Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Here are some of the links to our upcoming Merit Badge Clinics (all of these will fill up fast!):

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018MBU (Over 20 Merit Badges) – Merit Badge University

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqu3 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-insectstudy3 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21421 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21422 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-miamimining (Mining in Society Merit Badge)-Freeport-McMoRan

https://scoutingevent.com/010-ashleyfurnmb (Over 7 Merit Badges)-Ashley Furniture HomeStores Day

https://scoutingevent.com/010-nov3mammalstudy(Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-nov17insectstudy(Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://mim.org/events/boy-scout-badge-day-dec-1-2018/ (Music Merit Badge) – MIM

https://scoutingevent.com/010-dec1mammalstudy(Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-dechorsemanship(Horsemanship Merit Badge) – Roosevelt Rough Riders

https://scoutingevent.com/010-janrobotics (Robotics Merit Badge) – LEOGOLAND Discovery Center

https://scoutingevent.com/010-janoceanographymb(Oceanography Merit Badge) – SEALIFE Arizona

https://scoutingevent.com/010-jan2019 (Metalwork Merit Badge) – SMART Local 369

https://scoutingevent.com/010-feboceanography(Oceanography Merit Badge) – SEALIFE Arizona

https://scoutingevent.com/010-marchrobotics(Robotics Merit Badge) – LEOGOLAND Discovery Center

https://scoutingevent.com/010-march2019 (Metalwork Merit Badge) – SMART Local 369

https://scoutingevent.com/010-marchoceanography(Oceanography Merit Badge) – SEALIFE Arizona

To stay up to date, please join the Grand Canyon Council Facebook Page

Just a quick reminder and link to YPT for all those who need to renew by Oct 1:

ALL REGISTERED ADULTS, INCLUDING MERIT BADGE COUNSELORS MUST TAKE THE NEW YOUTH PROTECTION TRAINING BY OCT 1

Merit Badge Counselors note: Those who have have not taken the new YPT taken between the dates of Feb 1, and Sept 30, 2018 will not be properly registered starting 10/1 and will not be able to be an active Merit Badge Counselor (you will drop off the lists.)

More information on the new training is here: https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/

Greetings!

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend! This is a quick reminder that we will be holding our Quarterly Committee & Parent Meeting this Tuesday, 9/4, at 7pm at the CCC Conference Room. (This is the same time as the regular troop meeting.)

We have had a busy scouting summer, and have an exciting new calendar to share with everyone at the meeting for what we expect will be a great year ahead. All parents and committee members are welcome to attend.

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi – Troop Committee Chair

Here’s a word problem to ponder: How can one homework assignment count twice?

Easy. By getting credit for that work at school andin Scouts.

Turns out several merit badge requirements align perfectly with schoolwork. And there’s no BSA rule against going for double credit. (Same goes for service projects done at school. The Guide to Advancement says that “counting service hours for school or elsewhere in the community and also for advancement is not considered double counting since the hours are counted only once for advancement purposes.”)

Makes that 10-page essay seem a little more palatable, huh?

Now that school is back in session, let’s look at the top 5 merit badge Scouts can earn while completing homework, group projects or other school assignments.

Scholarship

When taking a test, you’re supposed to answer the easy questions first. I’m going to apply that same theory to this list of school-related merit badges.

The Scholarship merit badge, where Scouts must show an improvement in their grades and demonstrate good leadership skills at school, is the most obvious inclusion here.

But here’s another fact about test-taking: Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one.

Reading

Scouts who find and read six books from a variety of genres have completed the most time-consuming step for the Reading merit badge.

To find those books, the Scout must work with a merit badge counselor or a librarian — perhaps a school librarian .

My favorite requirement for the Reading MB is the four service hours needed for requirement 4. Scouts could complete that by volunteering at their school library or reading to children.

Theater

Allow me to paraphrase William Shakespeare: All the world’s a stage, and the Scouts who are part of the cast or crew of a school musical or play should work concurrently on the Theater merit badge.

That’s pretty much what he meant.

While Scouts design sets or costumes, memorize lines, or install stage lighting for a school production, they can check off one requirement after another.

That is, assuming they take the effort to do so. After all, as Shakespeare actually wrote, “it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

Programming

Choose a sample program and then modify the code or add a function or subroutine to it. Then debug and demonstrate the modified program to your counselor.

That merit badge requirement might sound like gibberish to those of us who grew up in the days of dial-up. But today’s teens? They’re nodding their heads in understanding.

That’s why more and more schools offer classes in computer programming, where students learn skills that employers crave.

It’s also why the BSA in 2013 released the Programming merit badge, giving Scouts a STEM-focused introduction to a skill that is both fun and practical.

Athletics

Athletics merit badge challenges Scouts to improve their performance in activities like running, weightlifting or basketball.

They must show improvement over a three-month period, tracking their progress and using math skills to see how much they’ve improved.

This merit badge could easily be completed in a season of school sports or semester of PE class.

Troop 648

Merit Badge Coordinator

The T648 dirty dozen returned to the Valley of the Sun at high two today (missed high noon by juuust a smidge). Amazingly and thankfully after two days and nights of hot hiking, thunderstorms, 7 creek crossings, playing in the pools, their families welcomed the fragrant, muddy, and happy boys back with open arms, and a waiting shower. As usual, this outing had its own special uniqueness, including 5 miles in on a dirt forest road above Sedona, gazing at the twinkling lights of Jerome, followed by a brilliant morning with two hot air balloons landing in our campsite! Delayed a bit by all the excitement, we hiked more in the heat than originally planned, and barely set up camp at Parson Spring before the afternoon thundershowers arrived. Along the way we encountered deer, a tarantula the size of Dylan’s hand (not that he held it for measurement’s purposes, though), and two very distinct rattlesnakes – one a traditional Western diamondback with a full belly, and the other an Arizona Black. Other highlights included crawdad fishing (not enough for dinner, darn!), a lively card game in the big tent during the rain, first experiences with freeze dried food, a frog in a rock, and a general consensus that this will not be the one and only backpack for any of our first-timers. Hike on, trusty packers!

