Episode
Scouting's New AI Merit Badge with Sagamore Council's Bryon Haverstick
- Published
- Jun 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3116
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Summary
EPISODE DESCRIPTION Scouting America rolled out an AI merit badge in fall 2025, and Bryon Haverstick is about to put it in front of around 30 kids at the University of Scouting at Purdue on December 5. Bryon runs scouting across 14 counties in north central Indiana for the Sagamore Council, and the event has grown into the largest University of Scouting in the country, close to 3,000 people from 26 states last year. Jason teaches one of the AI sessions, Michael Witt teaches another, and a Purdue professor runs a third. The two get into what the badge covers: key terminology, where AI shows up in everyday life and work, deepfakes and how to spot them, ethics, and a project where scouts design and teach a lesson of their own. They talk about why scouting's two-deep leadership rule maps cleanly onto keeping kids safe with AI, why Bryon thinks the social media mistake was going hands-off, and how he built a council marketing plan in 30 minutes that would have cost 45 to 60 thousand dollars to hire out. Jason calls his shot too: give kids a beginner's mind and they will show the adults things these machines can do that nobody expected. ABOUT THE GUEST Bryon Haverstick, CNP, is the assistant scout executive and chief operating officer of the Sagamore Council of Scouting America, covering 14 counties across north central Indiana from the Greater Lafayette area. A St. Louis native and Lindenwood University graduate, he has led council operations since 2017 and built the council's University of Scouting at Purdue into the largest single-day youth event on campus and the largest event of its kind in the country. GUEST LINKS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryon-haverstick-cnp-1465188/ Sagamore Council: https://www.sagamorecouncil.org/ University of Scouting at Purdue, Dece…