It all started in kindergarten. 

That’s when senior Andrea Constantine joined her local Girl Scout troop, but hated how there “wasn’t enough grit” for her. She wanted more time in nature.

In 2019, after hearing that Boy Scouts was going coed, she joined and founded her all-female troop. Her peers who started the troop with her eventually dwindled out, but Constantine stayed, her love for nature motivating her to keep going. 

“When I first joined, I felt super out of place. All these guys would always look at us, and me and my little group were so scared of everyone. Over time though, we got a lot more comfortable,” Constantine said.  

She pushed past that discomfort, and she recently became one of the first female Eagle Scouts in Illinois. 

Becoming an Eagle Scout is very challenging. Nationally, only six percent of scouts make it to Eagle Scout. The top ranking requires gaining 21 different merit badges, yet Constantine earned 35. 

In order to become an Eagle Scout, a Scout must create a project that gives back to the community. Constantine built a split cedar fence that was 100 feet long for her local forest preserve, the Open Lands, and was the first female Boy Scout to work with them.

“Her service project was at one of her favorite local forest preserves that she walks in almost every day. It was awesome to see how she brought the community into her space by building the fence,” senior Sophia Zar said. 

Her love of nature pushed her to build a fence to protect the wildlife in her area, and her love of nature shines outside of Boy Scouts as well. She camps once a month, even if it is below zero degrees outside and there is snow on the ground.

“I like going out there when no one else is around. It’s peaceful,” Constantine said. 

Boys Scout of America opened to women in 2019. About 20% of Scouts are female.

“I didn’t even mention that I was a female the whole board of review. I did more work than a lot of people to earn this title, and for them to assume it was easier because I was a female was kind of annoying,” Constantine said. “A few times, boys in other troops would say things like “This is an all boys thing, let it be” or things like ‘You shouldn’t be here.’

“I wanted to show the guys like hey, a girl can do this too. My gender makes no difference.”

In the summer, Constantine is a counselor  in Northern Wisconsin for a sleep-away camp where she helps younger Boy Scouts earn badges. At her camp, there are rangers who make giant fires that burn dead foliage. Every two years, they pick two people to help with the fires, and Constantine was one of the first females to be chosen. 

“It was something I wanted to do because it was an all boys sort of thing. I wanted to just show other people that a girl can do this too,” Constantine said.  

Constantine plans on continuing to be involved with nature in college while pursuing Environmental Science.

“Andrea is such a hardworking person. She had been so excited about her Eagle project for the longest time, and she was so positive when it came to building it. I am so proud of all she has done, and I’m so excited that she has become the first female Eagle Scout in Illinois,” senior Ella Burns said.