</s>All New Scouts – Young Women and Young Men – Who Join Scouts BSA Will Have the Opportunity to Earn the Prestigious Eagle Scout Rank

IRVING, TX – February 1, 2019 – From twilight hikes, to festive launch parties and campouts, thousands of Scouts, parents, and volunteers will celebrate nationwide as the Boy Scouts of America welcomes for the first time both young women and young men ages 11-17 into its most iconic program for character and leadership development.

“I have never felt more joy or exhilaration than I do right now in founding our troop,” shared Kim Foli, a soon-to-be Scoutmaster from Gainesville, Florida. “My daughter and I knew we had to do this last year when it was announced. Scouting was the best thing I could have done with my son, and now I walk the trail with my daughter. Scout me in!”

For more than five decades, the Boy Scouts of America has been welcoming young women into its Venturing, Exploring, Sea Scouts and STEM Scouts programs. And today, the BSA is further expanding that legacy by welcoming young women into Scouts BSA.

“I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation,” said Michael B. Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive. “Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before – young women and men – will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership.”

By welcoming boys and girls into these iconic Scouting programs, the Boy Scouts of America is responding to the requests of families who, for years, have sought these opportunities for every member of their family.

“As a parent with both sons and daughters, I have seen firsthand the unique experiences available to our sons in the BSA and have been asking the BSA to create an option for our daughters every year for the last decade,” noted Alex J Sobtzak Sr. of Spring Hill, Florida. “I am so excited that my daughters will have the same opportunities as my sons.”

For many young women, the opportunity to join Scouts BSA comes after years of attending Scouting events with their families. “I have been an honorary Scout since I was two when I’d hang out with my older brother. I was never able to earn the badges, but I was always there,” said Rachel P from Sandpoint, Idaho. “Now I get to do all of that on my own.”</s>PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Girls can now officially join what once was the Boy Scouts. As of Friday, girls between the ages of 11 and 17 will be permitted to become part of what is now called Scouts BSA.

The Boy Scouts of America also says it will recognize its first class of female Eagle Scouts in 2020.

“I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation,” said Michael B. Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive. “Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before – young women and men – will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership.”

More than 77,000 girls have already joined Cub Scouts — a program for younger children — since it began welcoming girls last year.</s>It’s official: Girls can now join the Boy Scouts.

You read that right. As of Friday, the organization’s older youth program, “Boy Scouts,” will be called “Scouts BSA” — a change meant to welcome both boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 17.

It also means young women can realize their dreams of becoming Eagle Scouts, the organization’s coveted highest rank, which can offer lifelong academic and professional benefits. The first class of female Eagle Scouts will be recognized in 2020, according to Boy Scouts of America.

The program for younger kids, Cub Scouts, has been welcoming girls since last year, and more than 77,000 girls have joined. Its name will stay the same, as will the name of the 108-year-old parent organization, Boy Scouts of America.

“I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation,” Chief Scout Executive Michael B. Surbaugh said in a statement Friday.

“Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before — young women and men — will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership.”

Boy Scouts of America (BSA) first announced it was going to include girls in 2017.

It was welcome news for many girls, like 10-year-old Kaylee Russell, who told CNN affiliate WJXT she’s been tagging along and participating in her older brother’s Boy Scouts events for a long time.

“My brother was always a Boy Scout and in Cub Scouts,” she said. “And they would always include me and I would do things like archery, swimming, shooting rifles. So much. And that encouraged me that I wanted to become a scout myself.”

Kaylee’s mom, Stacey Russell, is also glad her daughter is going to be able to participate, WJXT reported.

“She liked camping, she liked the hiking, the outdoors stuff. And this gives her a chance to actually earn the merit badges for the stuff that she’s already been doing with him anyway,” she said. Russell also likes the “leadership skills” that her son has developed, and is happy her daughter will have the same opportunity.

