So in June we got our answer, we found out that the Cub Scout Pack our boys had been apart of for many years was changing to a family pack. What that means is that they were welcoming girls into the pack. We found us being pulled to help start a girls troop, a linked troop with our current boy troop. In 2018 Boy Scouts of America announced they adding girls to all the programs. Girls have been apart of BSA since the 1970's in Venturing Crews and Sea Scouts. In Fall 2018 the Cub Scout Program added girls and in February of 2019 the program welcomed girls into the older scouting program, know as Boy Scouts. With this new addition to the program the name changed to Scouts BSA.
Now let me explain the program how it looks. A family pack has both boys and girls. They do opening flags, announcements, Pack meetings, and "field trips" together. During regular meeting nights the boys dens and girls dens meet separately. The older Scouts BSA program is different in that boys troops and girls troops are two separate troops. We have linked troops in our group. What that means is, we share the same charter organzation. We can share some adult leadership, except for Scoutmaster.
So back to June of 2019, I talked with my husband and told him what I felt we were being pulled to do. We decided that we would talk with our daughter and our boys to see what they thought. We also prayed for away to bring up what we thought to the troop families. Many of the Cub Scout families already voted to add the girls to the pack and many had daughters that could not wait to start. Later the same day I received a text from one of the scout moms. She did not intend for me to recive the text. This was because a year earlier we had expressed we did not like the fact that girls were being added to Boy Scouts, mostly from lack of information of how the program would look. The text was about the fact they had reviced names of families that would like to know if we would be starting a girls troop. So in July we started the process of getting the approval to start a girls troop. By mid July we had enough girls to start a troop. The first week in August we had all our paperwork in and started meeting.
Our girls troop has eight girls in it. Since starting we have camped 3 times, done a handful of service projects, and gone on a 5 mile hike. The girls have all earned a rank and are working hard for their next one. The girls have taught me so much and have pushed me to challenge myself. They inspire me to better myself every day, and I hope that I can in turn inspire them to reach their full potential. I am looking forward to all the adventures I am going to have with our troop. I am glad I can help my daughter and the other girls forge new paths for girls in Scouts BSA.
