On Saturday, February 22nd, there was an event held at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in partnership with the local Scouting America Council in New Hampshire. The event included various classes, taught by Saint Anselm College student political ambassadors, and let the Scouts earn merit badges. Earning these badges is required for Scouts, so they can become an Eagle Scout. In order to reach the rank of Eagle Scout, which is the highest achievable rank, Scouts must earn twenty-one merit badges. Fourteen of the merit badges must be from the list of required badges for Eagle Scouts, and the last seven can be chosen from more than 135 merit badges. In addition to taking the classes to earn merit badges, the Scouts were also given the opportunity to take a tour of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. The event allowed the Scouts to connect with the student political ambassadors as well as learn more about the Saint Anselm College community. 

The event in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, familiarly known by Saint Anselm College students as NHIOP, ran six classes from 8am to 4pm and offered seven different merit badges for the Scouts to earn. Three of these merit badges were on the required list for Eagle Scouts. The classes held were Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communication, Public Speaking & American Heritage, Law, and Journalism. The classes that offered the required merit badges for Eagle Scout status were Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, and Communication. The head of the Ambassador Program, Garret Donais, said that the event “has been in the works since the start of the academic year.” This event was very beneficial to the Saint Anselm College community, as well as to the Scouts, because they were able to learn valuable skills and form relationships with the student ambassadors who taught the classes. Matt Harland, a former Scout and student ambassador, thought that the event was great for the Saint Anselm College community because it allowed the ambassadors to use “our Anselmian hospitality to help the scouts on their path to Eagle,” and it “benefits the scouts by introducing them to various merit badge topics and real-world skills.” Matt taught the Communications class with Jordan Tavares, and commented that “the scouts were cooperative and eager to learn about how to more effectively communicate with one another!” His favorite part of the event was “downtime with the scouts! At the day’s conclusion, Jordan and I asked the scouts what childhood shows they remembered watching, and then ranked them in the iceberg format of most well known to least well known. It was a great way of bridging the age gap between Jordan and myself and the scouts!” 

Another student ambassador James Thibault, who taught Citizenship in the Nation with EJ Crisci and Kellan Barbee, said “I believe the program went very well! The scouts were very engaged with the material and I believe they left with a solid grounding in constitutional principles and civic engagement.” James commented on the importance of these kinds of community events, saying “Events like this are very important because they help to engage us as students and Ambassadors in the very same fundamental concepts that brought us to the political realm in the first place. The scouts seemed to be more engaged with the material because it was being taught by us as people closer to their age who have a background in the field.” 

The Scouting event not only let Scouts connect with ambassadors and the Saint Anselm College community, it also let the ambassadors connect with the Manchester community. The point of events similar to this one is for different communities to come together, connect, and grow. James expressed this sentiment in his comment about what his favorite part of the event was. He said, “I really enjoyed working with the scouts one-on-one to identify what issues were important to them as they wrote letters to their members of Congress. Hearing the concerns of the students in our primary and secondary schools firsthand was quite enlightening and reading how they were able to articulate those concerns gave me hope for their futures as engaged and informed citizens.” Saint Anselm College will continue to host events that allow its students to connect and grow alongside the Manchester community.