My coleader and I took canoe training at Camp Fiddlecreek this past Saturday. We had a vague idea of what we were getting into, just word-of-mouth. It was run by the Red Cross but taught by Laurie, a Red Cross employee who is also a girl scout. The first half of the day was Basic Water Rescue, which about 90% of which I'd either taken as a teenager or had some sense of already. We took a classroom course, which in the past has been a dreary part of training, but it was actually entertaining and informative this time. I was pleased as we walked down the hill to the pool to do the hands-on portion. Like I said, I'd had this all before and it went well. The pool wasn't too cold and I'm a strong swimmer so it was really just a demonstration that I knew what I was doing. I do. The only thing I hadn't done was flip over a drowning person who had a suspected spinal injury. But I learned it and did it.

After that, we had lunch and the classroom portion of the canoe training. We watched a video. We took a test. Easy. But as we walked down to the lake, this sense of dread filled my chest. I can't explain it any better way. What have I gotten myself into? I kept asking myself. How is this going to work? My coleader has a lot of canoe experience, but mine is limited. I have probably clocked fewer than 5 hours in a canoe. I've been in rowboats, sailboats, motor boats, but canoes have always made me nervous. So easy to tip as you're getting in. Well. They taught us how to get in. We each had to solo paddle out to the middle, make a 360 turn in place, and then paddle backward. I had done these things before and it was ok. Then came the part I was dreading. My coleader and I got in the canoe and rowed it out to a good deep part of the lake. We then, according to instructions, had to swamp our canoe, fall out of it, and then get back into the swamped canoe and paddle with our hands back to shore.

Let me tell you, the first time you fall out of a canoe is not fun. I got a big old mouthful of brown lake water and more up my nose. Sputtering and gagging, I helped her flip the canoe over, found it easy to get inside a canoe full of water, and then really hard to STAY in a canoe full of water. But we managed and hand-paddled best we could without hitting other swamped boats. Getting onto shore, we felt like we'd accomplished something. So back in the water we went. We were supposed to partner up with another canoe and learn out to tow them by the painter (the string attached to the bow). We were canoe #9, though, so we were odd girls out. We finally got someone to pair up with us to let us tow them a few feet, when the instructors called for us to watch two boats demonstrate the next skill. It was raining. We were worried about storms. So Laurie on the shore talked the two boats through the next thing: Canoe #1 tips over. Canoe #2 helps them out by sliding Canoe #1 perpendicular across Canoe #2, upside-down. Then the people in Canoe #2 flip over Canoe #1, still resting across their canoe. They slide it back into the water and help the folks from Canoe #1 get back into their now-dry canoe. Let me tell you, watching them? I knew why I had that sense of dread. The rain was coming down and a false hope entered my heart: maybe they were having those two canoes demonstrate and that was it.

Maybe we didn't have to do it. But no. She told the canoes to switch places to have Canoe #1 be the rescuers. And then she told the rest of us to pair up and go for it. Again, we were the odd boat out, and so we waited in the rain. Finally, the first group finished and one of their boats came over to help us, essentially doing it all over again. I looked at my coleader. "Let's tip first," I suggested. I was really worried about my ability to get back into the boat and I wanted to be done with it. We tipped. Easier this time. No mouthful of water. We came up and helped our partners take the boat across theirs. My coleader got in quickly. She and the other canoe folks steadied it while I put my hands on the gunwale (I've learned all this new vocabulary!) and then tried kicking at the water while grabbing the thwarts and pulling myself in. I got a foot up, and then realized I was going to tip the whole thing back over. So I went back into the water, caught my breath, visualized what the demonstration folks did to make it work. I had to get my whole ribcage past the gunwale in one try, and then use that higher center of gravity to pull myself in. And I did it.