Not everyone welcomes the change

Welcoming girls into the Boy Scouts has not come without controversy.

There was mixed reaction on social media at the time of the initial announcement, with some suggesting the change was “PC,” or “politically correct.”

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) issued a statement that didn’t name BSA, but said that the “benefit of the single-gender environment has been well-documented by educators, scholars, other girl- and youth-serving organizations, and Girl Scouts and their families.”

BuzzFeed News previously obtained a letter reportedly from GSUSA President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, who accused BSA of welcoming girls to help their diminished enrollment numbers.

And late last year, GSUSA actually sued BSA over the change from “Boy Scouts” to “Scouts BSA” in a trademark infringement lawsuit.

In an updated statement on Friday, GSUSA said BSA’s decision “does not change the position of Girl Scouts of the USA or our mission to serve girls, and girls only, and to foster their amazing leadership potential. We remain steadfast in our knowledge that Girl Scouts is the world’s single best leadership development program for girls.”

The organization later added that a judge last week ruled that the lawsuit is moving forward with all of the claims GSUSA made, after the BSA filed a motion to dismiss two of the claims.

“Beyond our view that the decision was entirely correct, Girl Scouts has no further comment on pending litigation,” GSUSA said in a statement.</s>A group of girls in Guam made history today as one of the first official all-girl troops to join Scouts BSA, the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America. Starting February 1, all girls in the U.S. can officially join the Scouts.

In May 2018, the national scouting organization announced it was changing the program's name and would welcome girls as well as boys ages 11-17 starting this year. Its Cub Scouts program, for kids ages 7-10, went co-ed last year.

"We wanted to land on something that evokes the past but also conveys the inclusive nature of the program going forward," Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said of the new name. "We're trying to find the right way to say we're here for both young men and young women."

Girls who join Scouts BSA will "learn from the same program, earn the same merit badges and achieve the same advancements that boys have earned for nearly 109 years in the Boy Scout program," according to the BSA website. Perhaps most importantly, girls will now be eligible to achieve the Scouts' highest honor — becoming an Eagle Scout.

Eleven-year-old Madison Bruce and 10-year-old Sophie Harlan are two of the five girls in Troop 1 in Guam. Madison spent the last year as a Cub Scout, and hopes to work her way up to Eagle Scout. "I'm really looking forward to being a part of boys scouts and achieving the highest goal," she told KUAM's Carmen Victiria Terlaje. "I look at all the people back in history and I'm like, 'Wow I can't believe I'm a part of their group now.'"

Sophie said it's her love of sports that brought her to the program. "I just want to become stronger because that can help me in other sports that I wanted to do, like I'm doing surf right now," she said.

Sophie's mom, Megan Harlan, is the Scout Leader for Troop 1. Committee chair Shelby Goetzman said, "We're really trying to focus on the family and having families come together and doing this as one, instead of having separate organizations."

The parent organization of Scouts BSA will remain known as the Boy Scouts of America.

But while some girls are excited to join the boys, the change complicates the already-strained relationship between the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America. "Girl Scouts is the premier leadership development organization for girls," said Sylvia Acevedo, the Girl Scouts' CEO. "We are, and will remain, the first choice for girls and parents who want to provide their girls opportunities to build new skills ... and grow into happy, successful, civically engaged adults."</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

Northeast Allegheny County and parts of northwest Westmoreland County (including New Kensington, Brackenridge, and Tarentum areas) (Japeechen District): 14 Cub Scout packs, 17 Boy Scout Troops, 942 scouts;

This territory is divided into districts. Here are the stats for the districts in this area:

The Laurel Highlands Council covers a large territory, including much of Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.

The Westmoreland-Fayette Council has 52 Cub Scout packs and 53 Boy Scout troops, with a total of about 4,000 scouts.

There are two Boy Scouts of America councils that oversee programs in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Sarah Lenhart has been a Boy Scout in all but name for a long time.

