The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1917-02-23
BOY SCOUTS, GIRL SCOUTS
AND CAMPFIRE GIRLS

1ullSatlOldl WORK OF the boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts. and the Camp
fire iGrls is described in the Annual
Report OF the Commissioners of Edu-
cation, Department of the Interior,
just issued In describing the edu-
cational phase of Boy Scout work,
Mr.. James Z. West, chief scout ex-
ecutive, declares:
THE Boy Scout movement aims to
reinforce all of the agencies which
make for right living and character
development in the youth of America.
1t does not seek to supersede the
home, church, or school, but to sup
plement these institutions largely in
the leisure time of the boy; and to
impart by means of its own programs
and exercises the virtues of chiv-
airy, honor and good citizenship. The
characterbuilding work of the move
ment is presented to boys in what is
meant to be an attractive wrapping"
1t is based largely on the method of
learning by doing in order that boys
may be taught to be resourceful and
self-reliant in all situations in which
they may be placed.
The movement is non-sectarian
and non-political. Its program offers
to the boy well-rounded mental,
physical and moral experience, large
ly out-of-doors, and calculated to de-
velop a love of country, God, and
neighbor For its success the move
ment depends upon the voluntary
leadership of men of high ideals, who
serve as scout masters and scout
commissioners. The educational as
pect Of the work is emphasized by the
fact that of the 1867 men who held
commissions as scout masters on De
cember 31st last, about 65 per cent
are college men and over so per cent
have either high-school or a college
education; LOSS give their occupation
as clergymen, and 100 as public
school teachers. Others are profess
sional men. Journalists, students, or en-
gagged i'll mechanical or mercantile
pursuits. In practically every one of
the $50 chartered councils the public
schools are definitely represented
through the service OF the school sup
erintendent on the executive board.
and i'll many cases the school super
intendent serves as president of the
council"
In describing the educational work
of the Girl Scouts, Mr. Montague
Cannon, the executive secretary,
shows how the movement has grown
in wholesome and normal way from
a small beginning in Savannah, Ga.
in 1912 to a national organization
with troops in $50 communities. He
says:
THE Girl Scout program, present
ing all of its activities in group work,
prominently fills distinct need in
the equipment of women for modern
life. In its requirements for the three
grades Of scouting and for the pro-
fciency badges the organization is
emphasizing the home-making occu-
patton and virtues. Nursing and first
aid occupy a prominent place in the
training"
"While the Girl Scouts organiza-
ton is non-sectarian, it is distinctly
religious. Each girl is expected tc
live up to the tenets of her particular
church. She can not be good scou
unless she is faithful to her own re
ligion."
Group teachings by mothers is on
OF the features of the work of TIL
Campfire Girls, as described by Mrs
Cecilia Farwell in the Bureaus report
She points out how one mother VIII
is especially good in making bread
will invite all the girls OF group t
her home on Saturday and teach ther
how to make bread, while another
who excels in sewing, or some othe
form of home craft, will take ther
into her home for the next meeting