Merit Badge Counselor Application Procedure
Complete a BSA Adult Leader Application including YPT (see the Advancement Chair)
Complete a Pikes Peak Council Merit Badge Information Form
Submit these two forms to the Troop Advancement Chairman for review.
You will be notified as to when you can start counseling Scouts.
As a Merit Badge Counselor (MBC)...
...you are a key player in the Boy Scout advancement program. Whatever your area of expertise or interest—whether it is a special craft or hobby (basketry, leatherwork, coin collecting), a profession (veterinary medicine, aviation, engineering), or perhaps a life skill (cooking, personal management, communications)—as a merit badge counselor, you can play a vital role in stirring a young man's curiosity about that particular topic. By serving as a merit badge counselor, you offer your time, knowledge, and other resources so that Scouts can explore a topic of interest.
...your mission is to join fun with learning. You are both a teacher and mentor as the Scout works on a merit badge and learns by doing. Your hands-on involvement could inspire a Scout to develop a lifelong hobby, pursue a particular career, or become an independent, self-supporting adult.
...you have the opportunity to work with Scouts of different backgrounds and unique talents. Some will be self-starters and require little guidance, while others will need your personal attention to help them understand the subject matter.
Above all, you’re someone they will look up to for support and encouragement. You will be seen as the expert. Share your knowledge as well as your passion, and set that positive example so they will share it with others.
Merit badge counselors may provide group Merit Badge instruction, however merit badges are NOT group projects. Each Scout individually completes all requirements. “There must be attention to each individual’s projects and his fulfillment of all requirements. We must know that every Scout—actually and personally—completed them. If, for example, a requirement uses words like ‘show’, ‘demonstrate’, or ‘discuss’, then every Scout must do that. It is unacceptable to award badges on the basis of sitting in classrooms watching demonstrations, or remaining silent during discussions” (BSA Guide to Advancement).