Citizenship in Society Merit Badge Workshop

Scouts are invited to attend a Citizenship in Society merit badge workshop!

To support scouts and troops across Chief Seattle Council with this important badge, the council will hold workshops open to all troops several times a year.  The workshops feature guest speakers from the community, invited for their expertise in areas of ethical leadership and pro-DEI work.  The first workshop was held in June 2022, and featured guest speaker Ken Workman, member of the Duwamish Tribal Council and great-great-great grandson of Chief Seattle.  Details on upcoming workshops are below.

Please complete the Pre-Work Forms and watch the Pre-Meeting videos below prior to attending.

Date: Saturday, June 8, 2024 – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, check-in begins at 8:15 am
Deadline to Register: June 5, 2024 or when full
Location: Epiphany Church, Seattle, WA
Cost: $20 per Scout
Please complete the Pre-Work Forms and watch the Pre-Meeting presentations below prior to attending.
Opening ceremony and Blair Taylor’s keynote
Panel discussion with 3 professionals working in the field of DEI, for requirement 7.

What else do Scouts need to complete in advance?

The program is designed to enable Scouts to complete all the requirements of the badge in one day if they complete the pre-work and commit to staying the whole day. Some requirements will be met during the service project. Scouts who do so will receive a signed blue card and two hours of service work. Details for pre-work are on the other side.

Requirement 1:
Before beginning work on other requirements for this merit badge, research the following terms and think about how they relate to the Scout Oath and Scout Law:

• Identities
• Inclusion
• Diversity
• Discrimination
• Equity
• Ethical Leadership
• Equality
• Upstander

Requirement 2:
Document and discuss with your counselor what leadership means to you and what you think it means to make ethical decisions
• Research an individual you feel has demonstrated positive leadership while having to make an ethical decision (someone in history, a family member, teacher, coach, counselor, clergy member, Scoutmaster, a judge)
• Ask/learn about the decision and/or options that leaders had, why they chose their final course of action, and the outcome of that action.

Requirement 7 :
Identify and interview an individual in your community, school, and/or scouting who has had a significant positive impact on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. If you can’t identify such an individual, research a historical figure.
• Discover what inspired the individual, learn about the challenges they faced and share what you feel attributed to their success.

Requirement 8:
With the help of your parent or guardian, study an event that had a positive outcome on how society viewed a group of people and made them feel more welcome.

Click here for research resources can be found on the following link

Notes:
• Resources to help the Scouts do research for requirements 7 and 8 can be found on the Chief Seattle Council Citizenship in Society Merit Badge resource website. These resources are not exhaustive and are intended only to give some “thought starters”.
• During the workshop, we will also have “learning stations” set up with materials about key leaders and moments in the civil rights movements for Women, Block Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities.

What makes this badge unique?

Unlike other merit badges where Scouts rely on the merit badge pamphlet as their primary source of information, the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge is designed to promote self-learning on behalf of the Scout. Scouts are empowered to explore the resources that best enable them to learn about DEI and ethical leadership.

Additional Workshop details:

What do I bring?
• Sack lunch, snack, and drink
• A small notebook and pen or pencil
• A backpack
• Work gloves for the service project

What do I wear?
• Class B uniform (i.e., Class A scout uniform shirt or Troop T-shirt.) Scouts who wear their Class A shirt should bring a T-shirt for the service project.
• Long pants
• Sneakers and socks (no sandals or flip flops)

Workshop Date, Time, & Agenda:

Saturday, June 8, 2024

  • 8:00 am  – Arrival for Merit Badge Counselors
  • 8:15 am  – Arrival & Registration for Scouts. Scouts gather in their small groups (8 scouts + merit badge counselor for the day).
  • 8:30 am – Arrival for speakers
  • 9:00-9:30 am – Opening Ceremony and Keynote
  • 9:30-10:45 – Small Group breakout session 1: Intros, Identify & Inclusion
  • 10:45-11:45 – Panel Discussion followed by Q&A and small group discussions on stereotypes, bias and representation.
  • 11:45-3:30 pm – Small group breakout discussion and service project
  • 3:30-4:00 pm – Regroup/debrief and closing ceremony

Requirements
• 4:10: Pick up and departure