Tollway Gives Hands-On Experience for Scouts Seeking Automotive Badge
The Illinois Tollway hosted its first-ever Scouting of America merit badge event, providing education and hands-on practice toward an Automotive Maintenance badge for 50 local Scouts.
The event is part of the Tollway Trailblazer program designed to spark innovation and curiosity in students of all ages by providing opportunities to explore real-world challenges and career paths.
The Scouts rotated through the Tollway’s maintenance bays at the Hoffman Estates facility. They stopped at seven different stations to learn about – and in many cases, try their hands at – tasks such as replacing a flat tire, changing oil and using jumper cables on a dead battery.
Using Tollway vehicles and other visual aids, Team Tollway offered demonstrations and education on areas such as:
- General maintenance, to locate fuse boxes, check conditions of belts and hoses and locate and check air filter
- Engines, to describe difference between standard, diesel and hybrid engines and
- Brake system, to learn how to check brakes and the difference between drum and disc brakes.
The Tollway was uniquely qualified to host this event because of the numerous vehicle bays, which the Tollway employs for regular maintenance and repair of the Tollway’s H.E.L.P. trucks, snowplows and service vehicles.
In fact, it can be difficult for Scouts to earn the automotive badge because so few locations have enough space for the vehicles.
“Our team is very proud to showcase what they do every day and help these Scouts fulfill requirements for their badges,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse. “It is so fulfilling to open our doors to the community and open the eyes of the youth about critical life skills – maintaining a vehicle – and the chance to turn these skills into a career.
“At the Tollway, we continually work to inspire the next generation of transportation leaders and build a pipeline for a skilled workforce.”
Tollway Trailblazers uses student site visits, STEAM and Scout events and internships to help students think creatively, connect their interests to future opportunities and build critical problem-solving skills.
For the Scouts and the parents, the event was also a way to peer inside the buildings they pass by on the expressway.
“I was really curious to come into the facility,” said Rebecca Jensen of Barrington, who has two sons, aged 11 and 15. “Knowing how to make and build, and problem-solve, is really important to our country. And I think this facility is all about these things.”
The Pathway to Adventure Council, which worked with the Tollway, is comprised of scouting groups across northern Illinois.
In addition to the Scouting of America series, the Tollway offers a STEAM Scout series, aimed at inspiring the next generation of female leaders in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. These in-person events invite Girl Scouts to engage directly with female professionals across the agency.
Read more about Tollway Trailblazers here.