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 Christina Kavan recieved her Eagle Scout badge at a Court of Honor Feb. 11. |
The two NBC seniors are among the first generation of girls to join “Boy Scouts” when the program began allowing girls in February 2019. The organization changed its official name to “Scouting BSA,” though neither Kavan nor Mullally mind if people still refer to it as Boy Scouts for clarity’s sake.
“I feel like you have to differentiate between the two,” Mullally said. “If I just say Scouts, people, seeing that I’m a girl, probably just assume Girl Scouts.”
As a matter of fact, both Mullally and Kavan also participate in Girl Scouts, which is a separate organization. Mullally will complete her Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouts, this summer. She will become one of the first – if not the very first – girls in Nebraska to earn both Eagle Scout and a Gold Award.
Both girls jumped at the chance to join their brothers in the local Scouting BSA Troop 110 when it opened to girls while they were in seventh grade. The emphasis on outdoors and camping was as draw for both.
“I was like, ‘I want to do that. That sounds like so much fun,’” Kavan said. “So I was always looking forward to joining Boy Scouts.”
North Bend’s first group of girls in Scouting, which also included Glenda and Vanessa Vance, were all sisters of Boy Scouts. It took some getting used to.
“We went to a merit badge college and me and Christina were thee only girls,” Mullally said. “Some of the guys were like, ‘Why are there girls here?’ At first it was people getting used to it and thinking it was weird. Now it’s just the usual. There’s girls at most everything we do.”
North Bend was an early adopter and has one of two girl troops – along with Wahoo – in the Goldenrod District, which covers six area counties. In addition to the local Scouts, girls come from Cedar Bluffs and Pender to participate in Troop 110G. Scouts from a two-girl troop in Wakefield also join 110 for the occasional outing.
As required by Scouting BSA, girls and boys are in separate troops, 110B and 110G, each with their own leaders. Because of the high number of siblings involved, the biweekly meetings are held together.
Bob Kavan is the scoutmaster for Troop 110B and the assistant scoutmaster for 110G.
“If I’m helping the girls do a camping event or if I’m helping the boys, they get the same treatment,” Bob Kavan said. “Everybody has to do the exact same thing on a campout. They’re all learning the same skills.”
Sometimes 110B and 110G go on outings together. Sometimes they are separate. Bob Kavan said it’s good to have boys and girls do things together, but it’s also beneficial for them to do their own thing at times.
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