KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Fridays at West View Elementary School, the library serves as a scout den, and students learn skills they can't get from a textbook.
"The teachers have academics, and we wanted to add something to help a child's overall well-being," said Community School Coordinator Susan Martin.
"The principal and I really try to think of activities that students can get engaged with that will last them through middle and high school, so we really wanted Boy Scouts to be successful."
Martin said she and the principal noticed that in past years, few students joined scouts since it was an after-school program, and parents had to provide their own transportation. They decided to offer it as one of the enrichment class options that students can choose from on Fridays, like an extra art or music class.
"Students get to choose which enrichment they're involved in. We had sign-ups and the students got to decide this is what they wanted to do. It's been very successful," Martin said.
The nearly 40 kids who signed up for scouts during this first school year say, it's a lot of fun.
"I thought it was going to be a lot of fun, and I wanted to learn about nature and stuff," one first grader said.
"We made rockets. That's pretty cool," another added.
The first-grade class is the youngest grade that can sign up for the scouts enrichment class, but they're already learning skills they say will help them when they grow up.