2012 February - Have You Earned the Personal Management MB?

Scout Parents,

This Invitation/Opportunity is directed toward you. Have you earned the Eagle-required Personal Management Merit Badge? Some of you might be able to answer yes from your younger days as a Scout. Well for all of you, consider this your personal invitation from me to join your Scout over the next three Thursdays working on the Personal Management Merit Badge during our regularly scheduled Troop meetings. I will be leading this merit badge.

Is he serious? Why should I do this? Great questions - thanks for thinking of them. Yes, he is serious. Why do this? Let me answer.

1. Not that I know more than you do on personal management, but there is a chance you will learn something about budgets, interest, investments and time management.

2. Your Scout will see you taking an active interest (no pun intended) and participation in their Scouting experience. That never hurts.

3. You will know what requirements your Scout is reponsible for to complete this merit badge. And you will be able to offer the appropriate encouragement over the next several months. Yes I said months. This merit badge takes some "stick to it -iveness". Many Scouts, particularly younger ones, start this merit badge and then later in their Scouting career, start it again (and maybe even a third time). Half of the requirements must be completed outside of what we can cover in the meetings. We will discuss each requirement but the Scout will have to do the work outside of the Troop. If you understand what is happening, you can point them in the correct direction. You can't do the work for them but sometimes they may need a small reminder. If you have no idea what this merit badge requires, you will not be in a position to offer that direction. So, while answers 1 and 2 above might be true, it is really answer 3 that motivates me to offer you, the parents, the "opportunity" as we like to say to the Scouts, to participate over the next three meetings on the Personal Management merit badge.

I can't make any more sincere of an invitation.

By the way, your Scout will need the Personal Management Worksheet. It can be found at several locations:

www.usscouts.org/mb/mbindex.asp

www.meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Merit_Badge_Worksheets

or posted below with an additional Excel spreadsheet that will be useful to the Scouts during this merit badge.

Both of the links I have provided take you to the full list of merit badges. That is by design. Your Scout should be familiar with these sites. They can find the appropriate worksheet from these pages and download/print the worksheet.

It is not mandatory to have the worksheet for the meeting on February 2 but it wouldn't be a bad idea to have it ready. Also, not necessary, but it can be helpful to purchase the Personal Management Merit Badge Pamphlet from the Scout Store.

I hope to see you at these next three meetings.

Yours in Scouting,

Larry Levy