In February 2019, when Boy Scouts of America (Scouts BSA) announced that it would no longer be exclusive to boys. Soon after, junior Lucy Holt’s father, Dave Holt, chartered an all-girls troop, Troop 582.

Besides Lucy, sophomores Amaris Charton and Brielle Wong and juniors Emily Boselli joined the troop, all eventually achieving  Eagle rank during the pandemic.

Eagle rank, which is the highest possible achievement in the Scouts BSA program, is only achieved by roughly 8% of scouts and is a recognition of strong leadership and service to the community.

Holt continues Eagle legacy in their family

For Lucy, coming from a long line of Eagle scouts inspired them to join Scouts BSA: Their father, also an Eagle Scout, served as past Scoutmaster of their older sibling’s troop. Lucy currently serves as junior assistant Scoutmaster and has held several leadership positions within the troop.

To become an Eagle Scout, scouts must advance seven ranks, earn 21 merit badges, hold leadership positions, complete an Eagle Service Project and pass rounds of interviews and assessments by a review board.

The fastest timetable for a new scout to earn Eagle rank is within two years — which is exactly what Lucy did, becoming a member of the inaugural class of non-male Eagle Scouts alongside fellow troop member Laura Sun.

“[Becoming an Eagle Scout] is probably one of my proudest moments,” Lucy said. “There was a lot of buildup towards the end because I still had a couple of merit badges to do in the last two weeks. It was really stressful, but when I finally did it, it was a huge relief because I know [Eagle rank] is something that is going to help and affect me for the rest of my life.”

For Lucy’s Eagle Project, they built book displays and bookshelves for Book-Go-Round Used Books, a shop in downtown Saratoga whose proceeds go to the public library.

Though they faced challenges such as wood stains and paint drips while building the book displays — which added extra time to the project — Lucy was still able to complete the Eagle rank significantly faster than most scouts, who often take four to five years.

Along with the adventure opportunities in scouting such as canoeing, sailing, hiking and backpacking, Lucy has found that being a scout has taught them many life skills.

“[BSA] taught me to learn by the Scout Law, which is basically to be a good and kind person and helpful to other people,” Lucy said. “It taught me how to stand up for myself and how to be a leader, and has also given me a lot of lasting friendships.”

Boselli battles stereotypes and norms

Boselli was a founding member of the group in 2019, having worked with Lucy and their father to recruit members to start their troop after seeing how much fun her older brother was having in Boy Scouts. 

“I got very involved in leadership and advancement,” Boselli said. “My entire troop is actually very involved in going forward in ranks, so my friends and I just kept progressing and working towards Eagle.”

Boselli’s Eagle Project involved creating nest boxes for wildlife for an organization in Santa Cruz. Over the course of several days, she led other scouts and friends in volunteer sessions to build a large enclosure.

While completing the tasks required for Eagle rank, Boselli overcame difficulties, including procrastinating on certain requirements.

“I was able to start my Eagle Project a good four months before I actually ‘started’ it so, though I kind of wasted time, I got it done in the end,” Boselli said.

Boselli said that scouting has taught life skills, while simultaneously allowing her to engage in exciting activities — such as attending an adventure camp in West Virginia with her fellow troop members.

“When I became an Eagle Scout I felt really accomplished because [working to become an Eagle] took a good two and a half years of my life where I strived for a goal and I had actually reached it,” she said. “I think scouting is such an experience and the skills that you learn from the program are really valuable. They will stay with me for a really long time.”

Wong achieves Eagle despite pandemic barriers

Wong decided to join Scouts BSA after following in her sibling’s footsteps. She decided to attempt to advance to the Eagle rank after realizing her love for scouting.

“I genuinely enjoy scouting and going on outings, so gradually as I started to advance, I realized I could actually become an Eagle,” Wong said. “So I just kept at it, stayed involved in BSA activities and completed my Eagle project.”

For her project, Wong built ant-proof tables for beehives at the Our City Forest conservation organization in San Jose.

As Wong was working on her project in 2021, COVID-19 concerns were a large deterrent: “During my scouting journey, it was like COVID was also living in the background,” Wong said. 

One of Wong’s most memorable activities in scouting was her first scout summer camp, where she was four hours away from home for an entire week. Although she had no WiFi access and had little contact with home, hanging out with her friends and doing interesting activities was the highlight of her scouting experience, Wong said.

In her three years as a scout, Wong has learned to improve her social skills and has matured in the program.

“You become a leader when you’re scouting. You have to know what you’re doing and be confident in yourself while being a good example to others,” Wong said. “When I became an Eagle, I was still ready to learn more and do more. It really allowed me to see how far I’ve come since joining the program.”

Charton aims to become a mentor to prospective Eagles

While looking for ways to become more involved with the community, Charton and her younger sister decided to join Scouts BSA to strengthen their leadership skills.

“Initially I just joined because my mom wanted me to learn life skills,” Charton said. “But later on, scouts became really fun because I’ve made a lot of new friends and get to bond with them on outings.”

For her Eagle project, Charton decided to build a shed for Animal-Assisted Happiness. The long process involved creating a plan of action, going through an approval process, fundraising with GoFundMe and recruiting volunteers to help build the shed.

Additionally, Charton needed to earn merit badges in sections such as first aid, aquatics and cooking.

In the last stretch of becoming an Eagle Scout, Charton needed to pass two rounds of interviewing with her Scoutmaster and a Board of Review.

“Initially, it was kind of scary because I’m in front of these people who are judging me and I didn’t prepare all that much for the interview,” Charton said. “But it wasn’t as difficult as I was anticipating because the questions were like ‘was it fun when you learned how to sail a boat?’ and I said, ‘yeah,’ and that was it.”

This summer, she is planning to become a counselor at scout summer camp, to help other scouts earn merit badges in waterfront activities such as canoeing.

“Joining scouts is one of the best things I’ve done because I really grew up within the program and learned a lot of interpersonal skills that have helped me both in and outside of school,” Charton said.