Girls from across Los Angeles are gearing up to join the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in its most iconic program this February.
“I can’t wait to go camping, earn merit badges, and go on adventures with my friends,” said Alexis Shrewsbury, a future Scout from Santa Clarita.
Alexis and countless other girls will join local troops next month thanks to the BSA’s historic decision to open the Boy Scout program, which will be called Scouts BSA, to both boys and girls ages 11-17.
Troops will be single-gender and will meet independently. Numerous Troops have already formed in anticipation for the launch of ScoutsBSA, including one starting up this Spring in the San Fernando/Sylmar area.
“The experiences and skills that Scouting provides are incredibly valuable to all youth– not just boys. I’m honored to help offer this opportunity to the girls and young women in our community,” said adult volunteer leader Jessica Pazdernik.
Some of the girls who plan to join are coming from the BSA’s Cub Scout program, which opened to girls age 5-10 in 2018. Since then, more than 77,000 girls have joined the program, but the troop is also seeing interest from young women in the community who would be joining a BSA program for the first time.
“When I heard it would be possible for me to join Scouting and work to become an Eagle Scout, I knew I had to find a Scouts BSA troop to join,” explained Anna Fineberg. “I can’t wait for our troop’s adventures – this is something I have been excited to do for a long time.”
Girls and families who are interested in learning more about Scouts BSA or testing out their Scouting can find a unit near them by visiting BeAScout.org
About Boy Scouts of America, Western Los Angeles County Council
WLACC serves nearly 11,000 youth throughout Western Los Angeles County. The Council operates three Camps-Camp Josepho in the Pacific Palisades, Camp Whitsett located in the Sequoia National Forest and Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island. For more information on programs offered, please visit: bsa-la.org
About the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of nearly 2.2 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.