What is this Blue Card for Anyway?
Step 1: Beginning
The “Blue Card” is the REQUIRED form for recording Merit Badge progress or completion. When getting ready to begin work on any merit badge, the scout should get a blank blue card and fill in certain parts of it before visiting with his scoutmaster.
The scout will then have a conversation with his Scoutmaster where he will get his unit leader’s signature on only the front of the blue card.
NOTE: Scouts, PLEASE make sure that your handwriting is neat and easy to read.
Step 2: Recording Progress
As the scout progresses through the work of the merit badge requirements, he should expect his counselor to record the completion of the individual requirements in the grid area. of the front of the blue card.
Notice the Scoutmaster’s Signature on the front of the blue card at this point. This signature MUST be on here BEFORE the scout meets with
the merit badge counselor for the FIRST time.
Step 3: Recording the Completion
Once the scout has completed all the requirements for the merit badge, and his merit badge counselor has recorded this completion on the middle part of the front side, then the counselor signs in the two spaces provided on the back side.
After the scout has obtained the counselor’s signatures, he will schedule a visit with his Scoutmaster so that the process can be completed as indicated in Section 7 .0.0.2 in the BSA Guide to Advancement
Step 4: Finishing up (Scoutmaster)
Once the merit badge counselor has completed the blue card with their signatures, and the date of completion, the scout must schedule a. visit with his scoutmaster in order to get his second signature. At this meeting, the scout should expect the scoutmaster to discuss the scout’s overall experience while working on the merit badge, as well as with the counselor. As indicated in the Guide to Advancement, this part of the process is as equally important as any other part of it. It is intended that this part of the process, as well as all other parts of it are a positive and growing experience for the scout.
Step 5: Reporting for Advancement
After the scout has completed all of the previous steps, he retains the Applicant’s Record and submits the remaining blue card stub to his unit’s Advancement Coordinator so that he may receive credit for the merit badge in his advancement records.
Step 6: Follow up by Scout
Even though it is the unit committee’s responsibility to enter advancement into the BSA’s advancement reporting system, it is a good idea for the scout to follow up on this by obtaining a copy of his BSA advancement report and making sure that was entered properly. Here’s a good example of why this step is so important. For the merit badge example in this brochure, we used the Citizenship in the World merit badge. But what if the unit’s advancement coordinator had entered Citizenship in the Nation instead?
By keeping up with this information himself, the scout can head off these type problems, or at least get it corrected early so that it doesn’t cause problems later in the scout’s efforts toward Eagle.
Resources:
Resources
Advancement
Merit Badges
Life to Eagle
Awards