- December 4, 2025
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Keith Rollins is an instructor at Suncoast Technical College, but he learned many of the skills he uses in teaching from his time in Boy Scouts Troop 101 when he was young.
On Oct. 7, he had a chance to give something back to Scouts, with which he has also held leadership roles, including scoutmaster of Troop 23.
The college welcomed four troops to earn merit badges for automotive technician skills during two sessions, held Sept. 23 and Oct. 7.
Scouts became hands on with the vehicles inside the college's facility, learning skills like replacing tires and performing an oil change, in the classes which involved Scouting America boys troops 50 and 23 girls troops 1920 and 2023.
Scouts and Suncoast Technical College also expect to include future classes after the holiday season, covering other fields like HVAC, plumbing, electricity, and a repeat automotive class.
Bill Morris of Troop 50 says he had the idea to connect Scout troops with Suncoast Technical College after “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe wrote about the need for more electricians and blue collar workers.
Rowe said in an online post that there was a need to create enthusiasm for those jobs, noting that while artificial intelligence is impacting coding jobs, it is not impacting welders or plumbers.
Rollins says it isn’t common for Scouts to have the chance to learn these types of skills.
He says whatever career paths kids take, it's important for them to learn how to fix their own vehicles in the future and to be able to help others do so.
“If they go the college route, learn an engineering skill or something like that, they can still fall back on the fact that they can change their own tire, or they can help someone else when it's needed," he said. "They can certainly pass that on. They can teach others. I always think, there's another tool in the toolbox.”
“If you're getting your driver's license, you should take automotive maintenance,” Morris said.
As the Observer attended the class on Oct. 7, Scouts were guided in skills like removing and replacing the lug nuts in order to change a tire.
Quinn Leonards, 16, of Troop 23, has been part of Scouts since first grade, and says the experience with Suncoast Technical College offered a chance to learn something new.
He said he had not done anything this extensive in the automotive realm before.
Leonards says he is not “super locked down” on a particular career, but wants to pursue one that is hands-on, which he would describe as “ something that's fulfilling to me… where I'm actually out and doing something, and I have something to show for my work.”
He said as a hands-on learner, he remembers tasks much more easily by doing rather than by hearing them discussed in a classroom.
“A more hands-on learning experience is a lot more helpful, and that's a great strength of Scouting, you can go out and actually do these things, instead of sitting in a room similar to school and just writing and memorizing,” he said.
He said after completing the workshop that evening, he could understand some of the lingo and technical terms he hears from his brother, who is interested in cars.
“I'm just a big fan of learning in general…” he said. “I’m a big fan of the outdoors and the combination of learning stuff that I will actually use, and stuff that I'm interested in. Scouting combines both of those into a really great experience.”
Zoe Batton, 13, of Troop 2023, said in the future, she may enter the health field, but that she is “open to anything,” stating the workshop was “really cool."
When asked about being the only female Scout in attendance that day, she also said it was "great to have multiple people included" so that it will not be only one group of people who knows those skills.
“I kind of took note how I could use this in my personal life later on, so the stuff that I think I would use more often has stuck out to me, like oil changes,” she said.
Morris said the goal of the classes extends beyond just the merit badges Scouts earn.
“We want to show them these different paths, because nobody's showing it to them," he said. “There are a lot of kids that go to college that shouldn't go to college. They don't know any different because nobody showed them anything else.”
Correction: This article was updated to reflect that troops 1920 and 2023 are from Scouting America.
