Update: BSA Historic Merit Badge Program

HistoricalMBs

UPDATE (04/01/10): The Historic Merit Badge Program has been released. Click here for details.

You may have heard rumors that the Historic Merit Badge Program
has been
canceled. Not true.

What is true is that the BSA is putting finishing touches on
the program now, and the end result will be well worth the wait.

The Youth Development team plans to release the program
soon, and once that happens, it will consist of much more than just adding Signaling,
Tracking, Pathfinding, and Carpentry to 2010’s list of available merit badges.

The team wants today’s Scouts to get a sense of what Scouts
in the 1910s experienced. They want Scouts to earn the merit badges in ways
similar to those used by Scouts back then. The world has changed drastically in
100 years, but the fundamental lessons of these merit badges have not.

In the spirit of being green and making the program
accessible, you won’t be able to get printed materials for the merit badges.
Instead, have your Scouts go to scouting.org.

They’ll have access to scans of the original pamphlets for
each of the four historic merit badges. However, because the language and techniques
used in those badges comes from the early 20th century, the BSA has been hard
at work crafting supplements that will help put the requirements in a modern
context.

The site also offers program implementation guide, a
camporee guide, a Boy Scout resident camp guide, a training session guide,
press releases, and other materials that councils, districts, and units can use
to promote the program.

Stay tuned to Cracker Barrel for additional news as we get
it.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.