NEPA Council of Boy Scouts of America 24th annual Merit Badge College held at Johnson College in Scranton
Jan. 28—SCRANTON — With scouting running a few generations deep in his family, Adam Sales, 14, of Edwardsville and Boy Scout Troop 154 in Kingston aims to become an Eagle Scout.
That will require attaining rank advancements and earning nearly two dozen merit badges, but Adam does not want to stop there. He wants to earn all 135 merit badges that exist.
"I do want to become an Eagle and I want to get every merit badge — every single merit badge," he said.
Adam was among 150 Scouts who enrolled in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council of the Boy Scouts of America 24th annual Merit Badge College at Johnson College in
Scranton. The merit badge college is a special advancement program available to all Northeast Pennsylvania Scouts who hold a rank of first class or above. Classes in 26 offerings are each two to six hours long.
The merit badge college helps Scouts progress individually, meet peers and adults in scouting and experience a collegiate atmosphere.
At the merit badge college, scouts enrolled in one to four courses from the following: American business, automotive maintenance, chemistry, citizenship in the community, citizenship in the nation, citizenship in the world, college scholarships seminar, digital technology, disabilities awareness, electricity, electronics, emergency preparedness, engineering, fingerprinting, home repairs, metalwork, mining in society, model design and building, personal management, plumbing, programming, public speaking, scholarship, sports, welding and woodwork.
New this year, the college scholarships seminar gave advice on applying for scholarships and enrolling in colleges and trade schools.
Volunteers from Johnson College's faculty and staff and Boy Scout leaders presented the courses.
Johnson College hosted the merit badge college last year, too. Previously, it was held at King's College for two decades, said NEPA Council Adviser Dave Srebro.
While most Scouts who attended Saturday came from throughout NEPA, a few came from out of state, including New Jersey and Vermont, Srebro said.
Adam, who attended Saturday for merit badge courses in digital technology and metalwork, said he has learned a lot through scouting.
"It teaches us important skills that we could use in our everyday life. It also teaches us varieties of things that would be really useful in certain jobs," Adam said.
C.J. Muir of Troop 66 in Dunmore also said scouting has exposed him to many new skills.
"There are just so many things that I owe to scouting that I would not have known otherwise," C.J. said. "I know how to get up in front of people and talk because of scouting. I never would have even considered myself to like the outdoors before I joined scouting and now I absolutely love camping."
C.J. attended courses Saturday for the citizenship in the nation merit badge, which is required to become an Eagle Scout, and the college scholarships seminar. He cited the Boy Scout motto of "be prepared" as a reason for attending the seminar.
"I'm just trying to learn as much as I can ahead of time, before it actually comes time for me to apply for scholarships or college, in general," C.J. said. "I want to go in as prepared as I can. Be prepared."
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