A SCOUTING ADVENTURE: AREA SPECIAL-NEEDS STUDENTS ENJOY SPECIAL EVENTS IN THE PARK

Shots fired from a water gun pelted the final pingpong ball sitting on top of a two-liter bottle, but it wouldn't budge. So three other boys joined 7-year-old Anthony Rudin in firing streams of water. They closed in to within a few inches, but the ball still didn't move.

"I think it's glued on," said Anthony, who came from Marion, Ill., Thursday to participate in a Scouting Adventure Day at Cape Girardeau County Park South.

About 260 special-needs students from Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois participated in the event, sponsored by regional councils for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

Classroom Scouting for the physically and mentally disabled culminates annually with Adventure Day for the 43-county area covered by the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts, said Cathie Landry, director of the special-needs program. A Scouting curriculum is created each year by the council so teachers of special-needs students can introduce them to Scouting.

"Some of the schools they attend may not have a Scout group, and in those that do these students might not feel comfortable participating," Landry said. "This lets them participate in the world of Scouting."

The classroom lessons are adapted to fit in with state-required subjects taught at different grade levels throughout the school year.

Special-needs Classroom Scouting has been in Southeast Missouri since 1996, but this is only the second year for a regional Adventure Day, said Beverly Hahs, a Boy Scouts administrator in Cape Girardeau.

The students spent the morning and early afternoon dressing in clown suits for a relay, having their faces painted and playing other games.

Each activity earned a child a stamp. After collecting all the stamps, a merit badge specially designed for the day was awarded.

Additional badges are given for completing the Classroom Scouting work.

When teacher Tana Stewart's group from Hayti, Mo., saw a fire engine brought to the park by the Shriners, it set off an explosion of emotion.

"I could barely keep them from running out of the school bus," she said.

For 13-year-old Phillip Frazier of Campbell, Mo., a small painting of a Taoist symbol on his arm was the highlight.

"They said it was a ying-yang," Frazier said. "I don't know what that is, but I like it."

His classmate, 9-year-old Rusty Vanvacter, darted from walking on stilts to walking on coffee cans with strings attached. He applied the same gusto to a demonstration set up for students to show how hands should properly be washed.

"I don't know why we didn't come here last year," he said.

Tammeka Stringfellow of Hayti stood stooped over looking intently at a long, yellow balloon that was being transformed into a bumble bee for her. While waiting in the balloon line, the 17-year-old had said she was too tired to stand up, Stewart said.

"So I asked her if she wanted to sit down," the teacher said. "She said, No, not today.'"