Now in its18th year, Chattanooga State Community College sponsored the annual Merit Badge College for 116 Boy Scouts and Boy Scout leaders from the Cherokee Area Council. This day-long event provided an opportunity for scouts to earn one of 16 badges focused on STEM-related activities in science, technology, engineering & mathematics.   

Scouts had a choice of earning one badge in the areas of Chemistry, Energy, Medicine, Nuclear Science, Automotive Maintenance, Truck Transportation and Traffic Safety, Weather, Welding, Composite Materials, Drafting, Electricity & Electronics, Robotics, Architecture, Digital Technologies, Engineering, or Space Exploration.

Chattanooga State faculty representing STEM fields serve as Merit Badge instructors for the day. They included Tim Chastain, Sandra Lambertino, Tracie Clifford, Nancy Draper, Terry Newman, Jerry Roberts, Lesley Goggins, Dexter Truss, David Stanislawski, Mike Mercer, Rex Weeks, Ralph Gwaltney, Jon Morrison, Chris Schmichael, Zach Castroverde, Greg Henderson, George Hendricks, and Duane Pendegraph.

Introducing scouts to STEM-related activities provides the boys with learning opportunities during their formative years to help them decide whether a career involving STEM would be a good fit for them. In addition, the program allows both the boys and their leaders to visit and explore all that Chattanooga State has to offer.