She started participating about eight years ago, when her older brother joined Boy Scout Troop 372 in Ligonier. She’s been part of the troop ever since.

“I honestly did more, I think, than my brother,” said Lenhart, now in the 12th grade.

Since girls couldn’t be Boy Scouts, her involvement was always unofficial.

Lenhart is expecting to become one of the region’s first female Scouts. She’s one of four members of a proposed girls’ troop in Ligonier.

“I’m very honored to be one of the first,” she said. “We can make it whatever we want it to be.”

Boy Scouts of America opened its flagship program to girls Friday.

Though the organization will keep the name Boy Scouts of America, the program has been renamed Scouts BSA instead of Boy Scouts.

Girls and boys will be in separate troops, but the curriculum will be the same for both, according to Boy Scouts of America.

Girls will be able to participate in the same activities as boys, receive the same merit badges and earn the organization’s highest rank — Eagle Scouts.

At least 3 girls’ troops starting soon

At least three female troops are starting soon in Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Monroeville, according to Joe Lawrence, district chairman of Laurel Highlands Council of Boy Scouts of America’s Lackawanna District.

It’s not yet known how many girls will participate or how many female troops there will be, said Jim Douglas, assistant Scout executive for the Westmoreland-Fayette Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

“Right now we have zero, because today is the first day, but we have quite a few in the works,” he said.

The creation of female troops mostly will be a grassroots effort, driven by parents, scoutmasters and Scouts, Douglas said. Once the initial flurry of paperwork settles, it will be easier to gauge interest.

Douglas expects Westmoreland County’s first female troops will have their first official meetings within a week or two.

In Ligonier, the plan is to make a female troop that corresponds with the existing male Troop 372, said troop committee chair Dawn Lamuth-Higgins.

So far four girls have signed up, including Lenhart. The troop needs five before it can be officially chartered.

In the meantime, the four members have been meeting weekly, studying knife skills, knot tying, and Scout Law.

“They’re very enthusiastic, they’re learning their scout skills and doing everything that a brand-new scout would do,” Lamuth-Higgins said. “As soon as we have one more girl, we’ll create our group.”

Lyla Barr, a seventh-grader at Christ the Divine Teacher school in Latrobe, is one of the four female Scouts waiting to be officially chartered. She was a Girl Scout when she was younger.

“Once I heard that they were letting girls join Boy Scouts, that sounded even more interesting to me,” she said. “I love the idea of being one of the first female Boy Scouts.”

Boy Scouts of America has allowed girls in its Cub Scout program since last year.

Peggy Dvorznak, one of the leaders of Boy Scout Troop 551 in Hyde Park, said she wishes girls had been allowed when she was raising her son and daughter.

“Personally, for me, it would have been good. I had a boy and a girl — and too many different activities,” Dvorznak said. “I’ve been talking around and it does definitely seem that there are girls who want to go into Boy Scouting and try all the neat things we do.”

Bob Barrage, scoutmaster of Troop 186 in Natrona Heights, Harrison, said the requirement for separate troops for girls might put a damper on enrollment.

“It would be easier if girls could just grab their moms and just join (an existing troop), he said. “I don’t know what kind of demand there’s going to be locally, and I won’t see it firsthand because I’m in a boy’s unit.”

The Boy Scouts of America has seen its membership decline in recent years. There were about 2.1 million combined Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts across the country in 2017, down about 9 percent from 2013.

Douglas said he knows plenty of girls that are excited to get involved, including his stepdaughter.

“Instead of just being an observer, she finally gets to do what her brothers do,” he said.

Tom Davidson is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tom at 724-487-7208, tdavidson@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribDavidson.Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.</s>ORLANDO, Fla. - It's a history-making moment for Scouts BSA, the organization traditionally known as the Boy Scouts of America.

Starting Friday, girls can now join the ranks and earn the same merit badges as boys.

