Boy Scouts leader takes active role in kids' lives
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Jude Hampshire
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As an active member in the Eastside community, Jude Hampshire finds participation in the Boy Scout program to be beneficial to her boys and the entire community.
The program teaches boys core values that they will be able to take into their adult lives.
KL: For youth thinking about the Boy Scout program, tell me about how it works and and how youth advance through the program.
JH: The Scout program allows boys to join at first grade. They are a Tiger Cub rank, wear a uniform and participate with the older boys. The older boys know the cubs are sometimes timid, so they make sure they have all they need to succeed - the boys complete a rank advancement each school year by following a book as a guideline and at the end of each school year they move to the next rank as a group until 5th grade when they move into Boy Scouts. In Cub Scouts, the parents work right alongside the scout and participate nearly every step of the way. In Boys Scouts the boys are independent.
KL: Explain the Scout oath and law and how it applies to youth participating in the program.
JH: The Scout oath and law are quite simply a standard by which the boys should form every decision they make in life - a standard guideline for any situation to get them through the “rights and wrongs” life sometimes places in our paths.
KL: For those who have never been part of the program, describe the type of activities boys participate in.
JH: Each pack is definitely different in the events they choose to participate. There are requirements such as tying knots, physical exercise, visiting local businesses, visiting the fire station and police station, guest speakers who come to the meetings and talk about careers, swimming, skating, building a derby car for the annual race, and researching your religion and culture. There are weekly meetings called den meetings and organized field trips as a group, as well as a monthly meeting of all groups together called a pack meeting.
KL: Why is the program so beneficial to boys?
JH: It keeps them occupied and teaches them core values in a fun and interesting way that they will use throughout their lives. It gives them a sense of pride and community to be part of a bigger family that meets often and has a vested interest in each boys personal success.
KL: How did you first get involved with the Boy Scouts?
JH: I was a Brownie Scout myself as a child, and my grandma was a den mother. My oldest son decided he wanted to be a Cub Scout at about age 5 when they gave a presentation at our pre-school. I told him he could start in first grade and then decided to wait a year before kindergarten so he called me on that one. He said I had set him back a year for Scouts, but since he was the same age as the other boys, he was allowed to join. Three of those boys who started together as Tiger Cubs are still together in Boys Scouts and are now teenagers.
KL: What does the Scouting program mean to you? To the community of Reynoldsburg?
JH: The Scouting program to me is so important as a mom of boys who needed to be included in “boy” stuff. It is truly the core values of life given in a manner that makes it fun and interesting at the appropriate age. It is a great responsibility to the parents of Scouts to encourage them when it’s not so easy. I will say that the obstacles are so minimal compared to the unbelievable perks we have gotten as family from the entire program. The energy and discipline are evident.
The community of Reynoldsburg benefits from Scouts as they are always ready and willing to do service projects like clean-up after events and grounds care at historical sites. The boys are encouraged to become a vital part of the community. I recommend Scouts to each and every boy.