Companion Investiture Achievement By Dixie Plata

In 1922 when Companion was first written it was written to lead Youth to Christ! It was the second class level written for Junior youth and the requirement to begin this class level was to already have achieved the Friend class. The program was called Progressive Class work because each class built on the other as a young person developed in physical, spiritual and emotional growth.

Progressive Class Work is the name I grew up with and I never minded the “work” it took to complete a level because I knew I was achieving knowledge that would help me in life and much of it also drew me closer to my friend Jesus. I remember well my 6th grade year at Upper Columbia Academy Elementary School and working with our class on the Companion requirements. Our teacher Mrs. Gladys Worth included the requirements in many of our classes and offered opportunities to learn in creative ways. On Friday’s we worked on various honors following the JMV program, which we as students lead out. On my sash are several honors I earned in grade school and even have in the displays a few items I made.

The actual name change, from Progressive Classwork, to Investiture Achievement in the North American Division, was not because of the Pathfinder age individual but more because of newer leaders. Individuals that heard or read the word classwork and thought that the young people had enough school work so didn’t even present the various levels to their clubs. This is very sad since as stated before the class levels (Investiture Achievement) was written to “Lead Youth to Christ”. Some looked at the Companion card of requirements and though wow this is too much – it used to be on a single card and now all this! Instead of being more difficult the current cards are laid out in a way to understand the various areas of development within each Achievement level.

I find it interesting to read some of the earlier requirements and compare them with what we find today in the Companion Investiture Achievement level. Some of the older requirements would be thought of as “hard” in today’s society. For some maybe it is because they are used to getting by and not really working to complete anything. For others the challenge of completing and being satisfied of a job well done it worth the effort.

Of course there is more both on the older card and the current one but you may see that though there are changes it is much the same. On the new card the requirement are broken down into categories: Personal Growth, Spiritual Discovery, Serving Others, Making Friends, Health & Fitness, Nature Study, Outdoor living and Honor Enrichment. In the good old days one had to search in the encyclopedia for answers. Now there are online helps right at our finger tips and many youth wouldn’t have a clue how to find something in a dictionary or encyclopedia – an actual book!

Many think the Journals are a newer invention yet there were some, though quite primitive booklets, called JMV Companion Achievement Book from the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. These were written much as our current Journals to help facilitate the young persons’ experience. They were also a great record of things completed, when and where.

I find the Investiture Achievement a wonderful guide for setting up your Pathfinder year. Each level lists various items to be done within the various categories, listed above. As a club director our challenge was to see how many of the requirements we could incorporate within the Pathfinder program so that the young people were not even aware that they were doing something that was required!

Personal Growth:Saying the Pledge and Law and singing the Pathfinder Song at each meeting met that requirement very easily. Having a short devotional at each meeting and encouraging your members to read and then discuss in their units various texts kept them involved and learning of God’s love.

Spiritual Discovery:Doing worship talks on the meaning of and reasons for the law, playing Bible Sword games where Pathfinders were to find a text helped to learn the Books of the Bible. The newer cards included doing skits about Old Testament characters. Sharing these skits with the club on outings fulfills the requirement but also gives the Companion an opportunity to lead out in a worship service.

Serving Others:Planning ways and finding opportunities to spend time helping others and participating in these projects benefit others and helps the young people learn responsibility and the fun in helping. Plan club or unit projects that get all involved. One way we did this was to help a person, mowing grass, weeding, painting a fence, etc. without being caught by the person. How fun this was for all and the reward of a job well done was very satisfying.

Making Friends:How the media strengthens or weakens relationships with others is a great unit discussion. If everyone is on a cell phone or other device it becomes all about ME and friendships suffer. The unit could also work on the Cultural Diversity Appreciation Honor.

Health and Fitness:Having the Temperance pledge posted, sharing the importance of temperance in one’s life is important. Learning together what the Bible says about temperance and discussing situations on how to say no to Drugs may be very helpful to your unit. Earning the First Aid Basic Honor and working on the Water Safety and or Beginning Swimming Honor together can be a lot of fun.

Nature Study: Planning a club outing? Then work in fun ways to complete Nature Honors such as Trees, Cacti, sand, or flowers. Helping each other and learning together is a fun challenge and rewarding too. When in God’s world of nature be sure to point out all the wonderful and interesting creatures that God had created. Talk about what they may have looked like in Eden as in the Bible description of the serpent and what a snake looks like after sin.

Outdoor Living: Ifyou are not an outdoor person surround yourself with adults that are. Learning about God in the out of doors can be educational and fun. Learn to tie various knots and the reasons for and then use these in various parts of your camping experience. Earn the Camping Skills II Honor and other outdoor honors as part of your outing. When done together this is fun not just a requirement!

Honor enrichment:Honors were NOT written to see how many you could cram on a sash! They were written to open a world of discovery and help a young person learn skills and hobbies and maybe even lifelong vocations. Honor were NOT written to see how fast you could get a badge but were written to learn a lot about various subjects and because of the projects you completed and the fun you had as a group you will remember years later how important this was in your training.

Another change since I was invested as a Companion is that I received a red slide and a red scarf after I had been tested and passed by completing everything that was required. Now the yellow scarf and the slide stay the same year after year but the Companion name strip and the red Companion pin stay the same.

A true Companion is a young person that had experienced a lot of different activities and has accepted the challenge to learn and grow and be a Servant of God and a Friend to man.