Before a Court of Honor:
Please turn in any completed Merit Badge blue cards (printouts from camp or a MB College are fine too) to the Troop 1 Advancement Coordinator at least one week before a Court of Honor so that we can enter them into the database and buy the badges for you at the Scout Store.
Earning a New Rank:
If you are ready to earn a new rank, please schedule your Scoutmaster Conference & Board of Review. Sometimes Scoutmaster conferences can be done at campouts too, time permitting. For scheduling purposes please fill out the online form so we know to expect you. The online form will alert the Scoutmasters and the Advancement Chairs:
http://goo.gl/forms/fmyNNOL63e
Scouts should bring their handbooks to meetings every week, so we can do a check-in on their progress to make sure they are on track. Make sure they aren’t stuck on a certain requirement and don’t know how to get it done. Older scouts are happy to help with this. Council recommends we check in with scouts periodically even if they have not requested a Scoutmaster Conference or Board of Review.
New BSA Requirements phased in for 2016-17:
- Comparison Chart – old vs new requirements
- New BSA Requirements insert that you can print out for your BSA handbook.
Earning the earlier ranks – Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd Class and 1st Class:
- These involve learning and demonstrating a variety of scouting skills.
- Requirements can be signed off by any scout with the rank of 1st class or above. Our Troop Guides are the best scouts to ask to sign off on requirements.
- The completion of requirements of a particular nature may be assisted by troop 1 instructors.
- The instructors are the following as of 1/2/2019 AD. Click the links to view the specific requirements.
Camping & Outdoor Ethics, Tools, Totin’ Chip Evan Packer Cooking, Firem’n Chit Aidan Chen 1st Aid, Em. Prep., Aquatics (safety req’ts) Alex Kimball Hiking, Navigation, Nature, Fitness Ryan Canfield Cit’ship, Leadership, Pers. Safety Awareness, Uniforms Casey Pratt
- The instructors are the following as of 1/2/2019 AD. Click the links to view the specific requirements.
- The Cyber Chip can be obtained from the Cyber Chip page.
- A Scout can work on the requirements for the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks at the same time, but must earn them in sequence. For example they might learn all the knot tying skills needed for multiple ranks at the same event.
- There is no time requirement on the early ranks, so BSA hopes that boys will be able to earn 1st Class within about a year after joining Boy Scouts.
- After completing the requirements for any of the earlier ranks, the scout should fill out our online form to arrange for a Scoutmaster conference with any of the scoutmasters.
- After their Scoutmaster conference, they will have a Board of Review. (Scout is the only rank that does NOT need a Board of Review.)
Earning the later ranks – Star and Life:
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- These involve doing community service hours, earning several merit badges including some Eagle-required ones, spending a specified number of months in their current rank and serving in a position of responsibility within the troop.
- To serve in a position of responsibility, a scout should talk to your SPL and Scoutmaster about a position he might like to take on and then submit written goals for their accepted position to them. See possible positions on this document.
- Most rank requirements must be signed off by a Scoutmaster or higher ranking scout. Service hours can be signed off at the time they are completed, Mrs Ritterbusch can sign off on the Merit Badge requirement. Once the requirements are met, the scout should fill out our online form to arrange for a Scoutmaster conference.
- After their Scoutmaster conference, they will have a Board of Review.
Earning Eagle Scout:
- Earning Eagle is a much longer more complex process involving a long application, leading a service project, earning 21 badges (including 13 from the required list), and a Board of Review with Knox Trail Council. Read more on the BSA website.
- Mr McFarland is our Eagle Mentor, so scouts interested in earning the rank of Eagle should contact him with any questions at [email protected].
Merit Badge Counselors:
For a list of merit badge counselors, please ask your Troop Leaders. They can login to the Mayflower Council database and get a current list for you. You can also view your advancement electronically on troopmaster.