Taught Communication merit badge again

I taught the Communication Merit Badge at the Flint River Council Merit Badge Day again today.  I taught this one last year, so it was pretty easy to do again.  I had 26 boys in my class, which was too many, so we were rushed at the end to get all the speeches done and get blue cards signed.

As with any group there were a few that talked in class, ignored me and lied to me, and were difficult to deal with, but overall it was a good bunch of boys.  It was fun to see them go from doing their best to look bored and tired to becoming engaged and participating in the conversations we had.  And they all did good on their speeches even though some did their best to do the least amount possible. 

I was happy I got to see Steve and Holly from my Wood Badge Fox Patrol, and I got to see my friends Terry Robertson and Laura Byerly from so long ago in my scouting career. It was fun to see Robert Swanson's youngest son almost grown and nearly as tall as me,  and Susan Scarborough (a girl Sue and I have known since she was a teenager) got up and spoke to the over 500 people in the cafeteria.  Another neat thing that happened was one of the boys in my class was the son of a couple that I work with at Atlanta Center.  He was very much like his mother, which was fun to see! 

I enjoy being a part of the scouting family and hope I get another chance to give back to the scouting community this way next year!