MERIT BADGES:
There are 135 merit badges in total. Merit Badges are areas of interest that will give you a place to discover whether they want to investigate the area further. Some of the categories of merit badges are: Citizenship, Outdoors, STEM, Career Oriented, Hobbies and Sports to name a few.
You can obtain merit badges one of 4 ways. Merit Badge Colleges; Summer Camp, with the troop, and individually. Merit badge colleges are set up to allow you to go over things as a group, as well as having you do things on your own. At Summer camp you will have the opportunity to work on a variety of merit badges just like a merit badge college except more in depth. Some of the merit badges are taught before regular troop meetings throughout the year. The last way you can earn merit badges is on your own. Scouts should go online (only after completing their cyberchip) and look at the merit badges offered through the BSA. Once you choose an area of interest, you need to come talk to one of the leaders in the troop. If you do not have access to a printer, we will provide you with a Merit badge pamphlet and connect you with a merit badge counselor (some are in our troop, others are not). Once you are connected with a merit badge counselor you will need to work with the merit badge counselor to complete the requirements. Each counselor is different in how they present or make you explore the requirements.
The Citizenship Merit Badges teach Sscouts about their Duty to Country and Duty to Others. How to apply the Oath, Law, Motto, Slogan, and Spirit to our everyday life.
Outdoors merit badges include camping, cooking, Pioneering, orienteering, and other outdoor scouting stuff. These merit badges teach Scouts how to be prepared for things that come at you in the outdoors.
STEM merit badges, well that’s self-explanatory. These merit badges teach them to cool tech things people are into these days. Robotics, game design, Digital technology, are just a few of the merit badges in this category. Career Oriented merit badges teach the scouts about different careers. Archology, Dentistry, Architecture, and Aviation are just a few of these merit badges.