A quick note to parents that we started Citizenship in the Nation this week at Scouts. This is an Eagle-required merit badge that mostly can be independently completed. While we will have the opportunity to go over some of the remaining items as a group in the next 2-3 weeks, the boys could finish this merit badge mostly on their own in a very short period of time.
They need to fill in the workbook completely and can use any reliable resources to do so, including their Social Studies or any other American history/government book, the internet and even their older and wiser family members. As another part of completing that badge, we toured the Air Force Academy after the last campout. If they did not attend, they can visit another federal facility in town (like any of the military bases or the Olympic Training Center which is open for tours on Saturday), along with a place on the national historic register (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_El_Paso_County,_Colorado), or our state’s or nation’s capital and/or research a national monument (must do two of those four just listed). They also have to research a famous speech in our nation’s history and talk about its importance then and now, write a letter to an elected official and watch the news for a week to explore the impact of current events on their own family/community. Then they also need to complete the associated write-ups for that work in the book. We will discuss those items in the next few weeks.
If they were not at Tuesday’s meeting, they can access the merit badge workbook here (http://www.usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/Citizenship-in-the-Nation.pdf) and start it on their own right away. Other than the main requirements listed above, we completely filled out the content info through page 8 at last week’s meeting. This is a great merit badge for the boys to demonstrate independence and self-motivation. Please encourage and support them in that as you are able.
Best,
Gina Swanson
Troop 287 Merit Badge Counselor
