Re: Merit Badge Blue Cards
John Conley (iti@FRONTIERNET.NET)
Mon, 29 Sep 1997 13:57:33 -0700
Anita Warshauer wrote:
>
> Does anyone have any experience using the blue
> merit badge cards in a troop of 80 scouts?
>
> Our advancement person does not want to use them,
> and hasn't used them for years. He says that it
> would be too confusing and time consuming to keep
> track of. Since July 1997, the troop has awarded
> approximately 250 merit badges. In our 87 year
> history, we have had 180 Eagles...so the system
> we use must work.
<SNIP>
Anita,
We have a couple of real advancement experts on the list who hopefully
will give you better researched answers than mine, but my $.02...
Congratulations to your son on finishing his Eagle requirements! For
his sake, I hope that the irregularities on his application are minor,
because without blue cards, he could be in deep trouble. If there is a
dispute about a badge being earned, national WILL NOT accept your
advancement chairman's Mac's word for it! Blue cards are the proof
of completing a merit badge.
If your troop has produced 180 Eagles, you must indeed be doing
something
right, but you are also taking an unnecessary risk. I have never worked
with a Troop of 80 Scouts, but mistakes happen even when tracking far
fewer Scouts.
By the way, I doubt if the ONLY records being kept are on a computer.
I think you will find that advancement reports are turned in, which
can also serve as a record, but mistakes in filling these out are
legendary.
YiS,
John Conley
Arrowhead District Commissioner
Finger Lakes Council (NY)
*Better to build boys than mend men*
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