The next portion was easy, taking their boat across ours, flipping it, and helping them back in. Adrenaline still coursing through my veins, that 150 pound canoe just didn't seem like that big a deal. After they were safely inside, we paddled with all our might back to shore, put our canoe up, paddles, life jackets, and I looked back at the lake. Even though we had a late start, being the 9th boat, there were still 3 groups out on the lake working to get back into boats or pull boats across, and so forth. We weren't last. It doesn't matter on my little Red Cross certification card, but it meant something to me. I managed to do that task, that impossible dreadful task, in that dirty water, with no experience, and I fell in the middle of the pack. I felt like I had accomplished something real that day. The bruises on my hip and my upper arm tell me that, too. We drove back to the city knowing that our girls WOULD canoe. Soon. No question.

Take the class in September when it is offered again, or next spring. Take it with your coleader. If one of you also has first aid/CPR, then you're set. You two and then two adults (no training needed) to watch on the shore and your troop is free and independent. It was the best Girl Scout training I've taken and even though I dread the idea that I'll have to pass the test, including tipping over the canoe, again in 3 years (the certification lasts 3 years), I know I can do it. It was totally worth it.

I have a troop of 20 juniors and 14 of those girls have pursued their bronze award this year. This week we finished up the sewing for the APA and will deliver the finished items in early May. It was hard to let go and let them do the work, let me just say that for the record. Staying in the background to help rethread a needle or reload a bobbin, but not sitting at the machine coaching every second? Nigh impossible. It would have been better if they'd chosen a project that didn't have quite so much sewing involved. Something that wasn't my area of expertise, for instance. But on the other hand, I was able to give hints and ideas and shortcuts that helped everyone. We're going to have a bronze award ceremony in early June. The 14 who stuck it out, I believe, had a good experience. But what of my other 6? One girl didn't join the troop until January and it was understood that it wouldn't be possible to get it all done with everyone else. She's a 4th grader so she could work on it next year if she chooses. But the other 5 have dropped away in one way or another. Two new girls stayed through the camping trip in January and even sold cookies, but let my coleader know that they were done with scouting. Why? I'm not certain. Another girl has been in my troop from the beginning but has barely been a part of things this year. I have a feeling there are bigger things going on in her life, and her family's life, than just missing some scout meetings. A fourth girl is super busy and comes to meetings when she can but has missed so much of the work on the bronze award that there's no way she would be able to make up the difference. Her mom is one of my great volunteers and I kind of scratch my head at the whole business but I don't push. And lastly, I have one girl who has been involved for several years but as Grandma loses her grip on her (she and her mom have moved out of Grandma's house, for instance), she comes less and less. She sold cookies (I think Grandma sold cookies), but she's only been to one meeting. I looked around on Sunday at the 14 who were working at my dining room table, at the living room coffee table with two sewing machines, working well together, chatting, bonding across school boundaries, and I thought about next year. Adding in the new girl, a troop of 15 would be quite nice. Manageable in size and I would know everyone was happy to be there. I hope they all come back next year, and I privately hope nobody else joins (save one other girl in my daughter's class who has asked me about next year). We've got a good set the way we are.

Our troop has worked things out. The girls made suggestions for a behavior contract and I typed it up this past week, adding the Girl Scout promise and law at the top, because except for trip-specific details, almost everything that should be expected of girls is in the promise and law. I sent it to my coleader to see what she thought, and she liked it. She'd been hesitant at first because it wasn't very organic, meaning, it made our group a lot more official than she (or I) felt comfortable with. But she read it and liked it and decided that we should bring it up over lunch on our upcoming trip. We should go over it together as a troop and make the pledge to follow it, together. This is why my coleader and I are so well matched. I have a high tolerance for paperwork and love to teach skills, while she really understands how 9 year old girls work. Thank goodness, because otherwise I'd probably be running the troop like a police state. Just my natural tendency. I'm a former middle school math teacher. So we're headed out to a field trip Saturday, hoping for good weather. And by the end, hoping fences are mended and we can move on, together.

