practical ways to stack badges
This is the third part of a series. Begin here.
Are you excited about the possibilities of earning more than one merit badge at once? Good! Excited, but you don’t know how to begin? Here are some practical ways to incorporate more than one merit badge into a project. Remember to meet with and discuss your plans with your merit badge counselor FIRST. He (or she) must approve them, and it is at his/her discretion.
Stacking badges doesn’t have to mean double-dipping, using the same action to fulfill two requirements. It can also mean incorporating like-badges into a single project.
Example Project #1: Michael decides to work on his garden over the summer. It’s his major summer project and he has a lot of time to devote to it. Gardening is a natural choice for a merit badge, but there must be others. He knows that he will have to plan his garden first. After reading through the different badges at MeritBadge.com, he sees that planning and maintaining a garden is the bulk of the Plant Science badge. As he does requirement 5 (pests), he’s very interested in the insects that surround (and sometimes bite!) him. So he incorporates the Insect Study badge, observing them as he goes about his garden. After reading and researching, he decides that his big project for requirement #6 will be to build a worm bin. Because he’s diligent about what he feeds them, his worms produce great compost – more than his garden requires. A neighbor suggests selling it. Great idea! Now Michael needs to draw up a business plan (Entrepreneurship) and sales plan (Salesmanship), and produce some flyers to advertise it (Graphic Arts).
One long summer later, Michael has money in his pocket, food on his table, invaluable experience, and the following completed badges: Gardening, Plant Science, Insect Study, Entrepreneurship, Salesmanship, and Graphic Arts.
Example #2: Elijah’s troop sets up a day to visit the Mudd Bay archaeological dig (contact information on the Archaeology page). Before they go, he works on the other requirements for the badge. One of the options for requirement 10 is finding out about an Indian tribe in the area. Since the dig is at a Squaxin Island Indian site, it’s a natural fit to visit their museum and learn all about them. He brings along his Indian Lore worksheet, and delves a little deeper to fulfill many of those requirements.
Example #3: Conrad is studying about soil in school. His teacher agrees to fill out the paperwork and become a merit badge counselor for Soil & Water. This is a very involved badge, and he knows that he’s going to have to put in work beyond what is required for class. He discusses his plan with her, and negotiates extra credit for the class. For requirement 7a6, he takes a tour of the local waste water plant. Not only is it a very cool tour, but it fulfills requirement 5 of the Public Health badge. Since he’s taking Health the same semester, he’s already done most of the requirements for that badge. He talks to a Public Health merit badge counselor who agrees to accept the visit and discusses the other work he has done toward that badge. After discussing, they find that he only needs a visit to the county public health office to finish the badge. Depending upon Conrad’s choices, the work he’s doing for Soil & Water could also count for Forestry and Environmental Science.
It’s all about preparation. Spend some time on MeritBadge.com getting to know the requirements of each badge. When you’re ready to work on one, check others that you think may go along with it. Contact your merit badge counselors first, to get approval and make certain your plan is acceptable.