Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Call for Input

A handful of moms and I have been working out plans for a co-op this fall. As a part of this group, we wanted to offer something similar to boy scouts and girl scouts for our kids. We have been planning to use the Keepers at Home and Contenders for the Faith programs - why reinvent the wheel right? Okay, now I want to reinvent the wheel. I am not a big fan of the graphics used through the program, and of course we will be adding our own Orthodox perspective, which got me thinking - can we create something unique for the Orthodox community that will fufill our needs? I expect this will be a big project, so I am not trying to have it ready this fall, and we will begin with the Keepers/Contenders programs. But, in looking to the following year, I would love to have something that fit our needs better. Here is where you all come in. I need input in two areas. First - I want to select a patron saint and color for each group. I am thinking St. Demetrios for the boys? but would love other ideas. For the girls I am considering Mary and Martha, or possibly Ruth. Second - if you were having your child participate in a program like this - what skills, virtues, areas would you want to see covered? Let me hear from you!

3 comments:

Lindsay said...

My spiritual father mentioned that an Antiochian Church in Riverside, has created an AWANA's type program called PATH (he thinks that's what it's called). That might help get you started, too. I LOVE this idea and can't wait to see what you come up with!

Erin said...

I love this idea. I'll be interested to see what you come up with. Just last night we were sort of lamenting that the Catholic Church in our area has a really strong scout program, and though we play sports with all the Catholic kids, we haven't jumped into scouts, and we just wish we had that with an Orthodox group. Not sure if this is your plan, but keep in mind that if you do go the route of traditional scouting, there are specific Orthodox badges, awards and programs specifically tied to Boy Scouts (and maybe Girl Scouts). They are very established programs and I think they are pretty good. If you want, I can give you some contact names for Orthodox coordinators through the Boy Scouts.

Erin said...

OK, actually, check out this link:

http://eocs.org/

But I may have some personal contact info I can send you offline. I know quite a few boys who have gone through this program. We'd love to do this through a parish someday. Just need more boys of the same age in the same place . . .