Girls ages 11-17 can join Scouts BSA and earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

According to the BSA's Central Florida Council, hundreds of Orlando-area girls are expected to join the program.

Local officials said they will have more than 30 all-girl troops in February alone and expect to add more throughout the year.

This isn't the first time the Boys Scouts have made a change. In 2018, they opened the Cub Scout program to girls ages 5-10.

Watch News 6 and stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates.</s>Girls can now officially be Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts of America officially welcomed girls between the ages of 11 and 17 to join its older youth program Friday, following a major change that will see the Boy Scouts program renamed Scouts BSA. Under the change, girls will also now be able to strive for the organization's Eagle Scout ranking.

"I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation," chief scout executive of Boy Scouts of America Michael B. Surbaugh said in a statement. "Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before – young women and men – will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage, and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership."

In a press release, the organization said it had decided to welcome girls in its older youth program at "the requests of families who, for years, have sought these opportunities for every member of their family." Girls have been welcomed to participate in the organization's Cub Scout program, which caters to children between the ages of 7 to 10, since the beginning of 2018. More than 77,000 girls are reported to have joined the Cub Scout ranks since then, according to CNN.

More to come...</s>Julia Carvalho can’t wait to get on the trail to becoming an Eagle Scout. Her dad, her brothers and her uncles have been involved with the Boy Scouts her whole life. Now she can be one of the pack.

Beginning Feb. 1, the Boy Scouts of America will allow girls to join for the first time in the 109-year history of the group. And 12-year-old Carvalho plans to be among the first girls in the country to sign up.

“I’m 100 percent thrilled about it,” says the seventh-grader from Alameda. “I want to be the first girl in my family to become an Eagle Scout.”

The change has already sparked a lot of debate. Boy Scouts officials, who last year began welcoming girls into the Cub Scouts, see it as a watershed moment for the iconic institution. But after the organization announced last year it would drop the word boy from its namesake program and change to the new Scouts BSA, the Girl Scouts filed suit in federal court last fall, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. Both scouting organizations have been fighting declining membership in recent years.

“Boys in our society have had an advantage because it’s been a male-dominated society,” says Heather Burlew-Hayden, chief marketing and recruitment officer for Girl Scouts of Northern California. “We are all about what’s best for girls and we have been since we started, back when it was considered improper for girls to run and play outside. Our organization is about sisterhood, it’s about letting girls find their spark in a safe space.”

But Boy Scouts leader say they are responding to the needs of the families they serve with the new scouting program, which will allow girls ages 11 to 17 into the organization. The new troops will not be co-ed but girl troops and boy troops can be connected, so everyone can be doing the same kinds of activities at the same time. Linked troops might hold meetings together or go hiking together, for instance. But it’s up to individual troops to decide if they’d like to be linked or not. Julia’s troop will be aligned with a boy troop.

“It’s a big deal,” says Frank R. Yoke, Deputy Scout Executive of the San Francisco Bay Area Council, which represents about 250 troops and expects about six new all-girl troops to join shortly. “We can serve more kids and include more young people, which is our mission.”

The Boy Scouts say it’s part of an evolution toward a more inclusive group. In recent years the organization has been embroiled in national debates about gender roles and sexual orientation, generating some negative publicity along the way. The group lifted its ban on gay scouts in 2013, gay leaders in 2015 and transgender youth in 2017.

“I have been a champion of this for a long time and the Boy Scouts have been slow to change,” says Heather Hildreth, who has been involved with Boy Scouts since her sons, Matthew, 13, and Jonathon, 15, were in first grade. “We are thrilled to be able to welcome all kids to scouting. Opportunities should be open to everyone.”

Hildreth will be the leader of Alameda’s Troop 73, which has six girls signed up to join, including Julia. But Hildreth is hoping to grow its numbers over time. Wearing red shirts emblazoned with their name, “The Trailblazers,” the troop has been informally taking part in scouting activities for a few months before they are officially sworn in Feb. 1. Among the activities Hildreth has planned are rock climbing, hiking and camping.

