Social Distancing and Merit Badge Counseling – T23 Procedures for Counselors
(1) Scouts will be contacting Merit Badge Counselors (MBCs) as they have in the past; but all MB work should be done with Social Distancing in mind. The Troop Committee has had success with Zoom Meetings; and MBCs may want to consider using that format. Also, Troop 23 has set up Google Classrooms for work on Ranks and Merit Badges. Click or more information on Troop 23’s Google Classrooms.
(2) MBCs will want to be sure there’s always 2:1 in all communication. Scouts have been instructed to make calls on speaker phone and use video conferencing tools within earshot of parents; and when if contacting Counselors by email, they have been told to include TWO adults on all emailed communications. The second adult can be a parent or another leader. We ask that you remind Scouts about the second person at the beginning of telephone calls or video-conferences. Also, if the Scout has forgotten the second adult in an email message, MBCs should include a second adult in their reply.
(3) Our plan is to provide each MBC with 10-20 Blue Cards pre-signed by our Scoutmaster, Richard Busse. In the interim, MBCs should use the Troop 23 Merit Badge Counseling Blue Card Data to use track Scout’s progress.
Once MBCs receive the Blue Cards, the MBC will complete the Counselor’s Record Table (middle section on the “Information for Applicant” side) and the “This applicant has personally appeared before me” section (left panel on reverse side above black bar) as usual as they work with Scouts.Upon completion, we’d ask that you send a scan or an image of both sides of the completed card to our Advancement Chair and retain the original cards for collection at a future date.