Lake Erie Council is proud to offer activities and advancement for scouts at home alongside our team of volunteer Merit Badge Counselors.

Do you have a badge that you would like to share virtually? Please get in touch!

Virtual Merit Badge FAQ

How do I attend the virtual merit badge?

Follow these steps:

1. Register for the Merit Badge session(s) of your choice. Here's how to easily register for multipe sessions. Registration closes at 11:59pm the night before the event.
2. Check for any pre-reqs that you can work on in the Class Catalog (you may also receive communication from the Merit Badge Counselor).
3. You will receive a Zoom Virtual Meeting link to attend the video session at the scheduled time. Communication will be sent after registration closes to make sure everyone has the joining information. Please add lakeeriecouncil@247scouting.com to your address book to ensure you receive event updates.
4. Attend the Zoom Virtual Meeting and complete any at-home requirements as assigned by the Merit Badge Counselor. You may be invited to a Google Classroom class in order to access materials and submit assignments.
5. Upon completion of requirements, they will be marked as complete within your registration on this portal. In the reports section, you will be able to download a blue card and Scoutbook report showing your progress.

How are blue cards being signed off?

The Merit Badge Counselor is verifying completion of the requirements. The LEC Program Team is recording the completion. Once the “Stay at Home” order is lifted. Blue Cards will be mailed from the Lake Erie Council Service Center directly to the participants. The cards will be specially marked for the COVID-19 crises.
Update: When requirement tracking through this registration portal is fully ready and up-to-date, attendees will be contacted with instructions on how to download a personalized blue card with completed requirements indicated.

If we are doing electronic blue cards on Scoutbook, who are the counselors that should be invited to the merit badges that have been offered online?

We are not using Scoutbook for electronic blue cards for two reasons:
1. Not every Troop in the Lake Erie Council is using Scoutbook and that makes it very difficult to track and deliver blue cards.
2. We have Scouts from out of the Lake Erie Council participating and that makes the electronic delivery impossible because the MBC’s are not in their system.
Update: We are preparing requirement tracking through this registration portal. When it is fully ready and up-to-date, attendees will be contacted with instructions on how to download a personal report that can be uploaded to Scoutbook.

How do we ensure each Scout gets credit? We have a few scouts who are sharing computers so we want to make sure they all get credit for attending.

Each Scout needs to register separately, even if they are sharing the same computer. They need to use the same email address for all the registrations. For some homework or pre-req items, they may also need to register for a Google Classroom class for which they will be invited.

Do the blue cards need to be approved by a troop leader before the scout takes the online badge?

The Scouts should notify their Troop leader that they are taking the merit badge. No signature is required because of the stay-at-home order and that the Scout is not submitting a blue card to the MBC. The MBCs have been approved by the LEC Advancement Team.

For additional questions, please email Jim Vanderpool.

Registration for each MB Session closes at 11:59pm the night before the event. An invitation email will be sent the morning of the event to ensure that everyone has the joining information.