Is there an award for getting all the merit badges?

[lifescoutforlife]

I see the list is up to 47 now, good luck to all that is trying to reach this goal.

[lifescoutforlife]

I see the list now stands at 51 with 7 other scouts that they are trying to get information on.My son who has the goal of earning them all stands at 96 and will turn 14 the end of this month. I wish him well on his goal as well as others who take on the goal of earning them all.

[AquilaNegra2]

Just curious, Life, since one of mine has expressed the same interest. How does he have time for all of these? My #1 is just shy of halfway there. He made the decision to drop all his other extra-curricular activities so that he could work on them; now it's just Scouts.

His stumbling block has been finding counselors for them. Anyone ever know a Composites Materials counselor?

We use them for school, so the "no more" portion doesn't apply (it might apply to the BADGE, but not to what's required of him). I can't imagine Scouts who have 3 hours of homework per night plus sports, band, or youth group being able to achieve this. I could be wrong.

It definitely IS a family thing. The Scout is doing the work, but the whole family makes accommodation and arrangements around that work.

[scoutaholic]

Just curious, Life, since one of mine has expressed the same interest. How does he have time for all of these? ...

Mine set this goal early on. If you start on your 11th b-day, you have 7 years. That is 17.28 MBs each year, or 1.44 each month.

A motivated boy can earn 5-7 at summer camp. He does 3 every year at the BYU/UVU MB PowWow in November. 3-5 in January at our district MB Shindig. I usually find 2 or 3 neighboring disticts or councils that are running MB events in the early spring (usually 3-4 MBs for each event). I even found a church group that arranges MB classes all summer long (most taught an hour a day for a week. Different classes taught each week.) The Community Education program run by your school district will often offer some MB classes as well.

There are plenty of local clubs/groups/businesses that will sponsor MB classes. Astronomy at the Planetarium; Insect Study and Bird Study at the Zoo (some will also do Mammal study and Reptile & Amphibian Study, but not ours); Swimming, Lifesaving, Canoeing, and 1st Aid at the local pool; Climbing at local climbing clubs/gyms; Radio with the local ham radio club (especially the 3rd weekend of October when the international scout division sponsors Jamboree On The Air); Fire Safety, First Aid, and Emergency Preparedness at the fire station; Public Health and First Aid at the clinic or hospital; Oceanography at the aquarium; shooting sports at the gun club; fishing and fly fishing at the outdoor supply stores or an outfitters; Canoeing, Whitewater, Hiking, and Climbing with outfitters; Crime Prevention, Fingerprinting, Safety, and Traffic Safety with your police; Art, Pottery, and Sculpture at art studios; Soil and Water Conservation and Landscape Architecture with the local water conservancy district; skating at the local rink; Golf at the country club; etc.; etc.. Depending on your area your State or National Park Service may be able to help with Environmental Science, Forestry, Soil & Water Conservation, Oceanography, Geology, Archeaology, Mammal Study, Bird Study, Insect Study, Reptile & Amphibian Study, Nature, Fish & Wildlife Management, Fishing, Fly Fishing, etc.

There are several that could probably be covered in school classes if the teachers are aware of the requirements. Personal Fitness, Sports, and Athletics in PE; Reading in English; Chemistry, Geology, and Engineering in Science; Citizenships in History (World History->CitWorld, US History->CitNat, State/Local History->CitComm); Art, Pottery, and Sculpture in the Art Department; etc.; Depending on the school, I've also seen classes that would cover Photography, Journalism, Traffic Safety, Cooking, Music, Bugling, Theater, Cinematography, American Business, Public Speaking, etc. Any student who keeps up his grades and doesn't have behavior problems should be able to get his teacher and principle to sign that he has completed Scholarship.

Some of the extra-cirriculars that you are dropping can also be good badge earning opportunities: Horsemanship and Animal Science in FFA; Chemistry, Geology, and Engineering in science clubs; Personal Fitness, Sports, and Athletics in the sports programs; Music & Bugling in Band or Choir; Public Speaking in Debate; Theater and/or Cinematography with the school play; etc.

All of that without ever doing MBs at troop meeting or on troop outings. (Not that I am advocating a plan of never doing MB work with the troop.)

[scoutaholic]

Probably another important part for reaching this goal is a good way to track what is done, what is in progress, and what still needs to be done.

I got a magnetic white board for my son to use. We printed graphics of each of the MBs and attached those to magnetic tape. Then we divided the board into sections. The right side is all the badges not yet started. The left side is all the badges he has already received (after the court of honor). As the magnets move across the board they go through sections where we have found a counselor, scheduled classes/meetings, partials, ready to pass-off, and completed (but not yet presented). The biggest section is now the left side, but we've found that there are usually about 20 in the 'partials' section. There are only about 15-20 on the right side that we haven't identified a counselor for. My second son just started on his. Most are still on the right side, and there are 3 on the left side.

I was SM for 10 years, and have learned the value of TroopMaster software for tracking such things. I am no longer SM, but I still keep a copy of the software for tracking the MBs for my sons. The one problem I have found with this is that it is limited in the number of partial MBs you can track.

[smtroop168]

His stumbling block has been finding counselors for them. Anyone ever know a Composites Materials counselor?

