James T. Hatfield Virtual Merit Badge Challenge

What you need to know:

  • This program is for Scouts, BSA registered in the Dan Beard Council.
  • Completion records for the 2021 Virtual Merit Badge Challenge will be sent to the participants’ emails on May 16th, 2021.
  • Takes place over three Saturdays: March 27, April 10 and April 17, 2021. Scouts will register once and follow that schedule all three Saturdays. This activity is for Scouts, BSA registered with the Dan Beard Council.
  • Scouts will be invited to a Google Classroom for each merit badge they are registered for. They will receive this invitation between March 22-24, 2021. Classes will be conducted virtually via the video conferencing platform of the counselor’s choice (Google Meets, Zoom, WEBex, etc.) The link to the conference call for the classes will be posted on the Stream tab of the Google Classroom.
  • All communications and work submitted for requirements for every badge must be done through the Google Classroom.
  • There will be no blue cards exchanged or ScoutBook connections made. Our registration system now allows for tracking merit badge requirements. Counselors will record the completed requirements through the registration system. Completion records will be emailed after the deadline.
  • Per the Guide to Advancement 2019 7.0.0.1, the way to begin a merit badge starts with a Scout’s interest in the subject followed by a discussion with the unit leader or designated assistant. There is a line on the Blue Card and within the ScoutBook connection that indicates that this discussion has taken place. Since we are not collecting blue cards or making ScoutBook connections, there will be a place in the registration to indicate that the discussion did take place. Before registering for this event, please make sure that the Scout/Unit Leader discussion takes place.

Course Schedule

virtual merit badge challenge scout

The link below is the schedule of merit badges that are confirmed as of 2/24/2021. All merit badges are 1 period long. Please only choose a merit badge once.

Virtual Merit Badge Courses

Below are a list of what Merit Badge Courses are offered.

american business merit badge

AMERICAN BUSINESS

american heritage merit badge

AMERICAN HERITAGE

animation merit badge

ANIMATION

ART

CITIZENSHIP IN
THE COMMUNITY

CITIZENSHIP IN
THE NATION

citizenship in the world

CITIZENSHIP IN THE WORLD

COIN COLLECTING

COLLECTIONS

COMMUNICATIONS

crime prevention

CRIME PREVENTION

DRAFTING MERIT BADGE

DRAFTING

disability awareness merit badge

DISABILITY AWARENESS

Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge eprep

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

ENERGY

ENGINEERING

family life merit badge

FAMILY LIFE

genealogy merit badge

GENEALOGY

geology

GEOLOGY

INVENTING

INVENTING

INDIAN LORE

LAW MERIT BADGE

LAW

MINING IN SOCIETY

MODEL DESIGN & BUILDING MERIT BADGE

MODEL DESIGN & BUILDING

movie making merit badge

MOVIE MAKING

MUSIC MERIT BADGE

MUSIC

PERSONAL MANAGEMENT

photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Programming Merit Badge

PROGRAMMING

public health

PUBLIC HEALTH

Public Speaking merit badge

PUBLIC SPEAKING

safety merit badge

SAFETY

SALESMANSHIP

Scholarship Merit Bade

SCHOLARSHIP

Soil and water

SOIL & WATER

Stamp Collecting

STAMP COLLECTING

weather merit badge

WEATHER

REFUND POLICY

DO NOT REGISTER INDIVIDUAL SCOUTS AS A UNIT CONTINGENT!!

Individual scouts who register as a unit contingent will not be able to get back in and choose classes when registration opens AND it prevents the actual units from using this feature. You will end up having to re-register after registration opens and you will be charged additional registration fees.

The Unit (Contingent) selection is ONLY for Unit LEADERS who want to add their Scouts’ names before registration actually opens. It DOES NOT give anyone access to an early merit badge selection.

If you have any questions about this, please email Michelle Byrne at michelle.byrne@scouting.org.

CONTACT

For questions or additional information, please contact one of the people below.

Tom Montgomery | montgota@fuse.net

Joe Kihm | kihmfamily@aol.com

Darrell Bitler | dntbitler@yahoo.com

Bill Shefcikbillshefcik@gmail.com

Michelle Byrnemichelle.byrne@scouting.org.