Troop 5 Girls Make History

The young women of the brand-new girls' Scouts BSA troop, Troop 5G, in Wilmette, are a part of history. Fifteen scouts have joined the new troop since Scouts BSA opened their doors to young women scouts on 2/1/19; six of them were among the very first in the nation to be awarded First Class rank last night at the spring Court of Honor at First Presbyterian Church in Wilmette.

To accomplish this feat, these six young women worked without a day off for three months to learn the basic and advanced scouting and camping skills, to take part in the outdoor adventures, and to perform the service hours that earning Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks in one fell swoop required.

These six scouts will likely be among the "inaugural class" of young women Eagle Scouts in October 2020, becoming the first female Eagle Scouts in the BSA's 110-year history. Scoutmaster Christine Randolfi (top row, far right)and Assistant Scoutmaster Laurie Myerholtz (top row, far left) labored for the better part of a year to create the training, camping, and service opportunities that allowed for the scouts' rapid yet thorough advancement.

It is important to note that the first female Eagle Scouts will become part of a twenty-year legacy of co-ed scouting in the United States and are following a path first blazed by very brave young women in the late 90's. In 1998 the BSA unveiled the Venturing BSA program for both girls and boys 14 and older. Modeled on the Rover Scouts programs in Europe and Australia, Venturing was consolidated with the existing Sea Scouts BSA (founded in 1911, Sea Scouts was again separated into its own co-ed program for youth 14-21 in 2013) and older Boy Scouts and new recruits were encouraged to fully take charge of programming and activities with adults in periphery roles as advisors only.

Upon the creation of Venturing, Troop 5 Wilmette quickly established Venturing Crew 5 (note the distinctive forest-green uniform shirt of two scouts in the photograph) for its advanced Boy Scouts and actively sought out adventuresome young women to join.

Bryan Abbott, a Crew 5 leader in its infancy who remains active with the group, notes "there have been an awful lot of young ladies upon whose shoulders this inaugural class stands." He explains that "in the Crew's early years it took some courage to be a female Crew member. There weren't many, at first. And given the BSA's less than inclusive nature at the time, they were restricted to the Crew. They soldiered on despite the fact that they were not allowed to be full members in the BSA."

If you have a daughter interested in joining these scouts on their groundbreaking journey, Troop 5 can be contacted at http://www.troop5.com