Michelle Icard, 35, a local mom with an 8-year-old girl
and a 6-year-old boy, created the girls program based on
her own middle school experiences and after studying
girls' self-esteem. The program took off at 10 sites.
After comments from parents and school leaders that
boys need a course, too, she wrote the boys' version. To
lead it, she teamed with Jeremy Spielman, 29, principal
of Charlotte Secondary School and parent of an infant
daughter.
Spielman and Icard say the emphasis on tasks in the
Hero's camp shouldn't imply that girls couldn't also benefit from changing tires, say, or learning etiquette tips on
crafting e-mails. But boys learn differently, they said –
more through doing things, not so much through group
talks that are the hallmark of Athena's Path.
Organizers also hope the program becomes known as a
remedy of sorts to all the time many boys spend with
online gaming, said Amanda Roncevich, who runs both
the boys' and girls' programs with Icard. Hero's could
help provide boys with the character and social education
they don't get through gaming.
Organizers hope the Hero's program spreads to schools
in the fall.
By Celeste Smith
[email protected]
Sunday, Jul. 27, 2008
It took several minutes of maneuvering to get the flat bike tire
inflated and back in working order, but after completing the
task, Owen Burkard was inspired.
“Can we try it all by ourselves?” asked the 11-year-old, as fellow
group member Michael Roche, also 11, agreed: “It's kind of
easy!”
On the surface the scene looked like a lesson in being handy, but
the new Hero's Pursuit summer camp at South Mecklenburg
High School is about much more than that.
Call it gentleman's training. By taking boys in grades 5-8
through lessons on fixing bike tires, giving meaningful handshakes and displaying manners in their phone, texting and email habits, organizers hope the youngsters learn how to grow
into leaders and independent thinkers.
Hero's Pursuit is the all-boys counterpart to the popular
Athena's Path, the girl empowerment program held in several
Charlotte-area schools last year.
Some bizarre lessons were designed for the week, including a “Survivor”-like food challenge. Boys, divided in
teams, had to pick a bag containing a “mystery food
item” to eat. The first team to eat all of its mystery items
would win. (Camp leaders expected some hesitation,
especially because one of the mystery items planned was
beef puree.)
The point of this and all the lessons is discussed during
“hangout time,” when the boys review what they've
learned. In the food challenge case, it's teamwork, since
other boys could step forward to eat something a teammate didn't want.
For tire changing, the main message is being willing to
help when you have the knowledge to do so, Spielman
told the boys: “You could be the guy who stops by and
saves the day.”
No wonder one of the campers displayed his hands,
smeared with bike grease, like a badge of honor.
“Manly hands,” he said.
Details: www.herospursuit.com