Update May 8

Writing Portfolio
We are learning about how to write timed college entrance essays, specifically the ACT essay. Today we finished reading sample essays that received scores from 1 through 6. Next week students will practice writing ACT essays under time constraints.

Core
Bellwrite #39: Should the Church continue to partner with Boy Scouts? Does Boy Scouting need to updated or replace?

Disclaimer: This bellwrite is not intended to question the Church's policies with regards to Boy Scouting; rather, it is intended to help students explore the reasons for the partnership and the values of the program. In a spirit of disclosure, I myself am a Scoutmaster and Eagle Scout and personally believe the Scouting program is needed in the world today.

We are learning about the history of the founding of Boy Scouts by Lord Baden Powell as a counterpoint to the Hitler Youth program. It seems in history that when a development for the good emerges in the world, there is shortly thereafter a counterfeit or perversion of the good. In Germany during the rule of the Third Reich, the Boy Scout program was outlawed and the Hitler Youth program was instituted, borrowing heavily from the scouting program.

In class today and Monday, we will be watching films and reading original documents from these two youth programs to compare and contrast them. Today we watched the first 15 minutes of a video biography of Baden Powell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hefYjvlolXc). Students will need to create a Venn diagram to record their learning.

This topic of study is not only relevant to the young men in class who are participants in Scouting, but also to the young women who will indirectly, and most likely directly, be involved in Scouting throughout their lives. Furthermore, the principles reasoned through this comparison and contrast will help young men and young women alike to understand why tyrants and heroes have worked to win the hearts of the youth. This discussion is not limited to Hitler and Baden Powell, but could be extended to understanding the role of education in Karl Marx's communist theory as well as the role of youth in building the Kingdom of God on earth.

Today we also finished reading Screwtape Letter 25.

Homework:

• Angel Letter #8 (based on Screwtape Letters 22-25) is due on Monday.
• Final edit of Family Past research project is due on Tuesday.