New Leechburg Boy Scout troop welcomes girls, a sign of new interest in Scouting

Jessica Cummings doesn’t have much experience as a Scout leader, but she’s ready for the challenge as she starts Troop 6553 in Leechburg, a Boy Scout troop that welcomes girls.

Cummings began the troop for her daughter, Lydia, 10, and her daughter’s best friend, Ivy McCullough, 10. Both girls have participated in Cub Scouts since 2019, the year Boy Scouts of America allowed girls to join all of its programs.

The new troop is part of a resurgence in Scouting across the country, after decades of declining memberships, and highlights the impact that allowing girls to join Boy Scouts has had on membership.

Prior to the covid pandemic, interest in Scouting was on the decline. Girl Scouts was seeing a steady loss in membership from 2.3 million in 2010 to 1.7 million girls in 2019, according to annual reports from the organization. That got worse when the pandemic shut down most such groups but, since then, Scouting has seen an uptick in membership.

Nationwide, more than 140,000 girls joined a Scout troop by 2021, according to The Hechinger Report.

The number of Girl Scouts has fluctuated over the years, according to the organization’s 2022 Stewardship Report, landing back at 1.7 million members in 2022.

Troop 6553 was created after Cummings spoke to the area Boy Scout council and the Boy Scouts Troop 553 charter organization, Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church. The two troops will be linked.

“I didn’t want my girls to have to travel, and I thought it’d be great for Lydia to go through the rest of Scouting with her peers,” Cummings said.

Cummings said there are a few girl troops in the area. Lower Burrell and Ford City offer them, but the girls could risk being separated and ending up in different troops. According to the Boy Scouts’ website, there also are troops for girls in Pittsburgh, Trafford, Delmont, Cabot, New Kensington and Claridge.

Changes by age

Cub Scouts is for children in kindergarten through age 11. After that, they have to move on to being a Girl or Boy Scout. Cummings said Lydia and Ivy wanted to continue their Scouting experience and, as they enter fifth grade, they’ll both age out of Cub Scouts in a few months.

“I wanted to start this troop because the first girls in Pack 553 — that started Cub Scouts in 2019 as Lions — were now (Arrow of Lights),” Cummings said.

Arrow of Lights is the last den of Cub Scouts for members, and some of the Cubs can join Boy Scout events to see how it works and decide whether they want to continue.

“After AOLs, the Scouts then cross over to the troop,” Cummings said. “Their boy classmates would be able to continue with their peers into the troop, while the girls would need to find another girls’ troop to cross over to.”

Tracey Burkey, chief development officer for Boy Scouts of America, said BSA girls and boys troops do not have to be linked, but generally are affiliated so the Scouts can participate in outings and activities together.

Cummings said each linked troop works slightly differently. Both the boys and girls troops can do events together or independently. The troops share the same committee and treasurer, but there will be a male leader for the boys and female leader for the girls.

“As long as there is a female leader with the girls, they can attend summer camp, hike, kayak and do everything else that the boys do,” Cummings said. “Girls have the opportunity to achieve anything the boys can.”

Cummings referenced a quote when explaining the difference between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

“Girl Scouts teaches you to save the world, and Boy Scouts teaches you to survive in it,” she said. “One’s not better than the other. They’re just different.”

According to the Girl Scouts of America website, nearly 15,000 girls from 27 counties participate in Girl Scouts in Western Pennsylvania.

During the beginning of covid, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts took hits in membership numbers. Boy Scouts reportedly had its membership cut in half, and Girl Scouts lost 30% of its membership in just one year, the New York Times reported.

“Covid did impact us, as it did everybody else,” Burkey said. “We’re seeing an upswing in our numbers. We were able to keep some families and Scouting together through outdoor programs (during covid).”

The Laurel Highlands BSA Council, which covers much of Southwestern Pennsylvania, has 8,849 members, 1,208 of whom are girls. BSA serves more than 1 million members between the ages of 5 and 21 nationwide.

Coed membership a boon

Burkey said there has been no downside to girls joining the formerly all-boys organization.

“The girls in our program have absolutely been a positive direction for the organization,” Burkey said. “The decision came from inside the organization from the ranks of our volunteers and Scouting families.”

Burkey said girls were involved in some programs BSA offered before the 2019 decision.

“We’ve had girls in our program for years,” Burkey said. “We had a career education program called Exploring, which is coed.”

In addition to that participation, sisters and daughters of Scouts were attending BSA meetings, she said, helping with outings and activities and getting to see what the program was all about.

“The girls now have an opportunity to take advantage of (BSA) leadership programs and achieve the rank of Eagle Scout,” Burkey said.

Cummings will lead Troop 6553. She served as her daughter’s assistant leader during Cub Scouts for the past five years. She said she is learning how the rules of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts differ. Rules and activities change because the members are older. Boy Scouts also are the first opportunity for members to earn merit badges; Cub Scouts earn loops.

“I know the basics,” Cummings said. “We might be mirroring the boys a lot at the beginning.”

The first step of the process will be the girls picking their senior patrol leaders. Patrol leaders are older Scouts who work with younger ones during activities and merit badge projects.

Two 14-year-old girls came to the first troop meeting Aug. 15, after seeing a Facebook post about it, Cummings said.

The girls will be pursuing badges, including geocaching, environmental learning, swimming, first aid, fly-fishing, sports, auto mechanics, engineering, nuclear science and cooking.

“Whatever interest you have, Scouting has something for you,” Cummings said.

Cummings said she expects the troop to grow as time goes on. She said Ford City’s girls outnumber the boys in the two linked troops.

“Girls are funny when they do activities,” she said. “They start with one and then they bring a friend and another friend.”

Cummings’ efforts were met with support from her friends and co-workers. One co-worker told her they had been a Scoutmaster for their son.

“I think Scouts is a little more popular than most people think it is,” she said. “People can relate.”

Cummings said the popularity for Scouts is growing after BSA decided to let girls join. More troops are being created, and Scouting offers an opportunity for members to be outdoors, learn a variety of life skills and explore different interests.

“I think people like it because there aren’t a lot of camps left,” Cummings said. “When I was younger, there were church camps and sleepaway camps that aren’t really around anymore. There are still Scout camps. Scouts are always doing some sort of outdoor activity.”