Patriotism, Orthodoxy, tourism

      The organic combination of these directions is fundamental in the work of scoutmaster Olga Makarova. Those who engage in scouting say: "A scout today is a scout forever." In the early 1990s, this movement replaced the pioneers and firmly established itself, including in Dzerzhinsk. In our city, it appeared largely thanks to the initiative of Olga Makarova. The unchanging leader of the "Nizhny Novgorod" troop has raised more than one generation of scouts.

      Both hobby and family, and life

      The educator of additional education at the Palace of Children's Creativity, Olga Makarova, considers herself a happy person because she was able to find a vocation in life that she loves, and for her, work is both a hobby, family, and life. Among her three main roles – teacher, scoutmaster, and mother of many children – she places family first, where her daughter and two sons are growing up.

      – Motherhood is the most important thing, so every time I went on maternity leave, I did so with joy, – Olga Evgenievna shares. – If we talk about my eldest daughter, on Friday, the day before her birth, I was still performing at KVN, and on Saturday, I gave birth. And it was the same with each child – I didn’t linger on maternity leave: when the babies started walking at nine months, I returned to work. However, I only needed to be away from the palace for three hours (I wasn’t working at school then), and their wonderful grandparents took care of the children. Later, as the children grew up, they were with me at the palace. They, so to speak, have been involved in the scouting movement since birth, and they had no desire to leave.

      Daughter Anna became the leader of her unit at 14, helping her mother conduct the large Georgievskaya game, which gathers schoolchildren in Dzerzhinsk every year to compete in speed, agility, and resourcefulness. The scale of the city competitions places a high responsibility on its organizers, who must come up with everything, explain and demonstrate it to the participants, and then evaluate their performance. After training at DDT, middle son Grigory also became a scout leader in the "Nizhny Novgorod" troop. The youngest is growing up and will surely follow the same path.

      Olga Evgenievna smiles, saying that when it comes to her children's interests, there was no choice – only scouting! In reality, there was indeed a choice, and during their school years, they tried themselves in various directions: they attended music school and graduated from the vocal department at the Palace of Children's Creativity. Makarova was able to engage her children in scouting also because such activities are diverse – meaning there is no need to focus on just one thing.

      – Kids who have gone through scouting are not afraid to travel to other cities because they know that communication will always help, – explains Olga Evgenievna. – They will find scout friends everywhere! For example, my daughter travels to different countries for work and says: "I have no problems. When I arrive in a new place, I immediately look for a scout organization. All issues are resolved."

      You have to earn your grades

      Our heroine's teaching career began in 1988.

      Even as a tenth grader, she knew she would become a camp counselor; the only question was which school to choose: stay at her native 26th school or accept an offer from the newly opened school No. 3, where new opportunities were emerging, there were more children, and most importantly, it was located near a forest area where hikes could be organized, adding romance to the routine school life.

      – Hiking was my favorite activity, so I chose school No. 3, – states Olga Evgenievna. – By profession, I am a geography teacher, but while working as a camp counselor, I managed to try out all subjects since I often had to substitute teachers. At school No. 3, we had a wonderful geography teacher, my mentor – Lyudmila Alexandrovna Matveeva, the first one who "shoved" me into the classroom as a teacher at the age of 18. She taught lessons using outline notes, presenting material in the form of diagrams (this was a new approach to teaching). I always said that I understood diagrams; they help to visualize information, but children without a mathematical mindset really didn’t understand what was expected of them…

      Most often, Makarova was asked to substitute for the "historian." This was the case both at school No. 9 and at school No. 11, where she later worked. She had to recall "profile" geography about five years ago when she was invited as a part-time teacher to school No. 27, where a vacancy for a teacher of this subject had arisen.

      Makarova has her own approach to teaching: in her lessons, the teacher and students talk and reflect a lot. From her side, this is more of an educational moment, allowing the boundary between adult and teenager to be erased. However, it is inappropriate to speak of teacher liberalism in this case, as strict discipline is prioritized. For example, if a child does not attend lessons, if they do not study, they will not receive even a "three" at the end of the academic year. You have to earn your grades!

      – Many believe that geography means drawing a contour map at home and getting a grade, – she explains. – But I switched to a different methodology: we work "for a grade" in class, and at home, the kids only read the textbook. If you don’t attend lessons, there are no grades. The high school students quickly figured it out, and within a week and a half, all 32 students from the tenth and eleventh grades were attending class. And now no one is late because there is a rule – anyone who is late immediately goes to the board to answer. In other words, being late costs you.

      In Olga Evgenievna's opinion, this approach earns respect from her colleagues, but not everyone has the patience to implement it. Moreover, part-time teachers initially have more freedom than teachers who work full-time in schools and must adhere to strictly defined boundaries.

      Found the "golden mean"

      Her acquaintance with scouting took place back in 1990 during the X All-Union Rally of Pioneer Organizations of the USSR, held at the All-Union camp "Artek." There, a camp counselor from Dzerzhinsk heard a scout from Latvia talk about this movement.

      – I liked the idea of scouting, but the question of attitude towards religion arose, – recalls Olga Evgenievna. – I was not baptized, but after going to scout courses in St. Petersburg and communicating with priests and church-going kids, I realized that this was exactly what was missing for the children and me. At school No. 3, there were three completely different directions, and we, along with counselor Natalia Kostygina (then Zvereva), worked in these three directions. Thirty people joined me in scouting then, and they became the backbone of our movement. I should note that several scouting organizations operate in Russia, and some believe that religion is not mandatory. But when everyone gathers at a "jamboree" (a general rally), it is noted afterward that our organization has a core. We stand for the idea that there should be a "golden mean" in everything: we have both patriotism and tourism, and Orthodoxy, and all of this is organic, without leaning too far in any direction, so the child feels comfortable.

      The "Nizhny Novgorod" troop has more than 150 members. The kids and their mentors are preparing for the summer season, which opens up a world of new adventures, acquaintances, and opportunities to showcase themselves for the young scouts.

      – Our summer will start on June 12 and end on September 2, – specifies the scoutmaster. – First, the older scouts will go on a rafting trip in the Vladimir region. There, practical skills in water tourism will be developed. Then we will go with the younger scouts for ten days into the forest in the Volodarsky district, where the kids will participate in the game program "Tales of the Peoples of Russia." After that, there will be a shift for the older kids (ages 11 to 18) – it will be in the forest, in tents. The final event will be participation in the scout rally in Kazan.

      Nina SHUMILOVA. Photos from Olga Makarova's archive.