American Heritage Girls offers alternative to scouts

Growing Rogers chapter is the only Catholic-chartered group in Arkansas

Published: November 18, 2013

By Alesia Schaefer
Rogers Correspondent

American Heritage Girls’ Explorer group sifts rocks at the War Eagle cavern where they traveled for an outing. Chartered by St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, it is the only Catholic-chartered troop in the state.

ROGERS — Making room around the campfire is nothing new in scouting and these days the tradition of scouting is no longer of just one camp. Policy changes and controversy in both the century-old Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America organizations have caused the circle around the fire to widen as alternative groups have entered the camp looking for a place to pitch their tents.

Offshoot organizations around the country have sprouted up offering programs that differ in curriculum, policy, focus or inclusiveness from the original Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts groups that, despite controversies, still carry memberships of 2.6 million and 2.3 million, respectively.

Both organizations, formerly steeped in time-honored traditions, are witnessing members slip away as these traditions crumble.

For girls, one such offering is the American Heritage Girls.

Launched in 1995, American Heritage Girls entered the scene with a “Christ-centered” campaign after Girl Scouts decided to drop a mandatory oath to God. According to founder and national executive director, Patti Garibay, AHG membership has swelled to 30,000 members, ranging from 5 to 18 years, with chapters in 48 states and eight countries. This alternative choice has captured the attention of parents and churches around the nation, not to mention Arkansas, seeking to promote a different style of scouting.

“I realized that my daughters were getting mixed signals,” said Christy Boskus, troop coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Rogers. “I wanted to find a girl’s group that was Christ-centered and would empower my daughters to live their faith every day in meaningful ways. While they are being taught Christian values at home, school and church, the world is constantly contradicting those teachings.”

In her search for the right fit, Boskus heard about AHG and its mission of “building women of integrity through faith, service and fun.” So, in the fall of 2012, Boskus and fellow mom, Jennifer Buron, who now serves as troop vice coordinator, approached pastor Msgr. David LeSieur about starting a troop in Rogers. Msgr. LeSieur welcomed the idea of having a girls’ scouting group chartered through the parish and selected parish manager, Deacon Ronnie Hoyt, to be the charter representative. The charter was granted Dec. 19, 2012.

“In a world that discounts the family unit, I was pleased to find that AHG’s oath emphasized the importance of God and family and serving others. ‘I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country and serve in my community’ clearly delineates what is important in life and places them in the proper order,” Boskus added.

Taylor Yoes, who recently moved from Wexford, Pa., to Rogers, said she remembered her positive experience of AHG with her girls, ages 10 and 6, and was hopeful she could continue in the organization here. Yoes, who is not a parishioner, said she believes it would be difficult to encourage girls to have character without talking about Christ as the reason each one is able to walk in God’s ways.

“How can children truly appreciate the world around them and explore the amazing things in it without being aware of the Creator who made it all? I see that faith in God is integral to our children’s lives, and I want their growing faith to be promoted, encouraged and developed through scouting functions, not pushed aside or ignored,” Yoes said.

One key factor, Boskus said, is that AHG is chartered by St. Vincent de Paul, allowing the troop to fully incorporate and deepen their Catholic faith in monthly meetings and activities. Meetings begin and end with prayer, include a devotional or Scripture relating the activity to the Catholic faith. Additionally, all girls can earn the National Catholic Scouting Award provided by the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry.

Recently AHG also formed a National Catholic Committee dedicated to assisting Catholic troops in their teachings of the faith.

Currently, there are six other troops around the state, including Magnolia, Benton, Elkins and Siloam Springs, all chartered by churches of different denominations; the St. Vincent de Paul troop is the only one chartered by a Catholic church.

“We began our meetings this past August, after spending eight months gathering our leadership team, training and planning for the upcoming year,” Boskus said. “Currently there are 27 girls participating in three unit levels: Pathfinder, Tenderheart and Explorer. As families have learned more about our AHG troop our membership has grown to include girls and their families from St. Vincent de Paul, St. Stephen (in Bentonville), St. Raphael (in Springdale) and St. Joseph Catholic Church (in Fayetteville) as well as members of other churches within the Christian community.”

At St. Vincent de Paul, girls have the opportunity to choose either AHG or Girl Scouts, according to Boskus, and the two programs plan to participate together in Scout Sunday in the coming year.