Looking for a bit of advice or maybe just simply posting this to admit that it isn't all hearts and flowers over here in my junior troop. I have a girl, let's call her Jackie, who has been in our troop for 3 years. Never much of a problem, but her mother is hard to handle and her grandmother more so. But I have handled them as best I could and we're all still here to talk about it. Jackie was never the issue, and so the adults involved took most of my managing time. All my other families, all of them, added together, were never as much work as this one. Jackie joined late in this year because the adults in her life couldn't get the paperwork together. I learned via another scout leader that Grandma probably forged mom's signature on the form--yet mom was the one who dropped it off with payment. That was in November, and Jackie didn't come to a meeting until the January "Get ready to sell cookies and go camping" meeting. Since she'd been a member for some time, I didn't think twice about having us join us on the camping trip. I knew her family situation wasn't her fault.

She was a problem on the camping trip. A big problem. She stole a bunch of fruit from the kitchen and took a bite from each, hiding them in her sleeping bag. She brought candy--against the rules--and hid it in her cubby (we were at a lodge). She kept girls awake into the night and shined her flashlight in their eyes while they slept. She was sullen and didn't participate. And she stole other girls' items and hid them and made one girl cry. The worst part was that she was a ringleader of sorts and drew two new girls in, which made it even more complicated to sort out who was responsible for what. I know I could have sent her home. I knew, however, that it wouldn't have made an impression. I had a growing suspicion that Jackie didn't want to be in girl scouts at all, but was there because her grandmother used to be a leader at another school and was probably forcing her to join. I wanted to make it work, and my sainted co-leader drew her in by Saturday afternoon and we were able to make it through until it was time to go home. By the time I made it to the pick up site, she'd already been picked up. The rest of my life was busy enough, with cookie sales and a vacation and all this sleet and snow. So I didn't get around to contacting her mother or grandmother. I expected I'd see her at our February meeting and could handle it there. She didn't come to the February meeting. Nor to the February gathering. Or the March meeting. I didn't follow up. I have a big troop and so be it. Her partners in crime from the camping trip seemed to drop off as well. Except all three sold cookies...and picked them up...and dropped off money. So girl scouting was still on their minds. Grandma called my cookie manager to ask for my phone number, which of course she should have so far. She told her, "Jackie is so excited about the field trip this month and camping in May." She hasn't called me yet to get the details, and I'm really at a loss. I've never had a girl act like this on a trip and never had a girl who seemed to be using me for free field trips and camping this way. Girls come to the majority of meetings, most gatherings and trips. That's how it's always gone. It's never been an issue. Ever. Really. I don't think I should allow her to go on our field trip and I certainly don't think she should camp in May, unless she starts coming to our meetings again and participates in April Showers. I know her family situation is complicated, but her behavior on the camping trip was completely out of line. Other girls have asked me, privately, if Jackie is still in our troop. They came up with a behavior contract for all girls to sign before our next trip and I know they did it because of Jackie's behavior in January.

We've never done anything like that before. So what do I do? My co-leader likes second chances but Jackie never showed any remorse, never apologized, never seemed to admit that she was in the wrong (and she camped with us twice last year with no problem--I think the combination of her with the two new girls, who are friends of hers from the same school, was the perfect storm kind of set up in January). She knew what was expected and she knew the rules and continued to break them--and I hate to take it personally but I'm a volunteer. I'm not her teacher. I feel like I shouldn't have to put up with behavior like this, especially when we're away for the weekend. I expect Grandma will call today, and I am going to remove myself from the position of being between her and her ex-daughter-in-law. I'm going to tell her I need to talk to Jackie's mom or dad about this. But I'm sure I'll get a phone call from Mom right afterward. And I need to figure out what I'm going to say.

