CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It's official. Girls can now join the Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts of America officially became Scouts BSA on Friday in a move to welcome girls into the organization for the first time, and Morgan Holmes, 17, Lake Forest, was the first girl to form an all-girls troop.
"I have always watched my older and my littler brother do Boy Scouts and I've always been kinda jealous of what they've been able to do there," she said.
When Morgan turned 14 – the minimum age to participate in the Explorer Program for young women – she bought a uniform and signed up. When she found out about the Boy Scouts decision to include girls, she moved quickly.
"I was really happy when I heard this was going to happen," she said.
In December, she officially filed the paperwork to create the first all-girls Scouts BSA troop in Illinois.
"At first I had to find kids who were willing to be a part of it. It was a little harder than I thought it would be. But I ended up recruiting my two cousins who one is 11 and one is 13. Mostly the troop is made up of sisters of boy scouts who have always wanted to do this. Right now we have seven kids," she said.
The move also means young women can realize their dreams of becoming Eagle Scouts, the organization's coveted highest rank, something Morgan is already working for.
"It takes awhile to get there. You need certain hours of leadership positions, you need to do a huge service project. There's a lot of merit badges you have to get. It'll take me more than a year, but I'm already on it," Holmes said.
What does it feel like to be a pioneer for other girls ?
"It's really great to be making new strides with this. It's pretty cool. It's awesome to be the first."
She and her troop of eight girls will hold their first meetings this week under the direction of their Scout Master, her father Jim Holmes, a senior vice president for Bank of America.