One of the things our Crew has been discussing lately is planning a super activity. A super activity is something beyond the normal weekend campout. It is usually an activity which the crew members would not normally get to participate. Usually it involves a high adventure component. It needs to be planned over a period of months.
With the exception of JD, who is an 11th grader, our crew is comprised of 9th graders. So saying they want to plan a big activity is a big step for them. They have never done anything like this and will need a lot of adult guidance. But I think it will be a great learning experience for them. With today’s helicopter parents, many high school freshmen have never had anything like this level of responsibility.
At our last meeting, the crew decided they want to try to go to the march for life next January in Washington DC. Our crew doubles as our parish youth group, so this is a natural thing for them to request. It will not be a high adventure super activity, but it fits in well with the goals of our chartered organization and they brought it up themselves, rather than me suggesting it to them.
I think this will be a good first super activity for this group. Travel and lodging arrangements will be easier, since we can go with a contingent from our area. So they can focus their planning efforts on things like
- finding someone who has gone before to come in and speak about the experience
- recruiting adult advisers and consultants to help them
- fundraising
- working with other parish organizations (run by adults) to try to get additional support or information
- registering
- presentations about what to bring and what they want to do during free time in Washington DC
I’m very happy that this was their own idea and that they are very enthusiastic about it. I think that planning this over the next six months will be a great learning experience for them.
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