JOTA 2008
10/22/2008 |
KE5SYM
The Buffalo Trail Council hosted their "Mom and Me" event for Cub Scouts and their Moms (or sometimes Grandmothers) at their Hughes Aquatic Base in Colorado City, Texas during JOTA. My dad (KD5MHM) is an Assistant Scoutmaster for our Troop 270 in Midland, Texas and was asked to see if it would be possible to have an event for the Cubs to learn and earn their JOTA patch. I was "volun-told" to assist. Volun-told seems to be a Scouting term...
Little did I know, my dad's plan was for me to handle the contacts with the Cubs to assure, given band conditions, that each Cub would make a Boy Scout contact.
Dad had JOTA contact forms that he made for the Cubs to use. It helps keeps "mic fright" down when they have simple JOTA contact information and the J-Code ready to use. Each Cub would tell their name, age, and additional information during their contact.
I "disappeared" around the camp and made contact to the Cubs at their location on UHF. I made a point to use each Cub's name when I made the reply contact. My dad told me that as I said, "Hello, , my name is Devin...", each Cub Scout got a big grin on their face and was very pleased making their contact with me.
Dad told me that after the first contact in each group (there were 8 groups throughout the day), there was a mad dash to be the next Cub on the mic. It shows that kids are interested in more than video games if presented in an interesting manner.
All told, I made contact with 55 Cub Scouts, helped them learn about Amateur Radio, Skywarn, Emergency Communications and the fun one may have being a ham. Seven of the adults got information about obtaining their ham ticket, too.
As a Boy Scout of Star rank, I feel that it is important to invest some time and effort in the Cub Scouts so that they will want to continue in Cub Scouting and move on to Boy Scouting. Events that include their parents, like this one, helps show them how much their child can benefit from Scouting and the diversity offered in learning by doing. I like being involved in "Boy Scouts helping Cub Scouts", too.
I learned how much fun it can be to work with younger Scouts at a Scout event and plan to look for more opportunities in the future. I hope other hams will see how they could have some fun with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at other times of the year as well, and not limit their efforts to JOTA only. I think that ham clubs should seriously look at sponsoring a Venture Crew with radio as the primary activity.
All told, about 55 Cub Scouts made contacts with me to earn their patch. I hope they had as much fun as I did working with them. I'm already thinking about JOTA 2009, with more fun things for them to do.
Devin, JOTA 2008 -- KE5SYM
Little did I know, my dad's plan was for me to handle the contacts with the Cubs to assure, given band conditions, that each Cub would make a Boy Scout contact.
Dad had JOTA contact forms that he made for the Cubs to use. It helps keeps "mic fright" down when they have simple JOTA contact information and the J-Code ready to use. Each Cub would tell their name, age, and additional information during their contact.
I "disappeared" around the camp and made contact to the Cubs at their location on UHF. I made a point to use each Cub's name when I made the reply contact. My dad told me that as I said, "Hello, , my name is Devin...", each Cub Scout got a big grin on their face and was very pleased making their contact with me.
Dad told me that after the first contact in each group (there were 8 groups throughout the day), there was a mad dash to be the next Cub on the mic. It shows that kids are interested in more than video games if presented in an interesting manner.
All told, I made contact with 55 Cub Scouts, helped them learn about Amateur Radio, Skywarn, Emergency Communications and the fun one may have being a ham. Seven of the adults got information about obtaining their ham ticket, too.
As a Boy Scout of Star rank, I feel that it is important to invest some time and effort in the Cub Scouts so that they will want to continue in Cub Scouting and move on to Boy Scouting. Events that include their parents, like this one, helps show them how much their child can benefit from Scouting and the diversity offered in learning by doing. I like being involved in "Boy Scouts helping Cub Scouts", too.
I learned how much fun it can be to work with younger Scouts at a Scout event and plan to look for more opportunities in the future. I hope other hams will see how they could have some fun with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at other times of the year as well, and not limit their efforts to JOTA only. I think that ham clubs should seriously look at sponsoring a Venture Crew with radio as the primary activity.
All told, about 55 Cub Scouts made contacts with me to earn their patch. I hope they had as much fun as I did working with them. I'm already thinking about JOTA 2009, with more fun things for them to do.
Devin, JOTA 2008 -- KE5SYM
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