Boy Scouts Use Econ Lowdown Videos for Merit Badge

Economic education resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will help educate Boy Scouts about personal finance.

The new digital pamphlet for the Boy Scouts of America’s Personal Management merit badge features videos from Econ Lowdown, the education materials produced by the St. Louis Fed. The badge is one of the requirements for becoming an Eagle Scout.

Materials for the badge teach about budgeting, saving and spending, and also time management and career choices. Nearly 50,000 Scouts earn this badge each year.                                       

“We looked at the Personal Management merit badge booklet and noted that our materials can help Boy Scouts meet many of those requirements,” said Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed. 

The digital pamphlet features several Econ Lowdown videos, including Get into Stocks, Understanding Capital Markets and Understanding How a FICO Credit Score is Determined.

Janice Downey, strategic innovation senior manager with the Boy Scouts of America, said the Federal Reserve videos help the merit badge come alive for the Scouts. “They make the complex, simple — and educational and entertaining and capture the attention of the youth,” she said. “When I reviewed the videos, even I learned some things.”

In addition, lessons from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Common Cents: ‘Tis the Season for Smart Shopping) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Katrina’s Classroom: Teaching Money Skills for Life) are featured in the Scout publication.

Econ Lowdown offers free pre-K to college classroom lessons about economics, personal finance, money and banking, as well as about the Federal Reserve itself. Similar free resources are available for parents and the public at large.

For more information about Econ Lowdown, visit https://www.stlouisfed.org/education.

For more information about the Personal Management merit badge, visit http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges.