Write a Letter | Celebrate A Kid | Featured Letter
Absolutely Incredible Kid Day® is an annual letter-writing campaign designed to build self esteem in our youth. Celebrated each March, Absolutely Incredible Kid day® (AIKD) is a call to action asking adults to write letters of love, encouragement and inspiration to the special kids in their lives.
Celebrate the kids in your life! It's easy. Below you will find letter-writing tips and samples. To get started today, download AIKD Letterhead.
Write a Letter
Find out soon how you can write a letter to an Absolutely Incredible Kid in your life.
For now, here are some tips:
1. Set aside 10-15 minutes and form a mental picture of the child and the things you enjoy about the child.
2. Make a list of adjectives that describe the child: funny, honest, smart, skillful, helpful, caring….
3. Be specific and use humor. Try “Do you know what I like about you? I like it when you…”
4. Remember fun times or special moments you and the child have shared. Refer to these events and tell the child what you enjoyed about that time.
5. Don’t worry about the length. A brief note can be cherished as much as a two-page letter.
6. Write by hand. Feel free to make edits as you go.
7. Mail it, put it in a lunch box, on a bed, or read it to a child.
8. Write a letter right now!
Celebrating an Absolutely Incredible Kid
Absolutely Incredible Kid: Jackson Pritchett
Jackson Pritchett has been involved with Camp Fire USA for the past eight years, since he was 8-years-old. At that time, he and his friends were looking to start a club focused on “saving the world” and when they found out about Camp Fire USA, realized it was a perfect fit. He has stayed involved all these years because of the many life experiences Camp Fire has given him. “There is always something more I can learn from Camp Fire,” he says. Additionally, he likes the idea of passing on what he has learned to the younger kids who are just now getting involved in Camp Fire. It is difficult for Jackson to name his one favorite thing about Camp Fire, but when pressed he says “the club meetings, because you don’t always know what you will be doing when you arrive, but you know that at the end of it, you will have had fun AND accomplished something at the same time.”
In line with Camp Fire USA’s desire to get and keep kids engaged in their environment (whether it be the outdoors, school, or the Camp Fire USA program itself), Jackson serves as the Youth Representative on the Balcones Council Board of Directors; this involves attending monthly meetings and providing input on the organization’s programs and strategies to other board members, several of whom are old enough to be his parents! He’s a wonderful asset when it comes to such pressing questions as, “Should the council maintain a profile up on MySpace or Facebook?”… the answer, MySpace.
Jackson is also currently working toward WoHeLo, the penultimate award offered by Camp Fire. Part of achieving WoHeLo involves taking on projects in three self-identified interest areas, each with components of Lead, Teach, Serve and Speak Out built in. This is no small endeavor, with a minimum of 100 hours being spent on each interest area. Jackson’s areas are languages & literacy, youth theater education, and a general Camp Fire Council focused issue. One of the activities Jackson has undertaken as part of his Languages & Literacy focus area, for example, is a book drive for the Peoples Community Clinic. He and other club members had done a field trip to PCC as a Camp Fire USA group activity. Many kids end up spending time in the clinic’s waiting room while their parents or siblings are seen by doctors there, and the clinic regularly gives the kids a book upon departure (rather than a lollipop or some other treat), and does the same for teenage mothers through its Support for Teen Moms program. Jackson wanted to help and began collecting gently used, age-appropriate books at club meetings and other Camp Fire activities. To-date they have collected several hundred books and delivered them to Peoples Community Clinic.
When Jackson is not out volunteering with or otherwise participating in Camp Fire USA activities, he spends time playing drums in a band called An Even Three, and taking theater classes at Zachary Scott Theater. He is currently taking Turn of the Century Cabaret.
He will graduate high school in a little over a year and has already taken Early College courses at Austin Community College in order to prepare for college.
We salute Jackson and all the other Absolutely Incredible Kids who are involved with and making a difference through Camp Fire USA Balcones Council!
Featured Letter
Would you like to see more letters to Incredible Kids? Click here, or come back tomorrow and see our featured letter of the day.
