Merit Badge College returns to Missouri Western

By Harry Loomis

On Saturday, over 200 scouts from 50 troops attended the 2024 Merit Badge College at Missouri Western.

Scouts came from as far south as Kansas City and as far north as Iowa for a day of learning and interacting with different troops.

“These kids are great,” said Erik McGuire, director of the Pony Express Council. “They range in age from 11-17. There’s boys and there’s female scouts here as well. They all don’t get to see each other very often. Some of them might know each other from going to camp, but on a regular basis they don’t see each other. It’s a great social experience for them.”

The students are offered a wide variety of courses throughout the day, which are intended to give scouts introductions to topics they haven’t experienced.

“What we’re trying to do is give scouts a little bit of an introduction to a subject,” McGuire said. “Not enough to be an expert at the subject, but enough to know if they might want to pursue that as a career later in life, or maybe not pursue that.

“It’s a great chance for them to see what a college campus is like,” he continued. “Maybe at some point they might choose to go to Missouri, Western or somewhere else.”