Sunday, along with cookie preparations and camping preparations (we're going this weekend! In the snow! Whee!), my junior troop started their sewing badge. Since we're going camping in a lodge in the snow, most of the hand work will happen while we're there, as well as looking at patterns and fabric and making decisions and so forth. It's our main activity Saturday morning. But since I didn't want to drag a sewing machine to Tuckaho, we handled that part on Sunday. For part of our bronze award, the girls will be putting together "cat quilts" for the APA--small soft blankets that fit at the bottom of cages. So it makes sense to do the sewing badge to get that project started. My girls are 4th and 5th graders. I remember being a 5th grader and already knowing how to use my mother's sewing machine and could make doll quilts (ugly doll quilts) for the dollhouse. I was allowed free use of the sewing room (well, area) in my house. And so I am self-taught. I set up the sewing machines and asked the girls if anyone had any experience with machine sewing. Of the 16 who were there, 5 raised their hands. Only a few more than that even had a sewing machine at home. This wasn't a skill they were going to pick up at home. And with the state of education how it is, this wasn't a skill they were going to pick up at school either. Once again, THIS IS WHAT GIRL SCOUTING IS FOR. It was the most basic introduction. I showed them plain cut scissors (left and right handed) and pinking shears. I showed them bobbins, cutting mats, and pins. Each girl cut out two squares of the sort of fabrics we would be using--polar fleece, flannel, minky, jersey. Then they pinned them faces together--which didn't make sense to many of them. They brought them over to the machines and I talked them through a running stitch. How to put the needle into the fabric, how to put the presser foot down. How much pressure to put on the pedal. How to cut the thread. Each girl sewed her two blocks together and I called it a day. Seriously. As we start the bronze award project, they'll learn more, I'm sure. My machine is easy to thread and things will come undone. Bobbins run out and need to be replaced. I just, I guess I was shocked at how little they knew about this basic skill. So I just kept it simple, did this mini lesson so I can build on it next time. And maybe there will be room for the sewing machine in my packing for the weekend. Because I think practice will be essential.

Each Girl Scout Council has the option to offer its own badges, called "Council's Own" badges (this is a link to a wiki of sorts listing many of them available). Troops, in theory, can have a Troop's Own as well, but for the most part, I've only seen council's owns. GSEM has a few, but what always fascinates me is the variety of badges available nationwide to registered scouts if only the leader knows where to look.

For instance, my juniors love archery. They love it. They keep asking when we'll go again, if we'll have a chance when we camp (in January!!). I picked up my badgebook and found that there isn't an archery badge. So I hunted online and found that the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, a council in Georgia, and one in Massachusetts offer archery badges. I took a look at requirements, made them a little harder in some cases, and presented it to my girls. Three of the 19 have earned it already (they were juniors last year and had a head start) and I expect the majority to earn it by springtime.

Girl Scouts of Northern California has a self defense badge that I am tweaking a bit for my two juniors who are very involved in tae kwon do. Central Indiana has several interesting badges available, including Animals in Our Community, which my troop will most certainly earn this year; bicycling; and archaeology. There's a wide variety across the US. All these badges are worn on the front with official insignia--they are not simply participation patches. There are some brownie try-its available, too, although not as many, and interest patches for older girls.

Several times in the past year a girl has asked me "do they have a badge for...?" and I haven't known for certain. It takes some digging, but almost always I can find something that fits. There are all sorts of badges out there--nearly all that are listed at that wiki page above are open to all GSUSA scouts; some councils limit who can earn their badges, but many offer them to any scout that completes the requirements.

I wish that our council had more to offer in this regard--especially considering changes coming in the next year, it might be good to consider offering more of these options. But until that day comes, I'm happy to hunt and find options for my girls when their interests and expertise don't fit exactly into the GSUSA materials and requirements.

My juniors spent Sunday afternoon earning their wildlife badge. A few already had--this is the second time I've run this meeting, so I changed it up a bit. One thing the badge book doesn't focus on is the use of field guides, which I think are a wonderful gateway to conservation and knowledge about wildlife and natural history. I had several bird guides, some with plates and some with photos. Since it was already afternoon and we were unlikely to see many birds about (plus, 17 juniors can be noisy!), we did this part of the activity with several photographs I had, either from my own collection or from sources online. Each group was given a few and I explained what to look for on a bird and how to use the guide their group had. Some pictures were very easy, like wood duck and red-tailed hawk, but others were tricky, like several differen species of sparrow ("little brown jobbies" or LBJs, as they are often called). Girls debated on some of them, and in the end one group was never sure if they had a picture of a white throated or white crowned sparrow. I told them that out in the field, keen observation before picking up the book was key. Watch the bird perch, watch it fly, listen to find out if it has a distinct call.

