Ready to dive headfirst into a new adventure in West Virginia’s Summit Bechtel Reserve, 39 scouts hugged parents goodbye and prepared to enjoy 10 days partaking in various outdoor activities with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
A program run for boys and girls, 11 to 17 years old, the National Jamboree offers participants a chance to gather with thousands of scouts who traveled across the country to experience the decades long tradition.
However, this year’s event will be extra special as it is the first time girl scouts will be able to attend and participate alongside the boy scouts.
“The girls were first allowed into the BSA in 2019, and so this will be the first year that we are allowed to go,” said troop leader Amanda Steele. “So we have 18 girls total and seven adults going, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. Once the girls started in the BSA, they really rocked it out as well. I’m really excited to see them experience it; there’s so much stuff to do.”
Previous years only allowed female siblings to participate in Jamboree as outsiders, which prevented the girls from receiving awards and badges even though they completed the same feats. Impressive challenges such as hiking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing and even ziplining.
“There’s tons of opportunities for merit badges, so they’ll get to advance in the ranks as well, and there’s also so much to learn with their exhibits,” said Steele. “So this is going to be a great first experience.”
Steele said acceptance into the BSA and the Jamboree allowed for everyone to see the girls and boys as true equals.
“We are equal and it’s good that it’s finally being recognized within the BSA,” she said. “It’s important for us to be there and be present, and for us to show just how cool we are too.”
Looking forward to events like water sports and making history as one of the very first girl scouts attending Jamboree, Mable Bradshaw said she loved being a member of boy scouts and being able to tell others about it.
“I’m really excited because my dad was a scout and he went to the Jamboree, and he’s told me stories about it my entire childhood … to where I’m not totally sure what all is going to be there, but I’m excited to experience the Jamboree like my dad did,” said Bradshaw. “I’m just really excited to do everything there, and it’s really cool to be able to say I’m in boy scouts; it makes me happy.”
Like many of the boy scouts, Bradshaw said she was most excited to experience water sports and making new memories through camping, one of her favorite activities.
Male scout Sean Fitzgerald, who has been in scouts for seven years, said he was looking forward to attending the Jamboree for the first time, because it would be an experience unlike any other.
“It’s going to be the longest I’ve ever been away from home, and it’s a lot of high adventure stuff,” he said. “Along with that we get to learn about submarines, boats and fishing, so you get to learn about all the things the BSA provides, and of course Summit is zero-emission which is always a cool thing to learn about.”
Over the years, Fitzgerald said scouts have taught him many useful life skills, like swimming, cooking and pioneering – especially the importance of working towards long term goals, such as Eagle Scout, the top rank for those within the BSA.
“A lot of those things I wouldn’t know if I wasn’t a boy scout,” he said. “One of the biggest things we do is paperwork for our merit badges; obviously no one likes paperwork, but this has taught me to already prepare and accept that fact … and when I go to college I’ll need to be able to cook.”
Fitzgerald said he believed the Jamboree was important, because it teaches teens to try new things and learn more about themselves – their likes and dislikes through experiencing them in a safe environment.
Jason Tisdale, leader of trop #3402, said the Jamboree was expecting around 15,000 participants and would encourage his scouts to make new connections with brand new individuals from many different places.
Tisdale also said he was glad the girl scouts were getting offered all the same opportunities as the boys, because sharing ideas should extend to both genders.
“It’s a sharing of ideas, because the way we camp in one place is different from how we camp in another place,” he said. “Each unit does things differently, so it’s about enjoying the scouting brotherhood and making new friends.”
The scouts will all reconvene back at home on July 28, following the end of the National Jamboree.
