Alejandra Abad likes to read fairy tales, dance along to her favorite artist, Selena Gomez, and practice cheerleading.
But every Sunday after the Spanish Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Alejandra, 9, joins a handful of boys bouncing around the courtyard outside. Wearing neckerchiefs and navy shirts, these Cub Scouts eagerly await their weekly meeting.
Although Alejandra’s brother Luis is a Cub Scout, she doesn’t attend the meetings to observe like the other sisters. She is the lone female member of Pack 121. She's a girl in a Cub Scout pack.
“Technically, I’ve signed up Alejandra in the BSA Learning for Life program,” Cubmaster John Stansfield said. Sacred Heart, the pack’s charter organization, does not offer Girl Scouts.
According to John Fabsits, Boy Scouts of America director of development and marketing, Learning for Life is a coed character-building program.
Out of 27 Columbia Cub Scout packs and hundreds of children involved, Alejandra is the only girl participating in any scout activity.
She participates in all of the events and attends regular meetings like the rest of the scouts.
“She was out there with her earrings and headband, and nobody gave her a second look,” Stansfield said. He described Alejandra’s involvement in Pack 121 as welcomed by fellow packs, too. READ MORE
Comments