My goal there is to spark interest. Some of my girls will probably never pick up a field guide again, for birds or trees or anything like that: they just don't have interests in this area. But others I know will ask me on our camping trips to borrow one, that they've found this or that flower and just have to know what it is.

I drew some other activities from my 1953 Girl Scout Handbook. It makes me sad that we have "Wildlife" and "Plants and Animals" but we used to have Rambler, Trees, Garden Flowers, Wild Plants, Mammals, Birds, Insects, Reptiles & Amphibians, and Saltwater Life. And in order to earn some of those badges, like "Tree", a girl had to complete 10 of 16 requirements, including identification of 15 trees out of doors. It's ridiculous that the Wildlife badge doesn't include something like this--maybe not specific to trees, but that we don't even make it one of the options, to learn, say, 10 common trees, flowers, birds, or mammals that are indigenous to the area where the scout resides.

So we took a walk. Just around my block. And by the end of it they knew dogwood, sycamore, maple, American basswood, gingko (sure, it's not indigenous, but it's pervasive!), red oak (just the classification, we didn't get into specific oak species), mulberry, ash, sweetgum, and birch. I know it will need reinforcement and mnemonics in order to stick, but I think in this day and age, too many young people (and old people!) just have no clue what's in nature around them.

They also learned the 5 poisonous snakes of Missouri, the 2 spiders, and how to identify poison ivy. We did a few of the other activities in the badgebook and ended the meeting with smores around my fire pit and learning a couple of bird calls (what chew, what chew, birdie birdie birdie; and my favorite: OH sweet Canada, Canada, Canada Canada!).

Next month's regular meeting: the sewing badge. We'll rock that one out, trust me.

Journeys. The elephant in the living room. For a long time I felt like I was being needlessly cynically and put-upon, that it was just my fear of change. Then this summer, knowing I was going to have to bite the bullet and ntroduce them anyway, I decided to take a look at a daisy journey, since my younger daughter would be starting daisies in the fall.

I had looked at brownie and junior journeys, but knowing I had time and liking the way things were going, I ignored them. But I picked up the daisy leader guide and started flipping through. It seemed ok. Really. Too scripted for my taste, but I could see how I could use it. I could envision a set of 6 meetings or so, centered around a common theme. I liked the "daisy garden" idea and I thought to myself, "what was I so afraid of?"

Two of the things I'd read about how the journeys came about involved increasing membership, especially in urban areas, and having a more consistent girl experience. I knew the second was completely valid--so much depends on your leader and her enthusiasm, tolerance for paperwork, interests, and goals. It would be a hard one to change, though, because training can only do so much. You would need to move to an almost scripted program: in kindergarten you cover these things, in 4th grade you do this and that, and so forth. I have heard from friends who are boy scout volunteers that this is more like the boy scout program, that it is pretty consistent in comparison to girl scouts. But I liked the freedom--a close friend was a leader for a few years until her daughter joined my troop, and she focused on careers and safety;  I was always more interested in the outdoors and crafts. But as my girls got older, I let them make the decisions and guide the planning (which means a yearly trip to the City Museum, a place that makes me break out in hives but they love it). But you do have to have some sense about you to be a leader who can guide girls until they can guide themselves. You have to know how to use GS resources and classes and training in order to do the things they want to do. And often you have to do things you might not have wanted.

From what I saw of the journeys, even standing there in the shop glancing over the daisy leader's guide, I could see the consistency of outcomes. I could see what they were going for.

So I stood there and browsed and then saw references to work girls should be doing in their journey books. I looked back at the shelf and found them, slim workbooks designed to be one-per-girl consumables. And I have to admit I kind of flipped out. So much for trying to entice urban girls, many of whom can't afford the $12 membership fee to even join girl scouts. I thought about all the other things we could do with the money we'd need to buy 12 of these workbooks for my daisy troop (a daisy troop based in a montessori school with no workbooks present).

