SAN ANTONIO - Local scouts are back home after six weeks at summer camp, and for the first time ever, girls were able to join.
- Girls go to Boy Scout Camp for first time
- 150 girls went this year
- Some working to become Eagle Scouts
Earlier this year the Alamo Area Council announced that girls could sign up to join the Boy Scouts of America.
Scouts Lizzie Sommer and Abigail Cooper have a lot in common. They both have brothers in Boy Scouts, love the outdoors and want to do something new. Since they're teens, they could also be some of the first girls to have their names engraved at Eagle Scout Plaza.
"I think it looks good, and you're more prepared I feel," Sommer said.
This summer, they and 150 other girls took a big step toward that goal.
"This Summer girls were able to go to Bear Creek Scout Reservation for the first time as Scouts BSA," Michael de los Santos with the Alamo Area Council, BSA said.
Boys and girls worked together on outdoor leadership programs and had plenty of fun doing things like zip lining, rock climbing, archery, swimming, and other outdoor activities.
"It was a lot of fun. I really liked it, and I'm looking forward to going back," Sommer said.
"On our free time I liked to do the zipline. We probably did it ten times," Cooper said.
In between all that fun, they were making moves toward their Eagle Scout goals.
"In the Ranger Program we did a lot of requirements up to the first class," Cooper said.
It's an honor they don't take lightly, and one that can make a big difference when applying for college and scholarships.
"Some will accept you if you're an Eagle Scout and for a girl to have that, I feel like that would look really good," Sommer said.
Thanks to new rules, a lot of other young women can have the same opportunities.
"We have roughly 400 girls in scouts BSA, about 600 girls in Cub Scouts, so roughly 1,000 girls at this point in the Boy Scouts of America Program in the Alamo Area Council," de los Santos said.