CHILDREN EARN 'ADVENTURE DAY' BADGES DURING CLASSROOM SCOUTING EVENT

Wesley Bilbrey's freckled face was all smiles as he clanked two sticks together and kept rhythm to a song at one of the dozen or so activity stations at Adventure Day on Thursday.

During the morning full of singing, sports activities, fishing and fun held at Cape County Park , Bilbrey, age 12, and some 200 other special needs children participating in the Classroom Scouting event focused on what they could do, not what their limitations were.

"This is such an ego boost for our kids," said Kendra Edwards, who brought her class from Jonesboro, Ill., to the event, which was being held for the first time this year.

Bilbrey, a mentally handicapped student from the Greenville School District, said his favorite activity was the parachute, where students held the edges of a parachute, lifting it up and down and going under it. But he also like the singing, the clowns and just being out of the classroom for the morning, he said.

And he was looking forward to the badge he would receive at the end of the day. Bilbrey and the other participants at the event are enrolled in the Classroom Scouting, a program that brings Scouting to special needs classrooms. In the free program, teachers are given curriculum books and students earn Girl Scout and Boy Scout badges, said Beverly K. Hahs with Boys Scouts of America in Cape Girardeau.

Bilbrey had already earned three badges, in heritage, careers and manners, prior to the one he received for participating in Adventure Day Thursday.

"This is an opportunity these students normally wouldn't have," said Bilbrey's teacher Carmen Colbert, who's developmentally disabled students range in age from 7 to 13.

"Most of my students are so rural they wouldn't be able to join a Scout troop," Colbert said.

Edwards, who teaches students with behavior disorders, said Classroom Scouting provides her students with activities they might not have otherwise.

"The kids get so excited about this," she said.

Colbert said the program also provides something that can be handed out doing the school's awards assembly.

"It allows these students to be recognized for the work they do," Colbert said.

The students were also recognized at Adventure Day.

After participating in activities that included track and field events, volleyball, face painting, flag folding, conservation presentations on fish and animals, a fishing derby and a picnic lunch, each student received an Olympic medal in addition to the Adventure Day badge.

Hahs said the many volunteers manning the activity stations and preparing the lunch made the day possible.

Teresa Johnson may be reached at 335-6611, ext. 137 or by e-mail at tjohnson@semissourian.com.