Emily Adams is one of only a thousand young women in the whole organization of Scouts BSA, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, to have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Since 2019, young women have been able to join Scouts BSA and earn the Eagle rank. In 2021, approximately one thousand young women became the first Eagle Scouts in the organization’s history. Emily has earned that honor and is the first female Eagle Scout for Troop 9280.
The rank of Eagle Scout was created in 1911 and is the highest rank of the Scouts BSA. Many years of hard work, service to their community, and sheer determination go into achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Emily attributes her success in scouts to following her brother around from the age of eight as he participated in the activities that scouting provided.
Eagle Scout is considered a prestigious milestone in scouting. It is recognized across the country and the world with many prominent service personnel, astronauts, and United States senators marking it as one of their achievements. An important part of the Eagle Scout rank is service to their community. As part of that service, they are to complete a project that benefits the community through structural maintenance needs.
The VFW is Troop 9280’s charter organization. Because of that charter, Eagle projects are often related to the needs of the VFW. Since no repairs or maintenance were needed at the VFW, Emily was encouraged to contact the American Legion. The Legionnaires had a flag retirement box that needed to be replaced. This became Emily’s main Eagle Scout project.
The flag retirement box is in the Legion’s parking lot. It houses retired, worn-out flags until they are properly disposed of on Flag Day, observed on June 14 each year. Emily has ordered a new steel box to replace the old box. The box she ordered is like the drop boxes used by the USPS.
The box will need a concrete pad poured to support and permanently secure it. Emily will be constructing a form and mixing the concrete manually to fill an area approximately 4 feet by 4 feet. Additional assistance will be provided by Troops 1280 and 9280 to complete the project.
Emily will also be trimming trees and clearing an overgrowth of plants blocking the view of a sign. After Emily has installed the box and cleaned up around the sign, she will wrap up her projects with an ad campaign. The ad campaign will introduce the new flag retirement box and announce that it is ready for use. Emily plans on creating flyers to distribute around town to spread the announcement. Emily is excited about her projects and looking forward to announcing the availability of the new box once installed.