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From Basketry to Robotics, merit badges are where Scouts meet the wider world. These posts share counselor tips, workbook debates, new badge announcements and the stories behind favorite badges.
637 posts · 2007–2020
Showing 51–100 of 637 posts
First Aid? First place. Exactly 69,563 Scouts earned the Eagle-required First Aid merit badge in 2017. That’s good enough for a gold medal, and it marks three consecutive years of First Aid dominance. The silver medal went to Swimming (62,057 earned), and Citizenship in the World (55,917) took bronze.
It’s Groundhog Day, and there’s just one question on everyone’s mind: Will Scouting magazine release a list of the top five merit badges to celebrate this essential holiday? The answer: Yes. Mammal Study Ah, the groundhog. Marmota monax. America’s cuddliest rodent.
A Scout hike likely conjures up images of journeying by a pristine lake, hiking staff in hand, surrounded by tall trees with a view of snowcapped mountains in the distance. Or for one Ohio Scout, it could mean touring the streets of downtown Manhattan.
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, how Scouty are thy branches. Charles Boone, an Eagle Scout from Dormont, Pa., showed off the Scouting-themed Christmas tree he’s rocking around this year. Instead of traditional ornaments, Charles embellished his tree with patches earned during his years in Scouting.
Story contributed by Matthew Tikhonovsky of the Atlanta Area Council Over 60 Atlanta area Boy Scouts completed the Chemistry merit badge at the Georgia Institute of Technology, one of the nation’s leading STEM universities, on October 29 th . Organized and led by Tech students, the one-of-a-kind merit badge clinic gave Scouts a 2-hour course in…
Thor has superhuman strength. He can summon lightning. And, with the help of his enchanted hammer, he can fly. But can the Asgardian god of thunder earn a merit badge? Technically, no. You need to be under 18 to earn one, which makes Thor, by most estimates, about 1,000 years too old.
The verdict is in, and the Law Merit Badge Day in South Carolina is one of the best around. Ninety Boy Scouts have registered to attend this Saturday’s event, presented by the Indian Waters Council. It’ll be held inside the new building of the University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia.
If you live in one of the 32 states with a Bass Pro Shops location, listen up. September is the eighth annual Boy Scouts of America Month at Bass Pro Shops. The retailer of fishing, boating, camping and shooting supplies has a month of activities planned to support Scouting.
Bass Pro Shops is hosting Boy Scouts of America Month at all U.S. locations this September. Throughout the month, Bass Pro Shops will promote Boy Scouts of America, offer merit badge classes, and provide opportunities to raise funds for Scouting projects.
Curious, adventure-seeking Scouts can earn requirements toward a variety of merit badges by participating in the National Geographic Kids Explorers Club! The club offers Scouts and Scout leaders access to fun resources that’ll inspire Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to explore the world around them and uncover new interests they never knew they had.
You might think little Chess merit badge would get lost amid action-packed Jamboree activities like mountain biking, shotgun shooting and zip lining. But then you climb the hill to the Chess merit badge tent and see the truth. The main tent — plus a second, larger tent beside it — is full.
Since its inception in 2011, the Guide to Advancement has been the single point of reference for nearly all matters related to advancement across all our programs. It replaced a smattering of documents, references in handbooks and training manuals, and official policies that were not well documented.
With our modern fixation on shiny new technology, it’s refreshing to see Scouts get excited about something from the predigital age. That’s exactly what’s happening in Lancaster, Pa., where one Scouter has channeled his passion for Gutenberg-style printing into a volunteer Scouting role.
A while back, we ran a couple articles about the role that other adults play in a Boy Scout troop. By “other” adults, I’m referring to assistant Scoutmasters, committee members and parents of Scouts. But sometimes, you encounter a situation where adults like to stick around after their sons have aged out and moved on.
Photo credit: Bryan on Scouting Earning a merit badge isn’t just about donning colorful new additions to your uniform. More importantly, it’s about building new skills and uncovering a passion for something you may not have tried otherwise. Thanks to BSA’s partnership with Lincoln Electric , more Scouts across the country are trying their (gloved) hands…
Troop 387, like all the best Boy Scout troops, is youth-led. The adults are there for support and safety. So when the Scouts from Kingsport, Tenn., decided they wanted to earn the Welding merit badge, the adults simply said, “sounds good, how can we help?”
Scouting Heritage merit badge requirement 4B asks Scouts to write or visit the National Scouting Museum in Texas. As the museum prepares to relocate to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, the procedure for completing this requirement has changed. Effective April 1, 2017, Scouts seeking information for this requirement should send correspondence to Philmont at…
The internet has fallen in love with April, a pregnant 15-year-old giraffe living at the Animal Adventure Park near Binghamton, N.Y. A giraffe pregnancy lasts 15 months, and April has been pregnant for 15 months. So it’s time. Time for everyone to spend hours staring at the live video feed of April’s pen, waiting for…
Scouts and Scouters, meet your repeat champion: the First Aid merit badge. After losing its top spot to the Cooking merit badge in 2014, First Aid retook the crown in 2015 and defended its title in 2016. That means more Scouts earned the First Aid merit badge in 2016 than any other badge.
As a Scout, my favorite merit badges were earned as a byproduct of Scouting fun. We’d go camping or visit the Texas Capitol or cook a gourmet dinner and — boom! — merit badge done. But sometimes you have to be more deliberate about merit badge instruction.
Setting the Stage (Moviemaking) It was the end of January. My Troop and I were going through the last few hours of an event called “Merit Badge College”. This was an annual event held at a local community college where experts in various fields came and taught different merit badge subjects over the course of…
January first is usually a significant day in the advancement process. Most rank and merit badge requirement changes become effective as of the first of the year. New Year’s Day in 2016 marked significant and sweeping changes in Boy Scout requirements.
