Gabby Rusk plans to be the first female Eagle Scout in Superior

For the past five years now, Scouts BSA have become a co-ed organization, allowing all girl troops. However, the trail to becoming an Eagle Scout takes time, hard work, and dedication. Gabby Rusk is a 15 year-old Life Scout from Troop 221. Right now she’s on track to becoming the first female Eagle Scout in Superior. She plans on having her Eagle Scout project to help foster care kids in Douglas County.

Over the course of four years, Gabby has undergone leadership training, countless nights of freezing campouts, and hours upon hours of community service. But one aspect of scouting that’s helped Gabby is improving her self-confidence.

 “I’ve had a lot of experiences in Scouts, a lot of good and a lot of challenging, like public speaking,” Rusk said. “That has been a big thing that I’ve grown and improved on. When I first joined, people would describe me as like a mouse. But now I can easily get up in front of a crowd and deliver a speech.”

Gabby is still raising funds before she can start working on her Eagle Scout project. She wants to help support kids in the foster care system in Douglas County. She’s already planning a fundraiser with Twin Ports Cornhole on December 7th at the Superior Eagles Lodge.

“I’ll be getting duffel bags, and people have donated a bunch of shirts, socks, pants, all sorts of things,” Rusk said. “I’ll be collecting all the donations, and anything else I need, and giving it to the [Douglas] County for all the foster kids.”

Becoming the first female Eagle Scout in Superior isn’t the main goal for Gabby. Dan Kittleson, is the Scoutmaster of Troop 221. He says she wants to be a role model for other girls in her troop.

“She’s also a Den Chief, so she goes and talks to the other girls in my Cub Scout group, so they can see what to look forward to seeing of the first girl becoming Eagle Scout in Superior. It’s hard, it’s a lot of work,” Kittleson said. “Only like four percent of all Scouts make it to Eagle Scout. So they just have to keep working at it.”

The number of scouts throughout the nation has dwindled since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Scouts BSA. There’s roughly around a million scouts still active in the organization. However, Josh Johnson, the owner of Twin Ports Cornhole, says girls like Gabby working on their Eagle are role models for more kids wanting to join scouting.

“I feel like it’s going to get better, especially with the girls coming up. Gabby’s a super big go-getter,” Johnson said. “She’s getting after it, and she’s obviously, with all the stuff you see here, you can see that she’s really doing a good job.”

To help Gabby on her path to becoming the first female Eagle Scout in Superior, feel free to drop off donations at the Elks Lodge on December 7th at Noon. Here are more details on what items can be donated. Also for other stories about Eagle Scouts you can read more here.