Tim in NJ

That's my council and district. I'm looking forward to hearing some more details about this from some friends close to Troop 368 over the next couple of weeks. I know the people that post on the Patriots' Path Council Facebook page, and they would not share a fake letter or story.

perdidochas covered the first part. You are thinking of the classic, historic method of boys earning merit badges, which happens to be the best method in my opinion. 1, 2, 3, or a small group of boys decide that they want to earn, say, the Engineering merit badge. They ask their Scoutmaster for blue cards and the names/contact info for a local counselor. They pick your name, contact you, and arrange a meeting or phone call of some type that works best for all involved. They may show you some work they've previously accomplished, ask questions about how to complete certain requirements, ask for

Personally, I hate the worksheets. This isn't school, I'm not a teacher, and assigning fill-in-the-blank homework seems to me to be pretty much the opposite of what scouting is supposed to be about. I consider the merit badge pamphlets to be a good reference, but not an absolute necessity. I'm a bit saddened to see how many boys show up to our first meeting for a given merit badge with a sentence or two written in each blank on a worksheet they pulled off the internet figuring that they'll get my signature on a blue card 45 minutes later. In reality, anything that can be completed on the w

Cooking MB presents one very unique challenge at the moment... two sets of requirements this year. As far as I understand it, by starting the badge in 2014, the scouts can choose whether to use the old requirements to earn the badge or the new ones that become mandatory January 1st. This means that when that scout does contact you (well done with pushing for that request by the way), you'll have to ask him which set of requirements they intend to use. I'm sorry I can't give you much in the way of specific guidelines for how to cover all of the requirements, but just remember to take you

We've had to cancel the first week of camp at some of our locations this year due directly the harsh winter New Jersey has been experiencing. So many school districts have had so many closings that many campers and staffers alike will not be able to make their normal start dates. The state mandates that all public schools have to be open for 180 days of instruction no matter what the weather causes, so to make up all of the lost days everything is going to be very backed up when June rolls around.

18 one year and 16 the other I believe. When some of the scouts contacted me afterwards to complete the badge, I never saw more than 2 at a time.

From what I have gathered, results may vary greatly depending on your location and local practices. My council does run a "Merit Badge Workshop" (phrased that way on purpose) every November. A handful of badges are offered, and with only one exception each class only allows the scouts to cover a limited amount of the requirements. The exception that offers a chance to earn a complete badge seems to be Fingerprinting, which really does seem to have a set of requirements that should not take much time at all. For the last two years I have introduced Engineering Merit Badge at this event, and

To put a bow on this, Patriots' Path Council hosted a miniature version of our annual Tradeshow of Scouting yesterday afternoon for transferring CNJC units. 38 out of our 48 new units attended, several bringing along multiple representatives. The biggest contingent I saw from a single unit was 4 adults and 5 youth from the same troop. As 00Eagle mentioned above, these units had been parts of 2 different districts in their old council and have now been placed into two of the already existing districts in PPC, with the biggest deciding factors being geography and school districts, not the nam

i'm not familiar with the typical functions of most LDS units on this front. For most of the "community" units that I've worked with, the crossover ceremony had the Webelos stay in their Cub uniforms. For most of these units, the Webelos were already wearing the tan shirts anyway as that seems to be the more popular option here in New Jersey. In many cases, during the crossover ceremony, shoulder loops were changed from blue to green and/or neckerchiefs and slides were swapped to boy scout versions. It all varied slightly depending on the traditions of the particular packs and troops invol

Bugling has been the least-earned badge nationally for the last few years. Family Life will probably be the source of most of your phone calls. I've been registered as a Safety MB Counselor for over 2 years now... still waiting for the first scout on that one!

Christineka: No, you do not need to buy the merit badge pamphlets, and any worksheets you find online are created by well-meaning people that are creating unofficial documentation. Its been 16 years since I have personally earned a merit badge, but I never used a worksheet for a single one. If you do become a merit badge counselor, your goal will be to work with the scouts in a way that gets through to them and allows them to understand the subject material. Worksheets might help some scouts, while others will benefit from different methods. You and the scouts work together towards the goa

Since I became a uniformed scouter two years ago, I have pulled my medal out of the box and pinned it to my uniform exactly twice. Both times were to attend an Eagle CoH. I wasn't the only adult wearing mine either time, and no one gave me a second look. I'm happy to wear the medal with pride when appropriate and welcome new members into our brotherhood.

In case you need it in writing: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/guidetoadvancement/themeritbadgeprogram.aspx I don't know what this "scoutmaster" is doing, but its not the Boy Scouts of America.

Contact your District or Council Advancement Chair. There is a process in place specifically for this scenario which will trigger the Eagle Board of Review even without the final Scoutmaster's Conference. 4 months is much too long to wait, 6 more months is ridiculous. If there really was some reason to hold up your son, the troop has plenty of time to bring up the issue in years past.

I haven't found anything official either, and the email I received was very light on details (I don't know exactly where this is being held, nor do I have a start time or end time). I'm waiting for a reply from our staff advisor that I hope will come soon.