Young girls all across America are currently making history as more and more join the first class of all-female Eagle Scouts the nation has ever seen.
Since its inception in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America remained exclusively open to males only, until February 2019 when the organization began welcoming girls aged 11 to 17.
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For nearly a year prior, girls had been able to join Cub Scouts, but this marked the first moment that females would be able to participate in the Boy Scouts program, now called Scouts BSA.
Per the Boy Scouts curriculum, members follow this path with the intent of one day becoming an Eagle Scout, the organization’s highest rank.
In order to achieve their Eagle Scout ranking, members must advance through a seven-part ranking system which, according to the official requirements , includes earning a total of 21 merit badges, develop a service project, and successfully complete a board of review.
The window to join the Inaugural Class of Female Eagle Scouts is from October 1, 2020, until February 8, 2021.
Since the first date girls could be considered, headlines proudly announcing young women earning this coveted Eagles rank have been popping up all across the country.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, two college students submitted their accomplishments last month and have both since earned their rank as Eagle Scouts.
“It’s amazing to be an inspiration for other girls,” Bella Krassow told CBS San Francisco . “I think the message I’m sending is that girls can do anything just like boys.”
“A lot of family members hold it,” Emerson Domke added. “A moral guideline is being an Eagle Scout, so understanding that and living that way means a whole lot.”
At just 14 years old, High School freshman Macey Hartman from Tallahassee is en route to earning her Eagles rank as well.
The teen has earned 36 merit badges, completed nearly 430 hours of community service, and has spent almost 60 nights camping in the year and a half since she began her journey towards becoming an Eagle Scout.
“I didn’t expect to come this far,” Macey told the Tallahasse Democrat . “It just means so much to me that I am one of the first female Eagle Scouts in the nation.”
17-year-old Brianna Powe of Washington State is also eagerly waiting to hear if her Eagle Scout application is accepted by the board of review before February 8.
Powe joined Scouts BSA on February 1, 2019 — the first day girls were allowed to participate.
“I’m definitely proud of myself and all the other girls, too,” she told The Daily Chronicle . “I know how much drive and energy and focus it takes to get Eagle Scout in this amount of time.”
h/t: CBS San Francisco , Tallahassee Democrat , The Daily Chronicle
