"I think it's a great honor": Arizona teen among first to become female Eagle Scout
A teenager from Arizona is about to join a very exclusive club as one of the few female Eagle Scouts. Victoria Rader, 17, always looked up to her Eagle Scout father and brother. So, when the more-than-100-year-old organization Boy Scouts of America allowed girls in, she joined.
"I was really excited about it," said Rader. "Girls being able to do the same activities, the same merit badges, the same amount of work."
It not only paved her way into a troop in 2019 but allowed Rader to be part of the inaugural class of females to qualify to earn the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. It's an honor only 6% of members have been able to achieve.
When asked what obtaining the Eagle Scout title means to her, Rader responded, "I think it's a great honor to be able to do it. Being able to get to that rank means that you've really fully completed the program and you've gotten everything you could out of it."
Besides completing outdoor skills, the teens must lead a service project. Rader guided a socially distanced team during the pandemic in building a bench in the Arizona mountains outside Phoenix.
"I wanted to do something in the outdoors and really give back to the community and have something that definitely lasts," she said. "It's going to be here for a long time."
Rader said she is proud of herself, and her father, Richard, said he is proud, too.
"I'm glad she was able to do Eagle just like all the boys and men for the last 100 years have been able to do," Richard said.
Rader goes before the board for final approval in October.
