Fearless Book Club

5th -8th graders
At Boxerwood every other Monday

The Fearless Book Club will offer members a chance to conquer their fears in a hands-on, outdoor reading club sponsored by the Rockbridge Regional Library and Boxerwood Nature Center.

Fears participants will tackle will include fear of heights, fear of falling, fear of creepycrawly things and fear of the dark. The first club meeting will feature a trust-fall and ropewalking challenge with outdoor expert Russ Watkins. From then on, meetings will begin with a book discussion, followed by a challenge activity that will take place in the outdoors when weather permits or in the Boxerwood lodge.

The 2009-10 school year marks the third year for the outdoor book club. Organizers Bonnie Bernstein and Hannah Klein from Boxerwood and Carol Elizabeth Jones from the Rockbridge Regional Library have been encouraged by club members’ growing interest in the discussions and activities. “The combination of reading exciting fiction and doing outdoor projects works well for this age group” said Jones. “The kids are engaged so they keep up their participation and they form a real community in the process.”

In December, the BEA received a $500 grant from the Rockbridge Area Community Foundation to support the Fearless Book Club, a joint project of the BEA and Rockbridge Regional Library.