Advancement

Troop 42 Instructions for Advancement

8/10/11

Completed Merit Badge Cards

• Give Mrs. Benjamins your blue card, “Application for Merit Badge.” Keep the part that says “Applicant’s Record.” DON’T LOSE THIS! It should be stored in a safe place as proof that you’ve completed it. Suggest you use a baseball card plastic holder and a 3-ring binder.
• You’ll get your merit badge at the next Court of Honor

Rank Advancement – all Ranks except for Eagle Scout (NOTE: Scouts, NOT PARENTS, must follow the procedure below – do not use email!!)

• DO NOT wait until the last minute! Your Board of Review needs to be completed two weeks before the Court of Honor date.
• You are in charge of making sure that your achievements are recorded!
1. Be sure that you have ALL of your rank requirements complete, including your Service Hours.
2. Be sure that your rank requirements have been has been signed off in your Scout Book.
3. Work with Ms. Lufrano at Troop meetings to get your requirements and service hours entered into the Troop database.
4. Check your Individual Progress Report on-line (in the Troop 42 Only area of the website) to be sure that your requirements have been entered in the database.
• Scoutmaster Conference - Contact Mr. vonBlankenburg in person or by ‘phone (see roster for ‘phone #) and make an appointment for your Scoutmaster conference (although it is best to do this after you have completed all other requirements, you may be able to have a Scoutmaster conference with one or two requirements still outstanding.
• Board of Review - after you have your Scoutmaster conference,

1. Check your individual progress report on-line. If the report indicates that you have some missing requirements that you have in fact completed, see Mrs. Benjamins at a Troop meeting. Show her your Scout book with completed requirements signed and dated so that she can enter the information in the Troop database. You can also call her to set up an appointment (see roster for ‘phone #). If you get the message machine be sure to leave your name and phone number - clearly and slowly. If you don’t get a call back within a couple of days, please call again.

2. Call Mr. Snyder (see roster for ‘phone #) to request a board of review for your new rank. He will call you back to confirm the date of your Board of Review

Board of Review Preparation

You NEED to have:

• Complete uniform, including Scout shirt, neckerchief and slide, Scout belt, merit badge sash, official Scout pants or shorts (or clean, neat blue-jeans), socks and shoes (no sandals). Be sure you have all your patches and insignia, and that they are correctly placed.
• Scout handbook
• Be prepared to recite the Scout Oath, Motto, and Laws for the Board of Review. Be sure that you know the things that are required for the specific rank.

Note: If you do NOT have your complete and proper uniform, you will not be able to do your Board of Review at that time and it will need to be rescheduled.

Any Questions? Call Mrs. Benjamins (Database Coordinator) or Mr. Snyder (Advancements coordinator) - see roster for ‘phone #s

Logging Rank Advancement Requirements

Remember that it is your responsibility as a Scout to ensure that all of your achievements are properly recorded. Inform Mrs. Benjamins when you have done a service project or been on a hike so that she can log your hours/miles (she may have already done so but it is smart to double check). Check your individual progress report periodically and check that it is up to date.

Click here for a list of all the available merit badges.

Click here for a list of merit badge counselors (you will be prompted to log-in)

Parents who wish to become merit badge counselors need to attend a council training session and complete the Merit Badge Counselor Application Form.