Well, scouting is much more than a group of children learning how to hike, camp, and earn achievement badges.

It is also about becoming good citizens.

Members of the Las Vegas Scouts Troop 149 recently let their voices be heard at a Vegas PBS and The Nevada Independent event focused on civic engagement and community conversations.

It's called the Nevada Democracy Project.

(Naoka Foreman) So let's get started with the conversation tonight.

(Jo Beth Dittrich) This was a double-duty kind of assignment that we did, because we require that scouts view public discourse in order to understand and comment on and see what good communication looks like.

The other merit badge, citizenship in the community, requires that they attend a public event that has to do with citizenship in the community.

So what could be a better fit than the Nevada Democracy Project?

(Eric Padilla) Well, the experience was like it was fun.

It was also really educational, people telling us their backstories, what they like or they don't like about our community or about the school district, you know, that stuff like that.

-Scouts is a citizenship volunteer organization.

It's also about being active in the community, active citizens, what the duties of a citizen are and why that's important.

- On my honor I will do my best to do my duty-- (Riley Hilliard) If you're gonna be a citizen, you have to know like, all about democracy and Republicans and all about like, the government, taxes, and stuff.

(Leila Martin) I think it's good to be a nice citizen in the community, because one thing I'm really picky about with people is trust and how they care for their environment because I want to take care of my home, and I want to take care of the planet so it doesn't eventually just end up a mess.

-They're 11, 12, 13 years old, and yet what they say matters.

They do have a voice, and we want to make sure that they continue with that because they can only become more powerful as they grow older and more eloquent.

Regarding our Democracy Project event that we attended-- As a badge of honor, yes, we would love to be invited back.

-The next Nevada Democracy Project listening session is scheduled for May.

You can check out past events and learn about upcoming sessions on vegaspbs.org.