I have one in my troop and we are offering the Badge at the Merit Badge College i am running in Jan/Feb 09.

[AquilaNegra2]

Plane ticket MIGHT be a little expensive . Though we're flying back for the Marine Corps Marathon in a few weeks.

What projects will they be making?

[smtroop168]

Not sure. One I think has to come from the MB pamphlet. Interesting this is in the requirements as it might be one of the few MBs that the boys actually have to get and read the MBP.

[AquilaNegra2]

Scoutaholic, that sounds like a wonderful system! It's right there in front of them all the time.

We currently have them on Excel, with the cells color-coded by date (in progress, fall semester, spring semester, MB clinic, troop, summer camp). They blacken them out when finished. The cell has the name of the counselor (or camp, etc) in it, and notes are added to the side regarding progress.

They also have an Gantt plan that shows their plans. Granted, it gets updated often as things stretch out longer and longer, but that's a lesson in itself. Our SM would probably have a coronary if they had 20 badges open at once. We're in a troop that doesn't let the boys work on the badges until they have a blue card signed off. Mine have 25 months and 43 months to finish them. The older one is going to be very busy!

Any chance you'd be willing to post a pic of your system? I think having it in front of the boys might be a good idea.

[scoutaholic]

Probably another important part for reaching this goal is a good way to track what is done, what is in progress, and what still needs to be done.

I got a magnetic white board for my son to use. We printed graphics of each of the MBs and attached those to magnetic tape. Then we divided the board into sections. The right side is all the badges not yet started. The left side is all the badges he has already received (after the court of honor). As the magnets move across the board they go through sections where we have found a counselor, scheduled classes/meetings, partials, ready to pass-off, and completed (but not yet presented). ...

... Any chance you'd be willing to post a pic of your system? ...

It has taken me some time to get pictures and post them somewhere that you can see, but try these links:

http://www.scoutaholic.com/images/mbtracking1.jpg
http://www.scoutaholic.com/images/mbtracking2.jpg

The pictures didn't come out as good as I would like, but you get the idea.
When I first started this with my son, I got copies of several newspaper articles of other boys who had gotten all the badges and had them posted around the tracking board. My wife thought that was pressuring him too much and encouraged him to take those down.

If you want to contact me offline, I'd be willing to make you a set of the magnets for a fair price.

[AquilaNegra2]

Wow! That's quite a system! TFS.

If #2 can't figure out how to make them, I'll email you. txs.

[lifescoutforlife]

He has a board like some of the ones you see on other posts that looks at and keeps updated. He has gone to many summer camps over the last 3 years not just the one the troop attends, which give him many different badges to choose from. He also has more than one MB going at the same time so he can do a little on each one all at the same time. This helps out on the long ones that it takes 3 or 4 months to complete. Our family has also went to Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh were they offer a few MB's that we has picked up and he looks on the internet for merit badge weekends that he has picked up a couple at. Probably his biggest influence is the boy that his mother started this thread, my son has talked to him many times and has had his support from the beginning on his goal. He keeps him updated on how he is doing and always get's great replies back on doing a great job on reaching his goal. He told him it’s like you having to eat a whole elephant; you could never do it all at once. But over time you just bite off little pieces till it's all gone.

[kimberbakos]

My son is considering going for all the merit badges, but his true desire is to earn all the Hornaday awards. I think it would be hard, but not impossible, to do both. Especially with a severe LD that makes it all take him much longer than most other boys. But he's about to start his Eagle project and will be 13 in two weeks, so he's got the time if he's really got the ambition. Right now, with 34 badges earned, he's settling for the most in our troop.

[SevenEagles]

As an Eagle and Dad of six Eagle sons, I congratulate you and your family on your son's accomplishments. Don't forget the possibility of a good article for Boy's LIfe...!

[cballman]

I hate to burst some peoples bubble but I hate to see a child labeled as LD. I think that it is not the child as much as it is us as adults who have problems. We as adults see problems in everything. We need to step back and talk to the child and see what we can do to help him or her. Sometimes all we need to do is show that we care and talk to this person. We dont need to treat them any different, Just maybe we can learn more from them then they can from us.


I dont want to make anybody mad or hurt anyones feeling with this post but sometimes we want to give our child a crutch to lean on when all they need is a swift kick in the pants.

[Fibonacci]

AquilaNegra2 ~ you asked for a Composite Materials MB counselor. We went to the University of Washington's Engineering Fair last spring and chatted with some of the students in the Composite Materials department (division?) Perhaps one of them would like to become a Composite Materials merit badge counselor. They were very enthusiastic about their subject!

You might also try your neighboring council, tho' I don't think we keep a council wide merit badge counselor list; our District list is pretty poorly maintained.

[AquilaNegra2]

Thank you Fibonacci. That's a great idea.

We're transferring into your council later this month. Found a troop that better fits our family, and is more traditional Scouting by the book. Can't wait!

[wagionvigil]

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/092408/new_news8.shtml

Nice story about a busy scout

[lifescoutforlife]

Just to give everyone a update my son finished # 100 yesterday and still has 44 months left before he turns 18. His first goal was 100 but after about a year into it he changed his goal to earning them all.

[mt_goodrich]

Keep us posted and congrats to your son!