Newton Teen Among First In Nation To Become Female Eagle Scout

NEWTON, MA — Grace White is making history as one of the first young women in the nation to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The rank is a big deal for any Scout, let alone someone who only became one two years ago.

"I am able to say I am an Eagle Scout," Grace said. "I'm pretty proud of that, to be honest. It was really hard to manage the time to get there, but when I did I was like. 'Oh, dang, I really did that. I can do whatever I put my mind to.'"

Eagle Scout is the highest rank one can attain in the Boy Scouts. And only about 6 percent of Scouts achieve it on average, according to the Boy Scouts of America. To earn it, a Scout has to take on leadership roles within their troop and community; earn a minimum of 21 merit badges that cover a broad range of topics including first aid and safety, civics, business and the environment; and research, organize and complete a large community service project.

It takes some almost a decade to earn the rank.

Starting in 2019, girls between the ages of 11 and 17 were allowed to join the Boy Scouts, which is now being called Scouts USA.

When her dad, a Scout leader, asked if she wanted to join the Boy Scouts, then 16-year-old Grace said she didn’t have to think about it. She had tagged along with her dad to Scout meetings since she was little, joining them for hikes and camping trips. In the second grade, she tried the Girl Scouts, but was more interested in the active tagging along with her dad and two brothers. In 2017, she joined the Sea Cadets, a U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard supported Boy Scouts-affiliated youth program.

So in 2019, she jumped at the chance.

She and four others, sisters of boys in the local boys troop, started the first girls troop in Greater Boston.

"When I was just tagging along, I was just happy to go on the camping trips," she said. "I didn't know how people got to Eagle Scout. And then when I joined I saw, oh, there are ranks and this is how you get to them."

From the moment she saw what it took to get to Eagle Scout, Grace knew she wanted to achieve that goal before her 18th birthday. So as patrol leader of her troop, she helped the girls meticulously work their way through the seven scouting ranks and more than 100 merit badges, learning and proving proficiency in everything from how to make a fire and how to use a knife to how to be a citizen to learn personal management. Some took a few hours to accomplish, while others took months.

Two years later, on Nov. 24, she completed the final task to earn the rank of Eagle Scout — the first in Newton, even as her own troop has grown to more than a dozen girls. She will join hundreds of girls across the country on Feb. 8, Scouting's 111th anniversary, in officially becoming an Eagle Scout.

"Earning the rank of Eagle Scout takes hard work and perseverance, and we are thrilled that hundreds of young women will soon be recognized as Eagle Scouts," the Boy Scouts said in a statement. "In earning this rank, young people gain new skills, learn to overcome obstacles, and demonstrate leadership among their peers and in their communities."

Her service project

The final task to earn the rank of Eagle Scout is a service project. Scouts must plan it, raise funds and build out the project.

After consulting with a local scoutmaster, Grace decided to build an outdoor classroom at Nahanton Park. That idea hit home to Grace.

"We're meeting fully online right now at school and can't go in the building yet, so having outdoor classrooms right now just felt beneficial right now," she said.

After three months of planning, she and some two dozen other Scouts and family she recruited took two days to work on the project. They built four benches far enough apart that the summer camp that's held there could use them safely as an outdoor classroom amid the pandemic.

She and her volunteers built and placed the benches on the first day, and then made trails and fixed up a number of old picnic tables in the park.

Sacrifice worth it

Looking back at the whirlwind that was the past two years, Grace knows she sacrificed some of her social life heading off to campouts and hikes instead of hanging out with her friends, but it was worth it, she said.

Grace, who just turned 18, is applying to go to college and hopes to get into a Naval Academy and study law. Being in Scouting helped her decide, she said.

"I feel like it did change me as a person," she said. "It made me more aware of how things work, and I've definitely grown as a leader because of it."

And then there's the family perk:

"If we build a fire at my house, and my brother (who is also a Scout) is trying to add a log, I'll jokingly say, 'I'm the Eagle Scout in the family, I'll do it,'" she said.

More than 120,000 girls and young women have joined either Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA since the programs became available to them, according to the national organization. Grace is among at least six others in the state to complete the rank.

It's impressed her fellow Scouts and scoutmasters.

"It’s a long journey to get to Eagle Scout, and doing it in two years is just incredible," said Sangeet Srikanth, a chemistry teacher at Newton North, whose daughter is also in the troop. "I hope this inspires other people to join."