to the time their heads hit the pillow 12 hours later. Even for those who have been here time and time again, Sunday is a long day. But when the kids' eyes opened this morning, they were Camp Geiger pros and ready to take everything it could throw at them. First off, that meant a morning in the Trail to First Class program. Like our TTFC program at home, Geiger's program is designed to teach the boys as much as possible in the time they have to get them closer to reaching their First Class rank. Clearly, when you have 2-3 hours a day for five days vs. 45 minutes once a week, there's a lot you can do.
All the Trail to First Class activities at camp take place in an area called Scoutcraft Pavilion down in Tapper Valley where the Mic-O-Say tapout will happen Thursday night. It's actually not a bad spot for our boys - it's half way between our campsite and the Trading Post. Because they each have to finish each requirement individually, there's a little waiting involved. But they handle it great and are trying to watch and learn.
Today's lessons started with basic First Aid and then moved on to Fire Safety later in the morning.
Summer Camp is a fantastic opportunity for the boys to bond and really get to know each other. Same goes for the parents. Everyone does a really good job of looking out for each other. We are by far the largest group here - about 1/4 of the entire camp - so you can't go anywhere without running into at least a couple of red shirts.
You know the difference between school and summer camp? At camp you're encouraged to drink like this! If I remember right, that water fountain will actually shoot up about 11 feet.
Later in the morning, the boys moved over to the Buckskin Games Corral to throw a few tomahawks. Again, they had to wait their turn, but when you're throwing tomahawks, even the waiting keeps your attention.
For the first year Scouts, there's a lot to absorb from the time they roll into camp Sunday morning to the time their heads hit the pillow 12 hours later. Even for those who have been here time and time again, Sunday is a long day. But when the kids' eyes opened this morning, they were Camp Geiger pros and ready to take everything it could throw at them. First off, that meant a morning in the Trail to First Class program. Like our TTFC program at home, Geiger's program is designed to teach the boys as much as possible in the time they have to get them closer to reaching their First Class rank. Clearly, when you have 2-3 hours a day for five days vs. 45 minutes once a week, there's a lot you can do.
All the Trail to First Class activities at camp take place in an area called Scoutcraft Pavilion down in Tapper Valley where the Mic-O-Say tapout will happen Thursday night. It's actually not a bad spot for our boys - it's half way between our campsite and the Trading Post. Because they each have to finish each requirement individually, there's a little waiting involved. But they handle it great and are trying to watch and learn.
Today's lessons started with basic First Aid and then moved on to Fire Safety later in the morning.
Summer Camp is a fantastic opportunity for the boys to bond and really get to know each other. Same goes for the parents. Everyone does a really good job of looking out for each other. We are by far the largest group here - about 1/4 of the entire camp - so you can't go anywhere without running into at least a couple of red shirts.
You know the difference between school and summer camp? At camp you're encouraged to drink like this! If I remember right, that water fountain will actually shoot up about 11 feet.
Later in the morning, the boys moved over to the Buckskin Games Corral to throw a few tomahawks. Again, they had to wait their turn, but when you're throwing tomahawks, even the waiting keeps your attention.
Both here at Geiger and at home, we are fortunate to have great leadership and many, many thanks go out to these three! Chris, Kevin and Harshal are doing a fantastic job with the first year scouts. Please take a minute to thank them personally when you see them. Beginning to end, Trail to First Class requires hundreds of hours to get all the boys through and these guys are working really hard to set the scouting foundation in the boys that will prepare them well for their run at Eagle in 3-4 years.
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