~ Program takes youths "Down on the Farm."

When Kassey Heidebur took his turn painting sunflowers, he hesitated, uncertain at first whether he should indeed partake in the messy task before him.

Finally, when the volunteer placed her hand into the paint to show that it was OK to engage in the sloppiness, the 7-year-old first-grader from Fredericktown, Mo., swiped his palm into the yellow liquid and then beamed as he smeared it onto the paper.

For Kassey, a special education student participating in the Boy Scouts' Learning for Life field day at Cape County Park Thursday, the painting combined several tasks he's trying to master, said teacher Jennifer Bullis.

"He's learning socialization skills with his peers, and learning to follow directions to complete his crafts," she said.

All of the 15 students that Bullis and aide Toni Fragale brought with them for the field day used the event to meet goals in their individual education programs, she said.

And fingerpainting wasn't the only activity at the field day, themed "Down on the Farm." The approximately 200 students who took part also made their own butter, learned about milking a cow and saw demonstrations of how cotton bolls become cloth.

Classroom program

Learning for Life is a classroom Scouting program for students who are unable to participate in regular Scouting activities, said Jim McCausland, director of the program in the Cape Girardeau office of the Greater St. Louis Council of Boy Scouts of America.

A total of 23 classrooms from schools as far away as New Madrid, Mo., and Marion, Ill., took part in the field day activities.

"Learning for Life is a character education program," McCausland said. "It teaches lessons in respect for others, responsibility and trust."

The curriculums distributed to teachers provide books and lesson plans designed to mesh with Missouri's education standards and the requirements of the Missouri Assessment Program tests, he said.

"This is our last hurrah," he said. "The school season ends with an adventure day. Sometimes it is hard to find anything like this for special needs kids."

Learning for Life director Tom Kroenung of the St. Louis office said the Greater St. Louis Council provides the program to about 28,000 students in 36 counties, including 5,000 special education students.

The special education students are challenged by diagnoses ranging from autism and learning disabilities to attention deficit disorder and behavioral difficulties. "We hope they have fun and get the character and citizenship training that goes along with it," Kroenung said.

One of the more popular activities was the archery range, where students who had never held a bow got a chance to feel the tension of the string and try to score bullseyes on the target.

Levi Williams was excited to hit a metal post that secured one target. The student from Lilbourn School in New Madrid County couldn't wait to try again. Asked his favorite event, Williams didn't hesitate: "Mostly this. And I like to make things."

Volunteers helped in every aspect of the event, with 26 students from Scott City High School. Three of the student volunteers, Craig Arnzen, Jonathan Rasnic and Chris Blankenship helped with the archery instruction under the direction of David Giles, Alan Taylor and Bob Francis. The older volunteers have spent years helping scouts and allowed the student volunteers to help with hands-on instruction.

"We teach the teachers and watch them teach the youths," Giles said.

Being volunteers helped give the high school students a chance work with youngsters they wouldn't usually encounter, Arnzen said. "It makes you feel good to see one of the kids drop one in the target," he said.

The annual event has been taking place in the county park for about 10 years. And for more than half that time, retiree Pat Abernathy of Jackson has been helping. She assisted the children as they painted the sunflowers with their hands and by the end of the morning's activities her hands were stained a deep yellow.

"Anything that has to do with kids is my cup of tea," Abernathy said. "I love them."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126