Badges of honor Four young women are first to join Eagle Scout rank in Wisconsin.
Jaisyn Daher, Annastasia Wischki, and sisters Annie and Cassie Scheidt are following in the footsteps of their brothers and fathers, while paving the way for girls across the country. • They are the first young women in southeastern Wisconsin to earn the Eagle Scout rank in Scouts BSA, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America. • “People give mixed reactions when they hear we’re in Eagle Scouts,” said Annie Scheidt. “A lot of people think it’s so cool and we’re trailblazers. You always have someone who pushes against you or doesn’t support change. You take them in stride.”
After changing its name in 2019, Scouts BSA said it would allow girls into the program for the first time. The four Wisconsinites scrambled to find local chapters to join.
“The reason I joined Scouts was because a majority of my younger life I was allowed to tag along with my brother when he was doing Scout activities,” said Wischki, a 14-year-old from Port Washington. “A lot of the things in Boy Scouts appealed to me, like the adventure aspect of it.”
She brought up the time when her brother’s troop was working on a fire-building activity. Wischki and another sister of a Scout paired up and built an actual fire.
None of the boys could do it.
“That was my spark for Scouting really, figuratively and literally,” she said.
When Scouts BSA opened to girls, Wischki, 12 years old at the time, contacted her brother’s scoutmaster and helped launch the troop.
“When I first started, I was in school trying to get more girls to join our troop. There was a kid who came up to me and said you can’t be a Boy Scout,” Wischki said. “Now people are more receptive to it. I’m not really sure what changed. Maybe it’s seeing the accomplishments and seeing we could do it.”
Becoming an Eagle Scout
Wischki, Daher and the Scheidt sisters are among 35 female Eagle Scouts in Wisconsin, and nearly 1,000 in the national Scouts BSA program.
The girls had to be in a Scout troop for a minimum of four months before they could become a Star Scout. Then, they had to serve six months in a leadership position. Following that, they achieved the Life Scout rank, which they had to hold for at least six months before reaching an Eagle Scout rank.
On top of climbing the ranks, they had to earn 21 merit badges, attend a scoutmaster conference, carry out an Eagle service project and pass a board of review.
These four girls got it all done in about two years.
In 2019, 8% of all Scouts BSA earned the Eagle Scout rank, according to Scouting.org. (The equivalent rank in the Girl Scouts is the Gold Award, which also requires a serviceoriented capstone project.)
“It was very stressful,” said Daher. She joined Scouts at 17. Normally Scouts age out when they turn 18, but she was able to get an extension.
Daher had to finish her achievements quickly. At one point a council member incorrectly told her she had only a few weeks to turn in her Eagle service project, when she still had a few months.
“It was two weeks of just putting everything on hold,” the teen from Caledonia said. “I kind of had to light a fire under everything. I was lucky everything lined up.”
While Daher was finishing getting her Eagle Scout rank, she was starting her second semester at Carthage College.
“In fall I was balancing doing things with my troop with midterms, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Daher said.
She said that she is struggling with virtual school at Carthage, so she decided she would enlist in the U.S. Air Force after this semester. Having experience in Scouts helped Daher decide to enlist.
“I’m very proud to be a part of this country. I like putting others before myself. I think that is something that any Scout and military personal does,” Daher said.
Eagle Scouts who join the Air Force qualify to enlist at a higher rank, according to airforce.com.
“It’s a huge honor,” Daher said. “Scouting gives you connections to many wonderful people and offers knowledge that you can’t get anywhere else.”
Previous to Scouts BSA, Daher was in a Venturing Crew, a program by Scouts BSA for women and men ages 14 through 21. She joined that after her Girl Scout chapter closed.
‘A big family of Scouts’
The same thing happened to Annie and Cassie Scheidt, sisters from Racine, who gained their Eagle Scout rank at the same time.
“The thing for both of us is that our Girl Scout chapter died out. People lost interest and it disappeared when we were in middle school,” said 15-year-old Annie. “There was no longer an opportunity for us.”
Seventeen-year-old Cassie was able to join a local Venturing Crew before Scouts BSA allowed girls into the “tan shirt” program of traditional Scouting.
“It was a way for me to spend more time outdoors,” Cassie said.
But she still was craving more. “Scouts is more than just merit badges and learning knowledge and facts,” Cassie said. “You have to do service projects, fitness. You have advance in rank.”
Scouts BSA announced girls were allowed to join Cub Scouts in 2018. The Scheidts’ parents were following the news closely for when their girls would become eligible for Eagle Scouts.
“I was excited because we come from a big family of Scouts,” Cassie said. “I was excited to go on adventures just like the ones my brothers did.”
Not only are both of their brothers Scouts, but so are their father and their grandfather. It became a unanimous family event when their mother became scoutmaster for her daughters in August 2019.
“I had kind of been in and out of Scouting with my sons, so I knew some things about it,” said Gina Capelli-Scheidt, who led troop 218G. “It was quite an honor. I grew with my daughters.”
Capelli-Scheidt said Scouts BSA focuses a lot on leadership, so it was up to her to make sure the girls were leading themselves, and stepping in only when they needed some guidance.
She was thankful that her daughters were able to join Scouts BSA.
“It really teaches them resilience. It stretches them. It’s not just like outdoors. They have to problem-solve. They have to interact with adults a lot,” Capelli-Scheidt said.
This summer Cassie and Annie plan to go to Philmont Scout Ranch, a Scouts BSA camp where Scouts ride horses and backpack through mountains.
The sisters encouraged anyone who wants to join Scouts to do so.
“One hundred percent, you wont regret it,” Cassie said. “It’s been life changing, just meeting people, exploring Scouts, exploring my community. I’ve learned so much.”
Eagle projects
Maybe the most difficult part of gaining Eagle Scout rank is completing a public service project.
The girls had to meet with beneficiaries and create a plan on what the prospective Eagle Scouts could create to help.
The Scheidt sisters decided to build things that would help the Racine County Pony Club, a local branch of a national organization that teaches riding and proper care of horses.
Cassie built picnic tables for spectators to use.
“There was nowhere for people to sit, and I think that was needed,” Cassie said. “I was so happy when I saw club members using them, and I saw all my hard work pay off.”
Annie built movable message boards at the right height for members to look at while mounted on their horses. One was built with a roof to make sure it was safe from rain.
“You used to have to go inside and look at the message boards,” Annie said. “It’s nice to have this access.”
“They had to do it all from beginning to end,” Capelli-Scheidt said. “They met with the benefactor multiple times to come up with the exact plans. My daughters had never been to Menard’s to pull wood. It takes time, and they were there for hours.”
Wischki built a serenity garden at her church, Alliance Bible Church, 13939 N. Cedarburg Road, Mequon.
The garden has three sections: one with reflective globes, one with wind chimes and one with birdfeeders.
“I did a lot of research on it, explaining the mental health benefits, not only emotional and physical health, but also spiritual health,” Wischki said. “It also has benches and is right off a bike path.”
Daher built a drop-off box for old American flags at the Bartlett Youth Foundation in Mount Pleasant.
There are scripts next to the bin explaining how to properly retire the flag. If a flag is still usable, Daher places the flag in a storage bin for people to pick up for free.
“The Scouts have strong patriotic values, and so do I, which is why I came up with my box,” Daher said.