Any questions regarding the merit badge day, please contact  Eileen Williams at 618-246-3012 or Nick Bagby at 618-980-0993 or by email at taleka812002@yahoo.com

PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO CHANGES FOR THE UPCOMING 2025 MERIT BADGE DAYS

NESA Merit Badge Day will be held on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, at Camp Warren Levis, Godfrey, Illinois

Registration Opens at 8:00 a.m.  Flags ceremony at 8:45 a.m.

The merit badge classes will begin at 9:00 A.M. and end around 4:00 PM.

Some Merit Badge Classes are a full day 9:00 am  others a half day- Lunch 12:00 - 1:00 pm - End of Day 4:00 pm  

All scouts need to complete all prerequisites and should have the merit badge workbook filled in for the counselor to review during class.

The Southern Illinois National Eagle Scout Associations 2025 focus will be providing the Eagle required Merit Badges at all our merit badge days.  To ensure your scouts ability to complete merit badges, we are asking our counselors to serve a year teaching their class.  The continuity of the counselors from merit badge day to the next allows scouts who did not complete their badge at their first attempt the same counselor will be available at the next merit badge day to sign off on scouts’ requirements not completed from the previous merit badge day. We feel that continuity of counselors at these events will help the scouts to complete their badge at the next merit badge day.

Half Day Classes - Law and Scouting Heritage

Full Day Classes - Archery, Backpacking/Hiking, Cycling, Disability Awareness, Fishing/Fly Fishing, Life Saving, Swimming, Canoeing, Row Boating, Kayaking, Orienteering, Pioneering, Rifle, and Shotgun.

Some information that your scout needs to know:

LUNCH OPTIONS

Lunch is included with your scouts registration.

Blue cards ARE NOT needed and Will NOT be accepted for this event. They may be printed from your original online registration at least two weeks after the NESA Merit Badge Day event. PLEASE allow the volunteer staff that time to enter all the information before you contact them for the blue cards.

What to Bring
Scouts should be in a class A uniform, bring their merit badge pamphlet, workbook with pre-requisites completed, notebook, pen/pencil, and any other supplies required for each merit badge session. Special items or apparel will be listed as required in the catalog for each merit badge. Each scout should bring all information of completed prerequisites that will be emailed to them once your registration for the day is complete.

Bring a camp chair for your scout to use during their merit badge class.

Why Does NESA Charge a Fee?
The Southern Illinois National Eagle Scout Association of the Greater St. Louis Area Council NESA Committee provides funds for High School gradulation scholarships and your Eagle Scouts presentation box used at their Eagle Court of Honor, as well as other activities benefiting Scouting. All proceeds from activities such as the Advancement Day go right back into the program providing for merit badge programs and scholarships.

Merit Badge Sessions
Scouts may choose from Merit Badges that are in the course catalog. Attendance of the Merit Badge class DOES NOT guarantee completion of the Merit Badge even if all the pre-requisites have been completed prior to the event!! Sometimes counselors wish to talk about pre-requisites prior to assigning them for completion.

NESA Advancement Day is an opportunity for the Scout to meet with a counselor to review the Merit Badge material and demonstrate their skill and knowledge in that area to the counselor.

Sessions include instruction, group discussion, demonstration, and evaluation. The Scout should be prepared to actively participate and discuss the material covered in the Merit Badge Pamphlet. This is best accomplished by reading the merit badge pamphlet and completing the prerequisite work as listed in the Class Catalog for the merit badge you are seeking. Merit Badge Workbooks may be downloaded for free at: http://usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/list.asp  If needed, you may purchase and download the current Merit Badge book using the following link: https://www.scoutshop.org/literature/program-literature/merit-badge-pamphlets.html

If a Scout has completed some of the merit badge requirements, they should bring proof with them.

NEW ADULT CLASS - Safety Afloat and Safe Swim Defense  $15.00 (lunch and possible materials)
BSA groups shall use Safe Swim Defense for all swimming activities. Adult leaders supervising a swimming activity must have completed Safe Swim Defense training within the previous two years. Safe Swim Defense standards apply at backyard, hotel, apartment, and public pools; at established waterfront swim areas such as beaches at state parks and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes; and at all temporary swimming areas such as a lake, river, or ocean. Safe Swim Defense does not apply to boating or water activities such as waterskiing or swamped boat drills that are covered by Safety Afloat guidelines. Safe Swim Defense applies to other nonswimming activities whenever participants enter water over knee deep or when submersion is likely, for example, when fording a stream, seining for bait, or constructing a bridge as a pioneering project.
Safety Afloat training is designed for all authorized boating activities.* Adult leaders supervising those activities have completed their Safety Afloat training within the previous two years.

Yours in Humble Service,

Nick Bagby, Chair, Advancement Days

Eileen Williams, Administrator, Advancement Days