Scouting's New AI Merit Badge with Sagamore Council's Bryon Haverstick

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, December 4-6, 2026: https://scoutingevent.com/162-100441

TIME STAMPS

00:00 - The Sagamore Council and University of Scouting at Purdue

02:32 - Scouting's new AI merit badge and its first year

05:02 - The eight requirements, from key terms to deepfakes to careers

06:22 - Sycophancy, anthropomorphism, and what kids need under the hood

07:51 - Catching scams with Perplexity and a $350 fake invoice

11:04 - Why quality instructors matter more than credentials

17:24 - Soft skills, collaboration, and a post-event virtual meetup

22:19 - Social media's misstep and going hands-on with AI

27:03 - Two-deep leadership applied to digital and AI safety

31:30 - Consumers versus creators and the China comparison

40:42 - A council marketing plan built in 30 minutes with ChatGPT

42:35 - Podcasting on the cheap and a beginner's mind for kids

CONNECT WITH JASON PADGETT

Director of Growth and Partnerships at CitizenAI

📧 jason@mycitizen.ai

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/

X: https://x.com/NoCodeCAIO

Newsletter (No Code CAIO): https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7399599285849346048

Available for interviews and keynotes on AI in education -> jason@mycitizen.ai

AGI PODCAST NETWORK

School's Out Saturdays: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/

Field Notes newsletter: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/field-notes

Indiana AI education events: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/events

All AGI Podcast shows: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/network

TOOLS JASON RECOMMENDS

MindStudio -> https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdq

Riverside.fm -> https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBr

Wispr Flow -> https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgett

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Artificial Intelligence merit badge, Scouting America: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/artificial-intelligence/

University of Scouting at Purdue, December 4-6, 2026: https://scoutingevent.com/162-100441

Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/

NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google.com/

ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/