Our Family’s Scouting Journey: Seven Years Later

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Seven years ago, I wrote a blog post about Girl Scouts vs Boy Scouts and answered some of the questions about the two organizations (yes, they are 2 different organizations) and some questions about my family’s role in the units we were involved in.

It is time for an update.

Emily is now preparing to start her Senior Year of high school. We are still homeschooling, and scouting is still a big part of our lives; it just looks a little different now.

Some thing stay the same …

Emily is an Ambassador Girl Scout and I’m still her Girl Scout leader. This will be her 13th year with our Girl Scout troop. The troop that used to be incredibly active and had 31 girls before the pandemic is now to 7 – 5 of whom are high school seniors. As of today (July 27), only one of the girls has registered for the coming year, so we will see what happens. In the worst-case scenario, Emily will end her Girl Scout career as a Juliette.

During her time in Girl Scouts, she has earned her Bronze and Silver Awards, the Journey Summit Awards as a Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, and Senior (and will earn it as an Ambassador before the program retires), and has earned countless badges. She has camped, traveled to Niagara Falls, sold cookies, and most importantly, has made lifelong friends.

And now for the biggest change …

Emily officially joined Scouting America (the organization previously known as Boy Scouts of America) in February 2023 as a Lone Scout because there were no female troops in our area that met on a night that worked for our family. In April 2023, she became one of the founding members of Troop 3G – a female troop that would meet at the same time & location as Troop 3B where her brothers were.

In the spring of 2024, Scouting America announced that they would be launching a combined troop pilot where the troops would be co-ed and serve both boys and girls up to the age of 18. Troop 3 applied and was selected to be part of the program.

After the successful completion of the pilot program, Scouting America formally launched “Family Troops”, their name for co-ed troops, in the start of 2025.

Since then, Troop 3 is proudly a Family Troop. We have both male and female Scouts in our unit, and our entire family is still involved! Emily is a Life Scout and the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. Michael is a First Class Scout and is a Patrol Leader. David earned the Eagle Scout rank, and now that he’s an adult is an Assistant Scoutmaster. Steve is the Treasurer and Advancement Chair. And I’m the Committee Chair for both Troop 3 and Pack 3, plus I hold a position on our District Committee.

All Children Belong in Scouting.

There I said it. All children belong in Scouting. Get outdoors, learn to work with your peers, gain life and leadership skills, and become a well-rounded citizen. Find your people. Not every unit is for every kid. Visit a few Packs and Troops. See what they have to offer and what makes them stand apart. Find the best fit for your family.

For us, that was Pack 3 and Troop 3 in Morrisville, PA. For you, it may be somewhere different, but you can find your people at beascout.org