As they have gotten older, some students and staff members have continued on as Scouts, earning advanced rankings and gaining more responsibility as well as leadership roles.

As a Senior Girl Scout, junior Kate Schau has had many positive experiences and made lifelong friends since beginning Girl Scouts as a Daisy in kindergarten.

“I’ve been with these girls in my troop for so long that it would be really weird to not see them anymore. Honestly, I would call them sisters at this point,” Schau said. “You make so many great connections with these girls … I’ve basically grown up with them.”

Music teacher Debra Steiner has been a Girl Scout her whole life and is currently still a Scout. She continues to serve as a mentor to other troops in the community.

“I helped a couple troops earn music and marching badges,” Steiner said. “I just had a lot of fun doing it and have a lot of good memories from it.”

Sophomore Luke Leininger earned his rank as an Eagle Scout in 2013.

“I would say Boy Scouts [is a big part of my life], partly because it takes up a lot of time, and then it’s also taught me things that you can’t really learn anywhere else,” Leininger said.

In order to receive his Eagle Scout rank, Leininger completed a number of steps including earning specific badges, including Lifesaving, Personal Fitness and First Aid, and displaying good character during Scout meetings.

Leininger also worked on a community service project prior to becoming an Eagle Scout. For his project, he spent a month preparing and building display items for Fort Scott, including stands for demonstrations and a recreation of a coffin from the 1800s.

According to Leininger, community service is one of the biggest parts of being a Scout. Leininger says that his troop works mostly on Eagle Scout projects.

“Everybody does their own projects, and most of the ones we’ve been doing are building something,” Leininger said. “We’ve built everything from a fence to hide a dumpster to building shelves and display cases for Catholic charities. We also do a lot of projects for non-profit places.”

Schau also partakes in many service projects. As a Girl Scout, she has volunteered to help with younger Scouts at day camp, worked at food pantries and packaged Christmas presents during the holidays for less fortunate families. She also volunteers at local churches and through Salvation Army.

“It teaches you the value of the community,” Schau said. “It teaches you the value of people and to value what you have because you see how many people don’t have a lot when you do stuff like that.”

Scouts who continue to participate in the program through high school and beyond receive benefits such as scholarship opportunities.

In addition to these scholarship opportunities, Eagle Scouts and Girl Scouts who have earned their Gold Award, the highest award given to Girl Scouts, automatic promotion to higher ranks in the military is also granted.

“In school, it’s not really a big thing to be an Eagle Scout,” Leininger said, “but outside of school, if you have it on your resumé, it’s a lot easier to get into colleges.”