DUPONT, Wash. — For the first time ever, a group of girls will officially receive the top honor of the Boy Scouts: an inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts will be honored Monday night.
Amy Miseli says becoming an Eagle Scout has always been a dream.
“We’re going to be some of the first females to ever be Eagle Scouts. That’s really exciting,” said Miseli.
It’s only been two years since girls joined the ranks of the Boy Scouts and in that time, Miseli racked up the merit badges, a process that some boys have taken a decade or more to accomplish.
Miseli is among the first group of young women to earn the Eagle Scout rank.
“It just feels like I’m just one of the Eagle Scouts. Earning the rank for me it’s kind of -- I have to look at it objectively and look at it like, ‘Oh wow,’ I’m really going to be one of the first (female) Eagle Scouts. That’s crazy to me,” said Miseli.
The Boy Scouts of America first allowed girls in Feb. 2019. Promotional material now features girls and boys doing what scouts do.
Scroll down to continue reading
More news from KIRO 7
- Super Bowl 2021: Trifecta bomber flyover a first
- Antibody treatments going unused in Washington state
- Building hope with one tiny house at a time
- Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com
But earning the Eagle takes work. Miseli finished one of her final tasks last summer. It was a public service project transforming an old supply room into a playroom for the Tillicum Youth and Family Center. She raised hundreds of dollars to do it and COVID-19 made it so she had to finish the project in three days.
“Mine was an indoor project, so I had to keep COVID in mind. I needed to know who was going to be where at what time so as not to have too many people in a room,” she said.
CEO of the Pacific Harbors Council BSA, Karen Meier, will be awarding Miseli and nine others the Eagle Scout pin.
“I never though in my career of 16 years with BSA would I be standing here excited about an event on Monday when we’re honoring girls. I’m the first female scout exec,” said Meier.
In 103 years, the PHC has never been headed by a woman. Now, that woman will make history with the first girls to become Eagle Scouts.
“I’m honored. especially in this time of gender equality of inclusiveness,” said Meier.
Miseli and thousands of other girls across America will be the first to take flight as Eagle Scouts, but she knows she won’t be the last.
“Anyone can do this, and I believe that it is a rewarding process. I know that Scouts has personally changed my life,” said Miseli.
Cox Media Group
