Reach Higher

Tape a large piece of paper on a wall at your eye level. Ask two or three Scouts to come up and make a mark on the paper with a marker as high as they can reach.

Thank them for their effort and allow them to return to their seats. Tell the troop that we can all usually do better than our first effort. Remind them that you asked the Scouts to reach as high as they could. Ask the same Scouts to come back up and see if they can do better than their first effort. (It never fails that they will always reach two to three inches higher on the second try.)

This is a good opportunity to emphasize doing one’s very best, and to give every project one’s “second effort” on the first try.

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

"As a Scout, you are the guardian of the woods. A Scout never damages a tree by hacking it with his knife or axe. It does not take long to fell a tree, but it takes many years to grow one, so a Scout cuts down a tree for a good reason only – not just for the sake of using his axe. For every tree felled, two should be planted."