Boy Scouts learn about Scholarship, American Heritage and Culture

Written by Troop 343 (Hauppauge) Boy Scout Griffin Capece

Members of Boy Scout Troop 343 attended a merit badge session at the Commack branch of the Smithtown Library on January 21st. The session was led by Mr. Joe Costello, an 11th grade social studies teacher at Eximius College Preparatory Academy in the Bronx. Mr. Costello volunteered his time and the nine scouts in attendance were appreciative of his knowledge and experience.

In order to earn a merit badge, a scout must fulfill all of the requirements of the badge. There are so many different merit badges and each one provides a Scout an opportunity to learn a lot of new things about a topic. The boys worked on earning three merit badges: Scholarship, American Heritage, and American Culture.

After Mr. Costello introduced himself, everyone got down to work. For the Scholarship badge, Mr. Costello taught the Scouts how to best use the library and all the different types of sources it contains, explained how to select the proper research material for a project and reviewed the pros and cons for using books, periodicals and the internet. For the American Heritage badge, Mr. Costello shared his vast knowledge of American History to teach the Scouts about the importance of the Declaration of Independence, and how the ideas expressed in it were unique for that time period. There were no other nations that recognized the idea that each person should be treated equally and had rights that could not be taken away.

Finally, as part of the session for the American Culture badge, Mr. Costello led a discussion about the different nations from which people have emigrated to live in America. The Scouts talked about the different ethnic groups, religions, cultures and traditions that make up American culture. Most interesting was the knowledge he shared about three different religions and the social customs of each, specifically: Christian religion and talked about the many different denominations, Judaism, Hinduism, and the religious practices of Ancient Egypt. Not only is Mr. Costello an excellent teacher, but he is also an excellent Boy Scout badge instructor for Troop 343. Due to his willingness to share his knowledge, the nine Scouts were able to earn these important badges.