At Girls Inc., we believe that girls can do anything they put their minds to – which includes becoming an Eagle Scout! Ever since the Boy Scouts of America began welcoming girls to join their ranks in 2019, young women like Lillian Rand have been making their mark in the organization.
Lillian is a 16-year-old student at St. Andrew’s School, and recently chose Girls Inc. of Central Alabama to benefit from her Eagle Scout Project.
Lillian wanted her project to focus on getting more girls involved in STEM, and she saw Girls Inc. as the perfect place to host her efforts. For the past month, Lillian has been hard at work improving our SMART classroom – which is where our Crestwood girls gather to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Her improvements include designing and building new lab tables, painting a STEM-inspired mural, installing a handy organizational pegboard-style wall, and more!
Lillian says her favorite part of the project was coming to Girls Inc. every day, because of the support all of the adults at Girls Inc. showed for her project and the enthusiasm they all had. We just couldn’t help but get excited to see her progress! Not only is Lillian’s project helping inspire girls to pursue their ambitions, but it’s a real-life example of how girls are actively breaking down barriers in the male-dominated spaces of both STEM and Scouts.
“STEM is for all people, not just men,” Lillian states with confidence. Her attitude towards Scouts is similar: “If you have any interest in joining Scouting or [getting involved in] the outdoors, just do it. Joining Scouting is one of the best decisions I have ever made. As long as you want to be there, anything is possible.”
Girls Inc. aims to empower the next generation of leaders, and it’s clear that Lillian is already a leader in her own right. We love to see young women taking action to inspire and uplift their peers, and can’t wait to see how the new and improved SMART room will excite and engage the girls in our program. Thank you to Lillian Rand, her family, and her volunteers for taking on this awesome initiative!
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This article was featured in the August 2023 issue of our monthly e-newsletter, The Bold Bulletin. For more stories like this in your inbox, subscribe below!