With a three-finger salute, the scouts and leaders recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Scout’s Oath.
While this may seem like a typical BSA opening ceremony, one thing sets this troop apart from other BSA groups. Troop 4050 is the first all-female BSA troop in the San Gabriel District of the Capital Area Council.
“We have a very diverse group of girls,” Troop 4050 Committee Chair Nikki DeLeon said.
The troop held its first meeting in February 2019 after BSA agreed to let girls join its ranks.
“A friend of mine asked if my daughter might be interested in joining Boy Scouts,” DeLeon said. “Then she said, ‘Hey, I’m starting this all-girl Boy Scout troop, and I’m going to be scoutmaster. Do you want to be the assistant scoutmaster?’”
From there, leaders were able to recruit several girls to their group, and a new troop was launched.
“People were very responsive and curious,” DeLeon said. “Many of the girls had older brothers who were scouts, so they were excited to earn the same ranks as their brothers.”
Now, Troop 4050 has 16 girls who meet on Tuesday nights at the Christ Lutheran Church in Georgetown.
One of those girls, 18-year-old Ariana Cavazos, is the first girl in the San Gabriel District to earn her Eagle Scout badge.
Cavazos, who is going to Texas A&M University in the fall, earned her Eagle Scout badge by deep cleaning and refurbishing Christ Lutheran Church’s barbecue pit and creating two firewood storage racks.
Cavazos said she will carry the skills from BSA with her, and feels lucky to have been in the troop.
“Being in this troop definitely helped my confidence and leadership skills,” she said.
During the meeting, Scoutmaster Teresa Hutmacher and Assistant Scoutmaster Amanda Werry watch as the girls separate into their patrols, a team of scouts based on their rank. Most of the meeting is run by the older girls, who are patrol leaders.
“This way they learn leadership skills,” Hutmacher said. “The girls also elect their own patrol leaders.”
This is one difference between Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and why Hutmacher and Werry, both of whom have daughters in Troop 4050, wanted their girls to join BSA.
“Once you reach a certain age, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are just completely different programs,” Hutmacher said.
According to the Girls Scouts of the USA, their activities, ranks and merits are based on age group. For example, Brownies are girls in second and third grade. However, in Boy Scouts participants move through the seven ranks based on goals and tasks.
“The first four ranks are built on camping skills, such as knot tying, first aid and cooking,” Hutmacher said. “The final three are based in leadership and community service.”
Werry said because scouts are required to earn 21 merit badges, it gives them the opportunity to “dabble in different trades,” noting her daughter took welding in high school after trying it in Boy Scouts.
Hutmacher said there is nothing wrong with Girl Scouts. Two of her daughters, along with several other girls in Troop 4050, do both.
“It’s just different,” she said. “BSA has more structure and is better at teaching the girls leadership. Girl Scouts is more based on what the girls and their leaders want to do.”
