Advancement Process:
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Tenderfoot,
Second Class and First Class may be worked on simultaneously, but must be
earned in sequence. There are no time requirements for these ranks.
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50% of
campouts should be attended to advance to First Class. A campout is defined as
three meals and one night of camping with the troop.
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The ranks of
Star, Life and Eagle all have requirements for time, merit badges, service
hours which have been approved by the Scoutmaster prior to completion, and
leadership positions. The Scout must show leadership beyond his assigned
position within the troop. He should attend more than 50% of troop campouts. He
must start to give back to the troop by sharing his knowledge and skills with
other Scouts.
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Each
requirement must be signed by the Scoutmaster.
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After all
requirements are completed and signed, the Scout must contact the
Scoutmaster to set up a time for a Scoutmaster Conference. Scoutmaster
Conferences are not done during the troop meeting.
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Once the
Scoutmaster Conference is complete and all requirements are met for rank
advancement, the Scout must contact the Advancement Chairperson so that
the troop records can be updated and a Board of Review scheduled.
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Boards of
Review are required for the ranks of Tenderfoot through Life. An Eagle Board of
Review is conducted by the District Advancement Chair along with the District
Advancement Committee.
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When a Board
of review date has been set, the Scout will be notified by the
Advancement Chair.
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Upon
successful completion of the Board of review, the Scout will advance to the
next rank.
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The
Advancement Chair must be notified by the Scout of any potential rank
advancements no later than 3 weeks prior to a Court of Honor or the advancement
will be awarded at the next Court of Honor. The Scout will advance but will not
receive recognition until the
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Scouts will
come to the Board of Review in a complete Class A uniform, consisting of a
scout hat, scout shirt with proper emblems/ insignias sewn in the proper place,
scout pants, scout belt, socks, shoes, neckerchief and slide. They will also
bring their Scout Handbook, organized merit badges and any Scout awards earned.
It is recommended that a binder be used to organize and save all Scout awards,
rank information and materials. A Board
of Review may be rescheduled due to improper attire or if proper merit badges
cards, etc. are not brought to the Board.
Merit Badges:
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Merit badges
may be earned in any order.
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No merit
badges are required for Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class or First Class ranks.
Merit badges can be earned while working on these rank advancements. It is
strongly recommended that the swimming merit badge be taken as one of the first
merit badges.
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Star rank
requires 6 merit badges, including 4 of the required Eagle badges. One of these
should be a Citizenship merit badge.
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Life rank
requires an additional 5 merit badges. 3 of these must be required Eagle
badges. A second Citizenship merit badge should be earned at this point. The
Scout will now have a total of 11 merit badges.
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The Eagle rank
requires a total of 21 merit badges. Of these, 12 must be from the required
Eagle badges. The other 9 merit badges are of the Scout's choice.
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The Boy Scout
Handbook or the Boy Scout Requirement Book has a listing of all merit badges
and further information.
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Before any
Scout begins work on any merit badge, he must first obtain a blue card from the
Scoutmaster. The card must be signed and dated by the Scoutmaster.
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After
obtaining a blue card, the Scout must then contact a registered merit badge
counselor. The Advancement Chairperson keeps a complete listing of all
registered counselors in the District.
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Once the merit
badge is completed and the counselor has signed off on the blue card, the Scout
must return the completed blue card to the Advancement Chairperson. The
counselor will keep their portion of the blue card.
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Merit badges
are awarded at the Troop 52 Courts of Honor.
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All completed
blue cards must be turned into the Advancement Chairperson 2 weeks prior to the
Court of Honor. If not, the merit badge will be awarded at the next schedule
Court.
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All blue cards
and white merit badge cards must be saved. They are brought to all Boards of
Review. Plastic baseball card sheets for 3-ring binders work well to organize
these cards. The blue and white cards are proof to Council that the badge was
earned and received in case of a mix up in records.
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If you have
any questions concerning advancement or merit badges, please contact the
Scoutmaster or the Advancement Chairperson.