The “Brooklyn Badge”

The Brooklyn Badge was originally created for the 5th Brooklyn Otter Raft in 2014, as a way of teaching the youngest scouts about our home borough.  It is now part of the program for all four sections in all Brooklyn groups, each with age-appropriate requirements.

Because those requirements are different for each section, a Scout must earn this badge again after swimming/leaping up.  The Brooklyn Badge does not carry over to their new section as the Inclusive Scouting and Occasional Badges do.

The Brooklyn Badge is worn on the Scout’s right sleeve, below the Group Flash and directly above the Paws/Proficiency Badges.  Rovers wear it below their BTC badges.

Otters

Purpose:
To introduce Otters to our home borough, and inspire in them a love of its natural wonders and shared history.

Requirements:

1. Visit the Brooklyn Historical Society. 

2. Visit a Brooklyn "landmark" and draw or take a picture of it. 

3. Learn three facts about the Lenape (Woodlands) Natives. 

4. Take part in a Brooklyn service project 

5. Name three animals native to Brooklyn. 

6. What does the name "Brooklyn" mean and where does it come from? 

7. Come to a meeting dressed as a famous Brooklynite and be prepared to tell your Raft a little bit about them. 

8. Learn how to read a subway map.

Timberwolves

Purpose:

To build on the love of Brooklyn introduced in the Otter program, encouraging our Scouts to learn more about their home borough.

Requirements:

1.  Participate in a Brooklyn-based conservation or environmental activity with your pack or Six, such as at the Prospect Park Audubon Center, Salt Marsh Environmental Center, or Governors Island Composting and Recycling Center.

2. Participate in 2 Brooklyn service or civic pack activities, such as the Brooklyn Pride Parade, the Brooklyn Saint Patrick's Day Parade, or a Floyd Bennett Field beach clean-up. 

3.  Participate in a Brooklyn-based pack scoutcraft activity, such as bird watching, tree identification or hiking.

4. Plot a subway journey involving at least one train change. 

5. Research a notable Brooklynite past or present, and give a 10-minute presentation to your Six about them.  Be sure to note what makes them famous (or infamous) and focus on their connection with, or contribution to, our borough.

6. Share a personal story about your connection to Brooklyn with your pack or Six.

Pathfinders

Purpose:
To open our Pathfinders up to their home borough, encouraging them to engage with our community.

Requirements:

1. Help write the story of Brooklyn.  Choose a medium (written, verbal, visual art), picking one of the below for your narrative:

   1. Tell your own Brooklyn story.  How did your family come to Brooklyn?  How is your family history part of the story of Brooklyn?

   2. Tell the story of your neighborhood.  Who are the people who have shaped your neighborhood?  What makes your neighborhood special?

2. Find and identify five different local plant species, plot them on a map, and know if they are indigenous to Brooklyn or were introduced (and if so, when)

3. Plan and run a service project to benefit other Brooklynites.  Help organize a food drive for a Brooklyn food bank, plan a cleanup in a Brooklyn park, or help out at an animal shelter.

4. Design a subway-based scavenger hunt for a younger section, or some other activity that encourages engagement with a civic institution.

5. Visit a Brooklyn historical marker or site that has been landmarked by either the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission or the National Park Service.  Why was this place recognized?

6. Explore Brooklyn (all in one day or in several installments) and record your travels totalling at least five miles walking or hiking, or twenty miles cycling.  Where did you go?  What route did you take?  What did you see?

7. How have you used the Scout Law to engage with your community to make it a better place?

Rovers

Purpose:
To develop community spirit in our Rover Scouts and encourage their continued engagement with our home borough.

Requirements:

1. Take part in five Brooklyn service projects, one of which must serve the community and one of which must involve a local park or natural area.

2. Organize and run a service project for your Crew.  This may also count towards one of your five service projects.

3. Take part in one outreach event promoting the OSG in our community.

4. Lead a youth section in a half-hour hike within the borough limits, being able to identify different natural features.

5. Adopt a local tree on the New York City Street Tree Map and care for it for a period of no less than six months, recording at least one Tree Care Activity a month.

6. Vote in New York City’s Participatory Budgeting.

Rover Scouts, unlike youth Scouts, must re-earn their Brooklyn Badge every year by:

• Adopting a local tree on the New York City Street Tree Map and caring for it periodically throughout the year, recording all Tree Care Activities on the website; and 

• Taking part in two Brooklyn service projects, one of which must serve the community and one of which must involve a local park or natural area.

and doing one of the following:

• Take part in one outreach event promoting the OSG in our community

• Lead a youth section meeting, including planning all activities and running the meeting itself.