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The First Wingham Cub Scouts had a fun adventurous time earning the very first ever Symphony of the Earth Scout badges.
To get these badges we needed to find out more about the Manning River Turtle and the Grey-headed Flying Foxes.
We worked on two Tuesday nights in March 2017 from 6pm to 7.30pm. We talked about two threatened animals that live in the Manning Valley.
Two amazing people gave talks. These people were Aboriginal elder Aunty Tracey and the famous Dr Jim Frazier who filmed many of David Attenborough’s films.
Aunty Tracey was very interesting and talked about Aboriginal history, places and culture, and taught us some Aboriginal language.
Dr Frazier talked about trying to save the environment and he was also excited about making his new film, Symphony of the Earth.
We broke off into groups. Some took photos, some took videos and some made artworks of painted papier mâché Manning River Turtles.
Dr Frazier gave tips to many young photographers and videographers.
Julia Driscoll helped the young men doing their literature badges by helping them write this story for the newspaper.
“I feel excited and happy about everything people have talked about,” Jason said.
“I’m feeling butterflies in my tummy because I’m going to get my name in the paper! I was also upset that rare animals were dying” Rory said.
“I learned how to speak ‘goodbye’ in Aboriginal,” Gordon said.
Helping with the literature badge
by Wingham Chronicle journalist Julia Driscoll
I was invited by Kerrie Guppy, otherwise known as cub scout leader ‘Kaa’, to participate in helping her charges work toward obtaining the Symphony of the Earth scouts badge. The badge was created by Kerrie in conjunction with Dr Jim Frazier OAM, of Symphony of the Earth, and plans are for it to be spread to the scouts organisation internationally.
As Dr Frazier’s Symphony of the Earth organisation and project encompasses the arts along with environmental issues, to earn this badge the cubs had to work on one of a selection of achievement badges: animals and nature, entertainer, masks and sculpture, photography and video, and literature.
The two evenings were worked around the theme of the Manning River Turtle and the Grey-headed Flying Fox. I gave a talk to the children on the animals based on my research for stories I have written on the the animals.
The children doing the art badge made papier mâché turtles, clay turtles, and flying fox masks. The cubs doing photography and video recorded the two nights on camera, and the results were showcased at the end of the second night.
My task was to help the cubs wanting to earn the literature badge. Over two nights, we talked about the ‘rules’ for writing news stories, and then had the boys write the story you read here. They were an absolute delight to work with and held true to the scouts motto “do your best”.