Prelude: Earning Merit badges is necessary to advance through the ranks of Star through Eagle. Click here for more information about Merit Badges. Once a Scout has decided on what Merit Badge(s) they would like to pursue, please follow this procedure.
1. Obtain a blue card from Advancement Chair, Advancement Co-Chair, or Scoutmaster. One blue card is needed for each Merit Badge. These can be digitally assigned in Scoutbook.
2. Fill out blue card and get Scoutmaster signature.
3. Find MB counselor from the document link. If you need access to the document please contact one of Troop 626/8626 committee members. Otherwise the scout can ask their Scoutmaster for help finding the right counselor. If the troop can not find a counselor for the badge your are interested in - the next step is for the Scout to contact the District Merit Badge coordinator. The Scoutmaster or Asst Scoutmaster can help you find out who the District Merit Badge coordinator is.
4. Arrange to meet with counselor at advancement meetings or by appointment. Per the Scounting America Youth Protection Policy, meetings between a Scout and an adult may not be one-on-one in private. Thus, if arranging an appointment with a counselor, a Scout must ensure that they bring a parent or a buddy.
5. Get the latest MB pamphlet and study. It's usually necessary to know the material in the pamphlet to complete the badge. All Merit Badge Pamphlets are now available digitally. Search for the Merit Badge you are planning to work on and make sure you are going to the scouting.org location that references that Merit Badge.
6. Meet with counselor to begin the Merit Badge work and begin fulfilling the requirements. The counselor will review the requirements with you. Many requirements include the words "discuss" and "demonstrate". Simply filling out the worksheets will not suffice for completing these requirements.
7. Your Counselor will fill out the blue card and/or Scoutbook as requirements are completed. It is often the case that only some requirements are completed in a session with the counselor. In this case, the counselor will note the completed requirements on the blue card but will not sign off that the badge is complete. This is often called a "partial" badge blue card. It is important that the scout keep the partial blue card and have it available to continue discussions later with the counselor. Sometimes this happens at summer camp. The scout can continue a badge with a new counselor picking up where he left off with the partial card. If the scout loses the partial card he'll have to start over.
8. When all requirements are complete, the Scout should obtain counselor signature on the blue card. At which time, counselor should retain the section of the blue card marked "Counselor's Record" for their records and return the rest to the Scout.
9. The Scout should then obtain Scoutmaster signature on the blue card again - noting completion.
10. The Scout then turns in the blue card (remaining two sections) to Advancement Chair or Advancement Assistant for processing and recording in Scoutbook. If the card is digital reach out to the Advancement Chair to final approve the Merit Badge and add it to their list to procure for the next Court of Honor.
11. Merit Badge and badge card (along with "Applicant's Record" section of the blue card) will be presented at the next Court of Honor. Blue Merit Badge cards submitted after the deadline (which is usually announced at a troop meeting) will be presented at the following Court of Honor.
Additional Merit Badge Procedures
A1. If a Scout changes counselors part way through a Merit Badge's requirements, keep the partially completed blue card. Find a new counselor and use a new blue card for the remaining requirements to be completed. Staple the old blue card to the new one. Then continue with procedure Step 6 above.
IMPORTANT: Once all requirements are completed, have the current counselor and Scoutmaster sign the new blue card and turn in both the old and new blue card to the Advancement Chair or Co-Chair.
A2. Summer Camp Merit Badges: Merit badges earned at summer camp are usually collected by the Scoutmaster or adult assistant at camp and turned in directly to the Advancement Chair for processing. Any partial blue cards will be returned to the Scout to be continued (Using procedure step A1 above.) It's important to cross check this before leaving camp so that if there are any discrepancies they can be resolved before the counselors leave that morning. It's often a hectic time - other adults and senior scouts can help organize the checking process.