Pack 320 welcomes first female scouts

When the Boy Scouts of America announced last fall that the organization would allow girls to join, Autumn Herod, committee chair of cub scout Pack 320, was excited about the decision.

“It really is exciting to see the direction that Boy Scouts of America have gone with including girls,” Herod said. “The decision (to allow girls) was made nationally in the fall, and the earliest you could (allow girls to join) was January. We actually started the process back in the fall with our chartered organization … and it was about February when we got our first official application ready to go.”

Pack 320 recently welcomed its first two girls into the pack: 7-year-olds Lauren Wilson and Aurora Penrod. 

“It’s fun,” Wilson said. “When the (Orlando) Science Center (visited) … we got to touch a squid with gloves on. … we got to touch its feet.”

Wilson said her favorite thing about Cub Scouts is seeing her friends and classmates. She added she was excited for the candy given out during scout camping trips.

“I really, really thought I would like it,” Penrod said. “I learned how to do a square knot. … It’s not finished yet. I’m still working on it.”

Penrod said she recently earned her Bobcat badge, the first badge Cub Scouts earn. One of the tasks Penrod had to accomplish in order to earn the badge was to learn the scout oath and scout law.

Wilson’s father, Alan, said another reason his daughter joined was because her older brothers are also in scouts, and have been for the past two years.

 “She was a part of scouts (before officially joining) as far as I was concerned,” Alan said. “… At every event, we always make sections for siblings. … We want the siblings to participate, and we give them a chance to participate, as well.”

Penrod’s mother, Rachel, said her daughter has wanted to be a scout for a while because her two older brothers have gone through the program. Her daughter also always participated with her brothers at scout events, campouts and derbies, she added.

“She’s been really gung-ho about it since the beginning,” Rachel said. “She’s been very, very excited to be able to earn the badges, and the little belt loops and to get the uniform, but that’s the only difference. She was always at the meetings. She was always doing things with her brothers, and she was always participating.”

Alan said Pack 320 has always encouraged participation from parents and siblings at camp-outs and other events. 

“The great thing is they don’t see it as boys and girls — it’s just scouts,” Alan said. “The 320 pack — we are a family. We always try to encourage participation from the parents for the boys and the girls as well. … It’s just a family that’s having fun.”

Although Wilson and Penrod are currently the only two girls in Pack 320, Rachel said she expects more girls will join.

“In the fall, when we open up recruitment, it’s going to go out in the schools to girls and boys,” Rachel said. “I think we’ll get quite a few girls ... and I think we’ll have some in every grade level.”

Alan said as Pack 320 grows, the pack would need more parents to step up and take leadership roles.

“We’ll need more leaders … to step up more than they do,” Alan said.

Cub Scout Pack 320 recruits from Keene’s Crossing and Independence elementaries. The pack also includes students from Sunset Park, Bay Lake and Windermere elementaries and Windermere Preparatory School.