For this episode of Community Conversations we spoke with Michael Ford, a Lead Domain Operations Analyst from the MITRE Corporation.
MITRE Corporation is sponsoring the ‘Quantico Scout Engineering Day’ for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on April 29 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Q: You have an event coming up with the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts, who are also invited to this, but tell me what the event is about.
A: The event is about Merit Badge Day. It’s called Scout Engineering Day. So it’s not gender specific – it’s for boys and girls, and we’re trying to offer science, technology, engineering, and math-related merit offerings to the youth – our replacements. As I like to claim fame to is if we train them right, then they’ll do a better job in the future.
Q: You recently had an event up in Northern Virginia. And this time you’re doing it down in Stafford. So kids from Prince William County are going to be able to have a little more access to it. So where’s the event going to be?
A: The event’s going to be at the Quantico Corporate Center – 925 Corporate Drive. Just south of the [Quantico] base on Route 1. The event prior to this [April 1] 2017 was the sixth year that that event had taken place. And for the first time we’re doing it away from the main campus to see and validate a capability of doing it on a smaller scale. So we’re looking for the first 100 Scouts that register will get an opportunity in this pilotship program.
Q: And what kind of merit badge training is going to be going on there?
A: We have five locked-in merit badges at this particular juncture. The number one most requested one right now is automotive maintenance, followed by electricity, radio, animal science, and American business. American business being the hardest merit badge for the Boy Scouts to actually earn.
Q: Who is able to come to it?
A: The audience that we’re seeking are boy and girl Scouts that are registered Scouts that have a desire to learn and understand about science, technology, engineering, and math-related programs. Having run this with the Girl Scouts before, they don’t quite have a merit badge program like the Boy Scouts, but working with the Girl Scouts National Council – the local council – they are following suit with the way the Boy Scouts run their program and following the youth protection criteria, and everything else, and deemed it a safe environment for them to attend as well.
For more information on the event, click here.
Here is footage of the event:
