At the Troop meeting, this Thursday, January 26, our scouts will be working on merit badges.

Scouts in high school, and who are Star or Life rank, will be working with Rick Andersen on the Family Life Merit Badge.

All other scouts will be working on the Scholarship Merit Badge. Assuming the scout meets the requirements for good grades, there is only one requirement (Requirement 5) that must be completed outside of the meeting, and that can be done before Thursday and signed off on Thursday, or it can be completed later. Stephanie Lanken will be the merit badge counselor, and several of our leaders will be assisting with some of the requirements.

Requirement 1:

• Show that you have had an average grade of B or higher for one term or semester OR
• Show that for one term or semester you have improved your school grades over the previous period.

To fulfill this requirement, scouts should bring a copy of their report card (or in the case of District 96, a printout from PowerSchool for Grade History) for the 1st semester of the current school year (and if necessary the spring 2011 semester to show improvement).

Mrs. Lanken will be checking off grades. Please reinforce to your scout that there is no need to “share” their grades with other scouts at the meeting.

Scouts will also need to bring their assignment notebooks (Requirement 2c-using a daily planner show your counselor how you keep track of assignments).

They will also need proof that their behavior has been satisfactory (Requirement 3). In the case of Hauser students, this can be printouts from PowerSchool for each class showing that the scout has received a 01 04 rating in the Teacher Comments section (01 Commendable Effort 04 Commendable Conduct). Now that Hauser does not send out paper grades, you have to go to Grade History and then click on the % for each class to see the Effort/Conduct grade. An alternative way to meet Requirement 3 is to get a note from the principal of the school that states that during the past year your behavior, leadership, and service have been satisfactory. In the case of Hauser, the note can come from Ms. Berman, Mrs. Westin, or Mr. Wolf. If you plan to ask for a note from an administrator, we suggest the scout take a copy of the Scholarship worksheet to the school official: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/b/bf/Scholarship.pdf

Outside of the meeting the scout must do ONE of the following:
a. Write a report of 250-300 words about how the education you receive in school will be of value to you in the future and how you will continue to educate yourself in the future.
b. Write a report of 250-300 words about two careers that interest you and how specific classes and good scholarship in general will help you achieve your career goals.