New discoveries are made every day, thanks to technological advancements and the keen curiosity of today’s explorers. To encourage future discoveries, the nation’s largest youth-serving organization is working to inspire the next generation of explorers by introducing the new Exploration Merit Badge.
New Merit Badge for Boy Scouts
Sorry, Captain Kirk, but these days, Scouts and former Scouts are the ones who “boldly go where no man has gone before.” That’s why it’s fitting for the BSA to introduce a new merit badge : Exploration. The badge — the 137th on the BSA’s list of currently available merit badges — celebrates the spirit of adventure that…
So astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets around a nearby star, huh? We’re officially one step closer to finding extraterrestrial life — or picking out the next planet for humans once we’re sick of this one. Or both. Either way, it’s likely Scouts will be involved.
If you’re a merit badge counselor, you’re probably pretty familiar with the role that merit badges play in the Boy Scout advancement system. Once they reach First Class, Scouts must earn a certain number of merit badges to continue advancing, with some drawn from the list of badges required for the rank of Eagle Scout…
Planning to teach them Traffic Safety? School them in Scholarship? Impart your insight about Inventing? Before you serve as a merit badge counselor, ask yourself three questions: 1. Am I using the latest pamphlet and requirements? You’ve heard the warning that anything posted online is there forever, right?
It’s an event so popular it requires a waiting list. Once every year, Scouts get a chance to earn merit badges in classes taught by real midshipmen on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. At the STEM Merit Badge Jamboree earlier this month, midshipmen — many of whom are Eagle Scouts — led…
“Pioneering is practical and character building: the two essential ingredients of any program material for Scouts.” (Lord Baden-Powell) Pioneering Merit Badge, which as we all know used to be required for Eagle, should give Scouts a taste of pioneering! Of course they should be taught about safety and gain some general knowledge, but much more…
There's always more questions about merit badges… … then I have useful answers because the vast majority of problems with merit badges are structural rather than procedural. But I hate missing an opportunity for a good, old fashioned rant. Listen in while I climb on my soapbox and opine about what I think the problem is…
I was in the local Scout Shop last weekend and saw something new posted near the merit badges. There is an award called the Complete Angler that can be earned by Boy Scouts who love to fish. The requirements seem fairly simple.
The merit badge counselor is one of the coolest jobs in Scouting. These volunteers introduce Scouts to a topic about which they are passionate and knowledgable. At the very least, a merit badge counselor helps a young man earn a merit badge for his sash and get one step closer to the next rank.
Looking for merit badge counselors? Then the newest Scoutbook feature has the answer! At the National Annual Meeting in May, Scoutbook announced the creation of the Scoutbook Council Administrator position and three initial features connecting councils with Scoutbook units: A Messaging feature for Scoutbook units, available for leaders, parents, and youth (with youth accounts) Sharing…
Neil Armstrong wasn't your typical Boy Scout. While the other boys in Troop 25 out of Sandusky, Ohio, were horsing around at meetings and campouts, "Neil was buckling down to learning things like the flag semaphore code and first aid," one of his troopmates told Scouting magazine in our March-April 1970 issue.
The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have completed their weeklong summer camp for the year. Once again, the troop went to Many Point Scout Camp which is located northwest of Park Rapids in Minnesota. Only four Scouts of the troop attended camp because the older boys will be going on a high adventure trip…
Story by Lido Vizzutti of the Montana Council Scouts gather around a beaker of water and oil during a visual lesson in liquid viscosity in the Chemistry Course at Merit Badge University 4. (Photo credit: Lido Vizzutti) We are told to never stare directly into the sun – and for good reason.
You don't have to swing like Spieth or blast it like Bubba to earn the Golf merit badge. You do have to know about golf's rules, its equipment and its lingo. (Like: Was that a hook or a slice I just hit?
It's a question every Scout will face: Once I finish requirements for merit badges and rank advancement, who signs off? Is it the Scoutmaster? The merit badge counselor? My senior patrol leader? Mom or Dad? The answer is all of the above.
My scouts asked my to give a class on the Scouting Heritage Merit Badge, which I'm a counselor for. It's a great one since it teaches about the founders of Scouting in America and how the program has changed over the years.
Aside from Eagle Scout, merit badges are probably the most visible and iconic part of Scouting to those not involved in the program. "Did you get a merit badge for that?" is sometimes asked when someone does an extraordinarily good deed – a social currency akin to earning "brownie points" for anything from volunteering for
In honor of this week's release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I thought I'd share the top five merit badges Superman would have no trouble earning.
In honor of this week's release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I thought I'd share the top five merit badges Batman would have no trouble earning.
Troop 117: Merit Badges Earned in 2015 : The troop earned 117 merit badges by my count in 2015. The breakdown is shown in the image above.
The list of merit badges earned in 2015 is out. I updated my infographic on them. Mostly it is the same as last year, give or take 10% on any given badge. The top 13 are Eagle required, all being awarded over 47,000 times (which makes sense with over 50,000 Eagles being awarded each year).
The 2015 merit badge rankings are here, and the winner is clear. More Scouts earned one merit badge than any other, and it wasn't close.
The troop decided to add a "Game Day" to the calendar this year, which seemed like a great idea to me, particularly for a winter activity. I have a great passion for games of all sorts (my other pastime when not scouting, though that blog doesn't get the same love as this one), and even…
Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, there's a fourth way to earn the Snow Sports merit badge. Snowshoeing joins downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.
Requirements for the Eagle-required Cooking merit badge have been revised for 2016, with better organization, fewer redundancies and a focused approach.
I have recently accepted the position of advancement coordinator for Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68, so I have been checking out the 2013 Committee Guidebook to see what my new responsibilities will be, and how much work I have gotten myself into.
