More than 70 Boy Scouts and adult leaders from six troops in the Jacksonville area took part recently in a merit badge clinic.
Classes were offered in 15 different merit badges, including citizenship in the nation, communications, chess and fingerprinting. Illinois College students from Alpha Phi Omega, a service-related fraternity, helped with the merit badge classes and scout skill competitions.
A popular merit badge was chess, taught by Allen Darr and Bob Cockrell. Darr and Cockrell told the scouts that in higher circles of chess competitions, players don’t wait to get checkmated, which would be embarrassing. Instead, if the player can see the outlook is cloudy, he or she turns the king upside down and says, “I resign.”
Another popular class was citizenship in the nation, since it is a merit badge required to become an Eagle Scout.
Instructor Tom Palliser explained the advantages and benefits of living in this nation and discussed the rights everyone enjoys because of the Constitution. Tim Sanders, teaching citizenship in the world, said we now have more than 7 billion people living on earth and discussed how nations work together.
Another popular merit badge was genealogy, taught by Marian Brim. She taught scouts how to connect with their ancestors and how interesting it can be. The computers merit badge is now called digital technology merit badge and was also a popular choice. It all starts with cybersafety and parental permissions and was taught by Noel Beard. The name of the badge was recently changed to digital technology to include the increased popularity of cellphones and other digital devices.
Another popular badge was fingerprinting, taught by Kevin Mudd and Alpha Phi Omega college students. No two individuals in the world have identical fingerprints, Mudd explained. Identical twins have the same DNA but different fingerprints. No one can steal the ridges on a person’s fingertips like they can a credit card, which is why someone can use a thumbprint to gain access to a cellphone or a building.
Boys took each other’s fingerprints and identified the patterns of their prints. Having a thumb print read by a scanner is called biometrics and is gaining in use for various types of security. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department supplied a fingerprinting kit.
At noon, after lunch, scouts lined up to compete in a knot-tying relay race and excitement ran high. Scouts had 15 seconds to tie a named knot and judges at each station scored the knot for accuracy.
Other merit badges being taught by merit badge counselors were citizenship in the community, disability awareness, music, family life, personal management, photography and camping. The event was well-received by scouts and adult scout leaders.