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Scout aims to earn merit badges in 50 states
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Courtesy photo Kansas Wetlands Education Center Program Specialist Mandy Kern, left, and Scout BSA member Michaela Witgen of Saginaw, Mich., toured Cheyenne Bottoms on Saturday, July 18.
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Courtesy photo Witgen joined members from Wichita Troop 450 to complete the requirements for the Bird Study Merit Badge at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center.

A Michigan girl with a goal to earn a BSA Merit Badge in every state stopped at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center last Saturday to complete her Bird Study badge.

Merit badge counselor and KWEC Program Specialist Mandy Kern said Michaela Witgen of Saginaw Mich., and her family toured Cheyenne Bottoms. Then she joined another scout troop as Kern presented a merit badge program.

Michaela Witgen, of Saginaw, Mich., joined Scouts BSA in early 2019 when females were included into the membership of what was formally known as Boy Scouts, hoping to follow the footsteps of her two older brothers, who have both earned Eagle Scout status. As a star scout in Troop 366, she has set the lofty goal of earning a merit badge in all 50 states. By the end of this month she will be over half-way, earning her 26th out-of-state badge after completing a six-state journey. This will bring her total number of badges earned to 45.

After visiting Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, she arrived in Kansas this past week to complete the Bird Study program at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center.

“With the large diversity of birds in the Cheyenne Bottoms wetland ecosystem, identifying the 20 birds required for the badge was an easy task,” Kern said. “Witgen and her family will also stop in Missouri and Iowa to earn badges before returning home to Michigan. To date, Michaela’s favorite badge to earn was Railroading, received in Louisiana, which has also been her favorite state to visit.

“After a driving tour of Cheyenne Bottoms, Michaela joined members of Troop 450 of Wichita to complete the other Bird Study badge requirements. Learning that the human arm has the same homologous structure as a bird wing was the most interesting fact she learned, and the Blue Wing Teal was her favorite bird of the day.” 

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center, located 10 miles northeast of Great Bend on K-156, is free to the public and offers many free programs. KWEC can help scouts earn several different merit badges related to natural resources. For more information about KWEC visit http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/. To follow Michaela’s progress, visit https://scoutsbsatraveler.com/.