Greetings!

Our senior scouts will spend this weekend at the annual PLC Retreat planning this year’s troop calendar. On Sunday morning (August 19) from 8:30am – 9:30am, we will have our Parents Program and Troop Activity Meeting. All parents and leaders are welcome to attend this meeting where we will get the first view of this year’s calendar. Anyone wishing to join can come down to the Scottsdale Plaza Resort at 7200 N Scottsdale Road. We will be meeting in Room 8008.

While I am on the topic of parent meetings, I will also remind everyone that we will have our next quarterly Committee and Parent Meeting in just a few weeks on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at the CCC Conference Room. (7pm) All parents and members of the committee are invited to attend.

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi

There is some confusion about the process the Scouts use to earn merit badges.

Please read over this document to understand how the process works.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7eow1old_bYQmJKWDdiQlh6NFE/view

I will have this posted in the Meeting room on a Merit Badge Board. If there are any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mark Blair

Merit Badge Coordinator

Here are some of the links to our upcoming Merit Badge Clinics (all of these will fill up fast!):

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqu1 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqua2 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018MBU (Over 20 Merit Badges) – Merit Badge University (Registration opens in August)

https://scoutingevent.com/010-miningbagdad (Mining in Society Merit Badge)- Bagdad Mine Freeport-McMoRan

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqu3 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-insectstudy3 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018citinationmb2(Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge)-Arizona House of Representatives

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21421 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21422 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-octcapenvironsciencemb(Environmental Science Merit Badge)-Central Arizona Project

https://scoutingevent.com/010-ashleyfurnmb (Over 7 Merit Badges)-Ashley Furniture HomeStores Day (Registration opens in August)

 https://scoutingevent.com/010-novevironmentalmb(Environmental Science Merit Badge)-Central Arizona Project

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018DecOceanographyMB (Oceanography Merit Badge)-SEALIFE Arizona

To stay up to date, please join our Grand Canyon Council Facebook Page

Mark Blair

Troop 648 Merit Badge Coordinator

Now that everyone has had a chance to decompress, and warm back up (Ugh!), I want to thank the 16 scouts and accompanying adult leaders who participated in Summer Camp this year at Fiesta Island off of Mission Bay in San Diego.  T648 had never attended this particular camp before, but general consensus is that it will now be on the regular rotation for consideration for future Out of Council years!  This year’s camp was spectacular on many fronts – the scouts completed all daytime merit badge requirements that they were eligible to complete, and still made time for fun in the water, next to the water, fishing in the water, free time on water craft, building moats, writing in the sand, building campfires on the sand, sleeping on the beach, relating as friends within our troop, and with scouts and camp junior trainers from other troops.  Too many highlights to cover them all, but a few are worthy of mention: After a great start, we finished 4 consecutive days with perfect campsite inspections, and finished the week with the equivalent of a Big-G Gold award from Geronimo, our council camp – an Honor Troop Candidate award!  We won the prestigious Aquaticade 4×100 relay race pulling away, and had Mr. Murphy rate a ‘9’ on the pain scale with his scoutmaster belly flop.  We toured the Midway, won multiple events to go to the head of the line for meals, and were often the first sailboat out on the water because of our excellent knot tying abilities. We intelligently took ‘Wilderness Survival’ merit badge at a place where it was 72 degrees overnight on the beach, presented a hilarious campfire skit named ‘Igor’, and caught a stingray with squid bait.  And best of all – nobody spent any time at all in the health lodge!  I think my favorite moment was when T648 led a flawless camp-wide flag ceremony, crowning it off with a perfectly on-pitch rendition of the national anthem as a singalong (SPL Mr. Achor allowing that he wasn’t about to have the troop do a ridiculous ‘repeat after me’ song like all the other troops -  ‘Da Moose, ‘Da Moose, Swimmin’ in the Water! – Are you kidding me!!??).  Here is a shot of young Mr. Achor getting everyone ready for the Star Spangled Banner.  You can be both proud and happy that T648 represented our troop well, and had a ball all week doing it.

Hello Everyone.  I hope everyone is having a great summer so far.  I know the Summer Camp Group is working hard on Advancements and Merit Badges right now, but I wanted to share with you some upcoming opportunities the Council has set up for Merit Badge Clinics:

Here are some of the links to the upcoming Merit Badge Clinics (all of these will fill up fast!):

 https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqu1 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqua2 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018MBU (Over 20 Merit Badges) – Merit Badge University (Registration opens in August)

https://scoutingevent.com/010-miningbagdad (Mining in Society Merit Badge)- Bagdad Mine Freeport-McMoRan

https://scoutingevent.com/010-odyseaaqu3 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-insectstudy3 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018citinationmb2 (Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge)-Arizona House of Representatives

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21421 (Mammal Study Merit Badge)- Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-21422 (Insect Study Merit Badge)-Butterfly Wonderland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-octcapenvironsciencemb (Environmental Science Merit Badge)-Central Arizona Project

https://scoutingevent.com/010-ashleyfurnmb (Over 7 Merit Badges)-Ashley Furniture HomeStores Day (Registration opens in August)

 https://scoutingevent.com/010-novevironmentalmb (Environmental Science Merit Badge)-Central Arizona Project

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2018DecOceanographyMB (Oceanography Merit Badge)-SEALIFE Arizona

To stay up to date, please join the Grand Canyon Council Facebook Page