Troop     

Merit Badge Procedures (COUNSELOR)

Purpose:  To outline Troop 1849 merit badge procedures for troop-only merit badge counselors

a.  Get registered with the troop.  Talk to the Advancement Coordinator and fill out a registration form.  You must be registered with the troop, council and BSA before signing any blue cards.  Pick your area of expertise so you can share these experiences with your scouts.

b.  Get the merit badge book.  This book outlines the requirements and how to complete them.  The troop has a library of used merit badge books.  Insure the requirements are current.

c.  Prepare a lesson plan.  It should outline how to complete each requirement of the merit badge.  Give it to the scout at the first meeting.  The scout must meet the standards outlined in the appendix for each requirement.

e.  Partials from other counselors.  If the scout says that he completed a requirement with another counselor, such as summer camp, ask for documentation.  This can be a blue card with the completed requirements on the back or a note from the other counselor.  If the scout obviously does not remember the knowledge completed with the other counselor, review the information with him until you are confident that he is ready to proceed.

f.  Insure the "two deep" policy is enforced.  Schedule meetings with two or more scouts or parents present.  Possible meeting locations are at your home and the parents stay for the session, meet at a public place such as the library, or at the scout’s home with the parents at home.

g.  Work with scout to complete the merit badge.  Provide guidance and instruction to enable him to complete the merit badge.  When working with a group of scouts, each scout must demonstrate proficiency.  Unlike Cub Scouts, attendance or a "good effort" is not good enough.  If work or family commitments prevent completing the scout's plan in a timely manner, return the blue card to the scout with the completed requirements initialed on the back of the card.

h.  Changing requirements.  If you want to change a merit badge requirement, get the approval of the Scoutmaster before doing so.  Examples of acceptable changes are Pioneering MB # 9 which requires designing and building a project.  If every scout in the troop designed and built a project, we would be building things on every campout from now until next year.  The 1849 approved change is that every scout will design a project and the Scoutmaster will select a winning design.  All the "designers" will build the selected project on a campout.

i.  How do I know if the scout completed a requirement?  Ask yourself the following type of questions to determine if the scout has completed a requirement.

            1.  Has he demonstrated mastery of the subject?

            2.  It does not have to be exact or perfect.  Is this an 80% solution?

            3.  Would I be embarrassed if the troop asked the scout to teach this task to other scouts knowing that he has the merit badge?

            4.  If I was giving this to my boss, would it be acceptable?

BOTTOM LINE:  THE SCOUT MUST KNOW THE INFORMATION.

REMEMBER:  When you sign a blue card, your reputation is associated with the scout's future performance and rank advancement.

j.  Sign the blue card and return it to the scout.  When the scout completes all the requirements, sign fill out the entire blue card.  Remove the counselor's portion and return the other 2 portions to the scout.  The scout is required to return the card to the Rank Advancement Coordinator.

h.  If you want to do a merit badge with your son, you must do the following in addition to the above requirements:

1..  Open the merit badge to the troop.  Announce your offering at least 1 week prior to starting the merit badge.  Distribute a flyer giving who, what, where, when, and your phone number (you know how everyone becomes brain dead after they leave the scout meeting). 

            2.  At least three other scouts in the troop must participate.

            3.  Your scout will receive his merit badge at a Court of Honor with at least two other scouts from your merit badge class.

            Reasons for these rules are:

            1.  Provides other scouts with opportunities to get merit badges.

            2.  Enforces the "two deep" rule.  Your scout and at least one other scout count as two scouts.

            3.  Eliminates the appearance of favoritism.