Earning Boy Scout Merit Badges
 Most Scouts start working on their first merit badges during summer camp. Before that, they're busy learning basic Scout skills and earning their first Scouting ranks. However, a Scout can start working on a merit badge whenever he wants to, also.
When he starts working on merit badges, he will probably want to - even need to - own or borrow the booklet that goes with the badge. You can buy any merit badge booklet at the Scout Shop. If the Troop 116 library has the booklet he needs, he can borrow it.
A boy can decide which merit badges he is interested in by reading the requirements on the website www.meritbadge.com, or in Boy Scout Requirements Book, available at the Scout Shop.
The Boy Scout Requirements Book is published each year, and is available starting in January. Sometimes, badge requirements change. A boy must complete the requirements listed in the current year's version, so it's a good idea to finish merit badges before the end of December. 
Some merit badges are required to earn ranks after First Class, and some are just fun or interesting.
Here's what a scout needs to do to earn a merit badge:
1. Decide which badge he  wants to work on. Some merit badges are required to earn ranks after First Class, and some will be just fun or interesting.
2. Ask his Scoutmaster for a signed 'blue card'. This blue card will be the boy's permanent record. He should be careful not to lose it. It's a good idea to keep their badge work in a 3-ring binder, and use sports card pages to store their blue cards.
3. His Scoutmaster will give him the name of the merit badge counselor for the badge.
4. Get to know the requirements well. A merit badge booklet, with all the information he needs to know for that badge, can be bought at the Scout Shop, or checked out from the Troop library if they're in it.
5. The boy, not the parent, calls or emails the counselor to set up a time to see the counselor to talk about his plans for working on the merit badge. He may not visit the counselor by himself. He must take a parent or friend with him.
6. He does the requirements, exactly as written. If the requirement says to show, he needs to show his counselor. If it says tell, he needs to tell his counselor. He needs to do the requirements as they're written, but no one should ask him to do more than what's written before signing his blue card.
7. The boy has his counselor sign off the requirements on his blue card as they're completed.
8. When he has finished all the requirements, his merit badge counselor signs the blue card, and keeps the counselor section of the merit badge blue card.
9. The boy has the Scoutmaster sign the blue card to certify that all requirements are met.
10. The Scout is awarded the badge at a Troop meeting in the next two or three weeks, or at the next Court of Honor.
11. The scout section of the merit badge blue card will be returned to the boy. He should keep these safe! This is his proof that he finished the badge, and he will need it when he applies for the rank of Eagle. A good place to keep the blue card sections is in a 3-ring binder reserved for advancement, in a sports card page.
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