That's when I decided I needed to find another way. I know, there are work-arounds. I know, there is scholarship money. I could probably make a bunch of copies or be creative in other ways. I know all these things. I know there are creative people who do wonderful things with journeys and I applaud them. And I'm not leaving--I'm not throwing my hands up and walking away from girl scouting. I also know that many, many people who volunteer for girl scouts are upset with these journeys, for so many reasons, and I won't spend the time to sit and complain because it's easy to stand against something.

Instead, I've decided what I'm going to do. What I'm going to stand for and do and how I will draw my girls into a positive girl scouting experience.

1. I won't be tossing my books come next autumn when they're phased out. I have books dating back to the 1940s on my shelves and they are all good resources. My favorite is the 1953 Intermediate Girl Scout Handbook. When my juniors earned their wildlife badge, I wasn't impressed enough with the current guidelines, so we drew them from this book. And they learned something.

2. I won't be purchasing workbooks for my daisy troop. I'm going to take out my brownie leader's guide and draw on my experiences of being a first grade teacher (I am a once-and-future teacher). We will do a canned food drive and caroling in December. We will sell cookies in January. We will go on field trips and learn the girl scout law and sing songs and go on a day trip to the country.

3. I won't be purchasing workbooks for my junior troop. I won't hide the journeys from them, since they are juniors, and I'll borrow a guide from the resource center. If they want to give it a try, we'll give it a try (next year: this year is pretty much set due to our bronze award). Over half my girls come from a montessori school where child-led learning is the name of the game. They picked their bronze award project and have planned out the year. I can't see them going for a scripted workbook-based system, but if they do, we'll give it a try. But we won't buy workbooks because one of my girls pays for things from her allowance (in quarters); another's mom keeps her home when things cost money, even though I've talked to her time and again about not worrying about such things, please, that's what troop funds are for; and several other families (including my co-leader Clarity) are on tight budgets. I'd rather spend troop funds on experiences.

4. I will continue to work within the system as best I can to give my girls the kind of experience that matches my goals for girl scouting: experiences girls can't get in school, at home, or on the playground. I will take small watercraft training so we can canoe when we want and not just when there's another troop at camp with the adults we need. I will fill my little green card up with certifications, and use them. I will go to neighborhood meetings and help my other leaders at my school as TO. I will be a part of girl scouting and stay hopeful.

My junior troop has grown each year it's been in existence. It's an urban troop of girls who do not have access to camping and wilderness education via other outlets. Girl Scouting allows me to use their framework and bring these things, and so many others, to girls whose lives would be smaller without scouting. If GSUSA wants to know how to draw in urban girls, maybe they should come talk to me and Clarity. Something we're doing is catching on. And what we do, most of all, is go off-script. It may not provide a "consistent girl outcome" but why should we make ours worse to match everyone else's?

My juniors are planning to earn their bronze award this year. They all like service projects and doing things together (although my daughter said, "I can't wait until next year when we can go back to normal"). It is definitely setting the tone for the year. I am so glad I took the training this summer, though, so that it doesn't derail our year! Great ideas and hoiw-to's.

I gave each girl time to come up with ideas for the service project at our first meeting and put all the idea categories on a big piece of paper. I then gave each girl 3 little incentive stickers (the ones teachers use on charts) and let them go up to the paper a few at a time and vote. They could use their votes however they wanted. I had in the past used one girl, one vote schemes but I always wound up with numbers like 8 to 6 to 3. This way, I figured that if you didn't get your first choice, chances are you'd get your second.

Animals won by a landslide, with nature/environment and nursing homes in a tie for second.

We sent out emails to various organizations--in the end, we got positive responses from Longmeadow Rescue Ranch, the World Bird Sanctuary, and the APA. We're going to let the girls make a final decision at the October business meeting. I know what I want to do (a combination of the APA, which would be craft and sewing projects; and the World Bird Sanctuary because I love them). But they're juniors now and I keep my mouth shut!

