I recently discovered that schools are a great resource for Free Merit Badges. I was asked to write an introduction paper for one of my sons as part of his back to school assignments. As part of the letter, I stated my son loves scouting and has a desire to earn all 132 Merit Badges. Later that day, his teacher emailed me and said she was a Merit Badge counselor for 8 badges and she is happy to help us with any of these. This sparked a discussion with all my son's teachers and we found out that just with the teachers at his school he can get 22 Merit Badges and most of them are things he is already doing as part of his homework. Here is a list of some of the ones available to us: Reading and or Language Arts (Reading), Gym (Athletics, Personal Fitness and Sports), History (Any of the Citizenship Merit Badges), Health (First Aid and Public Health), CTE (Cooking, Computers, and Programming), Science (Chemistry and Plant Science), and Band (Music).
Let your boys get credit for things they are already doing. Talk to the teachers at your school. Find out if they are Merit Badge Counselors. This is a great way to open the lines of communication and get to know the teachers at your school.