“Being an Eagle Scout can open a lot of doors for boys and I want that for girls too,” says Hildreth, who lives in Alameda. “Also, if we want kids to be prepared for life, they need to learn how to work together.”

Certainly it’s a celebratory moment for Julia’s dad, Ken Carvalho, who has been involved with the Boy Scouts since the ’70s. His son Charles became an Eagle Scout, the ultimate achievement for a Boy Scout. Now his daughter has the same opportunity.

“This is a big step forward. My daughter has never been allowed to go hiking and camping and canoeing with (our scouting troop),” says Carvalho, who lives in Alameda. “And now she can.”

“If we tie knots, they tie knots,” says Carvalho, who adds that having brothers and sisters in one organization could be a big time saver for parents. “It’s about the whole family being able to participate in scouting together.”

Hildreth’s son Jonathon, 15, is excited about the change. “There will be many more opportunities to meet new people and forge new friendships,” says the sophomore in high school.

Not everyone is gung-ho about the move. Some say joining the Boy Scouts defeats the purpose of scouting for girls, which is to give them a chance to lead their own activities. After all, the Girl Scouts, which also champions outdoors activities like backpacking and camping, has been around since 1912.

“A big advantage of all-girl groups, at this age, is that their members don’t have to worry nearly as much about behaving so as to get approval from males,” says Professor Robin Lakoff, an expert in gender at the University of California, Berkeley. “They learn to develop self-confidence and skills of all kinds, without worrying that boys will find them too bossy.”</s>SAN ANTONIO — For the first time in the organization’s 109-year history, the Boy Scouts of America are opening their doors and allowing girls into the program.

The change became official Feb. 1, when girls between the ages of 11 and 17 were officially welcomed to register and become scouts. The national organization will maintain the name Boy Scouts of America, but to honor the new inclusive culture of the subsidiary program it has been renamed Scouts BSA.

“I think it’s a very healthy change because girls have the option to do whichever they choose,” said Medwyn Guajardo, vice president of communications for the Alamo Area Council VOA. “If they would like to do the things they have in Girl Scouts, they can go look toward that. Or, if they want a different experience and they want to focus on things like camping, they have BSA to join now."

The Alamo Area Council hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony with free food and scout-centric games to celebrate the historic change. Dozens of young ladies swarmed the registration tables to begin their memberships with hopes to someday obtain Scouts BSA's highest rank, Eagle Scout.

Young female and male scouts were excited to share their optimism with KENS5 about the changes.

“I feel like things will run smoothly, and I feel like it’ll be a good experiment,” said Raul Guerrero, the troop scribe.

Guajardo agreed saying, “Growing up, I wanted to do this so badly, but my mom had to tell me, ‘No, Sweetie, that’s only for boys.’ I believe everybody needs these skills.”

Scout executive Michael De Los Santos affirmed that Boy Scouts of America is a proactive organization always looking forward at the bright future and potential of the next generation.

“The BSA is very proactive in teaching these young adults skills, trades, and helping them to become Eagle Scouts,” he said. “For many years, the sisters have always tagged along with their brothers and have been experiencing the program of scouting. So, why now? Why not? They’ve been there for many many years. Let’s bring them along for the ride. That’s what we’re here for. It’s for the family.”

Although these changes have taken effect, female scouts are not allowed to join active male troops, and each organizing charter must approve before a new female troop is launched.

Guajardo and De Los Santos explained that the new inclusive culture would not threaten the integrity of BSA’s age-old values, but rather share them with a young community that needs to be reached.

“I know it’s going to take a lot of commitment,” Guajardo said. “I know it’s going to be a long process, and I know it’s going to be very challenging physically, mentally and morally, but I know I’m going to come out a lot better that way.”
The Boy Scouts officially changes its name to Scouts BSA and young women join as official members of the organization for the first time.