They are going to do their junior aide badge and one of the other badges will be Wildlife. I guess we'll see if we go with Pet Care or Horse Fan or Plants and Animals when they come to a final decision. Oh, amd they want to do the Sign of the Star. Talent Show in February!

Even though my daughter worries that the Bronze Award will derail her year, it won't. We're doing plenty of fun things and earning pre-requisites without even trying that hard. I'm looking firward to how it progresses.

My junior troop had done archery at Camp Tuckaho back in the spring but never as a big group (it's a 4th/5th split, so last year I only had 3 archers). This is one of those activities they can FINALLY do and they wanted to take advantage of it as soon as possible. So I borrowed my district equipment, grabbed the fingertip gloves I picked up on my own when I saw how ridiculous those finger tabs were, and scouted out a place to go.

There are two county parks with ranges (or maybe three) and a city park up in the county where I learned how to be a moderator. But I read that you had to be a resident of the city up there (Hazelwood? St. Ann? I can't recall) and I KNEW Forest Park had a range--I'd biked past it so many times. So began my hunt for archery range information. Forest Park doesn't make it easy. I finally talked to Bill at St. Louis Archery Club and he told me who to contact. The Club runs an open session every Sunday, but my girls had zero experience and we were going to have quite a few come out, so I felt like we should go on our own. I was told there were bales but no targets.

Fine, I thought, no problem, I'll bring my own. Just run to Cabela's and pick up....wait. In my mind I was thinking those paper targets with the blue, red, yellow bullseyes. All they have at the hunting stores, from what I could see online, were the bag targets with pictures of deer and stuff like that. Then I remembered my archery training: have the girls color paper plates and put 5 or so on a bale and have them aim at those--they can take them home after. Right. In retrospect I should have done more research about paper targets and ordered them three weeks ago from some online source. But you live and learn.

We got there this morning right after the rain and set up a couple of blankets and chairs. I went into my spiel about how to string the bows, how to check arrows for damage, how to listen to commands on the line. We were just about ready to get started when up walks this guy in a camo jacket. He's from the Archery Club. If we want, he could set up targets for us...

We took him up on the offer. He set up 4 targets--one for him, three for us, on the other side of the field. The whole real deal, the big round styrofoam targets resting on tripod easel like structures. I had all the girls thank him several times. Now we were in business.

Archery is approved for girls 9 and up in the 4th grade on up--but not every 4th grader is coordinated and focused and strong enough to really make it work, my daughter included. By her third round of 4 arrows, she had one hit the target. Another girl couldn't seem to grasp the idea of a fingertip pull. But by the end of three rounds, all of them had hit paper at least once. Hannah (not her real name) had hit every time. She turned to my coleader Rachel, when Rachel was up for a try and hit the red circle, "Don't you just love that sound when it hits the target?"

Indeed.

It's funny to watch personalities come out when faced with a difficult task for which you have no preparation. Only three girls had ever drawn a bow before, and another claimed she'd done it at a camp somewhere and was experienced enough that, as she said it, "I don't need that little glove." I informed her that yes, she did, but I clustered them together, furthest away from me so that I could watch the absolute beginners more closely. Some girls got this set look on their faces after the first two arrows dropped or ran aground only a few paces in front of them. Determined.

Actually, most did that. But the one who claimed experience started making excuses for her poor shots--she'd never used the fingertip gloves before, couldn't she shoot without? She was used to better quality arrows and bows. The targets were just too close, or they were far away, or it was too windy. I take this girl with a grain of salt--she is usually adorable, but occasionally bossy and always, always, knows best. I showed her, or at least tried to show her, where she was going wrong, which was in several different areas. And then she shot better and stopped making excuses.

They did well, and helped the Archery Club member put the targets away. We were so lucky he was there because the bales are in really bad shape. The club, like I mentioned, meets every Sunday afternoon there at the range and you can use their targets. But I think I'm going to have my troop build some easel/tripods this winter. I'm happy to keep borrowing district equipment, but I think we may pick up a few other items as time goes by.

And I'll invest in some targets that they can use. When I'm not up at the range using them myself....