A new girl troop for Boy Scouts of America is being developed at St. Stanislaus Church in Lansdale and is seeking new female participants ages 11-17 to join.
Scouts BSA Troop 4414 will host a meet-and-greet for those interested in becoming members, this
Sunday, Feb. 6, at 1 p.m. at Stoney Creek Park in Lansdale.
"[Girls can] take advantage of a program that teaches them how to be good citizens, how to be good people, how to take care of themselves and take care of others around them,” Anna LoPiccolo, District Associate of Boy Scouts of America, said on why girls should attend the session and join the troop.
The Boy Scouts of America instills leadership, citizenship, and self-confidence skills to its members. Scouts participate in various activities, primarily outdoor; are involved in youth groups; and provide service to others in their community to promote personal responsibility, high-self esteem, and teamwork. Since 2019, Boy Scouts of America has been open to female members.
"Why just give that to the boys? Girls need that too,” Piccolo said of the skills the program promotes. "We're bringing this great program that their brothers or their friends that are male have been doing, and we're just bringing it to the girls.”
The program will not be co-ed and will run in single-gender units. This will be done as an effort to encourage friendly competition among boys and girls as well as between different units when they participate in national council district level activities other activities. The program’s overall goal is to teach kids how to be good citizens.
"Our Scout Law says a scout is trustworthy, a Scout is obedient, and a Scout is loyal. If you take ‘a Scout’ off and you put ‘a person,’ [it will say] a person is loyal, a person is obedient, a person is trustworthy, courteous,” LoPiccolo said. "That's what Boy Scouts of America is teaching these kids as to and us as the leaders. We mentor them, we guide them to be good citizens.”
