The Traveler

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Jessica Burk Miranda Patrick, 10, and Candice Weaver, 11, from Troup 329 pose for a picture Saturday during the Beta Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega's 16th annual Scouting University event.

Boy and Girl Scouts experienced what college is all about Saturday when they attended the Beta Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega's 16th annual Scouting University on the UA campus.

"The idea is to bring in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from the area to teach them [things to earn] Interest Project Badges or Merit Badges," said Kevin Hindersen, APO president and a scouting coach.

"We ask them to register way in advance. They have two months to e-mail us confirming information about the events," he said. "It makes our life easier. We have extensive communication with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts before the event. We give them parking maps, a schedule, a campus map," he said.

There were 37 classes altogether, ten for the Girl Scouts and 27 for the Boy Scouts. Both groups attended classes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Afterward, everyone gathered in the Chi Omega Greek Theater for the closing ceremony, where the kids received their badges, Hindersen said.

The classes were taught in the Union and other buildings, including Vol Walker Hall, Bell Engineering Center, Memorial Hall and the Walton College of Business. Classes included such subjects as architecture, aviation, chemistry, law and medicine.

"We put them in a university setting, and we are able to teach them pretty quickly," Hindersen said. "We also teach them stuff [to earn badges] that they can't do on their own like law and medicine."

In addition to earning Merit and Interest Project Badges, the Boy and Girl Scouts can interact with people and some of the professors teaching the classes. It's an initiative to maybe go to college one day, Hindersen said.

"[My friend and I] took the 'Food Power' class," said 10-year old Miranda Patrick. "It's really fun. We get to see what college life is like.

"We really like the university and we like Girl Scouts," she said.

"We ate a lot of food," said 11-year-old Candice Weaver. "We learned about calcium and all the vitamins and we made a food pyramid. We listed what we ate for breakfast, lunch and supper yesterday, and we see how we could make it better by eating more healthy," she said.

Continued...

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