Scouts BSA Troop 88, sponsored by the Church of Scientology of the Valley, takes home top honors at the Camporee.
LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2019 (Newswire.com) - Only five weeks after the Boy Scouts of America officially welcomed girls into the program and formally became Scouts BSA, a troop comprised solely of girls beat 20 other patrols—most of them made up of experienced boys—in a survival skills competition called a Camporee. It is the first time a female troop has ever won.
The event took place at the Verdugo Oaks Camp near Castaic Lake, California. 21 troops competed in all, including a few new female troops. Most of the boy troops featured scouts several ranks above the female first-timers. The competitive events were built around various scouting and survival skills, such as fire building, emergency first aid, knots and lashings, and orienteering with map and compass.
It became clear to the event organizers early on that something startling was happening. One of the all-girl troops was routinely distinguishing themselves in the first few events.
They had built the largest pyramid fire in Fire Building and won their heat in Emergency First Aid. Word was getting around fast.
Troop 88 had arrived.
Made up of only seven girls—only three of whom had attained the first rank of Scout—Troop 88 continued to perform well and surpass expectations. Ultimately, in the six separate competitions, they placed three times, winning a first, second and third place ribbon in Pioneering, Cooking, and First Aid, respectively.
When it came time to hand out the overall awards for the Camporee, and all of the points across the competition were tallied, the girls of Troop 88 were stunned to learn that they had tied for First Place and had won the Presidential Award for the entire Camporee. It was unprecedented.
And the evening wasn’t over yet. The biggest prize of them all was presented last. The Baden-Powell Award recognizes the troop with the best Scout Spirit and is the most coveted recognition in the Verdugo Oaks Camporee. It has a classic scouter’s hat encased in glass, with plaques memorializing troops of years past who have won the award. When organizers met to select a winner, one troop was at the top of everyone’s list. Troop 88.
When they were announced as winners of the Baden-Powell award, the Scout leader of Troop 88, Laura, a 15-year-old from Sunland, said, “We were so flabbergasted, our Scoutmaster had to lean over and tell us to get up and go receive our award!”
It was another first in scouting history.
“The competitions were challenging and required a lot of teamwork,” she said. “Because it was our first time, we didn’t know what to expect. Competing brought us closer together as a group. It’s amazing how tight your group becomes under pressure.”
Troop 88 Scoutmaster said, “Our troop has girls ranging from 11 to 16 and one of the other girl troops in competition was mostly 11 or 12. When we won, I will never forget the look on those younger girls’ faces, looking up at our scouts. Just beaming. They had a new set of heroes.”
Overall, the Camporee was a positive experience for these newcomers. Laura said, “We were treated just like everyone else, which we really appreciated. We want to thank the Camporee staff for all the work they put in to make it so much fun. It was an amazing experience.”
The reasons the girls joined the Scouts was mostly a love of the outdoors, wanting to learn skills that would be useful, and the many learning experiences provided by the program. They felt winning the competition was the icing on the cake.
Regarding girls in the scouting program, the Scoutmaster said, “Girls can do this. I am so happy that National made the decision to let girls take advantage of the entire program. They are loving it, and clearly doing just fine.”
Troop 88 is sponsored by and meets weekly at the Church of Scientology of the Valley.
For more information, please contact Hagit Raviv-Ron at (818) 279-1997. The Church address is 11455 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601.
Source: ScientologyNews.org
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