Re: Merit badge welfare

On Thu, 31 Aug 1995 11:21:52 -0400, "Paul H. Brown" <phbrown@CAPACCESS.ORG> writ
es:
> Do other council camps allow the observations for the Environmental
> Science badge to be done in one week at camp?

Camp Barton (Baden-Powell Council) allows the observations to be done
in one week at camp. In fact, the requirements specifically allow for
it. Requirement 3 states: "Visit the area four times for 2 hours each
time. Do this at different times on one day a week for a month, or if
at camp, on four different days of the week at different times of the
day."

Almost all of the complains here about merit badges at camp center on
the badges being made too easy. Our council advancement committee (of
which I am a member) has been working to bring the standards up to
where they should be. I feel that we have made great progress. So
much so, that I would like to share a story about a complaint in the
opposite direction. Two years ago the merit badge counselor for
Environmental Science was a 15-year old Eagle Scout who was
well-qualified for the position. There were a couple of scouts in the
class who received only partial credit for the merit badge. Their SM
came storming to the counselor and asked why. He was told that their
essays had completely missed the point and were not acceptable. The SM
started ranting and raving about the counselor adding an essay to the
requirements for the badge. Fortunately, the counselor stood his
ground and was supported by the Program Director and the Camp Director.
The SM had completely failed to do his homework and did not even know
what the requirements for the badge were!

I guess the point here is that we need to be very careful and make
certain that we understand the requirements before we start making
accusations.

Fred Rogers <fredrogers@vnet.ibm.com>
Tioga District Advancement Chairman
Baden-Powell Council

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