[Ansteorra] The real problem . . . Population-S
DonnelShaw at aol.com
DonnelShaw at aol.com
Fri Apr 28 16:58:36 PDT 2006
In a message dated 4/28/2006 2:53:00 P.M. Central Standard Time,
ldeerslayer at yahoo.com writes:
What many groups have found is that doing demos for schools does not gain
them members. Sometimes it does gain them one or two teachers.
Even if the kids are incredibly enthused their parents are the ones who have
to bring them. They seldom get involved.
Also, most of our members have day jobs and very few of them can take off
enough to do the demos. What you often end up with is a few very knowledgeable
people and a lot of very helpful people who either aren't very knowledgeable
or don't understand how to present the SCA to the public.
It does earn us Karma Points...but doesn't give us "bang for the buck"...
It often is not a wise use of our resources...
What we need is maximum exposure to the most Adults who would be interested
(history geeks, gamers, etc) with the amount of resources we can muster.
LDeerslayer
I have been sitting on the side lines and knew this would come up sooner
than later. While all are valid points.
We must remember a few things. First we once were children and someone
planted the seed of interest in the middle ages for us. Personally it was all the
technicolor movies.(Robin Hood, Black Rose,..............) I loved them then
and I still love them. It was hearing Shakespeare read in class then seeing
the summer plays. My parents taking me to see exhibits at museums.
When a school demo is done yes there will not be an immediate return. But it
is a long term investment. You are there to plant that interest to spark
their imagination. To give them the idea that there higher standards and they
to can see others have them. That weaving and illumination is really neat and
interesting. Those children will grow. And in ten to fifteen years down the
road they my run across another SCA demo and because that prior knowledge as
been planted and allowed to grow you will get better results then.
Even if they never join the SCA you will have had an impact on that child's
life.
So to go and do a School Demo in my opinion is a very noble activity. And
just as important an activity as other types of demos and should not be put by
the wayside in favor of other types of demos. We are an educational
organization.
Remember the children are our future weather they are in the SCA or not.
Lady Maili Donnel MacGregor
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